The debate over “illegal” downloading of music over the Internet has raged on since the turn of this century, and will likely continue to for some time until the recording industry and music consumers find a fair middle ground in the pricing of music.
In fact, this debate has been one of the most contentious issues ever since the Internet became a household world by the late 1990s.
Not long after, ambitious software programmers came up with software that interlinked servers set up to offer music lovers the ability to share and download just about as much music as they pleased at no cost.
These networks, called P2P (Peer-to-Peer), still exist today. Napster cut a deal with the recording industry, but others like Kazaa and Limewire persist.
But as far as P2P networks, I do not recommend downloading songs from them. In fact, many people I know over the last few years don’t even use P2P software anymore because there are so many better, yet fee-based, solutions available.
Not only can you not download say 65% or more of the download requests on P2P networks, there are also well-known, common problems using P2P downloads such as:
– Incomplete songs and other file downloads
– Poor quality
– Unreliable and incorrect titles and artist tags for some songs
– Corrupted or maimed songs (the ones that echo and skip with annoying sounds.
Those are put out on P2P networks by the recording industry – especially for
very popular songs and artists)
– Infected files containing viruses, trojans, worms and other malicious packets that are sometimes missed by the major anti-software updates or they take too long to get the patch to update their databases once a threat is discovered
– Huge drain on computer resources
Those of you who have suffered the consequences of downloading through P2P networks feel the collective pain, especially if you’d had viruses and trojan attacks (which I’ve experienced and hope to never again).
Many computer users that also use P2P networks complain of slow computers (even when the P2P is closed), weird things happening like pop-ups not being blocked by pop-up blockers, color, font and other settings mysteriously changing, frequent crashes, etc. Most likely they have some kind of virus that virus software has not been able to detect. 
Sometimes a complete reformatting of your hard drive is needed to fix the problem. Viruses commonly hide like cockroaches from light on your computer hard drive and at times launch background programs that slow down your computer, collect your personal information and more malicious attacks like erasing your hard drive files (back-up, back-up, back-up).
Some folks have written and said that they get lots of great songs from such networks, but overall, is it worth it if a ghost virus unleashes on your computer (often undetected by various safety software) and does damage that will cause you headaches for days if not weeks? And what about if you pass the virus on to unsuspecting friends and other network users?
Many of the viruses and “dummy” MP3s found on P2P Networks and other downloading and sharing software programs have been said to be the work of the recording industry, criminals in various countries around the world and other hackers who are sympathetic to the industry and musicians.
Rumors have circulated for years about hackers hired (under signed confidentiality agreements) to create and distribute annoying, chopped up, empty and incomplete MP3s across various P2P networks in attempt to battle the “pirating” of music. Who knows what percent of bad files shared on P2P networks are the work, directly or indirectly, of the recording industry.
Where To Find Free and Low-Cost Quality MP3s
In a series of reports, I’m putting together listings of the best places to find free, quality MP3s that you don’t have to worry are infected or illegal.
You be able to get MP3s from various websites, including many fee-based music services that offer dozens of great free MP3s at prices much lower than iTunes.
Another list will offer dozens of links to free MP3s from record labels, bloggers and band and artist websites, with of course, the emphasis being alternative and indie rock.
While you do need to supply a credit or bank card to launch your two week trial, just make sure to cancel on day 13 (and download as many free tracks as possible) of your trial and never be charged a penny. Otherwise, you can elect to continue with the service or not and cancel at any time.
If you try it out, I recommend choosing the eMusic Premium Best Value plan after your initial free 25 MP3s. You get 75 MP3 downloads per month for $19.99. That’s approximately 26 cents a song, unless they have changed their pricing structure since this article was published.
So, download your 75 tracks, download as many of the free tracks as you want and then cancel, if that is your preference (I know many people who like it so much they don’t cancel).
There are other plans as low as $10 per month for 25 songs. With iTunes, you’d pay more than double that for 25 tracks, approximately $24.75. The major benefit iTunes has over Emusic, at least for the time being, is that their music catalog is much larger than Emusic, because iTunes has the money and staff to cut deals with just about every label. Nevertheless, Emusic has a huge catalog that features many of the best artists and groups from every genre imaginable.
Download these free CDs (just click the “Download All” button):
– 2007 Independent Music Awards – With Watermelon Slim & The Workers, Paul & Price and Bitter:Sweet.
– Bloodshot Records Honky-Tonk Compilation – Featuring Old 97s, Paul Burch, Wayne Hancock, Riptones and The Misery Boys.
– Cantos Classic Titles – Highlights include world music artists such as Orchestra Baobab, Tabu Ley Rochereau,Bembeya Jazz National, Boubacar Traore, Ismael Lo, and Ami Koita.
Another advantage of Emusic is the liberal re-download policy. For example, if you somehow lose all your MP3s you purchased from Emusic, don’t freak out. They let you re-download all of the music you ever purchased completely free. It is also neatly organized into menus in the Downloads section of your account to make the task much easier and faster.
Early on, Emusic was one of the first music download portals to offer comprehensive reviews of many artist and band songs, compilations and entire albums crafted by some of the best music critics and writers in the profession. Emusic is part of the larger All Music Guide, famous for being what many consider one of the most reliable and extensive guides to music and musicians for the past 15 years.
If you need to find information about an artist, song or CD, check out Allmusic.com. Personally, I love how their writers weave compelling and lively reviews of music and revealing, brilliant profiles of the greatest known and lesser-known artists from all genres of music for the past 200 years.
In addition, members are free to offer their own reviews, save albums to playlists to download them later, share lists with other members, access music maps and all kinds of other interlinking features, which AMG was basically the first to take music maps (influences, followers, similiar artists, etc.) and apply them to both modern and classic music.
So, here are just some of the current free MP3, and some entire CDs, from Emusic.com:
(If you do sign up, please mention phil.daoust@gmail.com)
Most of the free tracks available from Emusic.com are for subscribed members, including members on the free trial.
After you download your free MP3s, click the “Browse” tab and look for the “Free Tracks” link.
Here are some of my personal favorites, hope you enjoy them as well. (You do need to have iTunes downloaded and Emusic MP3s automagically add themselves correctly to your iTunes and your iPod just as if you had purchased the songs from iTunes):
– Energy – Apples in Stereo
– Dog Problems – The Format
– I Love This Game – Masta P and Romeo
– I See You Pan – Animal Collective
– Elephant Gun – Beirut
– All The Wars – Avon
– Telling Sue – Assembly of Dust
– Do You Want To Go Out With Me – The Donnas
– Walking To Do – Ted Leo/Pharmacists
– Master of None – Beach House
There is so much great free music at Emusic. Only catch is that to get it, you have to at least try the free trial.
Part Two (next week): Labels and Band Sites – A Guide to the Best Free MP3s
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