As college students, we appreciate the value of getting anything for free. Free T-shirts, free food -- anything that we don't have to pay for instantly becomes much more attractive. Problems arise, however, when we students want to get all of our music for free, as well. Getting new music often seems like a lose-lose situation -- use an illegal downloading service and run the risk of ruining your computer and getting sued by a record company, or pay for music at the expense of other necessities like rent, textbooks and alcohol.
Thankfully, however, tableau can show you the best ways to get your hands on new music for free. Not only will these services allow you to listen to your old favorites, but in some cases, they will also introduce you to bands that you may otherwise never have heard of. My personal current favorite music downloading service is Ruckus. The service functions as two parts -- as a player that holds your song library and as a Web site from which you download these songs. To sign up, one need simply visit ruckus.com, install the Ruckus player and then begin downloading anything you want (for free) from the catalog.
The reason Ruckus can provide these downloads at no expense is because the songs will only play in their specific player -- you can't add them to your iTunes library or burn them onto a CD. While some students might not think it worthwhile to download music that can't be put on an iPod, this service is great for times when you're short on money or if you want to listen to a new band that you're not sure you'll like before you actually buy it. Users should also beware that the Ruckus catalogue is not completely exhaustive -- you probably won't find music that was released more than 10 years ago. Still, the selection strikes a decent balance between underground and mainstream music.
Another great Web site to take advantage of is purevolume.com. While it's unlikely that big-name groups will post their music on this site, it is a great place for bands that are either marginally famous or under-the-radar. Oftentimes you can even get music here that you couldn't listen to anywhere else -- as many of these bands are unsigned, they also don't yet have albums for sale. Pretty much any band (no matter how big or small) can make a PureVolume page to post their songs, and it gives groups great exposure not only to their fans but to record companies that might potentially want to sign them. While bands as famous as Panic at the Disco and Boys Like Girls still use the service even now that they have achieved mainstream success, the average band on PureVolume is an unsigned group of 20-somethings just trying to have their songs heard.
PureVolume has some drawbacks of course -- you usually can't download these songs in any way and can only listen to them while you are actually on PureVolume. Additionally, be prepared to find some pretty heinous music featured on PureVolume, because there is not really much in terms of criteria for having music posted on the site. You can definitely find great stuff here; however, an overwhelming portion of the groups are pop-punk emo guys whose pants sizes are smaller than the average female at U.Va.
While Ruckus and PureVolume work best for listening to bands you already like, one of the best services a Web site can provide is a way to discover new music that you have never heard of before. Pandora.com works as a smarter version of the radio by assessing your current favorite music and suggesting other bands that may match up with your tastes. In general, Pandora's picks are pretty standard -- they will give you music that sounds pretty similar to what you already listen to. The advantage to this system is that their choices are consistent, but the downside is that it most likely won't suggest music that varies greatly from genres you already like.
Among these three sites, the possibilities are endless. Not only should you be able finally get your hands on Radiohead's latest album In Rainbows for free (oh, wait a minute ...) but you might also discover a new group that you like even better than Radiohead. Well, that might be a bit of a stretch, but you can definitely find a lot of new stuff (for free -- and legally!) if you take advantage of some of these services that the Internet has to offer.
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