Previously, in order to play your favorite singles and albums, you had to first convert your music compact disk to the mp3 or a similar format in order to play your favorite music on your portable digital player. While that is still the preferred method for most music lovers who like to purchase music CD's and yet play their music on the go in a portable format, there had also been a rise of Internet downloads of music in digitized form in the decade before this, Napster being the most famous and previously notorious example. The music industry has realized the notoriety as well as the potential of digital music. Sales of music CDs have decreased over the years and music lovers would rather get their music online. They also have facilities of sharing their music with their friends through Bluetooth and infrared devices or even emailing mp3 files to each other.
All this is not so bad, considering the rise of Internet radio stations. Instead of relying on a few radio channels in your AM/FM player, you can now listen to music of your choice. Just type in the keywords in your favorite search engine and you are bound to come across one, if not more Internet radio stations, that exclusively play blues music. There are also social networking websites where musicians create their own profiles to upload their music which they allow you to listen online for free or download for a little price per song. Alternative rockers like Radiohead caused a storm by allowing fans to download their new album, In Rainbows, on their website for as much of a price as they wish to for the first week after its release. 66% of downloads in the first week were for free. However, Radiohead did go on to make a very commercially successful album. All this happened in 2005 and since then many artists release their albums and singles on their websites, and on a few reputed websites for a fee like $1 per song.
The concept of free legal music is hard to define. The Internet has paved the way for many unsigned artists to create web pages on websites where they can upload their music and share band activity. In order to become popular, these artists often let you freely download their music and share it with your friends or post in on your blogs etc. However, artists with record deals or major artists like Radiohead, only employ free legal download-able music as a marketing strategy.
This should not disappoint music lovers too much who want cheap music but do not want to resort to piracy. An Internet connection is much more affordable now, as well as, much more accessible. There are websites aplenty who let you legally play your favorite music without letting you download them. However, if you are always hooked to your laptop or net-book or mobile phone, this kind of music listening will certainly satisfy your needs and show respect to the artists.
All this is not so bad, considering the rise of Internet radio stations. Instead of relying on a few radio channels in your AM/FM player, you can now listen to music of your choice. Just type in the keywords in your favorite search engine and you are bound to come across one, if not more Internet radio stations, that exclusively play blues music. There are also social networking websites where musicians create their own profiles to upload their music which they allow you to listen online for free or download for a little price per song. Alternative rockers like Radiohead caused a storm by allowing fans to download their new album, In Rainbows, on their website for as much of a price as they wish to for the first week after its release. 66% of downloads in the first week were for free. However, Radiohead did go on to make a very commercially successful album. All this happened in 2005 and since then many artists release their albums and singles on their websites, and on a few reputed websites for a fee like $1 per song.
The concept of free legal music is hard to define. The Internet has paved the way for many unsigned artists to create web pages on websites where they can upload their music and share band activity. In order to become popular, these artists often let you freely download their music and share it with your friends or post in on your blogs etc. However, artists with record deals or major artists like Radiohead, only employ free legal download-able music as a marketing strategy.
This should not disappoint music lovers too much who want cheap music but do not want to resort to piracy. An Internet connection is much more affordable now, as well as, much more accessible. There are websites aplenty who let you legally play your favorite music without letting you download them. However, if you are always hooked to your laptop or net-book or mobile phone, this kind of music listening will certainly satisfy your needs and show respect to the artists.
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