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

[Conan46]

Another deal for Hulu subscribers: HBO $4.99 deal
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/commen..._for_6_months/

[TrevorViking]

^ And the Spotify/Hulu deal is just $4.99 a month for students.

[AnemicOak]

It's currently on Prime, so free at the moment anyway but that could change so...

You can currently "buy" Downton Abbey season 1 for $0.00 on Amazon (look under More purchase options if you don't see the $0.00 option)...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/deta..._season_select

[AnemicOak]

Nat Geo's Symphony For Our World is free at a few retailers. Although some stores show it as episode 1 of season 1 I understand this is actually a stand alone one off show...

https://www.fandangonow.com/details/...d9063b0fb60INT

https://play.google.com/store/tv/sho...de-t2_e1Zs46Yk

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...dyvLD9TQd4kA)()


Currently not free at Vudu ($6.99), Amazon or iTunes.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Nat Geo's Symphony For Our World is free at a few retailers. Although some stores show it as episode 1 of season 1 I understand this is actually a stand alone one off show...

https://www.fandangonow.com/details/...d9063b0fb60INT

https://play.google.com/store/tv/sho...de-t2_e1Zs46Yk

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...dyvLD9TQd4kA)()


Currently not free at Vudu ($6.99), Amazon or iTunes.

I don't buy (or rent) many videos. Documentaries are an exception.

Which one of the retailers that you linked to (thanks, by the way) is the best to get the documentary from. Does it matter?

What do you mean by "a stand alone one off show..."?

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

It appears that Google Play has thrown down the gauntlet to other music subscription services, with their (Google's) current trial music subscription offer.

Google Play is promoting the best such trial offer that I have ever seen (but, admittedly, I don't actively follow such things). It's _four_ months _free_. After that, it's only _$9.99_ per month for individuals.

I dunno, I feel both Amazon Prime Music, and the free version of Pandora is really all I need. Actually, Pandora is my favorite, but even it is not worth $10/month to me.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

I dunno, I feel both Amazon Prime Music, and the free version of Pandora is really all I need. Actually, Pandora is my favorite, but even it is not worth $10/month to me.

One of my libraries (Cincinnati) has joined Freegal Music. Limited selection but in addition to streaming I get 7 single-song downloads per week that I can use in my car...

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

One of my libraries (Cincinnati) has joined Freegal Music. Limited selection but in addition to streaming I get 7 single-song downloads per week that I can use in my car...

SEVEN! I only get five from my library! I'm going to call them and protest, just as soon as I finish this post!

An out-of-town library where I have borrowing privileges used to have three, until they upped it to five, three or so years ago. It depends on what the library pays Freegal.

My local library doesn't have it at all. But they are so underfunded, in this backwater that I call "home," that they do well just to have a website (that's hyperbole, of course, but it's less off the mark than you might think).

Yeah, Freegal doesn't have a lot of the newer and/or more popular artists, but I tend to like the older stuff better, anyway. I've used my maximum freebies most of the weeks in the six or seven years that I've used it. I must say that it seems that Freegal's selection hasn't increased since I began using it. I keep thinking that I'm going to run out of acceptable choices, but then I remember another song that I like, another musician . . . .

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

SEVEN! I only get five from my library! I'm going to call them and protest, just as soon as I finish this post!

An out-of-town library where I have borrowing privileges used to have three, until they upped it to five, three or so years ago. It depends on what the library pays Freegal.

My local library doesn't have it at all. But they are so underfunded, in this backwater that I call "home," that they do well just to have a website (that's hyperbole, of course, but it's less off the mark than you might think).

Yeah, Freegal doesn't have a lot of the newer and/or more popular artists, but I tend to like the older stuff better, anyway. I've used my maximum freebies most of the weeks in the six or seven years that I've used it. I must say that it seems that Freegal's selection hasn't increased since I began using it. I keep thinking that I'm going to run out of acceptable choices, but then I remember another song that I like, another musician . . . .

I've gotten some Miles Davis, Brubeck, Hot Tuna, Joe Bonamossa - it's a nice benefit - I'm glad Cincinnati finally instituted a digital card without requiring in-person appearance. None of my other 8 library systems are offering Freegal yet. Cincy also has the best digital magazine setup, even loaning stuff like TV Guide...

[sufue]

Don't feel too bad - I also only get five from my local library. So you have company in misery...

Although as someone else said, it's nice to get any at all to download and keep.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

SEVEN! I only get five from my library! I'm going to call them and protest, just as soon as I finish this post!

An out-of-town library where I have borrowing privileges used to have three, until they upped it to five, three or so years ago. It depends on what the library pays Freegal.

My local library doesn't have it at all. But they are so underfunded, in this backwater that I call "home," that they do well just to have a website (that's hyperbole, of course, but it's less off the mark than you might think).

Yeah, Freegal doesn't have a lot of the newer and/or more popular artists, but I tend to like the older stuff better, anyway. I've used my maximum freebies most of the weeks in the six or seven years that I've used it. I must say that it seems that Freegal's selection hasn't increased since I began using it. I keep thinking that I'm going to run out of acceptable choices, but then I remember another song that I like, another musician . . . .

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

I've gotten some Miles Davis, Brubeck, Hot Tuna, Joe Bonamossa - it's a nice benefit - I'm glad Cincinnati finally instituted a digital card without requiring in-person appearance. None of my other 8 library systems are offering Freegal yet. Cincy also has the best digital magazine setup, even loaning stuff like TV Guide...

Hmmm . . . . I wonder if they will issue a library card to a non-resident (for a fee, of course) to someone like me? Someone compiled a list, located somewhere on this (MobileRead) site, of libraries that do that, but I've forgotten where it's located. I'll try to dig it up, if someone expresses interest in it. Some of the libraries may give out cards free to anyone, I dunno. But they would be few and far between.

Of course, a person's best bet is to find libraries which have a "reciprocal agreement" with other libraries. All of such libraries that I'm aware of are in adjoining counties (the most common situation. at least) to a person's county of residence. In some rare cases, reciprocal agreements may extend statewide, or at least regionally, I dunno. The downside to me having the one card from a library, that has a reciprocal agreement with my library, is that I have to physically visit a branch in that other county once a year to get the card renewed (the trip to the closest branch takes about 40 minutes; issuance of the new card takes about 30 seconds).

Thanks for the names of the musicians. I don't recognize any of the names except Miles', and possibly Joe's. But once I check the discography of the two or three other ones, I'll probably recognize several songs that they wrote and/or performed. Of course, one or more of those artists might be one-hit wonders . . . .

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by sufue

Don't feel too bad - I also only get five from my local library. So you have company in misery...

That was said in jest, and the smily (frowny) was put there in jest, too.

Originally Posted by sufue

Although as someone else said, it's nice to get any at all to download and keep.

In all honesty, I am thankful for what I get. Have you ever calculated how much money you save (of course, if I had to pay for some of them, I wouldn't buy them--unless they were on sale/cheap). The median price for a track at Google Play seems to be about $1.29. For you, the savings is $6.45 each week. For me, it is $3.87. Multiply that by 52 weeks and . . . . it amounts to quite a bit of money. Of course, it might not be worth it if you can get paid $50/hour for a job or something; it does take some time to go through the songs and find one that you like or that you haven't already downloaded (as is often true in my case). You're better off just buying them outright.

But, I've got a problem. I can't stand to pay more for something than I have to, and especially to miss out on a deal in which I could have gotten something free, but had paid for whatever it was. I know, it's illogical.

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Hmmm . . . . I wonder if they will issue a library card to a non-resident (for a fee, of course) to someone like me? Someone compiled a list, located somewhere on this (MobileRead) site, of libraries that do that, but I've forgotten where it's located. I'll try to dig it up, if someone expresses interest in it. Some of the libraries may give out cards free to anyone, I dunno. But they would be few and far between.

Of course, a person's best bet is to find libraries which have a "reciprocal agreement" with other libraries. All of such libraries that I'm aware of are in adjoining counties (the most common situation. at least) to a person's county of residence. In some rare cases, reciprocal agreements may extend statewide, or at least regionally, I dunno. The downside to me having the one card from a library, that has a reciprocal agreement with my library, is that I have to physically visit a branch in that other county once a year to get the card renewed (the trip to the closest branch takes about 40 minutes; issuance of the new card takes about 30 seconds).

Thanks for the names of the musicians. I don't recognize any of the names except Miles', and possibly Joe's. But once I check the discography of the two or three other ones, I'll probably recognize several songs that they wrote and/or performed. Of course, one or more of those artists might be one-hit wonders . . . .

In OH it's a statewide policy, though some like Clevnet require an in-person visit to register. I had to email Cincy a scan of a utility bill to prove residency. I'm in those plus Cuyahoga, Columbus, Akron, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown and Portage. Surprisingly, for new ebook releases, smaller ones like Youngstown usually have much shorter hold times, rarely more than 2 weeks if you recommend via Overdrive before release. Maybe temporary though as more people become aware...

[GtrsRGr8]

I haven't posted free classical music offers in quite some time. At this time, I want to give you a roundup of all of the free, high-quality (no indies, et al.) classical music download offers, that I am aware of, that are available on a periodic basis.

I feel certain that I will overlook some additional, germane information; if so, I'll make one or more posts to address that issue. However, I believe that everything below is accurate.

Naxos
Requires (Free) Subscription or Membership: Yes.
Sign Up Webpage (if Not the Homepage, Above): - -
Frequency of Giveaways: At least twice in a month. There's one offered on a Tuesday at the beginning or end of the month, with no choices; there's one offered a couple of weeks later (again, on a Tuesday, I think), with three choices. Other free downloads offered periodically.
Formats Available: Always MP3; often FLAC, also.
Notes: If you don't see a free offer on the webpage where it's supposed to be, make sure that you have scrolled all the way down the page (sometimes email programs truncate (clip) the end of long messages).

Classical-music.com.
Requires (Free) Subscription or Membership: Yes.
Sign Up Webpage (if Not the Homepage, Above): --
Frequency of Giveaways: They speak of their free downloads being "weekly;" but it appears to be the same one for a month, at least.
Formats Available: MP3 only.
Notes: "the official website of BBC Music Magazine."

Open Music Library (OML)/Alexander Street.
Requires (Free) Subscription or Membership: Yes.
Sign Up Webpage (if Not the Homepage, Above): http://alexanderstreet.com/page/clas...-download-week.
Frequency of Giveaways: they speak of their free downloads being "weekly;" however, it seems to be only once every two weeks.
Formats Available: MP3 only.
Notes: OML's/Alexander Street's giveaways seem to be targeted at institutions, like public and school libraries. However, I have never seen any statement that the giveaways were only for them, or anything to that effect. Because of the giveaways being targeted toward institutions, it might take some creativity (you don't have to lie) to answer some of the questions required to sign up.

YourClassical.
Requires (Free) Subscription or Membership: No.
Sign Up Webpage (if Not the Homepage, Above): --
Frequency of Giveaways: Daily, Monday - Friday, including holidays; but see the "Notes," below.
Formats Available: MP3 only.
Notes: All of the daily giveaways are single tracks. YourClassical seems to be sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio; there is (or used to be) a mirror webpage on their website; however, I don't have the URL for that webpage, at the moment. The link to only the current day's freebie is available at YourClassical; however, at this webpage you can find links to not only the current day's giveaway, but also about 6 or 7 of the previous days' giveaways.

If you come across any errors, or anything that you think should be added, above, please let us know on the open thread, or by sending me a PM. Thanks.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

<snip>
Classical-music.com.
Requires (Free) Subscription or Membership: Yes.
Sign Up Webpage (if Not the Homepage, Above): --
Frequency of Giveaways: They speak of their free downloads being "weekly;" but it appears to be the same one for a month, at least.
Formats Available: MP3 only.
Notes: "the official website of BBC Music Magazine."
<snip>

The information about classical-music.com seemingly having just one free download per month appears to be in error.

I have seen only one featured on their website for about a month, but it seems that they do have one or more other free downloads each month. Here, for example, is a free download, from just 2 weeks ago (the link is to that track or album; I checked, and found that the offer's still good at this moment. Remember: you've got to be a subscriber to their newsletter; if you are, and have signed in, a red "Download" button should appear over the thumbnail of the album. Click on it.

I can see that I have more research to do.