Where to buy DRM-free music

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/25889784

I'm self-hosting my own music server and I want to

  • add new music to it
  • buy it and thus reward the artists whose music I put on there (i.e. no piracy)
  • not deal with physical media (I'm not a collector, and I want to avoid plastic waste)
  • own the files; no DRM or similar bullshit
  • use a European vendor, or at least non-U.S.

I used to buy my music through Amazon, but I've cancelled my account in early 2025 (for obvious reasons) and I'm not going back. I'd love to hear your suggestions: what platforms do you know that fulfil the above criteria? And how do you get your music?

39 points · 12 comments · view on lemmy.world

12 Comments

bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 179d (5 replies)

Bandcamp is where I try to grab most of my music.

BobChorba@piefed.social · 13 pts · 179d (1 reply)

Bandcamp Friday

If you buy your music on a bandcamp friday, 100 % of the money goes to the artist.

Dates this year:

  • March 6th
  • May 1st
  • August 7th
  • September 4th
  • October 2nd
  • November 6th
  • December 4th
INeedMana@piefed.zip · 4 pts · 179d

And even if you don't, IMO they are pretty transparent on their fees

SrMono@feddit.org · 7 pts · 179d (1 reply)

Isn't bandcamp an American company?

(And yes, I read, that over 80% of the profit go to the artist directly).

bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 179d

That's fair, I didn't see the European requirement, sorry about that!

madjo@piefed.social · 4 pts · 179d

Another vote for Bandcamp.

Libb@piefed.social · 15 pts · 179d (2 replies)

There is Qobuz (edit they do streaming and purchase). I used to purchase a lot of music on iTunes too, back when they went DRM-free but I went back to... physical media.

not deal with physical media (I’m not a collector, and I want to avoid plastic waste)

This probably not the ideal solution you are looking for, but you can purchase the disc, rip it and then donate it to someone else.

INeedMana@piefed.zip · 3 pts · 179d (1 reply)

There is Qobuz

And they have the niche things I'm after. I haven't known about Qobuz, thank you

Libb@piefed.social · 2 pts · 179d

My pleasure: I've been their customer for many years, before moving back to physical.

mysweat@ani.social · 6 pts · 179d

For me, I mainly use Bandcamp, 7digital & Qobuz for Western music. Sometimes the artists sell directly from their own sites though; for e.g. I bought Willow's empathogen album directly from her website.

For Japanese music, I use Ototoy. They accept foreign cards, but for some releases they won't let you add it to the cart unless you use a VPN set to Japan.

For less available stuff, I sometimes buy second hand CDs from Discogs / eBay / Music Magpie / similar sites, rip and then resell the CD if I don't wish to keep it.

For new CDs that I do want to keep, I buy from wherever the artist is selling. CDJapan for Japanese stuff.

MrFloppy@feddit.org · 5 pts · 179d

Audials (Romania, Germany) e.g. "Audials Play" offers legal recording of internet radio stations by capturing unencrypted audio streams for personal, non-commercial use, effectively acting as a digital recorder. It enables users to listen to and record thousands of stations, automatically splitting tracks, adding ID3 tags, and according to law, does not bypass copy protection.

istdaslol@feddit.org · 3 pts · 179d

7digital, UK/German Company and they even sell FLACS with up to 24bit. And their support is amazing. Had an album missing a song and they got me another album for the same price as a replacement. The one missing a song is still in my library so basically buy one get one free. Mayor downside you can only download an album 3 times before you have to contact support to reset it.