Ain’t Nothin’ for Free (Vol I)

In case you didn’t know, the music industry is currently under overhaul. With the recently new factor online music now plays and how readily available illegal music is, people in the industry have had to rethink their entire market structure. Tons of new strategies have been employed including “organic” grassroots fan bases, a return to vinyl, and LEGAL free music.

Ever since Radiohead released “In Rainbows” with the option of zero pounds, the trend of free music has seen exponential growth. Whether you want to call it a “bait-and-switch” or a way to build trust with a potential fan base, it has become increasingly popular.

Because of the influx of free music, we wanted to make sure everyone is up on it. I mean, missing free stuff womps. So here are some strategies to get free music.

1) Join all your favorite artist’s mailing lists. For example, last month Meiko gave out a free song when she opened her new online store to her mailing list. The emails can sometimes get overwhelming, but this is also how I got Coldplay’s “LeftRightLeftRightLeft.”

2) Also, if you have multiple artists you like on one label, add the label’s mailing list or myspace. Vanguard did a holiday sampler which had around 20 free songs on it (Nathan wrote about this earlier).

3) Now we start getting to the big dogs – Amazon. If you get on Amazon and go to songs for download -> price -> free, you can find some cool stuff. (if that doesn’t work just look at www.stumbleupon.com) Right now the best songs on there are one of Liam Finn’s, “Norway” by Beach House, and “Ambling Alp” by Yeasayer. This pool doesn’t update a lot, but good stuff does get put in there and typically stays for a while.

4) Lastly, iTunes! The music giant is by far the best place to get free music. Not only does iTunes give out 4 free songs on a weekly basis, but periodically they’ll do larger 20 song samplers. And, in addition,  iTunes puts out some great stuff. This year alone they’ve had Vampire Weekend, Laura Veirs, Beach House, Mariah Carey, and more. You get a total mix with iTunes. Last year I think back to back weeks I got The xx’s music video for “Crystallized” and Justin Bieber’s “One Time.” It is kind of a fun grab bag.

Accordingly, iTunes is where I’ll be focusing my efforts because of volume and quality. The iTunes free songs come in four distinct categories each week: Single of the Week, Music Video of the Week, Discovery Download, and Cancion de la Semana. Each title is a pretty good description of what you’ll get. (And yes, I have quite the Latin music selection in my iTunes now. You’ll be surprised how useful it can be.)

This week: (my rating out of five)

Single of the Week: “Bien o Mal” – Julieta Venegas (3.0) I suppose this song doubles as the Cancion de la Semana this week, since I can’t find one. A nice poppy Spanish song with a driving beat. Female vocals, something like a good summer single by Natasha Beddingfield, just in Spanish.

Music Video of the Week: “Everybody In Love” – JLS (2.6) Kind of a modern Boyz II Men crossed with a Backstreet Boys song. The ballad’s music videos is pretty normal except that a very “white” feel for a Boy II Men kind of band. See for yourself.

Discovery Download: “The Mama Papa” – Plants and Animals (2.8) First of all, the cover art weirds me out. Look at it at your own risk. A low-fi Strokes/U2 type band. A decent single, nothing too much to talk about.

Cancion de la Semana: Same as Single of the Week for this week.

One last note, I have a not necessarily “free” suggestion. Right now if you go to www.emusic.com they have a deal that if you sign up right now you get a free 35 song download. How it works is you pay a monthly amount (I’m on a $12 deals) and you get a certain number of download in that month period (for me it’s 24). That works out to $0.50 a song, which isn’t too bad, and I haven’t seen an album cost more than 12 downloads, so for some you get bonus tracks. (e.g. “Illinois” – Sufjan Stevens). Also, if you get down to one download on your free trial, they give you a bonus ten to finish downloading an album, if you start your pay period then. Ultimately, I just got 45 free downloads this weekend!

It’s a pretty sweet deal. They don’t have everything, but they have enough that I’ve got like 20 some albums in my cue to download right now, so I’m satisfied.

Anyways, enjoy, get you some, and don’t pay the man when you don’t have to!

Bleed on!

Bradley