Question: 1) Is it really possible to find legal sources for kids and their parents to download music over the Internet ?
2) Why should illegal music download be of concern to music listeners ?
First of all, yes, there certainly are a great many ways to download free music legally, or for very low cost. A small sample of these quality music sites can be found through the links at the end of this article. Secondly, why should illegal downloading be of concern to music listeners ?
Suppose as a writer, your long and laborious efforts to create worthwhile literature, were suddenly made available for free on the Internet ? Personally, I write free articles on the Internet to promote my Search Engine Placement business. I do this by choice because this is simply the way the Internet works, and how business is done best on the Internet. I provide free quality information on topics such as Google, Technology and the Internet in order to gain a prospect’s trust and attract paying SEO customers. My primary income, therefore, does not come from writing articles. If I were writing articles for a living, I would certainly take offense at the free, unlicensed, and illegal distribution of my commercial material.
Out of respect for music itself, and the worldwide community of musicians, there has to be a compromise between the profit motives of the corporate music business and those who want all music to be free all the time.
Let’s take a long term point of view, from something other than the obviously selfish desire to get music for free. The long term effect of illegal music downloading will inevitably be fewer musicians, as well as less music diversity. I have friends that are musicians, and I know that there are many musicians who produce quality music, who for one reason or another have not been able to sign with one of the “big five” recording companies. Their ability to focus on their music full-time rather than as a part-time job, is heavily dependant on the smaller recording company to promote and sell their music.
This brings me to the first quality source for free and low-cost music downloads, which I highly and enthusiastically recommend:
Magnatune
http://www.magnatune.com
I respect and admire this company for several reasons.
1) Their music repertoire is diverse and the quality is first rate. Most of their artists have not signed with a major label, nevertheless, their music is of exceptional quality. All music is available for download in CD quality format, (as opposed to lower quality MP3 format).
2) Their motto is “We are not evil”. They split royalties 50/50 with their artists. This is unheard of in the music industry. It seems that for more than just a few musicians, Magnatune is making a significant impact on their artists professional livelihood.
3) Magnatune offers their customers very reasonable prices on a sliding scale, depending on what the customer wants to pay for an album, (at approximately 30 percent below industry averages). Some albums are priced as low as $ 5.00. They also allow the music to be shared with 3 of the customer’s friends legally. What better way is there for music to be known and for Magnatune to make their artists available to a broad audience ?
4) They also allow their music to be played on Podcasts and many other types of multi-media formats, films, commercials, etc., for very reasonable rates.
This article is not intended to be a commercial endorsement for Magnatune, although I do give them a very positive recommendation. It seems to me that they are the standard bearer of the new recording company business model. This means that with an open-minded approach to the music business, it can be a business that is attractive for the distributor, the musician, as well as the music consumer. I encourage everyone to visit their web site, and listen to free samples from their many genres of music. They offer everything from Classical to New Age, and everything in between. It is easy to spend hours listening to all of the free music available on their web site, and their catalog is growing all the time.
Note: perhaps I am partial to Magnatune for the additional reason that they are located in Berkeley, CA. I attended the University of California at Berkeley, (among other schools), quite a number of years ago, and I may be partial to good ideas coming from that area.
What about the commercial download sites ? Although I actually do like Rhapsody because of their page layout, organization, ease of use, and wide variety of music, I am not an avid enough music listener to subscribe to their service. You may want to check out their site if you have the inclination.
Note: Although popular subscription sites like ITunes, Rhapsody and Napster offer non copy-protected music, the problem of unfair compensation to musicians according to the big business model of the major record labels remains. Note: Apple allegedly gives a mere 10 cents of every 99 cents it charges per downloaded song to the artist.
One of the most insightful articles I have read in a long time was recently features in Wired Magazine by David Byrne (an eclectic artist, formerly of Talking Heads).
You can read it through a visit to wired.com and search for articles by David Byrne, or just copy and paste the following URL in your browser, (sorry, it was too long to use the automatic link window in this blog.)
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
Additional sources for free, or nearly free, and low-cost music can be found at the following links:
Note: these sites have been briefly reviewed, and it is believed that they are all legal sites only. If anyone find any of these links to be illegal sites, or finds that they are misrepresenting an any way, please notify me and the link will be promptly removed. Readers assume their own risk for any downloaded material.
Links to over 150 free and low-cost music download sites.
Rhapsody.com 25 free tracks per month – monthly subscription rates
Amie Street - sliding price structure – depends on # of downloads – store credits
Lala.com –Trading site – trade your unwanted CD’s for ones you want by mail – CD sales
Last.fm - radio subscription site - they offer 3 free listens of each song and recently signed on with major labels.
Deezer.com - A free radio site, with excellent selection.
Spiralfrog.com - large library – uses ad click through business model
Narcopop Independent Musicians Directory
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Bands_and_Artists/
http://irate.sourceforge.net/
www.emusic.com
www.greenleafmusic.com
www.bleep.com
http://cashmusic.org/
http://creativecommons.org/ and http://creativecommons.org/wired
MP3.com (used to be an illegal site, now legit - owned by CNET)
http://www.nonesuch.com/
http://www.ithinkmusic.com/
To determine if you are downloading from a legitimate or illegitimate site, read the following article:
FAQ.
http://www.whatsthedownload.com/whats_the_controversy/faq/#4
Here is another informative article on downloading for parents and children.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7648/what_your_children_need_to_know_about.html
And here is another on the effect of illegal downloading on artists incomes.
http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/how-downloading-mp3s-really-does-take-money-out-of-the-artists-pockets
Additionally, a proposal for a viable business model that consumers, artists, and the music industry could implement to the benefit of all parties at:
http://www.strom.com/awards/316.html
Final Note: this author assumes no responsibility for the actions of readers of this article. The purpose of this article is to provide information on, and to encourage legal downloading only.
Illegal music download sites are deliberately not mentioned in this article.
If the reader chooses to use file sharing or swapping services, (P2P sites), it is his or her responsibility alone. This author assumes no responsibility for the reader’s legal or illegal downloads or consequences thereof, such as download of the following: inappropriate content, viruses, Trojans, worms, or other software malfunctions that can occur from downloads at illegal music sites.
