Monthly Archives: March 2010

Nate and I are major music lovers. We are always blasting something from either his music library or mine.

And what would be the the music lover be without new music?

It really is a hobby for me – finding and buying new music. Sometimes the wallet can take a little beating though! So I am trying to hold back and budget a little more than I use to.

That’s why I love the free music you can legally get online.  Most places only offer downloads for a limited time so if you make it a habit of checking regularly it really helps out on that budget!

Here are a few of my favorite places to pick up some new tunes.

iTunes Free Songs

Every Tuesday, iTunes posts free songs from up coming albums. Usually they have a Single of the Week (a more mainstream track), a Discovery Download (a song that is “worth your attention” according to the iTunes staff) and a Single of the Week in Spanish.

All are worth a listen to. I don’t necessarily download everything every week, but I have found some great music through them.

Bonus: Become a friend of iTunes on Facebook to get special music samplers offers.

Amazon.com Free MP3 Downloads

I will admit that I buy a lot of music on Amazon these days because 1) it is usually a little cheaper than iTunes and 2) they carried DRM-free music before iTunes.

When you purchase on Amazon, your music downloads using their handy little app, the Amazon MP3 Downloader. I love this thing. It automatically downloads to you iTunes or Windows Media Player.

Now on to the free music…

Every day, Amazon lists a free song for download. For instance today it is Danny Elfman’s “Alice’s Theme” from the upcoming film Alice in Wonderland.

They also have free samplers that usually features themes or genres of music like the Relaxation sampler or the I love the 80′s, Volume 1 (1880′s, mind you!) These are perfect for holidays and theme parties. I probably got half my Christmas music collection from them.

Bonus: Sign up for their twitter feed to get updates on sales and specials. I have scored a lot of good, recently released albums for no more than $4.00.

RCRD LBL

RCRD LBL is an exclusively-online record label that offers all of its music for free via Mp3  downloads. It offers music from emerging and established artists, as well as reviews and interviews.

Its a great place to find upcoming artists and hear great remixes from popular DJs.

Bonus: subscribe to their daily newsletter that features popular and upcoming songs for download.

Artist Newsletters

Many times artists or bands will release free downloads to their fans. All you have to do is go to your favorite band’s website and sign up for their newsletter, twitter feed or become a fan on facebook.

You will also receive the latest news on their albums or tours and sometimes other perks like presale opportunities for upcoming concerts.

Those are a few of my favorite places online.

Of course I still like to buy from local record stores and directly from the artist too, but I find the convenience of buying online dominates my choice.

Are you obsessed with downloading music like me? What are some of your favorite ways to get new music?