val's guide to getting your own music files

hello traveler! i ended my spotify subscription in august of 2024, and since then have been mostly consuming music through more . traditional means. through local files on my computer and an mp3 player i got online. if you’re here maybe you also want to do something like this! so i’m going to teach you how using my personal methods and give other tips i’ve picked up from doing this to help others!

disclaimer: i am not promoting or suggesting anyone do anything illegal on this page! piracy bad or whatever!

anyways, for full clarity i use a windows running computer, so some of my tactics may not work as well for other operating systems. also no matter what you’re doing make sure you have an ad blocker enabled on your browser and are frequently checking your system for malware! don’t sacrifice your computer for some mp3 files!

ways to obtain your files:

physical media:

this is probably the most expensive method as it not only requires having physical cds but also requires the user to have a cd disc drive of some sort since they have been phased out of being apart of modern day computers :(

but if you have a collection of cds (you can do this with a tape converter as well, but i haven’t personally done this) and a cd drive you can hook it up to your computer and put the disc in!
you’ll also need software to rip the files off the cd, i personally use windows media player legacy, which gives you the ability to rip files in different formats and to automatically rip cds.

the wmpl file type options!

digital copies:

this method requires no external drives or anything like that, just buying a digital copy of music you want to download from the artist directly.

bandcamp is probably the most popular marketplace for music, but many artists (especially those through bigger labels) also sell digital copies on their official websites.
bandcamp gives the ability to download in all types of formats and some artists official stores do the same thing!

the good old fashioned way:

this is the easiest and cheapest way to do this, by grabbing the audio from an online upload of the song and downloading it to mp3. i personally use cobalt tools for this and no matter what i suggest using a site that is open source and again USE AN ADBLOCKER!

file formats and metadata

the different audio formats all differ in size/quality, i personally use flac when ripping cds but also have other formats like m4a and mp3. i've gotten a few samples of different formats (flac, mp3 and wav) with the sizes of each so if the difference matters to you you can listen to each and pick a preference from some of the main ones!

flac audio example (7.6mb)

mp3 audio example (1.3mb)

wav audio example (10.6mb)

metadata is the information in an audio file that helps with categorizing and distinguishing the album, artist and song name as well as an album cover.
on windows, you can right click the file and go into properties > details and edit all the info. here’s an example of a fall out boy track with all the info filled out:

hardware

if you’re looking to get an mp3 player there are many different options! there’s refurbished ipods, or newer devices from like samsung and other brands. i personally have a hifi walker h2, which is fairly basic with a small screen, playlist feature, bluetooth capability, and came with a 64gb sd card. i really love it honestly and works perfectly with no issues after i’ve had it for almost a year. it’s about 170 CAD but i’ve seen some being resold for cheaper on places like ebay. but do NOT buy one being resold for more than the base price, theres some h2s on there that are being sold for 300 dollars on ebay, don’t pay more than you need to for them.

otherwise i’d suggest getting a refurbished ipod, or older mp3 player from a place like ebay. there’s some crazy expensive ones from bigger brands but franky you do Not have to pay for one that expensive to just listen to music.