Free Tunes from the Net: Five Great Music Podcasts!

Commercial radio is boring and illegal music download sites are being shut down-so where can a music lover find some free tunes these days? Podcasting has become a great way to discover new (and not-so-new) music, and for artists and record companies to share their music legally. I'm hoping that artists and labels will keep podcasting. It's a good deal for them, since it has enticed me to buy the recordings and concert tickets of many artists I wouldn't have heard of otherwise.

Here are some of my favorite music podcasts, covering different types of music. All are free to download and can be found in Apple's iTunes and other podcast aggregators (programs). You may also stream them from the shows' Web sites if you don't want to download them to your hard drive or MP3 player.

KCRW.com: This public radio station from Santa Monica, California offers several music podcasts. The Morning Becomes Eclectic podcast presents live in-studio performance from the station's acclaimed show of the same name. Two sets of music enveloped by conversation. There have been performances from everyone from indie rockers to alt-country bands, from Spanish-language pop bands to electronica artists.

KCRW also features a Today's Top Tune podcast that features one song daily.

The Roadhouse: An hour of "the finest blues you've never heard"-old-style, contemporary, and everything in between-comes your way in this podcast from Iowa City, Iowa. Host Tony Steidler-Dennison knows his stuff and plays a wide range of blues styles and artists. And with his deep voice and informal approach you'll feel like you're sitting next to a buddy on a barstool in a honky-tonk with a great blues jukebox.

All Songs Considered: Despite the clunky name, this podcast from National Public Radio offers a great wealth of pop and rock music in several forms. The weekly ASC podcast covers songs from about a half-dozen artists with snippets of each tune (you can hear full versions at the show's Web site). What I really enjoy are the archived live concerts that ASC Webcasts monthly from a Washington, D.C., also at the show's Web home. You can hear the full concerts from artists such as Sleater-Kinney, The New Pornographers, Toots and the Maytals, James Brown, and many more. For some you can even download the entire concert in MP3 form; the others you can stream to your computer.

Radio Without Borders: From radio station KUT in Austin, Texas comes this podcast of live performances from their studios, with one song each from several different artists. As you'd expect from its location, the program leans toward country, alt-country, and singer-songwriter genres. It's often interesting to hear a song you know performed in a more stripped-down, live acoustic environment.

Indiefeed: This podcast gives you a free tune each day, along with a bit of introduction about the artist. Indiefeed has channels for alternative/modern rock, Americana/roots/folk, blues, electronic, and hip-hop music, and it includes tunes from up-and-coming artists as well as established ones.