Music on the Internet

To do two things at once is to do neither.

-- Publius Syrus

It may be obvious to say that when you’re new to computers, the place most people start is with iTunes. Apple has made music easy with iTunes, after Napster and others in the 1990s made music easy to download.  If you have an Apple device, iTunes makes it easy to buy and manage a music library on your computer or phone. Most recently, iTunes Match allows you to keep a copy of your music on Apple's servers. More here.

There are a few other sites you should consider after you’ve looked at iTunes. Most notably, Google Music launched and is worth a look. Apple and Google as well as Amazon are now moving music to the "cloud" by storing a copy of your music on the Internet and making them available anywhere.

Steal It, or "Share It" For Free
As the Napster model showed, the free acquisition of music met with a predictable response from the recording industry: accusations of theft and counterarguments of “fair use” raged, but eventually the courts protected the music industry and for better and worse, the free distribution of music has faded or moved to the risky peer to peer nooks of the Internet. Peer-to-peer connects computers--your “peers”--to each other directly over the Internet. Once that connection is established with programs like BitTorrent/uTorrent or Gnutella/Bearshare, etc. you can choose to share music or movies or other files with your peers via the Internet.

You can still find music for free on these peer-to-peer networks, but expect to run afoul of the law if you’re sharing music that is intended for sale or otherwise protected by lawyers and music copyright. Your kids may be downloading music for free, but the risk of a lawsuit is probably not worth it, or at least that is what the music industry wants you to believe. Networks like Gnutella keep file sharing alive, but consider the risks before participating. When you hear “peer to peer” you should not think “illegal” but rather “what kind of sharing activity is happening? If it’s protected by copyright that restricts sharing, you could find yourself the target of a lawsuit.

Don’t forget that some musicians are giving away their music for fee, so the free options still exist for legally finding free music. The challenge is making sure you don’t download something that will get you prosecuted. A great site for finding (legally) free music without risk of a lawsuit is the music site, Jamendo. Why would someone give away their music? Watch this movie for a more detailed explanation.

Own It/Download It
As a dramatically changed industry, music and media have been rocked to their core over the past ten years. The way we pay and play music is still changing. iTunes is the most popular “download and own” method, where you buy a song (instead of an entire album, perhaps) and play it on a device like an iPod or iPhone. Steve Jobs best explained this music model in a letter on his thoughts about “DRM” in 2007. “DRM” or “digital rights management” is the effort to restrict those who buy music from sharing it or selling it or giving it away… some would even say loaning it to friends. In any case, the restrictions placed on music use are still a topic of spirited debate.  Another popular site for buying music is Amazon.com’s MP3 site.  A “digital tattoo” or watermark technique trend has made music easier to play on any device without too many restrictions. Technology now makes it possible to download a music track with your purchase details affixed to the file. If you give it away or share it for free, your digital fingerprint may remain with the song.

Rent It/Stream It
Another model for listening to music is the radio-style rental model. Music access, not ownership: Listen to music over the airwaves, or more accurately, over the Internet. Pandora has emerged as the best known site for listening to music without downloading it.  With Pandora, you create an account, enter your favorite artist(s) and listen to music related to that artist. This type of service is supported through advertisements or in some cases, with a monthly fee. It is legal and free to you. Rhapsody is another site offering an “all you can eat” rental of music for a monthly fee. Check out Grooveshark, Rdio, Spotify Last.fm for more variations on the theme. Some work really well with Facebook, others let you download a copy to your phone or computer.

Finally, don’t forget that many radio stations offer a digital stream of their station online.

If you are looking for lyrics for music, consider TuneWiki.

A more in-depth recent review of music sites is here and here.

Google announced their service on 11/16/11 - click here to read more about it.