How to Download Music Online - The Right Way!

How to Download Music Online - The Right Way! By: arowe1

More music fans than ever are looking to download music online. However, many people become overwhelmed by their downloading choices - and are unsure which music solution will best fit their needs and desires. And here's a more serious concern... When searching for free music to download, you can get confusing and conflicting information about the legalities involved. It's true. Many people have unanswered questions about p2p file sharing networks, and the risk of being targeted (and possibly sued) by the Recording Industry Association of America someday. But even with the threat of RIAA lawsuit risks, more people than ever are using p2p programs than ever before. Why? The answer for the continued popularity of p2p networks, despite the controversy surrounding file sharing, can be found in a revealing online music survey. The Pew Internet survey (conducted in October 2003) found that more than two-thirds of Internet users who download music online say that they do not care if it is copyrighted. According to the survey, those looking to download music online cited many reasons for their ambivalence towards copyright issues, including: - They feel that CD prices are too high. - Too little profit goes to artists. - It's a way to sample new music BEFORE buying the CD. - The music may not be available offline, such as indie music. - They feel they are entitled to "fair use" of the music they've purchased. Although these survey results are bad news for the RIAA, lawsuit risks remains very real if copy-righted music is downloaded or shared illegally online. And even though it's true that the RIAA has lost court cases in the past against Morpheus and Grokster, this has only caused the recording industry to shift their tactics to targeting individual file sharers instead. Furthermore, it's no secret that the RIAA will continue their current campaign of suing those who are illegally sharing copy-righted material. So how do you download music online - the right way? Here are some useful tips: 1) Do your research. Take the time to compare all of the online music download options available for you to choose from. 2) Get the facts. Learn about the critical differences between the legal music sites VS the file sharing networks. 3) Stay legal. You should NEVER reproduce, distribute or publicly share copyrighted material online. 4) Choose a legal site. In using a legal music service (such as Napster, iTunes, Musicmatch On Demand or eMusic) you'll get 100% legal, worry-free music downloads. Also when researching any online music site, if you can't get your questions and concerns answered from the website itself, be sure to email them directly to try to get the answers you're looking for. If you fail to get a response, or feel the reply was inadequate, that is probably a sign that it's time to move on to another online music download site. http://www.articledashboard.com">Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

How To Download Free and Legal MP3

How To Download Free and Legal MP3 By: Josh Bender

Free music? Of course! But free and legal music? Yes, it's possible. Everybody who has ever surfed the Net knows that music can be downloaded freely. Although there are many questionable sites that offer free music, you do not have to do anything illegal to find good music on the Web. So, where can you download free and legal MP3? Below are some great sites where you can download good music without having to break the law. Download Free and Legal MP3s at Amazon.com Amazon.com may be best known for its books, but the site also features a Free Music Downloads section where you can download free and legal MP3s. The site offers music from different genres, including Alternative, Indie, Punk, Blues, Broadway, Children's Music, Christian, Classical, Country, Dance, Folk, International, Jazz, Latin, New Age, Opera, Pop, Rap, Hip Hop, Rock, R&B, Soundtracks, and more. If you're a musician or an artist, you can also upload your own MP3s here for free and let music lovers discover and experience your own brand of music. Download Free and Legal MP3s at eMusic.com Perhaps one of the best places to look for and purchase MP3s online is eMusic.com. This is because the site offers files that are not copy-protected, thus letting you download an unlimited number of songs to satisfy your music needs. The music may not come for free but for every new sign up, the site offers up to 50 files completely without charge. Download Free and Legal MP3s at GarageBand.com GarageBand is where you can find the best Independent music from the most talented Indie artists. The site has recently partnered itself with MSN music to realize the Internet's true potential in providing a means for both artists and music fans to connect and transform the music business. Download Free and Legal MP3s at IUMA.com IUMA is where you can find and download free and legal MP3s from famous, not-so-famous, and unsigned artists all over the world. If you're into Indie music then this is the place for you. IUMA is mainly dedicated to bringing you music from undiscovered artists whom you should know about. Download Free and Legal MP3s at Download.com CNET's Download.com is one of the premier places where you can download free and legal MP3s. The site has one of the largest music archives on the Web so you can have your choice of music to suit your taste. At this site, you do not only hear the artist's music, but you can also take a closer look on how their music came to be by reading artist's bios and stories. Download Free and Legal MP3s at AmpCast.com Ampcast is another music site where you can download free and legal MP3s. Search through their entire archive for Independent artists or music from popular rock/pop groups. And if you don't like to download anything, you also have the choice to feeds from the Ampcast Surreal Radio. The site also offers great music videos which you can watch through video streaming and community features such as forums and chatroom where you can talk with other music lovers or Ampcast artists about your favorite topic – music. As you can see, there are plenty of sources of free and legal MP3 music on the Internet, you just have to know where to look. http://www.articledashboard.com">Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

How do I record and create MP3s from home?

How do I record and create MP3s from home? By: Jason Cole

There used to be no substitution for a good recording job done in a professional recording studio. Now with the rising popularity of digital PC recording and the low cost of recording software, many people are re-thinking the idea of home recording. Plus with the ease of MP3 distribution, and the many sites that offer free web hosting and the ability to upload and download free music, the difficulty of promoting and distributing your band's MP3s has been made very easy. The questions at hand are, what do I need to begin recording at home, how do I turn my recordings into MP3s, and what do I do with said MP3s after I am done creating them? Home recording on a PC requires just a couple of things; a computer, recording software (i.e. Pro Tools, Cakewalk, Cubase), and a digital soundcard. If you will be recording multiple tracks from multiple sources at the same time, you might want to invest in a mixer as well. (This is assuming that your sound card only has one audio input) This will allow you input more than one instrument/microphone to your computer at the same time. Install your recording software and sound card drivers. Plug your mixer into your sound card, plug your instruments into your mixer and you're ready to begin recording. The recording process may be a little different depending on what software you are using, but most decent software comes with a good instruction manual which you can consult if you are having problems. After recording, you will want to mix all tracks down to a stereo audio .wav file. Now that we have our recording done and our .wav file in hand, we'll want to convert it to an MP3 file. If you will be burning your tracks to CD, you won't need to convert it to an MP3 file. But for distribution for music downloads on the web, the smallest, best quality, most universally accepted format will be an MP3 file. You can take your .wav file and export it as an MP3 through whatever audio recording program you use. Most recording software offers that option, but keep in mind that you might need to mess with the output settings to get the best quality MP3 out of your program. Another option is to use a stand-alone .wav to MP3 converter. If you go to download.com and search for ".wav to .mp3 converter", you will be presented with a good list of programs that do just that. I have had good results using both methods, so it's really up to you. Once you have your MP3 files, you can set-up your own website and offer free music downloads. Or you can go to one of the many sites that offer free web hosting for musicians, so that the musicians will have a place to offer downloadable music MP3s, music videos, and music lyrics. Sites like, http://www.dfjams.com" target=_blank>DiskFaktory Jams and Section Z are both free and have other tools for musicians to access, like message board forums and internet radio stations. Once you have your recording done, the possibilities are endless! http://www.articledashboard.com">Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Guide to Finding Music Online

Guide to Finding Music Online By: Keith Kingston

Are you frustrated because finding your favorite songs on the net has become more of a chore than an enjoyable activity? Read this simple guide to finding music online and your troubles will be out of mind before you download your next Green Day hit! MP3s are compressed music files that are one-tenth the size of regular audio files. As a normal audio file requires about 40 megabytes to download, and MP3 requires four. Although this is still a substantial number, it is much more manageable for the average computer. Thus began the MP3 downloading, sharing and trading craze. There are a variety of options when it comes to playing your MP3s. Media Player comes with Windows, QuickTime 4 comes with Macintosh, and Win amp is the industry standard product. Music can be downloaded from websites or FTP sites. Websites are easier to use. Songs download automatically when you click on the titles. Finding good websites to download from is difficult. The sites that used to work well now dabble in other venues. AlltheWeb.com and MP3.com usually only contain independent, unknown bands that may be great, but if you're looking for the stuff you've heard of, you'll be wasting your time. Audiofind now carries radio stations instead of music files, and Audiogalaxy.com Music Search requires a subscription. Good websites to use are LycoMP3 Search, MP3 Search on Altavista, MP3 Search at Astraweb, and MP3Bot Search Engine. FTP sites usually require special software. Some free software options include WS FTP and FTP Explorer. Oth Net (Kermit search) is a clean fast way to download from FTP sites directly from the browser that works even better than the software options. In the wake of the Napster downfall, it has become mostly illegal to download and share free music files on the web. Musicians are opposed to the practice, and rightly so, because the free music sharing significantly affects the commercial success of their CD sales in stores. Downloaders tend to think musicians are being unfair by revoking the free music files from the net, but one must remember that selling music is their career. It is nearly impossible to find full albums on the web. These days, musicians will release a couple of new hits onto the net to try to entice the web surfing crowd to wander into the music store and buy the full album. Remember, if all else fails and you MUST have the MP3 of a song, there are thousands of sites to which you can subscribe and pay for the downloads. New bands are always willing to put their music out on the Internet in hopes of getting heard, so free downloads are limitless if you are willing to lend your ear to some new tunes. Keith Kingston is a professional web publisher who offers advice on hoew to find http://radio-stations.allspecialoffers.com/" target=_new>free internet radio stations and source cheap mp3's such as the latest www.4-mp3-downloads.com>http://www.4-mp3-downloads.com/" target=_new>Eminen mp3

Free, Legal Music Online

Free, Legal Music Online By: Daniel Punch

Almost everyone has heard about the massive crack down on Internet music piracy that has been occurring over the past few years. Napster was taken down (although it has now returned as a pay service), other file sharing programs now require users to pay for a license and the RIAA and other similar organizations are doing their best to hunt down copyright offenders and put an end to their crime sprees. The consumers on the other hand argue that their actions hurt nobody, that there is no damage done to anyone by their not buying an album. Furthermore, they claim, MP3s allow them to sample a CD before purchasing it, thus actually helping sales. I'm not here to argue the pros and cons. Basically it's not worth it, as neither side of the argument will ever see the opposition's point of view. What I'd like to do is take a look at the completely free and legal alternative to 'stealing' music. Those wonderfully talented musicians who are willing to put their creations online to download for free, solely for the joy of spreading their creations to the masses. Free music is surprisingly easy to come by, even music by famous bands. Sometimes it needs to be 'streamed' from the Internet, meaning that you can only listen to a song while you're online, but with the ever-growing popularity of broadband Internet this is really no longer a problem. Sites such as MP3.com and purevolume.com provide free music by almost any band you can think of, although there is a large amount of it that has to be streamed and not downloaded. A search for 'free legal MP3 downloads' will reveal a huge number of pages to visit. For something specific, try visiting the artist's website, or the site of their record label. These will often offer a few sample tracks to download for free. It's not quite as convenient as having access to every song that you want, but it's not a bad alternative. But how about we forget about the mainstream for just a while and move towards the alternative? Towards the hopefuls, the talented bands that have yet to be 'noticed'. There are a huge number of these smaller bands out there that are sticking their stuff online for any and all to listen to, just so that they can be heard. These can be easier to find, because most MP3 sites will be filled with these smaller acts. A great place to start is http://www.garageband.com/" target=_blank>http://www.garageband.com/ or the aforementioned http://purevolume.com" target=_blank>http://purevolume.com The great thing about smaller bands is that you can often find bands that come from your local area and then go and see them play live. Being able to see a favourite band live more than once a year (or lifetime) without expending huge amounts of money and time is pretty cool. Many music search engines will let you search for bands of a particular genre in a particular area, which makes it all quite easy. A fairly major contributor to the online music scene is the remixer. These people take other tunes and redo them, often in a techno style because one person can do this competently. Chief among the tunes selected to be remixed are those old ditties that used to play through the simplest of sound chips on now aging consoles: the video game theme songs. People now go and grab the main tune line from an old favourite and fill it out, making real the work our imaginations used to do for us to turn the single tone melodies into orchestral masterpieces. A few good places to start are http://remix.kwed.org" target=_blank>http://remix.kwed.org and http://remix.overclocked.org" target=_blank>http://remix.overclocked.org as well as a personal favourite band http://machinaesupremacy.com" target=_blank>http://machinaesupremacy.com I hope this has given you something to think about. It's not hard to come across illegal MP3 rips, in fact it's often hard to avoid them, but if you give the free music scene a look you may find something completely different and new that will really do it for you. With web hosts already being penalized hugely for illegal content being stored on their servers (having an entire server taken down because of one inconsiderate user is damaging and irritating beyond belief) and moves being made to charge ISPs for the content being accessed by their users, it makes more sense than ever to get out there and grab yourself an awesomely original and completely legal music collection. About the Author Daniel Punch M6.Net Web Hosting http://www.m6.net" target=_blank>http://www.m6.net

Free Music Ringtones – Sparkling!

Free Music Ringtones – Sparkling! By: Nelson Widrow

Fre music ringtones seem to be one of the newest and hottest trends right now. I am sure you have all noticed that when you hear a cell phone ring on the street or in a store, no longer do the phones have just standard rings, but now they sing songs. Where do these ringtones come from? There seems to be such a wide array of possibilities as no one seems to have the same ring. Well to start out many phones come with links to sites to download ringtones directly through the phone. Most phones allow a certain amount of free music ringtones as a trial, maybe one or two and then you have to start paying for them. These ringtones can range from ones with only music to ones that actually have the words to the songs. There are also numerous websites on the internet that offer free music ringtones. However there is normally some sort of catch. For instance you may have to have a certain cell phone provider. Others offer free music ringtones with the purchase of another product. I have also noticed that many companies are now using free music ringtones as promotional devices, for example Pepsi. For a while when you bought a Pepsi you would look under the cap and sometimes it would say one free ringtone. You then of course had to go to some website and download from a limited list but it was still free. There was also a very bizarre commercial on television in my hometown that gave you a code number to call to get a ringtone. I am still not sure what they were promoting. I am sure more of these types of promos will continue to appear, as people continue to be obsessed with what different and crazy songs they can make their phone sing. http://www.articledashboard.com">Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Free Music Downloads: Is it still a big deal?

Free Music Downloads: Is it still a big deal? By: Nathan T. Lynch

We've heard about the controversy surrounding Napster.com and the artists in the music industry who do not want their music downloaded for free. With all of the debates over downloading music for free off of the internet, it might interest you to know exactly what is going on in this arena. On the original Napster site, people could upload whatever music they had and it share with each other for free, or download whatever music they wanted to add to their library for free. The musicians argued that not only was this process a copyright violation, but also that one of the reasons they are out there working so hard to make music for us, is to in turn, reap some monetary benefits from their efforts. The free music downloads that Napster was supplying in the past, were hindering the public from going out and purchasing CDs because they could get all of the music they wanted, for free, from the website. Napster.com now offers a free seven-day trial if you register with them on their website. You can listen to as much music as you want during that time, for free, however you can no longer download the songs you want unless you pay for them. After the seven-day trial period is up, it costs between $9.95 and $14.95 per month to be able to utilize their download service. There is no contract to sign, its all on a month-to-month basis, and they also offer discounts for multiple downloads. That price seems pretty reasonable if you think about how much it costs to buy one CD. Of course, many people are still actively downloading music for free off of the internet. There are quite a few free music download services out there, but you have to be careful. The music downloads might be free, but they are not always legal. Additionally, if you install the downloading software onto your computer, you are running the risk of letting in a ton of spyware, adware and even viruses, which can be harmful to your operating system and in some situations, cause irreversible damage to your computer. Downloading music, free or otherwise, off of the internet is a convenient and easy way to build your song library. But even though we all want to enjoy our favorite music, whatever genre it may be, its better to be informed and know of the facts before you download in order protect yourself and your computer. http://www.articledashboard.com">Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com