Fawkes
19th November 2010, 19:04
Let's face it, most of the money spent on albums goes directly to the record companies. That's not an entirely bad things depending on the record company, but not all of us have the resources to purchase all the music we want. Most musicians make the majority of their money off of touring and merchandise sales, so if you like them, be sure to see them when they stop by your town. And as for independent labels, it's a good idea to purchase stuff when you're able so as to help them stay afloat and supporting underground artists. Anyway, downloading music and all sorts of files is a really easy process. I don't know shit about computers really, so I'm going to be using really basic language because it's all I really understand as far as tech stuff goes.
One way to go about obtaining music is to use torrents. There are two steps in this process.
Step one: Download a torrent client such as BitTorrent or uTorrent (I use that). They're free and just make sure you download one that is supported by your Operating System (Mac or PC). It's as simple as going to Google, typing in “BitTorrent” or something similar, going to their website, and downloading the program.
Step two: Now that you have that done, I'll show you a step-by-step process of how to download a torrent through using an example. So let's pretend I want to download Middle of Nowhere by Hanson (you know mmmbop is a great song), this is how I'd do it.
a. Google search “middle of nowhere hanson torrent”
b. I click on one of the options. In this case, I'll click on the second one, which is btjunkie.org
c. I'm brought to a page where there is information given about this particular file. It is recommended that you read reviews by other users if there are any so you can tell if the file is of good quality or not. Also, check out the number of seeders listed. The higher the seeder count, the faster the download. I'm not entirely positive, but I believe seeders are other users that have the same file from whom you would be downloading it, though I may be wrong. Either way, that's not that important.
d. Now, if I choose to download the file, it is as simple as clicking the icon that says "Download Torrent". When you click on that, the torrent file should immediately open up in whatever client, whether it's BitTorrent or whatever, that you have on your computer and immediately start downloading.
e. Once the download is complete, you can open the file by either right-clicking on it or ctrl+click for macs and move it to wherever you want to or do whatever it is you want to do with it.
Another way to download music is through a website like MegaUpload or RapidShare. These are websites where users host various files which you are able to download. The best way to go about finding these is through the use of a search engine like FilesTube.com.
a. Go to FilesTube.com
b. type in "hanson middle of nowhere" in the search box
c. After entering the search, a bunch of different file options should show up. Scroll down to find one that looks alright (namely, has the right name). For this example, I'm going to use the first one listed (it's hosted on megaupload.com and is titled Hanson Middle of Nowhere Acoustic)
d. Click on it.
e. You will be brought to a page with some information about the file.
f. If you want to download it, either click on the link, in this case it says "Hanson-Middle of Nowhere Acoustic.rar", or copy and paste the url given into your browser.
g. Each website is a little different, but they usually follow the same general format. In the case of MegaUpload, they make you enter a security code on the right side that is composed of three letters and one number usually. Enter it in and then click "Download File".
h. In megaupload's case, you will see one option for Premium User (that's if you pay), and you will see one option with a ticking countdown. Once the countdown is complete, it will give an option to download it for free. Keep in mind that most websites impose a limit on how much free users can download at a time/on any given day.
i. Once you've clicked on "Download", the file should begin downloading.
j. Once it has completed downloading, chances are the file won't be immediately transferrable to iTunes or something similar. iTunes only accepts certain kinds of files, and those find online are often in .rar or .zip format so as to save space. In this case, you will also need to download a program to decompress these files to make them readable by your iTunes.
Decompressing:
a. Download either WinZip or Zipeg (make sure your operating system supports it) to your computer.
b. Once downloaded, you are going to take whatever music or other files you just downloaded that are in a .rar format and open them up in Zipeg (I'm gonna use that as an example cause it's what I use). On my mac, when I click on a downloaded .rar file it automatically opens in Zipeg, but you may need to manually drag the file over.
c. Now that the file is in zipeg, click on it and then click "Extract".
d. Once it's done extracting (it'll take a few seconds), click one the file as exhibited on the left side. Highlight all of the contents of the file and simply drag them into wherever it is you want to save them, whether it's iTunes or some other folder.
e. Some .rar files will require you to have a password, in which case, I don't really know how to help you.
Sooo, I probably used a bunch of words in the wrong place and basically sounded like the technologically ignorant person that I am, but I hope this is helpful for all yall pirates out there.
Post corrections if ya got any.
One way to go about obtaining music is to use torrents. There are two steps in this process.
Step one: Download a torrent client such as BitTorrent or uTorrent (I use that). They're free and just make sure you download one that is supported by your Operating System (Mac or PC). It's as simple as going to Google, typing in “BitTorrent” or something similar, going to their website, and downloading the program.
Step two: Now that you have that done, I'll show you a step-by-step process of how to download a torrent through using an example. So let's pretend I want to download Middle of Nowhere by Hanson (you know mmmbop is a great song), this is how I'd do it.
a. Google search “middle of nowhere hanson torrent”
b. I click on one of the options. In this case, I'll click on the second one, which is btjunkie.org
c. I'm brought to a page where there is information given about this particular file. It is recommended that you read reviews by other users if there are any so you can tell if the file is of good quality or not. Also, check out the number of seeders listed. The higher the seeder count, the faster the download. I'm not entirely positive, but I believe seeders are other users that have the same file from whom you would be downloading it, though I may be wrong. Either way, that's not that important.
d. Now, if I choose to download the file, it is as simple as clicking the icon that says "Download Torrent". When you click on that, the torrent file should immediately open up in whatever client, whether it's BitTorrent or whatever, that you have on your computer and immediately start downloading.
e. Once the download is complete, you can open the file by either right-clicking on it or ctrl+click for macs and move it to wherever you want to or do whatever it is you want to do with it.
Another way to download music is through a website like MegaUpload or RapidShare. These are websites where users host various files which you are able to download. The best way to go about finding these is through the use of a search engine like FilesTube.com.
a. Go to FilesTube.com
b. type in "hanson middle of nowhere" in the search box
c. After entering the search, a bunch of different file options should show up. Scroll down to find one that looks alright (namely, has the right name). For this example, I'm going to use the first one listed (it's hosted on megaupload.com and is titled Hanson Middle of Nowhere Acoustic)
d. Click on it.
e. You will be brought to a page with some information about the file.
f. If you want to download it, either click on the link, in this case it says "Hanson-Middle of Nowhere Acoustic.rar", or copy and paste the url given into your browser.
g. Each website is a little different, but they usually follow the same general format. In the case of MegaUpload, they make you enter a security code on the right side that is composed of three letters and one number usually. Enter it in and then click "Download File".
h. In megaupload's case, you will see one option for Premium User (that's if you pay), and you will see one option with a ticking countdown. Once the countdown is complete, it will give an option to download it for free. Keep in mind that most websites impose a limit on how much free users can download at a time/on any given day.
i. Once you've clicked on "Download", the file should begin downloading.
j. Once it has completed downloading, chances are the file won't be immediately transferrable to iTunes or something similar. iTunes only accepts certain kinds of files, and those find online are often in .rar or .zip format so as to save space. In this case, you will also need to download a program to decompress these files to make them readable by your iTunes.
Decompressing:
a. Download either WinZip or Zipeg (make sure your operating system supports it) to your computer.
b. Once downloaded, you are going to take whatever music or other files you just downloaded that are in a .rar format and open them up in Zipeg (I'm gonna use that as an example cause it's what I use). On my mac, when I click on a downloaded .rar file it automatically opens in Zipeg, but you may need to manually drag the file over.
c. Now that the file is in zipeg, click on it and then click "Extract".
d. Once it's done extracting (it'll take a few seconds), click one the file as exhibited on the left side. Highlight all of the contents of the file and simply drag them into wherever it is you want to save them, whether it's iTunes or some other folder.
e. Some .rar files will require you to have a password, in which case, I don't really know how to help you.
Sooo, I probably used a bunch of words in the wrong place and basically sounded like the technologically ignorant person that I am, but I hope this is helpful for all yall pirates out there.
Post corrections if ya got any.