Downloading music for your MP3 player

by Shanen Hate

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Your extremely thoughtful children gave you the perfect gift this past year – an MP3 player!  They remembered how much you love music and that little gadget can hold enough songs to keep you occupied for days.  There's only one problem: You don’t know where to get digital music.

One resource is your own collection of music that you've accumulated over the years.  Another is to download it from any number of music sites online.

Attempting a Google search for MP3 download will yield more hits than you'll ever need (115,000,000 at the time this article was written).  Such a high number of choices isn't always better.  As you traverse this long list, you quickly see the word "free" all over the place. Be careful: many of those are illegal to download from. Because we're inundated with the word "Free" all over the place, is any of it true?  Chances are, if you're about to download the newest music from Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, Metallica, or Queen Latifah, it's likely copyrighted material and shouldn't be free. Many bands using the Internet to be "discovered," however,  typically are not on major music labels and offer their music freely to get it out there to be heard.  You can find some great sounds at Epi Tonic and Garageband.  iSound  is a hybrid of both freely downloadable music along with some that requires a fee.

Where should you get music downloads?  This article is going to attempt to help you answer that question.

There are two major ways to get your music online. The first is by way of specific websites that offer the music directly from their servers. The second is file-sharing networks (commonly known as P2P and peer to peer).

The option with less risk (more on risks later) is going with a specific site for your music needs. Keep in mind that those with iPods at the moment will have slightly fewer choices due to the proprietary format. However, Apple's iTunes is not the only game in town.  Alternatives include ipoddownloadspro.com, emusic.com and ipodblender.com.  Your needs may dictate where you go.  Some are pay-per-download based while others have monthly, annual, or lifetime membership fees.  For those seeking music for their standard MP3 players, the RIAA has given the green light to such sites as rhapsody.com, Yahoo Music Unlimited, napster.com, itunes.com and emusic.com. Look at the RIAA's full list  of legal sites. Remember, before paying any money to a site to download music, make sure it is compatible with your tastes.

There is one other wrinkle known as Digital Rights Management (commonly DRM).  You'll want to know whether the music you download from these sites is controlled by DRM, as it does often restrict your use of the music to being used on only one device and/or if you cancel your subscription with a given service, the music you downloaded is no longer usable.

File sharing/P2P networks are another method to get music files.  The networks in and of themselves are perfectly legal.  However, the RIAA has made it clear that these areas are targeted in their search for pirated copyrighted material, which is one risk you take (if that's what you happen to be downloading).  Because you're downloading files from other users across the Internet, you also run the risk of receiving unwanted malware, spyware or viruses on your system. 

To reduce your risks:

1. Keep an eye on how much you're sharing.  In the past, most users targeted by the RIAA were sharing in excess of 500 to 1000 files.  It isn't a foolproof method, but keeping down the number of music files you're sharing will likely reduce your visibility.
2. Most file sharing programs have "privacy" or "security" options that you can exercise in their preferences. Implement those. Additionally, you can seek out privacy protection software that's designed to work with P2P networks. Note that such measures will not make you 100 percent anonymous.
3. Be conscious of the risks you face in downloading a virus, malware, spyware or a trojan.  Make sure that your antivirus software is in effect and kept up to date.

Examples of some of the more popular file sharing sites/applications are MP3 Download Net, Ares, Morpheus, and Azureus Vuze.  If you seriously consider the P2P method to get your music, I recommend taking the time to learn as much about the various applications available so that you can make an informed decision regarding which one is best for you.

Always remember: Copyrighted material is not free – artists should be compensated for their work and if you choose to use a legal medium such as a P2P application to download such material, you do so at your own risk and the behavior is not endorsed by Digital Landing. Legal free music is available -- you just have to know where to find it.  When you find something you like on one of those sites, you may be listening to next month's/year's biggest sensation and just not know it yet!