Over the last few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to try out an application that allowed me to download any song off the internet for free. So what’s so great in that you ask? Well I was doing it legally, not through torrents and shady sites.
What this means is that, I did not have to pay anything for that Pussycat Dolls version of ‘Jai Ho’ and that too without incurring the wrath of record companies.
Audials’ softwares have been available to PC users for a long time now. It has allowed users to download music and convert them to various formats. You can visit their site for a complete list of their offerings. With a S60 platform version being made available, users can now search for music through their phones and listen to it.
So how does it work? Well, Audials basically allows its user to search for a song, artist, etc using the search function and then starts listing the results. After that all you need to do is download the track. These tracks are actually recorded off the internet radio stations, which means it is legal. So if you are looking for a song, you just search for it and download it. The application then converts it into mp3 format and downloads it.
Well that’s a description of the application. How does it work in reality. Well pretty closely! It worked exactly like I mentioned it to you. All you need is the application and a working internet connection on your phone. I’d suggest you to opt for a unlimited data plan.
During my period of reviewing, I found to the application to be quick and very friendly, just type in what you are looking for and there you have it, voila! A list of whoever or which ever song you were searching for. The application states that is nearly able to find what you are looking for. Well I had no problems in finding what I wanted.
Since the application searches at a number of locations to generate a list matching your parameters, there is a downside to it, this is actually quite unintentional and not at all the developer’s fault. There are instances when a search fetches pornographic content or at least something titled to suggest something of that nature. This is possibly because these files are named in such a way so as to deceive programs and people about what it is in reality. I remember having seen a few results which clearly were pornographic in nature when I searched for Bob Dylan. This probably the only downside to this great application.
A big drawback that I noticed was the quality of the downloaded song. While ‘Along the Watch Tower’ sounded as good as a normal mp3, the Pussycat Dolls’ version of ‘Jai Ho’ sounded like a very low quality mp3… as if I had recorded it from a radio standing a few feet away. This I thought was a bit of a letdown. But then again, if that place had such a low quality version, it’s not the application’s fault.
At the end of it, I think this application is worth having on your Xpressmusic device and any other S60 device, if you love your music. You pay once for the app and you get free unlimited no. of songs for free, and that to legally! what more do you want?
So stop thinking and get this application for your phone right away!
Remember to install this application and a set of plugins that are needed (it can be found on the forum on the company site) for this app to be able to search across sites and networks and get you the results you want.
Here is the address of the company, www.audials.com/en.
Below are some screen shots of the application. I would recommend this application… it’s really great!
