Music Downloads

Find All the Music Downloads You Want

People have always loved music, and with the birth of Napster, it seemed like the dream of finding all the free music downloads you wanted, via the Internet, were there just waiting to be played. This was great for a few years, but eventually the recording industry won out and Napster in its original incarnation was no more.

There have been many sites trying to get around the file sharing problems and offer free music downloads, at no risk to the consumer. Since record companies seemed willing to sue individual users when they couldn’t take on the software companies, there has been a lot of confusion and fear around the issue of free music. The most successful so far has been Apple Computer’s iTunes. They offer low-cost, and so far legal, music downloads using their extremely popular iPod technology. Every year brings a new have-to-have piece of hardware, and currently the iPod is it. With this player, the listener can download all the mp3 formatted music they want and take it with them wherever they go.

There are also music stores on the Internet that allow you to buy entire albums of music downloads or individual songs. One such site is http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/. To join, the user agrees to their license agreement and rules for how the music may be used (multiple computers, burning to CD, etc.) and sets up an account for paying for the songs. Individual tunes sell for under $1 US, and albums, depending on the length, are more. Prices vary by site. Some artists won’t allow the virtual sale of an entire album, but will release some of the songs.

Starting in about 2001, CD music sales worldwide began to plummet. It took record producers a couple of years to regroup, but now they to are making legal music downloads available to the listening public. Within a short time, the whole industry should adjust to the reality of digital music offered through the Internet.