Wait – isn’t that all wrong? Isn’t downloading the greener option? After all, when we download music, we cut back on CDs and other material things that put a strain on the environment, right?

As a matter of fact, this is what Jonathan G. Koomey, Christopher L. Weber, and H. Scott Matthews shared in a study they released some time ago. Their conclusion was this:

“…despite the increased energy and emissions associated with Internet data flows, purchasing music digitally reduces the energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with delivering music to customers by between 40 and 80 percent from the best-case physical CD delivery, depending on whether a customer then burns the files to CD or not. This reduction is due to the elimination of CDs, CD packaging, and the physical delivery of CDs to the household. Based on our assumptions, online delivery is clearly superior from an energy and CO2 perspective when compared to traditional CD distribution.”

And just like that, we have proven the title of this post to be incorrect. Or have we, really?

The authors were quick to point out that this entire scenario is not always applicable. They made assumptions; assumptions that are not always true. We have to take into consideration other factors such as end-user behavior (yes that’s us!).

What if you walk to the music store to buy CDs instead of driving? What if you had to buy blank CDs or DVDs to burn your downloaded files? What if you printed CD/DVD covers to print your downloaded album art? Taking these factors into consideration, you might not be helping the environment all that much if you downloaded music rather than bought them at the store.

Bottom line: you have to consider ALL players of the game before you go around declaring that by downloading, you are helping the earth. Oh, and there is that issue of where and how you download you content. That’s another story altogether, isn’t it?

Tags: downloading, environment, Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Random Thoughts

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Sometime the music that is already popular can become boring. You hear it over and over again on all the radio stations. You hear it almost anywhere you go. You periodically want something new and fresh.

A good site to go for fresh interesting music is freeplaymusic.com. They have a very extensive library of songs that are well catalogued. You can find music in any genre you like. You can even find whole albums there.

The music is available for preview or download. It is available in mp3 and Apple’s MPEG4 AAC format. You can play this music anywhere. In fact Nokia gets tunes from them so if you use a 3300 or 6600 series model you are assured that you can listen to your favorites from your phone.

This is a really good site to go if you are looking for new music to use for your very own productions. Instead of having a song composed specially for your opus, you can search their library and check if they have a score that meets your needs. It can save you a lot of time and some money.

Downloading the music from freeplay.com is free of charge as long as you will keep the music for your personal use. If on the other hand you find their music so good that you want to share it, whether it is thru your blog, podcast, shareware, or for any presentation, you will need to get a signed license agreement and pay the licensing fee. You can easily access the information on the licensing from their site.

Technorati Tags: music, tv, themes, ringtones, license, compositions, free

Tags: free, Free-music, Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Resources, Ringtones

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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.

Tags: legal downloading, Music, National Geographic

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music

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Downloading music has changed the landscape of the music and film industry. The RIAA and various production and recording companies claim that billions in revenue have been lost. Partly this is due to the lower CD sales. They refuse to believe that maybe their products isn’t as popular as they hope. They insist that the blame is on the illegal downloaders. They may be partly right.

The beauty of downloading is that an artist’s music will never truly disappear. The artist may not achieve the level of fame they desire (they only have 3 houses, 6 cars, a yacht and some “bling-bling”) but thanks to the internet, their music will be available for a very long time long after they have stopped performing. Isn’t that the true dream of most artists – to become part of history; maybe become a legend?

The music and film industry don’t get it yet. People are wise enough to know that you only buy the products you want to collect, the items that are truly valuable. That means that people will always buy the CD’s and DVD’s as long as the music is great and the films are worth watching. They will willingly pay to download a film or track or album legally in order to have a great copy of it. What the industry giants need to do is make the costs reasonable so that there is no point in pirating anymore.

At least Apple got it off to a good start when they made tracks downloadable at $0.99. Now if only Microsoft and any other players who will come in will just help to make the price even more reasonable, we just might be done with piracy altogether.

Tags: download, film, legal download, Music, Piracy, Video

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Videos

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Who says you have to wait for big labels to release great music? There is no need for you to go clubbing just to hear great dance music. The digital revolution has brought easy access to music that you can use to become the host with the coolest music anytime you throw a party.

One place that you want to keep an eye on is audiojelly.com. It was founded in 2004 by singer/songwriters/producers Ricky Simmonds and Stephen Jones. This duo is the mover behind many artists such as Lustral, The Space Brothers, Chakra, The Realm, Oxygen, Kaleidoscope and Ascension. They’ve released over 50 singles with both major labels and independent ones – including Virgin, Ministry of Sound, Sony, Manifesto and Warner (just to name a few). They have 13 songs that have made it to the UK top 40 and their songs have sold over 14 million units all over the world.

With that kind of background, you can imagine the kind of music available on audiojelly.com. They make sure that they have some of the best music in Dance, Techno, Trance and Hip Hop. There are hundreds of labels distributing their music through audiojelly but it isn’t the least bit hard to find their music. You can simply sample the latest releases or search for them by artist, label or genre. Better yet, check out the featured tunes.

Registration is not a requirement unless you want to purchase the music. For those just browsing, you can listen to clips without signing up.

Technorati Tags: music, download, techno, hip hop, trance, dance, top 40

Tags: Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music

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Hopping, skipping and skimming through the hundreds of thousands of music available on the net can get very tedious. It sometimes feels like they are all the same. The noise can be bewildering and at times, really annoying. Finding anything worth downloading can be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

If you want to hear music that is light and easy, soulful yet fun, a little bit of country mixed with a feel of British pop, then you will enjoy listening to the music of Geoff Byrd. His lyrics can be sarcastic yet so real. There is always a good beat and rhythm to it. Some can get your feet tapping while others are just food for your soul.

Geoff’s music is well known in Portland Oregon but thankfully it has travelled far with the help of the internet. His signing up with Garageband.com has broadcast his music all over the world, with the help of MSN and Live 365. He is now being tagged as the World’s first web-born pop star. His songs “Candy Shell” and “Elusive Butterfly” are great songs to listen to so that you can get a feel of this great artist.

If you want to catch him live, he is currently performing as the opening act for Hall and Oates. The tour is currently in London but will be moving to Canada then to the United States. Don’t worry if you’re too far away to catch the show. You can download his music from here.

Technorati Tags: music, download, geoff byrd, hall and oates, garageband.com

Tags: artists, Downloading Legally, Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music

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There is music everywhere. You have it blaring from cars, radios, ipods, phones and various gadgets all over the world. The internet contributes to the spread of music.

The annoying part is, they need you to sign up first or download a program before you can actually listen to the music. That’s all well and good if the service is indeed good and you want to use the service for a long time. There are quite a few people who just want to check out what’s new, what’s popular and listen a bit before they decide to buy. Exactly as they would in a music shop.

That’s exactly what Artist Direct is. It simply is a music store. They have an extensive collection of music available for sale. They have music clips that you can listen to via streaming if you want to make sure you have the right piece. Everytime you choose to listen to an artist, the album it came from is listed as well as how much it costs. You can even check for the list of songs included in the album to make it even easier for you to make up your mind to download the CD.

Yes, they sell by the CD not by song. The artists worked hard to put together their albums so why not give the rest of the music in it a try even if they aren’t in the top 100. You may discover a new favorite.

While you’re visiting their site, check out the What’s Hot section and read some of the interviews they did. They have some cool contests there as well. Anyone want the latest ipod?

You may also want to check out their billboard to see which artists truly are the top sellers and you can keep up to date on the latest news about your favorite artists and happenings in the music industry via their news section.

Tags: artists, contests, download, iPod, Music, news

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music

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Everyone knows what happened in Haiti recently. The earthquake that hit them ruined the country and has brought so much suffering to the people. Even today as I write this post, countless Haitians are on the streets and still suffering.

The international community has been quick to do what it could to help out but it seems that there can never be enough help doled out. The infrastructure of the capital was torn down by the strong quake and a lot of Haitians are not being reached quick enough. Worse, there is a lack of medicine, water, food, and other basic necessities.

While many have already given what they can, we can still help in other ways. One of these ways is by downloading the music from the recently concluded production Hope For Haiti Now. I don’t know if you got to watch the telethon but I did and it was very touching how it was all put together.

I have to admit, the musical performances were one of the main reasons I watched it and they were all great! The songs were perfect for the theme and the artists gave their best when performing. It really is worth getting that music. Even better, when you buy the album, you will be giving directly to Haiti.

Hope For Haiti Now can be downloaded from Amazon at 0.99 cents per song. You may opt to get music song by song or download the whole album. The latter option will save you a bit of money.

Tags: Amazon, charity, Haiti, MP3, Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Paid Service

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…as long as it’s not hers. Talk about double standards, huh? Speech Debelle is the controversial Mercury Prize winner, a rapper who is known for being as cocky as she is talented. Her real name is Corynne Elliot, and she recently walked away with a check worth ₤20,000. In spite of that – or maybe because of it – she encouraged people to download illegal music, as long as it is the work of other artists, and not hers.
She is quoted as saying that “There is a recession. People are angry and don’t have the money to spend on rubbish. They should download music for free when it is rubbish. A lot of music sounds the same all day on the radio. Now people will hear my album and know you can make music that’s different. The sincerity has shone through.”

Big words for a relatively unknown artist, don’t you think? Anyhow, I am writing about it not to support her statement, obviously, but to rant about how an artist can even think of such a thing! I mean, okay, there are some artists who would not mind people downloading their music for free. After all, true blue artists just want to get their work out there, never mind not getting rich. But to actually encourage people to rip off fellow artists?

Yeah, it is true that there is rubbish – even a lot of it – being aired on the radio and being sold in music stores, but that does not mean that you should tell people to do something illegal! Oh well, this one is sure to bite her in her behind.

Tags: artists, illegal downloading, Music, music awards, rap, Speech Debelle

Categories: Music

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In what has become a surprising result for the DRM wars, digital music lovers may be surprised again to find out that Sony BMG, one of the biggest names in the music industry has announced that it is going to begin selling music without attached Copyright protection software. This comes as welcome news to those who have long wanted to enjoy music but may not have the money to buy the latest albums and tracks in the form of CD’s and from many online sources. Some just want them free without any reason which has shed light on the music industry which has been fighting a loosing battle since DRM’s and Intellectual Rights Laws were mandated. Without DRM’s it makes it easier to copy and play files on almost any digital music player which was usually only allowed with cracks or hacks that over-rid them allowing the said action.

Emi was the first industry giant to raise its hands in the DRM wars as early as last May when it allowed music purchased through Apple’s Itunes. DRM’s are truly a lost cause for the millions upon millions of internet users around the world who want music do get it even with them in place. So why invest in something that doesn’t work which is just a waste of precious resources. More power to these companies as they realize and make the Social network truly a free and safe place to create share and do just about anything with the click of a mouse and the use of the keyboard.

Tags: DRM-News, Music, Piracy-News

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music

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