String Quartets On the Web? 228
rueger writes "Lots of people love iTunes. I'm partial to emusic.com. Ubuntu comes pre-equipped for Jamendo and Magnatune. These are great for those of us hunting popular music — but where do lovers of classical music go to find new artists and albums, download music, and generally keep informed, up to date, and satisfied? As my girlfriend put it, 'I used to go to the big classical record stores downtown, but they're gone.' Where do people go to find the newest Ligeti String Quartet recording?"
Assertion Failed: "Popular Music" (Score:4, Insightful)
Seeing as I'm pressed to find any Top 40 tracks on either website, I would say that they're good for finding obscure music.
(And so we're staying on topic here: I can find tons of classical music on Magnatune. String Quartets aren't out-of-mainstream enough for Magnatune or what?)
This is Slashdot (Score:0, Insightful)
Academic libraries (Score:2, Insightful)
My classical collection has been built through the following method:
1. Get borrowing privileges at your local university library. (These are generally available to the general public for a small fee.)
2. Check out classical CDs.
3. Burn and/or rip.
If you are a student or faculty, then you also have access to interlibrary loan for the rare stuff.
Re:The only feasible explanation... (Score:5, Insightful)
OK, fine, I'm sure you know more about geek-related IT stuff than the poster, but how much do you really know about classical music? Not much, judging by your post. If you're looking for a recording of the Pachelbel canon and you find a recording by the Upper Slobovnia Symphony Orchestra and are happy, you are probably not qualified to post a response. While Amazon has a very good selection of CDs for purchase, their mp3 selection is much more limited. iTunes is completely worthless if you know enough to prefer certain recordings over whatever single version they have to offer. archivmusic.com has a limited mp3 selection but it may be preferable to the bigger stores and their comments are always worth reading.
And this whole post reminds me of why I really don't like slashdot these days. It's full of arrogant young dbags like yourself that comment on something they know virtually knowing about yet speak with the authority of Kernighan discussing proper C syntax. I hope you all get through puberty someday and realize your limitations.
It's a bit grim (Score:5, Insightful)
... if you're not in the US, and you don't use a Mac or Windows PC. Amazon does not sell MP3s to Australians; iTunes is Mac/Windows only. Personally, I've had most success with emusic.com, but as the querier has noted, their range is limited.
I really miss being able to walk into a store with a large classical range, have a listen, chat with knowledgeable staff, and have the chance of a serendipitous discovery. The web can theoretically provide the equivalent and more besides, but is hobbled by overly restrictive domains and copyright paranoia.
Many classics (Score:4, Insightful)
It is not just the Mozart and Bach type of classic that is missing. Things like Dixieland jazz and Rockabilly also are quite hard to come by. Our musical heritage is being lost. A lot of this loss is caused by the copyright nuts. If they would let outfits like Stream Tuner alone much music could be preserved. As it is many of the tunes could not be properly recorded when originally created as machines did not exist that could do the job. So what we are left with are people in the 1950 era playing the old tunes and re-issuing that music. That creates that copyright nightmare all over again.