DISQUS

Decklane · 2 years ago

It's funny because it's essentially the same model as the illegal 'sharing' sites, that are funded by advertising. I also see problem in the demographic that they are targeting. How interested are advertisers in contacting people who are too cheap to pay for their entertainment ? I believe sales of DVDs of TV shows have been quite popular. It's not at all clear that entertainment is all going to the free ad supported model of radio/television.

Snazz · 2 years ago

It might also be worth mentioning that the log-on-every-month 'feature' to keep your music 'alive' will bite users in the ass if/when the site is no longer supported.

(Didn't another service have this problem recently? They went out of business and everyone's 'purchased' (rented really) media was no longer accessible)

Mike · 2 years ago

I tried this yesterday (Sept 17) - what a TOTAL waste of time. After about an hour of futzing around I was still unable to download anything. The site was horribly slow.

Hint: pay the 0.99 cents or use peer-to-peer. Don't waste your time with Spiralfrog.com

Homer Simpson · 2 years ago

Fail.

Three words: TOO MANY CONDITIONS

a few others: RESTRICTIONS, DRM, ADS, LIMITATIONS

Is it really that difficult? If users can't buy it once and listen to it on their choice of player when and where they want, they'll go elsewhere. Jesus, you'd think the industry would have figured that out by now.

And one last word: SLOW

Nuggett76 · 2 years ago

Very well written piece. I've been following SpiralFrog's plan for some time now. Not impressed at all. I'm no apple fanboy, but the windows media player compatible devices and windows media pale in comparison to what Apple offers. I would rather be stuck in DRM hell with Apple over Microsoft anyday... Just my $0.02

Jared · 2 years ago

I jumped on the site to check it out and like you I find searching annoying (2 minutes of clicking to find Kiss). I was also kind of hoping to find a way around DRM and put the songs on my iPod, but alas it looks like it would be more work than it is worth.
But the most annoying thing is the amount of time you have to spend on the site, not only due to speed problems, but due to the fact that only one song downloads at a time (read: more time to look at ads). During this time I managed to download six songs, and play one of those ad games. Spiralfrog has the chance to be a great thing but DRM and speed of the site hold it back. Its too bad, really, free legal music from big artists, is great. O well maybe someday!

Mom · 2 years ago

I, too, checked out the site today, and it was painfully slow until after 5 PM EST. But I'm betting traffic slows post-launch and/or SF buys more bandwidth and it'll speed up. As far as the DRM, once you've installed http://analogwhole.com/ or http://www.soft29.com/freeware/fairuse4wm.htm, it's no longer an issue and you can use the music you've downloaded how you want, when you want.

Paul · 2 years ago

Hey, I've been using this for about a month now, and I really like it.

Becks · 2 years ago

So I tried to check this out but, I'm sorry, if you're not in the apparently uberhub of music in canada or america then you're not invited to the party.
so no way is this going to take over from itunes. at least people from other countries can get to itunes!

my music blog · 2 years ago

I checked it out and I think that is really nice... however, there are only some countries that can download their music. But that's understandable since they just started.

Kurt · 2 years ago

From reading blogs and own experience the website is just so slow! And the opinion is generally negative. I found a UK based model backed by Peter Gabriel called We7 or aka as I like to call it, "the Frogstomp". Its a similar model in that its free music, paid for by advertising but thats where the similarities end. The tracks are DRM free, they are to keep, they work on all formats (ie Mac and PC) and mp3 players, good news for ipod users! The site isnt slow like Spiral frog and it doesnt require you to come back to the site. The advertising is delived in the form of a 10 second audio clip before tracks, but as I understand it, they are to be targeted to the applicable user. The catalogue is much smaller but I read its only been around since May and it has over 100,000 tracks. It works in all countries, check it out!

DAve · 2 years ago

I have no problems with downloading :)

Thomas · 1 year ago

Yeah, it works perfectly for me. The site is really fast. I don't know what you other guys are talking about. Maybe your flash players are clogging up your RAM with excess data, but mine works fine. From reading Kurt's post, its easy to tell that he works for We7.... That one doesnt have a very large selection at all. For now I'll stay with Spiralfrog for my mainstream needs and torrents for more underground stuff.

Rascal · 1 year ago

Been using Spiralfrog for a month. Just did the renewal of membership thing, and it was pretty easy. Probably about 10 questions related to the site (like, how did you find the site? rate this, rate that, etc.). And that's all I had to do to renew every license of all the songs I downloaded. Pretty good setup, I'd say!

Highly recommended.

Kitcat · 1 year ago

I tried to go on this site from the UK but still couldn't, even though old newspaper articles said it would be up and running here in the spring! It's a bit rubbish!

Lauren · 1 year ago

Is this site still legal(spiralfrog?)

christina · 1 year ago

Hmmm, It worked fantastically for my little sister (she had one of those supported mp3 players) - and I had no problem downloading anything. However, I wasn't impressed by their selection- it wasn't my style. (Again though, my little sister loved it)

Ed Nichols · 1 year ago

I really like the site. Found songs that I could't find anywhere else. No problems so far.

Jack · 1 year ago

I can understand the general frustration, but I rather enjoy SpiralFrog. I don't understand why a ten second audio clip is less annoying than a constant visual ad, that can be blocked by certain pop up blockers or just ignored. I have downloaded a few hundred songs, albeit most are Christian artists, but it wasn't that difficult. I just pick a couple of albums, then watch TV, play a game, or just surf the web. I either leave the music on my computer or put it on my phone. If you have a compatible device, I don't see why you wouldn't rather get it for free. I know it won't come anywhere close to iTunes but I can pay for dinner for at least a week with the money I saved. I just think you guys should give it more of a chance.

Kristina · 11 months ago

I like the idea behind spiralfrog, but it just didn't seem to work for me. I tried it with my sansa, but it ended up making the songs I actually owned not work on my mp3 player within days! I don't know if it was just a bug with my mp3 player, but I had to reset it and the songs would still not play. I had to go through a ridiculously long process to put a lot of my songs back on my sansa and have them work. And the spiralfrog songs didn't even last a month on my mp3 player. I would go on the site to renew it, but it never seemed to renew the songs. I would have to re-download it. It messed up my mp3 player to the point that I got frustrated and bought an ipod. I say if it works for you, great, but be cautious.

Jo · 8 months ago

I want to Install spiralfrog i just need to re register I have a time getting it back on my computer. Please help me . Email me Right Back. Thanks alot.

jeff davis · 8 months ago

downloaded lots of vidios now can't log on any more.

jeff davis · 8 months ago

whats that mean?

Pat · 7 months ago

Spiral Frog got shut down earlier this year. In March I think. Anyway, it isn't working anymore.

Pat · 7 months ago

Stinks that Spiral Frog got shutdown