Who would have thought that National Geographic would be interested in making music available online? National Geographic has been known for showing documentaries on the different aspects of science, culture and others. There are TV programs, the website and even printed materials but music — this is something very interesting indeed. There would be free tracks as well as for sale ones.
What is the goal behind this? As said by National Geographic, the aim of the world music section of NG is to encourage others to be more concerned about the planet. The goal is pretty good as people would get exposed to different kinds of music. You would be able to listen to music from different places like Africa, Peru and Brazil. Find out what the music scene is like in those countries.
The nice thing about this site is that each page containing information on the artists and their music is concise and direct to the point. You could also check out the list of artists featured on the site, also the countries, albums and genres. On the sidebars are, of course, links to the other features of National Geographic which includes the schedule of programs on the National Geographic Channel, the editor’s picks and online shops.
This is a wonderful project from National Geographic. Hopefully, many people will enjoy the entire experience of being able to listen to one minute samples of the songs just to have a glimpse of what music people are into and are creating all over the world. All this is just one mouse click away from you.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music
On the Internet, you could experiment with a lot of things. Including musical stuff. After all with computers, you could do a lot of editing with the audio you create. Interesting, right? And the group Particle People is one of those groups who actually share their music with people on the Internet.
The group Particle People has five people on it, namely:
Ben Combe - Guitar, Vocals
Eric Gould - Bass, Vocals
Scott Metzger - Guitar, Vocals
Steve Molitz - Keyboards, Vocals
Darren Pujalet - Drums, Vocals
If you are into fusion, Particle People is definitely the group to listen to and watch. They enjoy creating funky music. For them it is not just about making music that is groovy but it is also about experimenting with different things so each time, they will have variations. They have songs with different flavors, so to speak. When they perform, they also have lights show to go with their music. It would be a treat to watch them and that is probably why they seem so popular, as they have tours scheduled all over the US during spring. Recently they have launched their CDs “Transformations for the People” and they have their live performances recorded the CDs.
In any case, you could easily access some of their songs through their website particlepeople.com. The files are in mp3 format and you could see them as soon as your browser loads the page. Enjoy the music! These are free and legal downloads of this funky group.
Technorati Tags: people, music
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music
A report from GFK, a market research firm, has shown that 60% of the new mobile phones sold in Sweden are those with built-in music players. Apparently there has been a slump in the market when it comes to cellphones as there have been not-so-appealing models. At the early part of the year, there was still that decline. However, studies show that this year there has been an increase for the demand of it in the market.
Mobile phones are gadgets that you could carry around anywhere. If the mobile phones are really awesome and powerful enough to have a great number of songs, it becomes an attractive gadget. You would not need to have separate devices so you could listen to your music while you are on the go. Another thing is that you could have fun with your friends and show off the latest music you have downloaded from the Internet or ripped from a CD. After all, you could easily synchronize your phone with your computer. Indeed, mobile phones with such features make a music buff’s life easy.
The newer mobile phones have been giving more storage space for media files such as mp3s and videos. This is probably why there has been an increase in demand for them in the market. The newer models of Nokia and Sony Ericsson boast of good music playback and storage space. You don’t have to be limited to just a few songs anymore, especially if you check out the new line of Nokia phones, the N series.
Technorati Tags: mobile phones, sweden, music
Categories: Mobile Phones, Music
Gadget and tech-oriented blogs have been speculating about it but it is already true: Microsoft has confirmed that they will be preparing a portable music player and integrated service. They are going to launch Zune which is a family of hardware and software focused on digital entertainment. They will start with digital music. However they also plan to have a line for a portable video player and maybe even a portable game device. The report has not mentioned what other products will be as Microsoft has not given any details yet.
The report also included information about Zune — that similar to iTunes, users will be able to view playlists, et cetera. Currently it is said that there are no licensing deals in place just yet.
This is good news for all music and media enthusiasts because they will have other sources of music and even new gadgets for it. Microsoft is also thinking of a different scheme for licensing and even pricing. This is the dilemma that they face. They have to compete with Apple’s iTunes and so it might be that it will be quite interesting to see how they will be dealing with the industry issues.
It will be fascinating to find out what will happen to iTunes when this service has been launched. Will people move this new service? How will it affect the music industry? Sure, there will be competition but will it actually be favorable for the players in the recording industry. Knowing Microsoft, there will be a massive marketing campaign for Zune. And one has to wonder what kind of lifestyle they will be promoting through their ads. Microsoft is definitely going after the entertainment market as they probably think that the computer market is pretty much stable as far as their business is concerned.
Categories: Music, Videos
This site is interesting because it says that it has a mission to spread happiness by connecting you to artists who deserve to get heard. It seems to be a much talked about site as it has already been featured on BoingBoing, New York Times and also Info World.
Upon clicking the “Great Tunes” link, you will be brought to a page with different categories like Originals, Old Recordings, Vinyl Sharity, among many others. There are different links to all kinds of music from Oddio. They have what they call the supersites set of links. The music comes from different artists from different countries. They are legal and free music shared online. Currently, this is their latest set of links. If you feel like checking out a few of them, what genre would those artists be into? The Ophir Prison Marching Kazoo Band actually has an interesting rendition of Livin’ La Vida Loca. There are also some jazz songs on the Denmark´s Electronic Research Library. Jazz classics including “In the Mood” is there for you to download and listen to on your computer.
Finding the kind of free and legal music that you like is not very easy on Oddio as the listing is not really tagged or classified according to genre. Categories — that is definitely something they could add to this site. It would be essential so that downloading tracks would be easier. In any case, the brief descriptions shown on each of the links would be helpful enough for you to decide whether or not to download the tracks from the sites. If you are expecting that you will get directed to the download section immediately, you will probably be disappointed as you are directed to the main page so you could read more about the songs and the artists behind each song.
This site is an awesome resource of music which is legal and free for the taking. You could save anything in your computer and you will even be amazed at the kinds of music that artists all over the world are creating. Aside from downloading these songs, you could even share them with others by spreading the word to your friends via your blog or email.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music
This blog is mainly about legal downloads. Even so, it is important that the reasons why people go through illegal means in acquiring software, music, movies and other kinds of media. Why take the risk after all?
- It is easy to download them from the Internet.
Yes, the Internet has made it convenient for everyone to gather all kinds of information and media. That includes movies, music and even software. It is easy especially if it is already on P2P. Movies in particular.
- It is cheap.
Aside from the convenience of downloading them, it is considerably cheaper to download an album or an entire movie for an several minutes to an hour, depending on your Internet connection and the size of your download. Imagine how much a cd would cost, right? It is cheaper to download the songs and the movies.
- People are sharing their files, why shouldn’t I?
There is something social about it. Sharing files is a common phenomenon. With sharing of files everyone gets to have the latest stuff. It is not really peer pressure. It is more of the neighborly intent of sharing more than anything else.
There is something more than the consideration for costs when it comes to downloading files. After all, there are still those people who prefer having original copies especially when it comes to movies and music. Maybe there are more social factors to consider but downloading illegally is more often than not linked to economic factors. Each country would have a different culture and hence downloading thru P2P would be viewed differently. Hopefully there would be more studies on the matter.
Categories: Downloading Legally
There have been cases of software being up for grabs on the Internet. Whatever kinds of applications these may be - games, productivity apps, etc. - you are still stepping on the lines of legality. The difficult thing about it is that you might get into trouble for getting such software. So what is the solution for this? Go for free software.
Free software is not just about software that is free in terms of the price. There is also the freedom of choice and legal freedom to share it with others. That is why you could see a lot of isos of Linux distributions all over the Internet. That is one of the ways these software are distributed.
This is one of the things you could legally download. There are no problems when it comes to sharing them. In fact, it is encouraged. You are not really forced to share it but why just have it on your computer when you could actually spread the joy of using it. For example, Blogbridge is a free software which is being developed so that you could have another experience when it comes reading your favorite blogs or finding what other RSS there are out there. You could store it on your computer or share it to others on the Internet. It doesn’t really matter much. The important thing is that you know what you are doing is actually legal.
Would you like to be caught red handed that you have been pirating software or using them? No, right? If that is the case read up some more about the topic so you could at least determine the pros and cons of free software.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Freeware, Resources
You probably wondered what Asian music is like. Especially traditional Asian music. Wonder no more. You could have classical Asian music from www.asianclassicalmp3.com. The person who collected the material got the permission to convert the cassette tape recordings to mp3 files. The countries of origin are as follows: Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
This site usually gives a brief description of the artists or music. Most of the time they are from out of print cassettes. Other information given on the pages would be the bitrate used in converting the files. Sometimes the files could be huge and there is a note saying that is alright to request files with lower bitrates so that they could be smaller, easier for those on dial-up. Also you could contact the webmaster for other dilemmas you might have with the file downloads.
The files are sometimes long, like almost half an hour in length. In the case of the Cantonese opera files, each of them would be around 15 minutes long. It is just to give you a hint of what it is like. Other musical instruments featured on this site include Vietnam’s dan tranh, a stringed instrument similar to China’s gu-zheng.
These recordings would be interesting for use in Asian studies classes as well as for the purpose of going back to one’s heritage, if of Asian descent, that is.
Note: As mentioned earlier in the blog entry, most of these have the permission to be shared on the Internet. In case you find out that there are tracks that have some copyright issues, kindly email the webmaster.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Resources
What is the latest buzz on your favorite artists? What is your source of information for all that? RollingStone! There are some awesome interviews, reviews and other features in it. But more importantly for music lovers - you could download songs for 49 cents each.
Weekly top ten
On RollingStone, you will find out what are the ten hottest tracks and they will be available for 49cents each. Currently there is even a summer treat wherein albums are only $6.99. You could start by checking out the staff picks.
Technical requirements:
Your computer must have the following:
Operating system: Windows 98 and up
Browser: Internet Explorer 5 and up, Netscape 7 and newer
Those using Macs and Linux would not be able to appreciate this service much though because of the technical requirements. But in any case, they do see the need to give fans more than just music information and not just the option to buy CDs. Digital music is easily downloadable and to battle piracy, they have to give avenues for fans to save their favorite tunes in their computers.
Exclusive Content
RollingStone also has some exclusive content, meaning you cannot download them elsewhere. There are some interviews with different people in the music industry, there are also some music tracks for you. The interviews are free and so you could see that have the price marked as $0.
It’s a complete experience for those who love music. Although it does not seem to have Musicmatch’s Gift Certificate and Allowance system, when it comes to music, you get variety too. You might get more value for your money through RollingStone, especially if you are after their exclusive content and other such stuff.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Resources
Music is the universal language as some people would say. Maybe it is true. That is probably why with the advent of the Internet, people get to enjoy all sorts of music from different parts of the world all the more. Musicmatch happens to be one of those music players you could download for free and it has an interesting software you could use to organize your digital music collection. But it actually goes beyond that. Musicmatch also has a music store.
Musicmatch store
If you want legal downloads, you could buy songs from the Musicmatch store. Each song costs around 99cents and an album around $9.99 usually. Downloads from the Musicmatch site are legal and of CD quality.
Aside from that there are also Gift Certificates and Allowances that you could give to your friends and family. It could be as low as $10 or as high as $100. It is so easy to give them gifts this way.
Allowances are also another way you could share the wealth of music avilable from Musicmatch. Similar to the Gift Certificates, the allowance could be as low as $10 and you could let them have that much downloads. They do not even have to get your credit card number for them to do so. Convenient right?
There is one drawback to this service though. This service is only available to persons in the United States. Those from other countries would still have to look for other sources.
Not everyone might like to pay for such a service for $4.99 a month. But the thing is that it does give a wide variety of songs as well as opportunities for legally downloading music on your computer or your gadget. There are always tradeoffs, of course. But if you look at it another way, it is fairly reasonable.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Resources
