Top 7 MP3 Music Download Sites Reviewed - Find Out Where To Get Free Music Downloads

There are so many websites out there to download music, but which one is the best? I don't want to spend too much time on each one, just a couple of things to point out that I came across while evaluating each one of these methods for downloading MP3's. So take 5 minutes of you time and read through this article and see which one is right for you. You won't be disappointed.

Monthly Fees Apply to These

Let's start with the 3 most popular that everyone knows about- I-Tunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and eMusic.

i-Tunes- I liken i-Tunes to AOL 10-12 years ago. Everyone used AOL as their ISP, just because they didn't know better. Other ISP's took you to the same internet for less than half the price. Once people caught on and realized this they started using other ISP's. Same thing with i-Tunes. They were kind of the first legitimate music download site. Sure they have a few extra bells and whistles that other music download sites don't have. But do you really want to pay more for the same MP3's you could get else where? A lot of people are abandoning i-Tunes these days for less expensive alternatives. I did, and I'm glad I did. $.99/per track.

Napster- the once proud home of FREE MP3 downloads. Until Metalica went before congress and ruined it for all of us. Gone are the days of FREE MP3's. So if that is what you are looking for, forget about it. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE MP3'S. If you find something out there promising this, be careful, it's probably illegal, so shame on you. Anyway Napster had to reinvent themselves and now you pay for their service. It's ok, I guess, but I like others better. $12.95/month

Rhapsody- I really like Rhapsody and it has many loyal users, I used it for many years myself. It's easy to use, they have a pretty good selection and by far the best search utility to help you find the music you are looking for. If you're just looking for MUSIC Downloads, this is a pretty good way to go. The only downside is the monthly fees you have to keep dishing out. $12.99 for Rhapsody, and $12.99 if you want to get Real Player Plus. It was just announced recently that Rhapsody will acquire Yahoo! Music, so it should be interesting to see what benefit that will bring th Rhapsody users.

The following have the option of 1 year, 2 year, or lifetime memberships. No monthly fees apply.

These 2 are almost identical. Mostly the same features, software is almost the same to use. Some have more files available for downloading, but all in all pretty much the same thing, when it comes down to it.

Unlimitedmp3downloads.com
Liftetime membership $34.94

MP3Download.net
Liftetime membership $34.95

My Top 2 Favorites by Far:

Zune
300 Million files- This one is really popular right now. Tons of new registrations each day.
Liftetime membership $34.95 for MP3
Liftetime membership $49.95 for video and MP3

The best thing about this one is the free bonuses you get. Free DVD/CD copying software (make backup's of your favorite DVD's, a must if you have kids like me that destroy things), free spyware/adware/pop-up blocker/ antivirus software and personal firewall. $245 in bonus software. With all the security risks today, if you're online a lot like I am you need these tools to protect your computer. They are all yours free when you register with Zune Empire. you really can't beat that! Even if you never used the MP3 software, it's worth it just get all that other software free.

K-Lite
800 Million songs and videos. Can you even get your head around that number. Talk about a selection!
No monthly fees, unlimited downloads, no spyware or adware (this is very important- some MP3 sites out there will give you real cheap access, but then flood your computer with spyware and adware. Trust me, you don't want that.
Liftetime membership $39.95 for MP3
DVD Backup Software $9.95
DVD Quality Movie Downloads $9.95

This is a little more expensive than the others ($5.00 for Music, $19.90 for Movies and CD/DVD software) but the price is worth it when it comes to the selection and ease of use. If you don't want the other two pieces of software, this is the best one. If you really got have that software, go with Zune Empire for $49.95.

The last 4 companies listed here are all pretty much the same thing/same price. It's just a matter of personal preference. Having tried them all, I would highly recommend either of the last two- Zune Empire or K-Lite. They have the biggest selection, most features, and best customer support. You really can't go wrong for $34.95. That is less than what I would pay to take my wife out to dinner at someplace half way decent.

The bottom line is, if you're like me, you probably invested $200-$400 on a decent MP3 player. You want to get the most out of it- Music, Videos, Movies, etc. Scrounge up the $34.95 or $49.95 if you want videos, and invest in some software that will let you use your MP3 player for what it was intended for. You'll be glad you did.

Chris McCann is the founder of Shop4CoolStuff A website dedicated to helping you find the very best mp3 music sites on the Internet. You can sign up for free trials or pay one time for life memberships at http://www.shop4coolstuff.com/top8mp3.html

Free Sources of Legal Music Downloads

With the controversy and legal issues that have plagued music download sites since their beginning, it seems like there are no good, legitimate sites for free and legal music downloads. Many sites either offer you music that they are not legally allowed to distribute, or they give you some nasty surprises when you use them: spyware, adware, and other ugly little add-ons.

Believe it or not, there are still several ways to get quality, legal music downloads for free. You won't always be able to get the entire album and many free resources only offer downloads for relatively unknown artists. But if you're willing to try something new and don't mind only getting a sample of the music you want, you'll have plenty of options for finding free music downloads.

GarageBand lets you download music from unknown artists who are hoping to make it big. You know that the music is legal to download because it is provided directly by the artists themselves. They are not signed to a label so there's no worry about the label owning the rights to their songs.

Because the bands are unsigned, the majority of them will be new to you. GarageBand is certainly not the place to go if you want to build up your music library with perennial favorites or up-and-coming bands you heard on the radio but if you're looking for new and unique music that you probably won't hear anywhere else, this site is perfect.

Amazon has a surprisingly friendly and easy-to-use free download section. They offer a small selection of free songs that are changed often. They are frequently by well-known artists who you already love.

The best part is that Amazon's downloads are DRM-free, meaning that you can play the songs with any compatible software and on any MP3 player. You can use these songs to burn CDs, also. The free downloads are yours to keep, and you can snag as many of them as you like. The bad news is that there are only a few songs available at any time, and it may be a while before new ones are posted.

eMusic is another well-known site for music downloads that most of us are already aware of. They don't exactly hand out free downloads, but they do give you 25 free MP3s during a one-month trial membership. If you sign up for an eMusic membership, you'll have access to over two million songs. You can choose any of these for your 25 free downloads, and they're yours to keep. Even if you decide you don't want to continue your membership, you get to keep the free songs without ever paying a penny.There are plenty of other sources out there some giving you full albums and some providing only a few songs. The most important thing is to make sure that the songs are provided legally and that you aren't violating US laws by having them.

Most sites will give you information on the subject of their legality somewhere on the site. If they don't, it's usually possible to get the necessary information from other sources on the internet. Just perform an internet search for that site to see what has been said about it elsewhere. If you can't find any information about the legality of a certain site's free downloads and it looks questionable, the best thing to do is to avoid it. Free music isn't worth the legal problems that it will cause if you don't do it according to the applicable laws.

To find out more information about legal music download sites visit reviewmusicdownloads.com

Internet Speed Testing

Internet speed testing is an important factor in downloading music or video. If your connection is slow, then downloads will take an excessive time to complete and your online service download experience will be less than satisfactory. If you are having a speed problem its important to isolate the speed of your internet connection from other factors which can contribute to slow download issues.

If you are not sure of your connection speed, then I recommend you try Speedtest.net. Although there are other speed tests available on the Internet, this one is unique. Speedtest allows you to test your connection speed to various servers around the world. This provides a much more realistic representation of internet speed than just testing the connection from your home or business to your local ISP. Speedtest also keeps a running history of the tests you have performed so you can track if the connection speed begins to deteriorate.

NOTE: A speed of 1500 kb/s or above would be a nice recommended target for music or video downloads

One thing you may notice while using this tool, is that downloading from a local server location is faster than a distant one. This is because the "TCP window (and therefore HTTP transfers) is not optimized for the increased latency that comes from the increase in distance". Speedtest will help you isolate this type of problem. Try testing with the server location closest to you, and then test with a server location farther away. If you know the location of your music or video download server, then use one of the test servers at a location nearby.

There are several other factors that contribute to download speed. The type of PC hardware you own is one factor. If you have an older PC then everything may run slowly. Also, if the server at the other end of your connection is slow then it will also affect the speed also. Some remote servers could be simply set to "throttle" downloads at lower speeds. This practice allows the remote server to control internet traffic and limit bandwidth concerns on their local internet connection to prevent potential overload.

Always try to isolate your speed issue [when possible] to determine if the problem is local PC, distant server, or connection speed. This will certainly help your support people in resolving any problems.

Unlike some things in life, where internet downloads are concerned... FASTER is ALWAYS BETTER!

Webmaster @ BJC Services
http://www.bjc-computer-services.com

Online Music Services

Subscription Music Sites offer online music purchase as well as the ability to access and play "millions" of songs. These sites require subscription (at a reasonable cost), and for the most part you must be online in order to access the subscription music. However, if you purchase songs they are usually downloaded to your PC and then can be played whenever you want. Keep in mind, that THESE resources are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they are NEVER out-of-stock!!

Rhapsodygives subscribers unlimited access to listen to more than 100,000+ albums, 70,000+ artists and 2,000,000+ songs and I like their user interface. It is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. Rhapsody offers an unlimited version at about $10 per month, and also a To Go option at about $15 per month. If you are a subscriber, they also give a 10% discount on music purchases. You can also check out their RealOne SuperPass Free Trial in which subscribers get to watch/listen to news, sports, film, TV and entertainment content using RealPlayer Plus. SuperPass also offers 3,200 radio stations and 10 free song downloads / month.

Yahoo! Music Unlimited offers their online music service for about $6 per month (with a yearly subscription), and they advertise over 2,000,000 songs. This is the most inexpensive subscription music service site I could find! If you want to use their service for loading songs onto your portable music player, then you will need the To Go option at about $10 per month (with yearly subscription). Still, you have to admit, these are some incredibly reasonable prices for a legal music service!

iTunes has arguably the largest and most popular service, possibly because of it's close relationship with iPod. Also, the software is fully compatible with both the Microsoft Windows and MAC operating systems! iTunes advertises as "the world’s best digital jukebox with the #1 music download store inside". As well as "Seamless integration with iPod". They offer the "Largest and Most Diverse Legal Music Download Catalog: Over 1 million tracks from all 5 major labels and more than 600 independents", as well as "More than 8,000 audiobooks and popular public radio programs". And don't forget, the jukebox software is FREE!!

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