Know Just What You Should Know About Music Downloads

First, there were vinyl records and 8-track players. Then, there were cassette players and compact discs. Now, listening to music is as easy is pressing a button on your cell phone or computer. To really enjoy downloading music, be sure to read the following tips so you know what you are doing.

A great way to get music downloads is to utilize iTunes. Pretty much any song can be found on iTunes, and it's rather simple to get them all onto an iPod or iPhone. You can find some decent deals when purchasing via iTunes.

An inexpensive way to download music is to follow feeds from popular music download sites. Sites such as Amazon or iTunes have free music downloads available on a daily basis. Just search for "free music"� and a list of free songs and albums will be listed for you to download.

When you download music from an online source, you have to be careful when you download from various sites. Protect yourself by visiting only the most credible sites. Other sites leave you vulnerable to spyware, spam, and viruses. Keep in mind that it really does pay to protect your data when using smaller, unknown sites.

A good tip to think about when you're looking to download music is to be completely sure that you're downloading the right version of whatever it is that you want. You might want something specific, perhaps the radio version of a song. It can be difficult to make sure you download exactly what you want.

Keep an eye out for promotions when looking for digital music. A lot of times, iTunes as well as other services offer promotions that let you download songs for free and sometimes even more.

Amazon and iTunes are popular markets for finding downloaded music. You can set up a free account and browse songs from millions of artists. In many cases, you can even listen to a small sample of a song before you buy it. This is a great way to access a lot of music all in one place.

If you really like an artist, always consider buying their entire album, rather than purchasing music track by track. It is almost always less expensive to buy an entire album than it would be to purchase 10 individual tracks, so using this method will save you money in the long run.

If you're finding yourself downloading a lot of music, you may want to consider a music subscription service. Spotify is just one of these popular services, and for a very low fee each month, you can listen to literally millions of songs on an unlimited basis. Users can also download songs, too. It's a less expensive way of increasing your personal music library.

Beware of using illegal means to download your music. There are many peer to peer networks out there that'll give you access to lots of music. But this does open you up to potential legal problems and big fines if caught. These free files might also contain hidden malware. Overall, it's a better and safer option to just purchase what you love.

If you purchase your music through iTunes, pay the extra cash for iTunes Match ($25 per year). This music service gives you access to your entire library on the web - not just the songs you've recently purchased. iTunes Match looks at all of your songs and matches them with a cloud version. It's an excellent way to increase your cloud-based music library.

Free Music Archive and The Internet Archive offer free music that is completely legal to download. Check them out if you are working on building your collection. They often contain music from obscure or lesser known artists, and the music spans every genre. Downloading is simple once you are at the site.

Safety is key when it comes to downloading music. That means you shouldn't download any music for free if it isn't offered directly by the artist, production company or some other promotional company. If you do, it is illegal and you can face major fines if you are caught.

For safety sake, download music only from sites you know and trust. This will ensure that the song doesn't have some sort of virus in it which can leave your computer a mess or your private data open to criminals. Stick to sites like Amazon or iTunes who scan the files they provide.

If money is tight, you may want to buy a CD from Amazon.com instead of buying a digital track for 99 cents. CDs these days, especially used ones on Amazon, are really cheap. You can buy many of your favorites for just a few dollars. Then when you get it, burn the songs from the CD to make them digital downloads. So for the price of 1 or 2 songs, you've just gotten 10 to 15 songs.

In conclusion, music has changed throughout the times. People used to listen to music by purchasing records, 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs. These days, downloading music is the easiest and most popular way to listen to you favorite music. Use the above advice to see what downloading music has to offer you.