The New Limewire? Download Music for Free Online

I'll be honest: I've downloaded music without paying for it. When I was a college student, my roommate and I downloaded every Tori Amos song we could from Napster. We downloaded movies, television episodes, and entire albums. It was easy, except for the long wait times that old-fashioned dial-up offered, and, best of all for broke students, it was free. It was a great way to enough our favorite artists and shows without spending money we didn't have to get it.

MP3's gained big popularity right around the time I was a freshman in college (I'm ancient, by downloading music standards, since 1997 was the year I graduated from high school). It was this amazing technology that allowed you to listen to music without ever playing a cd or having any sort of physical object that stored the tunes. For a kid who listened to tapes and records and got her first CD player in 6th grade, this was HUGE! It also probably great impacted the computer industry, since now you could use your computer for something other than homework and games and photos. I'm sure there are people who got into computers just to get free music!

Since the death of the first peer-to-peer file sharing giant, Napster, in 2000, I haven't bothered downloaded very much since. I used Kazaa a couple of times, when it was still free, and I've tried Bit-Torrent shady downloads. And, of course, I've used LimeWire once or twice, too, mostly to keep up with the times, but I'm definitely still interested in the issue.

File sharing connects the listener or audience with the musician, which can, in effect, cut out the middle man, aka the record industry. Some artists have begun distributing their music online themselves, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, is one such artist. Reznor has distributed several full-length albums and shorter EP albums online for fans for free since the beginning of 2000. In fact, Reznor has continually embraced new technology for music distribution: a visit to the NIN.com website today reveals both a free download of the newest album, The Slip, and of a new iPhone app, too. (Might have to get my boyfriend to try that out for me!)

No wonder the record industry hates peer-to-peer file sharing services like Napster (RIP) and LimeWire! A lot of people argue that downloading music online takes away money from the artist, and in some respects, they are probably right, but if you think about the cost of a $20 CD, you have to know that only a very small percentage of that cost ever goes to the artist. There are overhead costs, like renting a studio and designing a cover, that take out from the profits. The CD itself is practically free, but someone needs to transport those cds to record stores, which needs to cover their overhead and staffing costs, too. And, of course, someone has to pay for the salaries of those record industries bigwigs accustomed to their fancy lifestyles and gas-guzzling cars. When it's all said and done, the artists see, what, maybe a $1 of each CD sale? Maybe. If the artists cut out the industry and started offering their CDs for sale online, they'd see a higher profit. And if they don't have to pay postage, handling, and CD production costs? Even more.

Another argument that people make against peer-to-peer file sharing services like LimeWire is that downloading music for free cuts into the sales of albums and other legitimate music sources. I don't think that's true. Some people are never going to buy the record, ever. And if it's a cause of paying $20 for something that might (probably) be crap or never listening to that new artist, a lot of people who do turn to illegal filesharing would just move on to another artist. If anything, p2p file sharing opens up a whole new audience to artists, one they might not have captured otherwise. People who won't pay $20 for a CD just might pay to see an artist whose work they have downloaded for free online in person. I would be much more likely to go to a concert of an artist I like that to buy an album of one I haven't heard much from. Going to a concert is an experience, a memory, and there are definitely people who'd pay for that before buying a physical object.

The record industry is floundering because the record industry is dying. Think how the makers of VHS tapes and players must have felt when DVDs began to take over the market? Or how about video stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video whenever NetFlix came around? Sure, it sucks, to know that you are now a dinosaur casualty of the age of technology, but here's the thing: you can stop progress and change. The record industry would be smarter to go with it, rather than fighting it, and to downsize and let the industry change with the times.

So what's next for music downloads?

If you just want to listen to popular music that you like, Pandora is a great way to listen to popular music for free. You can choose what songs going to come up, just like you can't dictate radio airwaves playlists (unless you're the dj, lucky!), but you can input a list of your favorite artists and Pandora will "magically" play artists with similar sounds to what you chose. You can give thumbs up or down to artists, too, which means you can, offer time, tailor the station to suit your tastes. I love Pandora and listen to it all time. [There used to be an application called Pandora's Box which let you capture the music playing on Pandora, similar to making a cassette recording of a radio song, but I don't know if it's still around.

Itunes is a pretty brilliant recent innovation in digital media. Instead of having to buy a whole CD from a new artist, which, lets be honest, usually has about 10 shitty tracks and 3 great ones, you can listen to previews and buy only the songs that you like. You get a cheaper price if you buy the whole album, but at 99 cents a song, you can't go wrong with buying the music legally that way. Itunes works on both PCs and MACS, which wasn't the case when it first came out. Itunes has all the latest music, so you can probably find whatever you want for big-industry artists.

Emusic is another cheap alternative to iTunes. You pay a monthly fee, which is staggered in price based on how many downloads you want for the month. The problem is that you aren't going to find many (or any) of the commercial popular artists of the day, so if you simply must listen to particular artists, eMusic won't work for you if your artist doesn't work with eMusic. If you are musically curious and open-minded, though, you can find a lot of great stuff on eMusic. If nothing else, try a free trial offer and see what you think.

Still, if you want free downloads of your favorite music and don't want to pay for it, you're going to be looking for a new P2P File Sharing application. Word on the 'net is that Frostwire is the way to go. I haven't tried it (yet), so I can't speak for it, but FrostWire seems to be the new LimeWire. It's going to go the way of Napster and LimeWire soon enough, I'm sure, so enjoy it while you can, but know this: P2P file sharing will never die. There will always be another website offering the same peer-to-peer file sharing. There will be new innovations that insure that you can always find a way to get your favorite digital media without having to pay for it. There will be lots of debates about whether or not this is a good thing, lots of debates, but whatever you think, it's going to be around. I think innovation is always a good thing, so I'm in support of a new file sharing program.

What do you think? Have you ever downloaded music for free online? If you are going to leave angry comments, please leave your age, too, because I suspect the younger set will be more open about it. But maybe you'll prove me wrong! :)