Free Music Downloads:  Is it still a big deal?

In the nineties, Napster came out as a MP3 music-sharing service and a revolutionized the industry. However, in 2001 the company was taken down by lawsuits and an injunction from Metallica. It was not until 2003 when it reopened with new safeguards to avoid infringing copyright laws.

Since then, many online sites have popped up that offer users free music downloads: Pandora, Spotify, Soundcloud to name some examples among many others. These sites offer listeners on-demand access to millions of songs at any time without any monthly fees or ads and there are no limits on how much you can download each week with these services. On the other hand, there are some free and legal sites such as Amazon that offer free music downloads.

The question is : Is it still a big deal? Even though there are many online sites that offer free music downloads to listeners nowadays, it is true that we can still download and listen to music for free without having to pay a dime or sign up for any service. But also, because of the emergence of these new services in the recent years, record labels have caught on and started offering more promotional content than ever before. For example, if you buy an album on iTunes you can get a couple content for free such as a digital booklet or expanded artwork.

The main difference between these sites is that on the ones that charge their users, there is a limit to how much you can download for free each week. For example, Pandora limits you to 10 hours of free music per week; Spotify limits you to three hours of free music per week and Soundcloud has none at all. Most new and popular services such as Spotify or Soundcloud doesn't have any limit in the amount of music you can listen for free. However, there are many illegal filesharing websites where you can download unlimited amounts of free music without downloading any files on your computer. In my opinion, although there are many free online music sites available now days and in the future, peer to peer file sharing websites will continue to be a problem. These sites illegally distribute copyrighted material without any monetary gain or limits.

Free music downloads have gone a long way since Napster opened up in 1999. It brought us on-demand access to millions of songs for anyone willing to download MP3s and use their hard drive space. Today, there are so many different ways to get free music downloads that it is no longer a big deal for listeners anymore. However, just because downloading free music is easy and available does not mean that it should be done.

Do you think it is still a big deal? What are your opinions on this topic and what is the best way to acquire free music? As always, I am interested in hearing about other people's opinions. Please feel free to post your thoughts and feedback below.

– Reviewed by Steven R.

Title: Free Music Downloads: Is it still a big deal?

Author: admin Date: 2012-07-26 07:10:53 Rating: 5 Review : 459 reads Last Read On July 26, 2012 By admin Title: Free Music Downloads Author's Name : admin E-mail Address : abc@abc.com

Title: Free Music Downloads: Is it still a big deal?

{ ARTICLE START }

In the nineties, Napster came out as a MP3 music-sharing service and a revolutionized the industry. However, in 2001 the company was taken down by lawsuits and an injunction from Metallica. It was not until 2003 when it reopened with new safeguards to avoid infringing copyright laws.

Since then, many online sites have popped up that offer users free music downloads: Pandora, Spotify, Soundcloud to name some examples among many others. These sites offer listeners on-demand access to millions of songs at any time without any monthly fees or ads and there are no limits on how much you can download each week with these services.

Conclusion: Although there are many illegal filesharing websites where you can download unlimited amounts of free music without downloading any files on your computer, I believe that these sites will continue to be a problem. Although there are many legal ways to acquire free music downloads, peer to peer file sharing websites do not have any monetary gain or limits and these sites illegally distribute copyrighted material.

Title: Free Music Downloads Author's Name : admin E-mail Address : abc@abc.com

Today, there are so many different ways available to get free music downloads than ever before. It is no longer a big deal for listeners anymore because it has become easier and more convenient.