Free Music! Cheap Music!
Free Music! Cheap Music! Read all about it!
How can I obtain MP3s and other digital files legally?
Cheap Music
Some MP3s can be legally obtained through online subscription
services or from sites officially permitted by the copyright holders to
offer certain MP3 downloads. Some of the “pay for play” services from
which MP3s can be legally obtained are:
Apple iTunes Music Store
- over a million songs, at $0.99 per song (includes cover art)
- can burn songs onto an unlimited number of CDs and use on unlimited # of iPods (personal use)
- can play songs on up to five Macintosh computers or Windows PCs or share on a LAN
- weekly free download, free movie trailers and other cool features
- "preview" 30 seconds of any song for free
- iTunes is available for Mac OSX and Windows 2000/XP!
MusicMatch
- over 700,000 songs at $0.99 per song, $9.99 for most albums
- playlists can be shared, and music is accessible from any computer
- can burn your own CDs and use songs on portable players
- albums come with cover art and are CD-quality
- extra streaming feature for a monthly fee
- can play MP3, WMA, and WAV formats
- available only for Windows
FullAudio MusicNow
- "hundreds of thousands" of songs at $0.99 per song, $9.99 for most albums
- can burn your own CDs and use songs on portable players
- uses WMA (Windows Media Format) and works within Windows Media Player (available only for Windows)
- extra streaming (radio) feature for an additional fee
Napster 2.0 (formerly Pressplay)
- with Napster Lite, $0.99 per song, $9.99 for most albums or custom compilations
- 30 second clips of songs available for free
- uses WMA and MP3 format
- share playlists with friends
- download and listen to unlimited songs while you are a subscriber, for a monthly fee
- ad-free radio stations also available
- only compatible with Windows 2000/XP (not Mac)
Listen.com Rhapsody
- over 50,000 albums ("all 5 record labels") at $0.79 per track
- access music and playlists from anywhere
- ad-free radio stations also available
- only compatible with Windows (not Macs)
Peoplesound
- uses Real Player 8 (free)
- policies/fees unclear
- works with Macs and Windows, IE and Netscape
Free Music (no costs, no law suits!)
There are now numerous Web sites linking to or offering free,
legitimate music and video, including:
- Kuro5hin.org
- the industry-sponsored Music United
site (huge list of free music links!)
- iTunes radio stations. In iTunes, click on "Radio" on your list
of music sources (iTunes is available for MacOSX and Windows!)
- live365.com
- the well-known mp3.com
- Amazon.com
- iRATE radio,
which learns your music preferences and guides you to new music you'll
probably like.
I'm practically penniless and record labels are rich - why *not* share music illegally?
In a nutshell, it's likely to mess up your computer and waste your time. Fears of lawsuits aside, peer-to-peer
(P2P) file sharing software, like KaZaA, is increasingly causing serious problems for users. The most common
effects are inability to go to desired Web sites, unwanted pop-ups, and a very slow computer. Simply removing the
sharing software is usually not enough to cure the problems; Spybot and similar tools are often needed to cleanse
computers of the "spyware" secretly installed by P2P programs. Solving P2P-related problems is consuming
inordinate technical support time -- a sad waste of University funds and resources -- not to mention the
losses suffered by computer owners (that's you!). For more information on spyware, see the
April,
2003 IT Newsletter.
Nobody would bother suing me -- would they?
In a word, yes. As outlined in the
previous
issue of the IT Newsletter, UVM is legally obligated to comply with
properly executed subpoenas when the
RIAA finds anyone on the campus network who they would like to sue for copyright violations.
While the RIAA's lawsuits have grabbed headlines,
copyright holders are continuing to file
complaints against alleged UVM copyright infringers.
These complaints are authorized by the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
DMCA requires UVM to disable network access to a computer that is the subject of a complaint,
unless the person using the computer removes the offending material. More about this process, including
conditions for referral to Judicial Affairs, appeared in the
summer and
back-to-school issues of the
IT Newsletter.
Here's UVM's policy on Peer-to-Peer file sharing and
Copyright Law.
Last modified August 27 2004 01:14 AM
