Music Download Sites - What Makes a Site Legal Or Illegal?

The introduction of music download sites to the internet has revolutionized the way we consume music. Though easier and much less expensive for consumers to get their hands on the latest music from the comfort of their home, the break through began with an illegal method of downloading music which unfortunately opened the door to others that are still around to this day. It is up to the consumer to be educated on which sites and services are legal to use, and which are not. To better understand the legality of music download sites, it is best to take a look at the first popular illegal online music download solution.

The start of illegal music downloads.

In 1999, the world was introduced to the first music file sharing software called Napster. Created by Shawn Fanning, the technology allowed users to share their music files freely with other users. This would bypass the entire legal music market and let anyone who could operate a computer and simple software get their hands on the music they wanted absolutely free. The software quickly became noticed as violating copyright laws as it never had permission from the artists or their labels to distribute these files.

Metallica, a heavy metal act, discovered one of their demo songs "I Disappear" was circulating and even played on certain radio stations before the track was ever released. They were of the first to file a lawsuit against Napster for copyright infringement. A month later, Dr. Dre also filed a lawsuit asking Napster to remove all of his content from the service. These acts, along with many record labels pursued Napster in court for the massive copyright violation.

The media embarked on the story and in turn, indirectly made the service even more popular, putting a spotlight on music file sharing and increasing the amount of active users to over 26 million in Napster's final stages.

On June 3rd, 2002, Napster filed for bankruptcy but the damage was done. The world was introduced to file sharing and online music consumption. Many imitation sites and software sprung up after this incident and to this day, you can still find illegal peer-to-peer file sharing solutions offering illegal music downloads.

So what makes a music download site legal or illegal?

There are very basic principles a music download site needs to follow in order to provide legal music downloads. Simply put, they need permission to distribute each music file on the site from whoever owns the copyright of, or legally represents the music. This can be either the artist, the artists publishing company, and/or in most cases, the artists record label.

In our first example, Napster took copyrighted material and without permission decided to make these files freely available. Neither the artist nor record companies were compensated. This is where the big problem lies. Music is like any other product on the market. Someone or a team of people put time towards creating a song or album and are selling their product. If you want the product, you have to pay a legal distributor of that product so everyone who was involved in creating it gets compensated for their work. If they are not, and have not agreed to make it available for free, you are stealing their product.

With music, stealing songs is infringing on copyright laws which are in place to protect artists and labels, and assure they are in control of who can distribute their art while in turn, getting compensated when someone does buy a copy of a song or album.

I did not know the site was illegal. It is not my fault.

Well, unfortunately any way you look at it, it is your fault. You are responsible for your actions on any music download site or service. The small loop hole in file sharing software and sites is that a user can use it legally. If I create an eBook on the best music download sites for example, and as the writer and sole copyright owner, I choose to distribute it for free to anyone who wants to take a read, I can put it on file sharing software and sites. If anyone downloads it, it is legal as I am not looking for any compensation. In this case, the user of the file sharing software or site is not doing anything wrong.

If a user downloads a copyrighted file from an artist or label that is looking to being compensated and never gave permission to the source of the file to distribute it however, then the user who downloads it can get into trouble and it is completely their fault for not doing their research before downloading the music file.

How do I know if a music download site is legal or illegal?

In order for any music download site or service to distribute music files legally, they need a distribution agreement with the artists record label. To make things simple, if you are looking for music from top 40 artists, most of these acts are signed to one of the major record labels; Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group. A music download site would need a distribution agreement with these companies to legally make this music available on their site.

If a music download site went through the trouble of putting together a distribution agreement with the 4 major labels, chances are they are proud of the accomplishment and would have this written somewhere in their "FAQ" or "About Us" section of the site. If it is not written, it is up to you to contact them and make sure they have the legal right to distribute the music files you are looking for before you download anything from them.

In the end, our generation has the luxury of having many legal music download sites available to us. It is simply a question of doing a little research before hand and making sure you go with a site that suits your needs, has the music you are looking for, but more importantly, offers legal music downloads which rightfully compensate artists for their work.

If you are looking for the best music download sites and services, visit my homepage where I provide up to date ratings and reviews on only the top legal music download sites on the net.

Happy downloading!

Unlimited Music Downloads - Where to Download Quality Music

Unlimited music downloads are now made readily available on the internet from different online music stores and services. Some go on a pay-per-download basis, while others go on a subscription service, either on monthly or one-time basis. They reportedly carry millions of sound tracks and MP3 files from all the known music genres you can ever find. The question of where to download music is therefore answered by going to these music services which provide unlimited music downloads. But it is equally important to know which are the best deals in town when locating where to download music online. We take a look at what is downloading online music from these music download sites all about.

Major online music stores like HMV, Amazon and so on carry many labels and their selection is fantastic with loads of music pieces, movie soundtracks, songs, music videos and practically unlimited music downloads are available for you to download. Never worry about where to download music again. However, music lovers after getting the thrill of downloading lots of music files start to feel the pinch. This is where the latest new generation of music download sites would make them scream with excitement again.

You see, the new music download sites offer unlimited music downloads. And by that, it means that you not only can find any title or album you want but also download them without any quantity restriction. Be it 1000 songs or 10,000 songs that you intend to download, it does not matter. These music download sites would charge you only once for unlimited music downloads at an affordable rate that even teens have the ability to get their memberships. That is the whole intention of the music download sites, to reach the mass musical audience.

But there are almost a dozen of unlimited music downloads sites that solve your problem of where to download music quickly. So it can be quite a challenge to decide which to go for. Do not worry as here are some useful tips to help you along to decide where to download music from which music download sites for unlimited music downloads. These would find you the suitable music download site.

Be sure to first check out the music selection of these music download sites. There is really no point in using them even if they have millions of music pieces and songs, ie unlimited music downloads in their collection but none are what you want. Most should carry the general range of music that are more common like pop, rock and so on. But if you are looking for specific niche genres which are a little bit uncommon, you need to check if the music collection at these music download sites carries your desired label or brand of music.

Secondly, you need to confirm the file format of the music files you are downloading from the music download sites. This is easy as many have unlimited music downloads in MP3 format. This is the most commonly readable format used by most MP3 players or digital portable players. So as long as the music download site has it, you know this is where to download music so that you can enjoy unlimited music downloads on your player.

Another thing to take note of is some music download sites for unlimited music downloads require you to download special client application in order to download music online. If you are a frequent traveller, you may not like the idea that you need to install software on your computer in order to download music. This means that you can only do so from home. As such, you may want to go for those that do not require any client applications to do so. That said, the client application does not need a lot of computer resources and can be easily installed and removed. It is really your choice when getting the unlimited music downloads from the music download sites.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about where to download music at amazingly low one-off prices can visit my music blog and begin your journey of putting unlimited music downloads on your computer or MP3 player.

Davion is a music addict and carry do without them. Find out about hot and limited offers for unlimited music downloads. Also read his wildly popular article for unlimited music downloads tips.

Music Download Sites - Where To Download New Music and Videos

Music download sites are one of the biggest businesses online nowadays. According to market research, digital music sales have grown by 300 percent from the previous year. This speaks a lot about the popularity and choice of online music download sites over other offline methods to download new music or just about any music video and music downloads. There is quite a handful of music download sites that let you download new music and music videos so it can get a bit confusing. Read on to find out more about selection of music download sites - where to download new music and music videos.

Many of the legal and major music download sites provide the most sophisticated and advanced search engines for searching and locating song titles and even the latest releases can be quickly traced so that you can download new music instantly. No time is wasted at these music download sites. Many music sites are also supported by major record labels. There are music download sites that charge you a monthly fee that limits you to a specific number of downloads, and there are also download sites that charge you for every song you download. There is a third category of site that charges you once and you get to download new music or old music for as long and as many as you wish. There are no limits at these download services.

When you are downloading new music on the internet, be sure to read all the rules of each of the music download sites. This is to make sure that you keep within their guidelines and maintain a clean record with these sites. Most music download sites adopt certain level of digital rights management (DRM) copyright protection. This means that there are some restrictions on the way you use the music files and music videos you download. It can be a restriction of sharing the files with a third party and you are only allowed to use it for your own enjoyment. This is a rule that is quite commonly flouted as people like to burn the MP3 files and share music playlists with their friends especially when they download new music. However, there are almost no rules that limit the kind of entertainment system you play on. This means you can play on all music players, from your computer to your MP3 player.

If you are into download new music or looking for new and independent articles, you can look at eMusic. For those looking for no-frills and affordable pay-per-piece music download, try WalMart. Other than that, it is best that you have a look at the music download sites that offer unlimited music downloads for a price lesser than $50 the market standard rate. There are a couple of things you need to know before you get a membership which is most likely to be a lifetime membership, from these music download sites where you can download new music, music videos and much more.

When searching for a music download site to download new music, the media file format of the music files is important. Some music download sites only use their proprietary format which may not be compatible with your music player. Also, since the majority of music download sites require you to use special software to download music files, you have to check to see if your computer requirements and resources satisfy the software requirements. Be sure to remove unnecessary files from your hard drive to release more disk space for your music downloads.

There are some music download sites where you not only get to download new music or download music videos, you also get to download other media files like movies, audio books and TV shows. Once you have selected a music download site, you would pay one fee, download and install their music downloading client software and that's all. You can now download new music and music videos at your own convenience.

Find out more music download site selection tips from my online music blog to help you decide where you should download new music.

Davion is a music addict and carry do without them. Find out about hot and limited offers for unlimited music downloads. Also read his wildly popular article for unlimited music downloads tips.

Unlimited Music Downloads - Marvel at New Ways to Download Music

Online websites are favourites sites that get a lot of visits from teens and music lovers. Some sites boast of collections well over a million sound tracks and music files for anyone to download onto their portable digital player. This comes close to their promise of delivering unlimited music downloads. Downloading online music to play is a great way to fight boredom and to be entertained while waiting for your bus to arrive, taking a ride on the train or waiting for a friend at the cafe. The concept of download music online at places with vast media libraries is great. But we shall see how we too can access to unlimited music downloads.

For iPods, the undisputedly well-known place for unlimited music downloads is iTunes. But other music stores like WalMart, HMV, etc are also coming up strong. WalMart has set their music prices at $0.99 mark and this maintains the competitive pressure on other music companies. These stores offer fantastic range of songs and music. While it is extremely affordable for anyone to download a few songs from these music stores, it soon becomes obvious that it would not be cheap to build a music collection.

The good news is new digital music services have emerged to offer lifetime access to unlimited music downloads for a price lower than $40 to $50. There seems to be more than a dozen of these sites and it can be hard to decide which digital music service is the best source of music. Music onlookers have envisaged a future for music where music enthusiasts can download any song they like wherever they are and whenever they want. These download services has made this a reality by offering customers the ability to access unlimited music downloads to their computer or portable digital player. For a low fee that is one time, they can download even full music albums many times over.

But there are some details that must not be missed when searching for an ideal download service for unlimited music downloads. Do check and ensure music file formats are compatible with your player. It is quite safe if they offer MP3 ready files. Other music file formats such as WMA, Atrac 3 and AAC are also common formats of music files compatible with newer MP3 players. It is a norm for these download services to give you movie, video, game and software downloads on top of unlimited music downloads. So you can afford to choose between options. Pick one with the largest database of media file downloads. After all, you are paying for about the same price at most places.

Customers who have downloaded music online are rather impressed with the huge selection of music they can find. From classical music to rock, almost all music genres can be searched, found and downloaded. Certain download services require you to download special software application to download the online music, but there are a few that allows direct music downloads.

Anyone interested to download good music online without blowing the budget can visit my music blog and find out which are the most affordable and reliable download services for unlimited music downloads.

Davion is a music addict and carry do without them. Find out about hot and limited offers for unlimited music downloads. Also read his wildly popular article on unlimited music downloads.