Bleep
Bleep
Eliot Van Buskirk
Evolver.fm Editor Eliot Van Buskirk has covered and occasionally anticipated music and technology intersections for 15 years for CNET, Wired.com, McGraw-Hill, and The Echo Nest. He is not currently an employee of CNET.
Quick Take: At the Bleep music store, you'll find the latest glitchy IDM releases, as well as tunes from Boom Bip, Danger Mouse, Philip Glass, and even popsters St. Etienne. While Bleep's catalog is limited to only a few Warp Records-associated labels, its usage rules have no limitations; for $1.35 per track, you get a real, no-nonsense MP3 that you can listen to on any MP3-playing device. Even better, the store's MP3s are of impeccable sound quality, thanks to its use of the LAME codec in VBR mode at an average bit rate of 205Kbps. Bleep's Web-based interface lets you preview all tracks, so you can find out for yourself if its eclectic, underground catalog is for you (unless, of course, you already know it is). It also ensures that you get the best digital music experience possible--thus, the $1.35-per-track price.