The answer is LAST.FM , LASTRIPPER and STATIONRIPPER.  Free MP3 Download for all operating systems and all platforms.

The amazing news is that this method works equally well under Apple MAC OSX, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Linux!

The dream is to build a virtual radio station based on music you like that keeps adding fresh tracks as new music comes out AND THEN download, tag them and load them into itunes automatically every day so you can load them into your iPod or Creative Zen in my case.

I’ve got it and at least one of the methods (probably the best one) is ABSOLUTELY FREE and that’s “The Last Ripper”.  The only downside to the Last Ripper is no direct support for iTunes, but iTunes can import the songs anyway.  Station Ripper directly supports iTunes, but has some issues and some advantages of it’s own.

Everybody knows that you have to RIP a cd to create MP3’s but what if you could RIP a streaming audio radio station off the internet?  Now you can have an MP3 library of epic proportions for free and it would automatically update itself every time you run the software.

Step 1 is to go to http://last.fm and register for a free account.  Download the Last FM player to your desktop so you don’t have to go to their website to listen to your favorite music.

Step 2 is to go to http://thelastripper.com and download the ABSOLUTELY FREE LastRipper.

After you install The Last Ripper you’ll need to go to the options screens and configure it.

Configuring The Last Ripper is easy.  Just go to the options screen as above and enter your newly created Last.FM user name and password.  When that’s entered press the OK button.

Next Click the LOGIN button. Oddly enough you now have to press the OK button to exit the Login screen.

You’ll see this next if you are on Windows XP or Windows Vista:

You’ve already got music heading into the directory you configured under the ‘Options’ menu.  It will amazingly enough record the music under the name of the album and artist.  Over time you will build up a musical library based on this artist and similar artists that the Last.FM system predicts you might like.

Make sure to log in to Last.FM and “TRAIN” your Last.FM radio station as to what you like and don’t like.  You can click the “BAN” or the heart shaped “LOVE” buttons.  When you’re pretty happy with the result, don’t click the “ARTIST” buttons anymore in The Last Ripper, but instead click the “Recommendations” button.  The recommendations are based on your starting band and your likes and dislikes.  Over time it will get a better idea about what you want and this will become the channel you want to record with The Last Ripper.  Since The Last Ripper has no LOVE or BAN buttons, you have to complete the training of Last.FM using their online website or the Last.FM player, which is well worth downloading.

What you will not get with The Last Ripper is any sound.  You can rip, but not listen to the tracks that are being recorded as MP3’s.

Separate your activities into two modes.  When you want to listen to Last.FM, use their downloaded player.  When you want to RIP, use The Last Ripper (in which you cannot listen).  It is possible to do both at the same time.

So far all this wonderful technology has been free, but lets take a look at a more powerful option that is not free called Station Ripper.

You can Download Station Ripper as a free trial from that link.   Station Ripper can rip Pandora, Last.FM and Shoutcast.  Unlike The Last Ripper, it can RIP multiple streams at the same time which allows you to record many thousands of songs per day into MP3 format.  It’s multi-format, multi-site abilities also set it apart from The Last Ripper and are probably worth the money you would have to pay for Station Ripper.

In  The Station Ripper, you can see I have clicked the red “Record” Button for a station and it appears in the bottom section as being ripped.  I selected two stations and you can see that two stations are being ripped to disk simultaneously.  That’s pretty neat and the secret of getting thousands of songs per day into your MP3 collection.

Station Ripper however has some problems. Firstly, under Windows Vista, it does not always cleanly connect to media player.  This prevents you from being able to RIP and listen at the same time.  The seond limitation is that it does not always get the beginning and end of the songs correct and so sometimes the MP3 you create includes the promotional material from the radio station you are ripping.

Another benefit of Station Ripper is it’s ability to interface to iTunes and populate it’s song directory.

Station Ripper also downloads the album art which I really like.

The other really serious benefit of Station Ripper is that the sources are not limited to Last.FM and while Last.FM’s audio quality is quite good, there are people out there streaming audio at 96k and even 256k which results in near studio quality recordings to your MP3’s.

So what do I use?  I haven’t been able to decide on one versus the other.  I like Last.FM for it’s ease of use, but I prefer the audio quality of Station Ripper.  So right now, I am happy to use both.

Please check the Video Post of both of these tools in action - Last.FM - Station Ripper and The Last Ripper - How  to Use Them

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