5 ms·

I want to start buying music (and film/series), to eventually be less dependent on services. Where can I buy DRM free music (and film/series)?

apprentice7 1y ago
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think iTunes doesn't put any DRM on the albums you buy from there.
- roelschroeven 1y ago
  Once upon a time they did, but I've been buying DRM-free music from iTunes for a long time now. The songs might have a watermark though? I don't really think so, but even if they did, I don't really have a problem with that.
greyface- 1y ago
https://bandcamp.com/ https://bandcamp.com/
- jedimastert 1y ago
  Strongly second BandCamp
- nine_k 1y ago
  ...especially on certain Fridays, when they channel 100% of the sales revenue directly to the artists.
  - greyface- 1y ago
    The first Friday of every month, to be specific.
    - saint_yossarian 1y ago
      They started skipping some months. Check https://isitbandcampfriday.com/ https://isitbandcampfriday.com/ for the next one.
      - pbarry25 1y ago
        This coming Friday (September 5th) is one! Woo!
  - hamburglar 1y ago
    This is a brilliant marketing move, imo. It feels like it adds a lot more support for the band than it actually does, which is probably like 11% more than the few bucks they would have otherwise gotten when you bought an album. Good will all around, at a small price.
tombert 1y ago
Not sure about movies or TV shows, but I buy songs on Bandcamp fairly often, though that's more less limited to indie bands (not strictly true but true enough). Honestly though? I just buy CDs on eBay and rip them to FLAC, and stream them to myself with Jellyfin. CDs are DRM-free (meaning no potential legal issues stemming from breaking DRM), and are already digital so a conversion to FLAC incurs no quality loss. I use a Blu-ray drive, but USB DVD drive can do the job just fine and can be found for less than $20 on Amazon. Also, CDs can be had for fairly cheap because no one wants them anymore, especially if you buy a bunch at once. This setup works fairly well up until around ~2016 music, when it becomes harder and harder to find CDs for albums released after that. I've become kind of a grumpy old man who doesn't like much new music, so this works well for me. I still use YouTube music for music that I haven't bought CDs for yet, but I'd say that around ~80% of my music streaming is coming from my Jellyfin server now.
- nine_k 1y ago
  Much new good music can be bought DRM-free on Bandcamp. If I wanted to most honestly buy a latest hit, I'd buy it in any DRM-ed form to fuel the sales, and then download it from torrents for convenient listening.
  - Barbing 1y ago
    Good support Morally identical probably but is it slightly more legal in the US to run software to crack the DRM? (Hopefully it’d never be tested of course)
    - chupasaurus 1y ago
      You can brag about a successful crack of the DRM but refuse to prove it if you leave no traces downloading the rip.
Kapura 1y ago
i buy cds and blu rays. there's a program called "makemkv" that allows you to make digital backups, including things like commentary tracks. extra bonus: blu rays work in a ps5, so i can just do that instead of trying to figure out the stream setup.
Spivak 1y ago
For tv and movies you're basically hoping they had a DVD release. All the options options to "buy" are essentially one time fees to stream it on various services or when you get a download it will have HDCP drm on it. I can understand why they don't offer drm free versions because I would give them away like candy to my friends but it's mostly all available pirating anyway so I doubt it really matters.
- trenchpilgrim 1y ago
  I don't know why you're downvoted? If you want to stay legal, you gotta buy DVDs and Blu Rays, mostly used or in bargain bins to keep it relatively affordable.
savef 1y ago
Folks are saying Bandcamp, but surely that's only for the few indie artists that are on there (in comparison to the wider music ecosystem covered by Spotify). Please explain if I'm missing something here. So I think a better answer is Qobuz[1], which I recently tried. I had a pleasant experience, where I downloaded DRM free FLAC files. I will use it again, but sparingly, as the cost adds up on top of the Spotify subscription and in comparison to piracy. [1] https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop
- bigstrat2003 1y ago
  Bandcamp has a wider selection than you'd think. I've been pleasantly surprised at how often I will find an artist who sells music there. Qobuz is good too, I use them both.
  - runako 1y ago
    I feel like I'm missing something, too. I just went there and searched for some very large artists (pulling from a Wikipedia article on best-selling artists of all time). Every single one was a fake profile, with no actual music by the artist. Is there a normie search mode, or is this to be expected?
    - bramhaag 1y ago
      Bandcamp is primarily for independent artists and independent record labels. Depending on what music you listen to, you will either not be able to find anything (e.g. anything popular enough to be played on the radio), or you will be able to find more than on conventional streaming services (e.g. extreme metal). Some big labels unfortunately have a "No Bancamp allowed" policy. This is the case for Century Media, which is owned by Sony, which has a large share in Spotify. I'm sure there are more examples like this. The only ethical way I see to truly own all of your music is to pirate it, and support the artists by buying their merch and going to their shows.
      - runako 1y ago
bigstrat2003 1y ago
For music, Bandcamp and Qobuz both offer FLAC. iTunes store and Amazon both sell DRM-free downloads as well (though with lossy compression). For video, there's never been a DRM-free store, unfortunately. Your only option there (besides hoisting the black flag) is to buy DVD/Blu-Ray releases and rip them yourself.
- idlus 1y ago
  For video, the quite obscure CinéMutins[0] offers DRM-free downloads. The catalogue is in large part in French though and the movies that aren’t are hard-subbed in French. There’s also basically no mainstream films, the focus is on social messages, but there are moderately-known films here and there. [0] https://www.cinemutins.com/ https://www.cinemutins.com/
- 38 1y ago
  [dead]
m_a_g 1y ago
Buying is a lot harder than pirating these days. Just join RED.
- 05 1y ago
  These days running yt-dlp -x is way easier than maintaining ratio on freaking RED..
badgersnake 1y ago
iTunes Store.
jszymborski 1y ago
I check these sites in the following order: 1. https://bandcamp.com/ https://bandcamp.com/ 2. https://us.7digital.com/ https://us.7digital.com/ (https://ca.7digital.com/ https://ca.7digital.com/ for fellow Canadians) 3. https://www.hdtracks.com/ https://www.hdtracks.com/ EDIT: Also discovered Quobuz has a shop where you can download albums as well https://www.qobuz.com/ca-en/shop https://www.qobuz.com/ca-en/shop
- i80and 1y ago
  +1 for Qobuz -- it's been where I buy my mainstream music for years now (They used to have a really nice tarball option for downloading albums, but they axed that so now you have to download songs individually. Massive downgrade in QoL)
- geekamongus 1y ago
  Add these up-and-comers: https://mirlo.space https://mirlo.space - Collectively owned & managed by musicians https://ampwall.com https://ampwall.com - Competitor to Bandcamp with better features
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
musictubes 1y ago
iTunes Store has been DRM free for music for a very long time. Still have it for video though.
nickthegreek 1y ago
many vinyls I purchase come with a digital code for drm free mp3 download.
thenthenthen 1y ago
Many record stores also sell digital editions of (new) vinyl releases, see for example: -https://hardwax.com/ https://hardwax.com/ -https://clone.nl/ https://clone.nl/ -https://boomkat.com/ https://boomkat.com/

apprentice7 1y ago

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think iTunes doesn't put any DRM on the albums you buy from there.

roelschroeven 1y ago
Once upon a time they did, but I've been buying DRM-free music from iTunes for a long time now. The songs might have a watermark though? I don't really think so, but even if they did, I don't really have a problem with that.

greyface- 1y ago

https://bandcamp.com/ https://bandcamp.com/

jedimastert 1y ago
Strongly second BandCamp
nine_k 1y ago
...especially on certain Fridays, when they channel 100% of the sales revenue directly to the artists.
- greyface- 1y ago
  The first Friday of every month, to be specific.
  - saint_yossarian 1y ago
    They started skipping some months. Check https://isitbandcampfriday.com/ https://isitbandcampfriday.com/ for the next one.
    - pbarry25 1y ago
      This coming Friday (September 5th) is one! Woo!
- hamburglar 1y ago
  This is a brilliant marketing move, imo. It feels like it adds a lot more support for the band than it actually does, which is probably like 11% more than the few bucks they would have otherwise gotten when you bought an album. Good will all around, at a small price.

tombert 1y ago

Not sure about movies or TV shows, but I buy songs on Bandcamp fairly often, though that's more less limited to indie bands (not strictly true but true enough). Honestly though? I just buy CDs on eBay and rip them to FLAC, and stream them to myself with Jellyfin. CDs are DRM-free (meaning no potential legal issues stemming from breaking DRM), and are already digital so a conversion to FLAC incurs no quality loss. I use a Blu-ray drive, but USB DVD drive can do the job just fine and can be found for less than $20 on Amazon. Also, CDs can be had for fairly cheap because no one wants them anymore, especially if you buy a bunch at once. This setup works fairly well up until around ~2016 music, when it becomes harder and harder to find CDs for albums released after that. I've become kind of a grumpy old man who doesn't like much new music, so this works well for me. I still use YouTube music for music that I haven't bought CDs for yet, but I'd say that around ~80% of my music streaming is coming from my Jellyfin server now.

nine_k 1y ago
Much new good music can be bought DRM-free on Bandcamp. If I wanted to most honestly buy a latest hit, I'd buy it in any DRM-ed form to fuel the sales, and then download it from torrents for convenient listening.
- Barbing 1y ago
  Good support Morally identical probably but is it slightly more legal in the US to run software to crack the DRM? (Hopefully it’d never be tested of course)
  - chupasaurus 1y ago
    You can brag about a successful crack of the DRM but refuse to prove it if you leave no traces downloading the rip.

Kapura 1y ago

i buy cds and blu rays. there's a program called "makemkv" that allows you to make digital backups, including things like commentary tracks. extra bonus: blu rays work in a ps5, so i can just do that instead of trying to figure out the stream setup.

Spivak 1y ago

For tv and movies you're basically hoping they had a DVD release. All the options options to "buy" are essentially one time fees to stream it on various services or when you get a download it will have HDCP drm on it. I can understand why they don't offer drm free versions because I would give them away like candy to my friends but it's mostly all available pirating anyway so I doubt it really matters.

trenchpilgrim 1y ago
I don't know why you're downvoted? If you want to stay legal, you gotta buy DVDs and Blu Rays, mostly used or in bargain bins to keep it relatively affordable.

savef 1y ago

Folks are saying Bandcamp, but surely that's only for the few indie artists that are on there (in comparison to the wider music ecosystem covered by Spotify). Please explain if I'm missing something here. So I think a better answer is Qobuz[1], which I recently tried. I had a pleasant experience, where I downloaded DRM free FLAC files. I will use it again, but sparingly, as the cost adds up on top of the Spotify subscription and in comparison to piracy. [1] https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop

bigstrat2003 1y ago
Bandcamp has a wider selection than you'd think. I've been pleasantly surprised at how often I will find an artist who sells music there. Qobuz is good too, I use them both.
- runako 1y ago
  I feel like I'm missing something, too. I just went there and searched for some very large artists (pulling from a Wikipedia article on best-selling artists of all time). Every single one was a fake profile, with no actual music by the artist. Is there a normie search mode, or is this to be expected?
  - bramhaag 1y ago
    Bandcamp is primarily for independent artists and independent record labels. Depending on what music you listen to, you will either not be able to find anything (e.g. anything popular enough to be played on the radio), or you will be able to find more than on conventional streaming services (e.g. extreme metal). Some big labels unfortunately have a "No Bancamp allowed" policy. This is the case for Century Media, which is owned by Sony, which has a large share in Spotify. I'm sure there are more examples like this. The only ethical way I see to truly own all of your music is to pirate it, and support the artists by buying their merch and going to their shows.
    - runako 1y ago

bigstrat2003 1y ago

For music, Bandcamp and Qobuz both offer FLAC. iTunes store and Amazon both sell DRM-free downloads as well (though with lossy compression). For video, there's never been a DRM-free store, unfortunately. Your only option there (besides hoisting the black flag) is to buy DVD/Blu-Ray releases and rip them yourself.

idlus 1y ago
For video, the quite obscure CinéMutins[0] offers DRM-free downloads. The catalogue is in large part in French though and the movies that aren’t are hard-subbed in French. There’s also basically no mainstream films, the focus is on social messages, but there are moderately-known films here and there. [0] https://www.cinemutins.com/ https://www.cinemutins.com/
38 1y ago
[dead]

m_a_g 1y ago

Buying is a lot harder than pirating these days. Just join RED.

05 1y ago
These days running yt-dlp -x is way easier than maintaining ratio on freaking RED..

badgersnake 1y ago

iTunes Store.

jszymborski 1y ago

I check these sites in the following order: 1. https://bandcamp.com/ https://bandcamp.com/ 2. https://us.7digital.com/ https://us.7digital.com/ (https://ca.7digital.com/ https://ca.7digital.com/ for fellow Canadians) 3. https://www.hdtracks.com/ https://www.hdtracks.com/ EDIT: Also discovered Quobuz has a shop where you can download albums as well https://www.qobuz.com/ca-en/shop https://www.qobuz.com/ca-en/shop

i80and 1y ago
+1 for Qobuz -- it's been where I buy my mainstream music for years now (They used to have a really nice tarball option for downloading albums, but they axed that so now you have to download songs individually. Massive downgrade in QoL)
geekamongus 1y ago
Add these up-and-comers: https://mirlo.space https://mirlo.space - Collectively owned & managed by musicians https://ampwall.com https://ampwall.com - Competitor to Bandcamp with better features

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

musictubes 1y ago

iTunes Store has been DRM free for music for a very long time. Still have it for video though.

nickthegreek 1y ago

many vinyls I purchase come with a digital code for drm free mp3 download.

thenthenthen 1y ago

Many record stores also sell digital editions of (new) vinyl releases, see for example: -https://hardwax.com/ https://hardwax.com/ -https://clone.nl/ https://clone.nl/ -https://boomkat.com/ https://boomkat.com/