FREE/BARGAIN — Media Deals (non-eBook/non-audiobook)

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Last Day -- Amazon -- exp 07 Apr


Get $5 Amazon Credit for buying a $2.99 app

Interesting, apparently they expired it early. I hadn't used it, but it's gone, and it's not 11:59pm on 4/7/2016 yet. "Promotional credit expires at 11:59 p.m. (PT) April 7, 2016."

Not sure if I'm going to complain to support or just say to hell with trusting Amazon's promotions from now on. This is not the first one they cheated me out of. (Been a couple they applied it to my account but it wasn't actually usable on anything.)

[cromag]

Moby is releasing 4 hours of ambient music, free. He describes this as music he made for himself, for listening while meditating, releasing stress, and trying to sleep. Even though it's free you do have to register.

http://little-pine.myshopify.com/products/ambient


It's also available to stream at Spotify, Apple, etc.


From the email I received:

Spoiler:

hi, over the last couple of years i've been making really really really quiet music to listen to when i do yoga or sleep or meditate or panic. i ended up with 4 hours of music and have decided to give it away.

you can download it for free at the little pine site or stream it for free on spotify. or you can get it on apple music & itunes & deezer & tidal.

it's really quiet: no drums, no vocals, just very slow calm pretty chords and sounds and things for sleeping and yoga and etc.

and feel free to share it or give it away or whatever, it's not protected or anything, or at least it shouldn't be.

thanks,

moby

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Interesting, apparently they expired it early. I hadn't used it, but it's gone, and it's not 11:59pm on 4/7/2016 yet. "Promotional credit expires at 11:59 p.m. (PT) April 7, 2016."

Not sure if I'm going to complain to support or just say to hell with trusting Amazon's promotions from now on. This is not the first one they cheated me out of. (Been a couple they applied it to my account but it wasn't actually usable on anything.)

Mine disappeared too. I called (~5 am) and got it back after an 18 minute phone call. Sheesh!

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Mine disappeared too. I called (~5 am) and got it back after an 18 minute phone call. Sheesh!

I put in an E-mail ticket myself. Just did not feel like dealing with a phone call if I can avoid it. I made sure to link them the actual terms & conditions page where it plainly said it wasn't supposed to expire till 11:59pm 4/7/2016.

[GtrsRGr8]

I'm glad that someone started this thread . . . .

Naxos is a company that produces recordings of classical music. In fact, they claim to be the premier classical music label in the world. Or something like that. They sell their products on their own website and also through resellers.

If you sign up for Naxos' free newsletter, you'll receive an offer of one free album download each month. That's right, one whole album!

This month is the 125th anniversary of Prokofiev's birth (frankly, I had forgotten all about it. I'm so ashamed! ha), so Naxos is offering your choice of three different Prokofiev albums in order to celebrate, or commemorate, or something that occasion. Here are the choices:

Piano Concerto Nos. 2 and 5
String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 / Cello Sonata
Alexander Nevsky / Lieutenant Kije Suite

I would give you a webpage that tells a lot about these, but it looks like it won't open without having an email address on file with Naxos.

These are all in the flac format. I am not knowledgeable about such things, but if memory serves me correctly, this is a very high quality format--CD quality or maybe better.

One caveat. I was already on Naxos' mailing list. Even so, I found there to be a definite frustration factor in getting everything set up. Among other issues, you have to download a proprietary player for the music. But once you get set up, I doubt that it will be much trouble to download an album each month (I don't know for sure because I just learned about the program (it may have just begun this month, for that matter) and downloaded my first album). You might want to peruse Naxos' "Free Album Offer Guide," which is a step-by-step guide of what you have to do to get your free download using a desktop computer.

If I haven't scared you off, here is the webpage where you can learn more about the benefits of being on their newsletter mailing list, and which provides a link to sign up for the newsletter.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I'm glad that someone started this thread . . . .

Who'd a thought it'd be you

This month is the 125th anniversary of Prokofiev's birth (frankly, I had forgotten all about it. I'm so ashamed! ha),...

OMG, I forgot it too.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Who'd a thought it'd be you


OMG, I forgot it too.

???? It wasn't me. Maybe AnemicOak.

Well, it's too late to get him a present now. Way too late. ha

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

???? It wasn't me. Maybe AnemicOak.

Well, it's too late to get him a present now. Way too late. ha

You said thread and I misread it as post. Shame on the monkey, oh the shame! No banana daiquiris for him this weekend. Back to the books.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

You said thread and I misread it as post. Shame on the monkey, oh the shame! No banana daiquiris for him this weekend. Back to the books.

We all need that book at times.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

These are all in the flac format. I am not knowledgeable about such things, but if memory serves me correctly, this is a very high quality format--CD quality or maybe better.

FLAC is a lossless audio codec. This means it compresses the audio filesize (roughly 50% on average) without losing any information in the process. Codecs like MP3 are lossy, and lose information in the compression stage. Lossless codecs are great, you can convert them back into WAV format, burn a CD and have the original CD album perfectly duplicated.

To be fair there, most people don't notice the difference. However, it tends to be more noticeable in classical music. So their using lossless is a great move.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

One caveat. I was already on Naxos' mailing list. Even so, I found there to be a definite frustration factor in getting everything set up. Among other issues, you have to download a proprietary player for the music. But once you get set up, I doubt that it will be much trouble to download an album each month (I don't know for sure because I just learned about the program (it may have just begun this month, for that matter) and downloaded my first album). You might want to peruse Naxos' "Free Album Offer Guide," which is a step-by-step guide of what you have to do to get your free download using a desktop computer.

If it's really FLAC, then any player that supports FLAC should work fine, not just their proprietary player. And it's pretty easy to convert FLAC to a codec that works in popular media players like iTunes. I've signed up and once I get an E-mail for the free download page I'll try it out and report back. So far I've only received an E-mail telling me of the wonderful free benefits, containing no link to this month's freebies.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Manabi

FLAC is a lossless audio codec. This means it compresses the audio filesize (roughly 50% on average) without losing any information in the process. Codecs like MP3 are lossy, and lose information in the compression stage. Lossless codecs are great, you can convert them back into WAV format, burn a CD and have the original CD album perfectly duplicated.

To be fair there, most people don't notice the difference. However, it tends to be more noticeable in classical music. So their using lossless is a great move.

If it's really FLAC, then any player that supports FLAC should work fine, not just their proprietary player. And it's pretty easy to convert FLAC to a codec that works in popular media players like iTunes.

Thanks for the primer on flac. I vaguely remember the loseless aspect about it, and that's about it. Now, if I just don't forget what you said about it . . . .

Originally Posted by Manabi

I've signed up and once I get an E-mail for the free download page I'll try it out and report back. So far I've only received an E-mail telling me of the wonderful free benefits, containing no link to this month's freebies.

I wanted to test the instructions/system, but I didn't know any way to do it since I was already a member. Sorry. I'll see what, if anything, that I can suggest for you all to try.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Manabi

<snip>
I've signed up and once I get an E-mail for the free download page I'll try it out and report back. So far I've only received an E-mail telling me of the wonderful free benefits, containing no link to this month's freebies.

Okay. I can't test these myself, but I've got two or three things that you and others might try. I'll give you the most promising one first.

#1--Point your browser to http://www.anpasia.com/newsletterweb...5E4674404B5943. When I do that, I get a webpage with a yellow button near the top of the page that says, "download one of this month's free downloads." Click on it and see what happens. Follow any prompts that come up that will lead you to a webpage with the free albums.

#2--Navigate to http://shop.classicsonlinehd.com/ (classicsonlinehd is a company that fits in with Naxos' free album giveaway and maybe the albums that they sell, too (I have not purchased from Naxos in order to know for sure about the ones that they sell)). Do a search for Prokofiev. When you get the results, try clicking on one of the free pieces, performed by Kun Woo Paik. If there is more than one choice of a particular piece, and one of them says "flac," try that one first. If, at any point, you are prompted to launch an external application or install a desktop app, go ahead and approve it. Here, again, are the titles of the pieces that are free this month:
Piano Concerto Nos. 2 and 5
String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 / Cello Sonata
Alexander Nevsky / Lieutenant Kije Suite

#3--Go to http://www.naxos.com/contactus.asp, find the email address for Naxos for your region. Email them, telling them your predicament. See if they will send you a link or something in order for you to go ahead and download one of this month's albums.

Good luck. If you have success, or even if you don't, would you please make a post and let the rest of the interested Mobilereaders know about it?

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Okay. I can't test these myself, but I've got two or three things that you and others might try. I'll give you the most promising one first.

Good luck. If you have success, or even if you don't, would you please make a post and let the rest of the interested Mobilereaders know about it?

#1 failed, and possible reasons include the link having already been used, or it expired. So it's possible the links are unique to each user. (It also lists a third reason of you just recently signed up and suggests waiting an hour, but it's been more than an hour already. So I'm inclined to believe it's a unique link.)

#2 failed, had to make a new account with them (Naxos login wouldn't work) and it won't let me download it without purchasing it for $5.99. Also refusing to stream it for some reason. I click on stream in the app and it... does nothing.

#3 I'm going to wait on. I just signed up late Friday evening so if they need to do something manually it'll probably be Monday before someone's in to do it. If I haven't received an E-mail for this month's freebie by then, I'll try contacting them to ask about it on Tuesday.

[tubemonkey]

The Beatles Anthology recordings finally hit streaming services

Just a few months after Beatles fans received one spectacular Christmas present in the form of the release of the band’s entire official catalog on streaming services Christmas Eve, they’re getting another awesome addition. The Beatles Anthology, a three volume set of rarities released by the famed British rockers in the mid ’90s, hit streaming sites for the first time this morning, landing on Apple Music, Spotify, and others.

Prime Music fans will be thrilled to know that instead of getting the complete 6.6 hour collection, Amazon is giving us the 1.2 hour abridged version - Anthology Highlights. Unlike listeners on Spotify, we won't be subjected to the missing 5.4 hours of useless material. Aren't we so ever lucky?

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Manabi

#1 failed, and possible reasons include the link having already been used, or it expired. So it's possible the links are unique to each user. (It also lists a third reason of you just recently signed up and suggests waiting an hour, but it's been more than an hour already. So I'm inclined to believe it's a unique link.)

#2 failed, had to make a new account with them (Naxos login wouldn't work) and it won't let me download it without purchasing it for $5.99. Also refusing to stream it for some reason. I click on stream in the app and it... does nothing.

#3 I'm going to wait on. I just signed up late Friday evening so if they need to do something manually it'll probably be Monday before someone's in to do it. If I haven't received an E-mail for this month's freebie by then, I'll try contacting them to ask about it on Tuesday.

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help. I can see that Naxos really has things tightened down like a drum as far as allowing access to parts of their websites and website features is concerned.

To look on the bright side, everyone who signs up before May 6 should be able to get the downloads every month from then on.