Almost everyone has heard about the legal proceedings regarding the distribution of music files online. Regardless of which side of the issue someone mind find themselves on, downloading music on the Internet has struck a chord with nearly everyone. For someone who owns or plans to own an MP3 player it is important to play by the rules to ensure they don't wind up in the middle of this ugly fight. Here are a few online sources for downloading digital music legally that charge reasonable amounts and have respectable names.
1. AOL Music Now--America Online has been a major name in the Internet world since the early nineties and boasts over 1.5 million songs in their database for members to use. AOL's service is available on a free trial and then for $0.99 per downloaded song.
2. F.Y.E.--After a free trial period, F.Y.E. (a leader in downloadable music) provides 1.2 million songs to choose from for a flat $1 per download.
3. MusicMatch--While MusicMatch does not offer a free trial period, the MusicMatch software will make personal recommendations for its users, among other services. They charge $0.99 per download.
4. MSN Music--Microsoft, another leading name in the Internet and in computers, offers one million songs that are available for $0.99 per download. Like MusicMatch, MSN does not offer a free trial period.
5. Napster--Napster, the name that started it all, is once again one of the premier outlets for music downloads, this time on a monthly membership fee basis. With around one million songs in their database, Napster offers downloads for $9.95 a month on up to three computers. Napster also offers a seven day free trial.
6. PassAlong--Relatively new to the scene, and sporting a smaller database than most download services of around 400,000 songs, PassAlong offers a nice perk in exchange. A member can earn bonus points that reduce the price of future downloads by making recommendations to their friends for certain types of music. PassAlong does not offer a free trial and starts at $0.99 per download.
7. PureTracks--Canadians benefit from WMA files from just $0.99 in Canadian dollars. Puretracks has over 1 million songs.
