| Downloadable, top quality music is a really | | | | artist and record company has approved the |
| appealing concept to many people, but many of | | | | streaming of their recently released albums. |
| us want to stay the right side of the law. There | | | | Streaming offers you the chance to listen to the |
| are some compelling reasons to download music: it | | | | album when it is playing but without getting your |
| is a great way to check out a track or two from | | | | own copy downloaded. Closer to going to the |
| an unknown artist before splashing out on the CD; | | | | store and listening to it on the headphones, but in |
| it offers the downloader unrivaled ease - a few | | | | the comfort of your home. Some useful sites to |
| moments after deciding on a track, it is yours. | | | | visit are , (a Yahoo site), search for Internet |
| And streaming songs are sometimes available for | | | | Radio via Google, or go to On these sites you can |
| instant listening. | | | | see and listen to music videos too. |
| So what is the deal with the law? Many people | | | | So much for streaming, but lots of us want the |
| will remember Napster being taken to court for | | | | files on our PC so we can copy it down to our |
| encouraging file-sharing for free among peers. This | | | | MP3 devices. It is time to look at those sites |
| court case judged that people sharing files in this | | | | where you pay to own the tracks you want. |
| way are breaking the law - the fact that money | | | | Macintosh's iTunes site, designed to get the best |
| isn't changing hands and no- one is profiting from | | | | from the iPod, is at - it is the top site at the |
| it does not matter. Of course file sharing still goes | | | | moment. You are charged ninety nine cents for |
| on over peer to peer (P2P) networks (though not | | | | each song you download, but the quality is |
| via Napster). Interestingly, recent research has | | | | excellent and the track is yours to keep. |
| shown that P2P is increasingly being used for | | | | Other sites are always fighting for this lucrative |
| legitimate file sharing - photos, files and so on - | | | | market, each offering similar but slightly different |
| and not just for swapping copyrighted material. | | | | services. There are many that work on a |
| If you want to stay the right side of the law, | | | | monthly-fee basis rather than billing by track. And |
| you should not download copyrighted material | | | | a new and slightly different concept is mercora ( |
| from the Internet. But the fact that this practice | | | | Here you pay a small monthly fee and share |
| continues shows how many people think | | | | tracks - you broadcast your tracks (you can |
| downloading their tunes is the best way to go. So | | | | make like a DJ if you want) whilst you record the |
| if you want the convenience and ease without | | | | tracks broadcast by others. Mercora pays a fee |
| transgressing, how do you do it? | | | | for broadcast rights which makes it within the law. |
| There are a variety of ways you can do it. With | | | | |
| a decent connection such as broadband you will | | | | Most of these sites offer a free trial, so why not |
| be able to get access to lots of great music from | | | | give a few a go, pick up some free tracks and |
| Internet Radio or from other web sites that play | | | | decide which service you like best. |
| newly released albums - it often happens that the | | | | |