It's Easier Than Ever to Download Music for Free

Many people think the days of downloading music for free are behind us. Certainly the RIAA and iTunes would like everyone to think that. But the truth is with bit torrents and downloading sites like the ones listed at iPod Downloads there are still a lot of great places to find songs you are looking for, for free. In fact I find it easier than ever before to find free music online. Obviously these types of services can be abused by people who never buy an album or go to any shows but it's been my experience that what really happens the majority of the time is people find songs and listen to them for free and end up buying albums and seeing shows of bands they would never have heard otherwise.

Indie Artists Gain Exposure From Free Downloading

The downloading revolution has been great for underground indie artists who have little corporate support. It's been great for these artists who do not get their songs played on the radio or their videos shown on MTV. Now it's possible for people to hear these artists without going to some hip record store. So people in
Wyoming
can hear new upcoming bands as easily as people in
New York City
. People are often turned onto new bands this way (I know I've been turned onto many great bands and artists I first heard through free downloads. Bands like Primal Scream and The Olivia Tremor Control) and they end up buying their albums and probably most important to the artist's bank account, going to see their shows.

Classic Lesser Known Artists Heard Through Free Downloading

I've found that another positive phenomenon of free downloading and sites like Last.FM is people hearing many classic artists that are not played on the oldies or the classic rock radio stations. Artists like Syd Barrett, the 13^th Floor Elevators, Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle, Neu!, and Can while rather well known among music snobs (like myself) are not well known to the average music listener. Now it's possible for people to hear these types of artists without having to track down the album at a small store in the city. It's possible for people to hear these artists and find out what the fuss is about and then possibly become a big fan and buy all their albums. These are artists that would otherwise just not get any exposure. This is such a great thing for great music. Great music can be passed around and heard by new people in the internet age and it's a wonderful thing. No longer do people have to depend on the corporate whore radio stations to hear music.

Bubblegum Artists Hurt By Free Downloading

The airhead music supported by the major labels (by and large.) has been hurt by downloading because most people only want to hear the 1 or 2 singles from the average bubblegum album and that's it. Usually people will download the latest album by someone like Kelly Clarkson and realize that the album is not really very good and they'll end up not buying the album. This is great; this is the way it should be. This is why major label artist sales are down while indie music sales are climbing. Good music has been ignored by the major labels for years and now people can actually find and hear the good stuff so much easier. I will absolutely not lose one second of sleep because Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears or any other "diva" loses a few sales because of free downloading. In fact I think these people have already made well more than their fair share of sales because of the massive advertising campaigns ran for their music. And let's be clear here most radio play and MTV exposure is nothing more than the product of a massive advertising campaign ran by the soulless demons at whatever major label they are signed to.

Indie Record Stores And Their Patrons Upset

Another group of people who aren't so happy about all of this is indie record stores who have been losing business to free downloading and internet sales at sites like Amazon.com but as sad as that is I'm sorry but to me that's a price that's worth paying if it means more good music is being heard by more people. I've heard some (mostly older music geeks) complain about how it's "not the same" because you don't go to the record store and hear a suggestion from a store clerk and buy some record and bring it home to listen. They're right, it's not the same, but things change and I truly believe this is a change for the better. Good independent music shouldn't be the sole domain of a few hipsters who live near a great underground music store. People should be able to hear this great music easily and even more importantly to me this music deserves to be heard by more people.

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