dimondites

27 OCTOBER UPDATE

 Largehearted Boy is a music blog featuring daily free and legal music downloads as well as news from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture

AmieStreet.com is a new site with an interesting model. An Indie music commerce site with a social network twist plus a bottoms up pricing model (Yes, I thought this odd too, but it does make sense for  Indie labels.). All listed music starts out free then increases up to .98 cents with demand. The earlier you discover, the less expensive it is. Site is still in beta so there are some hiccups to work through, like their volume control. The volume control button is so miniscule, one click shuts it off completely, that is if you can find it to start with.

FreeIndie.com’s motto is “Free Albums - Guiltless” and they really do offer free download of full albums. This site offers a tight selection of music, all indie labels. I particularly like this site for their voice. Their blog is a bit edgy and funny, without coming off like they’re trying too hard. [Thanks to Karen for the tip.]

ORIGINAL POST

 

Legal free music. They’ve finally figured that by introducing one track, there is a decent chance you may buy the entire compilation. A list of sites I discovered recently…

 

Download.com is very polished and well-operated. Super easy to use. They offer the broadest selection I’ve seen so far, and they also carry plenty of the sub-c categories, such as Drums & Bass and Hard Trance. I did encounter one problem. About 50% of the top songs from their 75,000 free mp3 titles were missing the download button. I am completely serious. The help desk will tell you it’s Window’s fault. Nice! It’s interesting how Windows just happens to know when to stop downloading free songs from the likes of Justin Timberlake or Paul Oakenfold, but not that little indie guy. (Don’t ask why I was looking for the buy button for Justin Timberlake.)

Salon.com offers a free song a day on the Audiofile page. Selected and reviewed by Barlett, you are guaranteed a decent set, as his choices are quite safe for the general audience. Selections gear more towards rock and alternative, with folk and world following behind. Every once in a while, he’ll throw in electronica and country. Overall, I enjoy the tracks I’ve listened to. Good news for late comers. They’ve archived the old ones and kindly placed them in alphabetical order, about 200 songs. There is one catch. You are required to watch a 10 second ad in order to access the free MP3’s. It’s worth it.

3hive is a growing jukebox of MP3s the folks at 3hive like. Almost all excerpts and streams are in old-fashioned MP3. And because they link directly to the official label and artist websites they found these links, you won’t have to worry about the RIAA breathing down your neck. Five reviewers cover almost every type of music you can imagine.

MacJams goal is to create an online environment where musicians and aspiring musicians can come to improve their craft and gain exposure to their music. At the same time, MacJams is a repository of fantastic music for listening and download by anyone who is a fan of good music. (This description is from their site.)
 

Better Propaganda focuses on new, independent music & allows you to use interactive features to discover, hear & collect it. They are dedicated to providing independent labels & artists a better opportunity to be heard. Right now, the site is loaded with thousands of free, hand selected & fully legal mp3s, with brand new ones uploaded daily.

ShotsRingOut.com. How about I just quote their mission statement so you get the idea yourself?  “Shots ring out… we direct them towards you. We provide the music videos for you to enjoy. When possible we offer you high quality, ipod compatible downloads. Welcome to the new hotness.”  (Ah, I think they’re young men [boys] who are making this space work for them.)

 

iCompositions is an internet community for users of Apple’s GarageBand music creation application. We give every user unlimited free space to upload and share their creations. Additionally, other users can comment and rate music in order to help artists improve their abilities.

 

 

I think everyone knows they offer 1 free download per week.
 

One of the news articles I read listed, “Get free music at Amazon.com. This is the best secret kept yet!” I was surprised I didn’t know about it. Now I know why. Three titles to download, and they were baaaahhhd. The site displays this complex maze of links, but they don’t work. My recommendation? Don’t go there.

Here’s my first submission to add to the list. Free whale remixes. No, not free willy. Remixes, I said. Seriously, it’s a cool program. The Whale Remix Project is working to raise awareness about the humpback whales. They’ve even launched a DJ contest, and yes, you can download the winning mixes for free from their site.

 

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