Wow, a tidal wave of change within a tidal wave of change.
Every year the internet gets bigger - more people using it, more sites about
more topics, and way more pages - so much so that most of the major search
engines are weeks behind in indexing (and many beginning to charge to be
included).
The second "tidal wave"? Ah, the one that's why
you are here - music downloads. How often do you hear or recall a song you
really want but can't find on CD, or don't want the whole CD (whether price,
space, or no interest whatsoever on the rest of it, is the reason)?
Or a friend had it, but EVEN if you copied it, you had quality concerns (and
yeah, maybe moral issues about that too...)
Quality as well as file size issues have been largely resolved
by a number of formats, MP3 getting the most press (and while significantly improving Windows
Media, Microsoft is taking its usual bully stance and trying to
edge MP3 out by creating quality/compatibility issues under its newer operating
systems). Through various vendors, the record companies and musicians have been making their music available for
download, legitimately and at reasonable cost (or even FREE, as a promotional
tack).
Through (now defunct) Napster, Aimster and newer similar peer-to-peer means, many music fans have exchanged
music files, not conscious or caring that they might be ripping off the musicians
and writers whose work they desired - not that the record companies hadn't
ripped them off in the past... Quality of exchanged files was variable
too.
Another major download source has been in newsgroups. I
recommend only downloading from trusted sources (hmmm, how do you know?) AND
making sure your
antivirus program is ON and has the latest virus definitions / signatures (buy
antivirus software here).
There's not much risk in just viewing / listening, but again, if you don't watch
it, some clown might just have a nasty .exe file right there alongside the good
stuff, and woe is you if you chose the wrong one (this tends to occur with
greater frequency in the semi-anonymity of newsgroups than at the more easily
traceable websites). So, wear your protection, folks, while you're out there
doin' your thing.
The links here are to LEGITIMATE music sources with quality
sound. Cost is reasonable, and I have pages full of links to some great FREE
music you can download. As usual throughout the various sections of Michael's Eclectic Pages,
there are links to all sorts of informational material.
Amazon.com now offers an extensive selection of Free Music Downloads.
Why? To promote CD sales there, but there's no obligation to buy CDs to
get the free music.
After building up its fortunes on a combination of a early and
wisely chosen domain name, word of mouth, and efforts of affiliates everywhere,MP3.com
is another of the many dot.coms which has discontinued its affiliate program.
Nevertheless, its still another resource for you.
