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At $0.99 a pop, it is easy for many of us to get carried away with mp3 purchases, whether it be through iTunes, Amazon.com, or any other service. There are, however, several sites that allow you to peruse and download mp3 music files for FREE (and within the constraints of the law).
- Amazon.com: My favorite site has to be Amazon.com; Amazon has literally thousands of free mp3s on their site at any given time. Simply navigate to their site, click on "Movies, Music & Games" in the left navigation panel and scroll down to click on "Mp3 Downloads," and then find "Free Songs & Special Deals" under "Categories" in the left column. Many up-and-coming artists will be featured here, as well as more established artists. (Another, easier way would be just to click here.) You can find something new to listen to (and maybe splurge on a .99 purchase or two :) Currently, Amazon is also offering a free $2 credit (which will purchase two mp3s) as a Valentine's promotion.
- iTunes likewise offers a variety of free mp3 downloads. When you open iTunes on your computer, open the iTunes store (left column), and then click on "Music" on the top navigational panel. When the next page opens, the right side of the window will have "quick links," the top one being for a list of "Free on iTunes." Here you can browse all of the free music (as well as all the other free content) that iTunes has available.
- Another great site for free mp3 downloads is RCRD LBL (http://rcrdlbl.com/). RCRD LBL has free downloads from both new and established artists, and you can also browse to find a new band or new song to listen to. Visit daily, as the site is updated often.
- Make friends with music bloggers. My friend from college runs one of the best music blogs around, Mixtapes | Heartbreaks. She does a fabulous job of keeping me informed on new artists (and jealous of her concert exploits :), and she offers a large number of downloadable mp3s and playlists. Jonk Music is another good site, giving you a song each day from somewhere around the Web (though these are only streaming, you get a nice preview before you decide to buy the song elsewhere).
- MySpace. Though I will admit to loathing MySpace, many bands find a home there, and many do offer links to their music downloads as a way of garnering a fan base. This was how I discovered (and downloaded some free) Pomplamoose.
Though not downloading, there are also many streaming sites that I love, putting together the perfect playlists to get me through my day. Playlist.com and Pandora.com are two of the better ones I've found.
Undoubtedly, I'm missing a few (or a few thousand) sites that give away mp3s. What did I miss?
