Hangin' Out In 100b

I’ve said it before, but nothing makes me happier than a good free song. Bean talked about how she comes across new music a few months ago and I’d like to share how I find all my precious free legal music:

1) The MySpace:
MySpace is the easiest and most obvious way to get your hands on some free tunes. I always feel a flutter in my belly when I see the download button light up under a song. Very often that thing doesn’t work though. I’d like to appeal to the MySpace fat cats and tell them to please stop playing with my feelings and fix that shit, you free music tease.

2) Band sites and mailinglists:
Some bands are more generous than others with their free music. Bands like Takka Takka are so generous that you start to worry if they’re making any money at all. The mailinglists are great resources too. Some bands give their mailinglist members exclusive downloads. Crash Convention, for instance, has a special section on their site for members with regularly posted new singles or exclusive versions of songs.

3) Other blogs:
Bean has already covered the best blogs to visit for some yummy new bands. There is a smorgasboard of blogs for any kind of music out there. The trick is to keep track of the ones that seem to match your music taste. So I’d like to add that Music For Robots, Keep Hope Inside and You Ain’t No Picasso are absolutely wonderful too.

4) Online music shops:
Itunes, Amazon and 7Digital all have free music downloads, you just have to look for them. Sometimes it’s as easy as typing in “free download” in a search box. For instance you can get Bright Eyes’ “When The President Talks To God” for free from Itunes. Insound is the best and my favorite one, they have a whole section dedicated to free mp3s. Respect.

5) The Bean:
Bean is a regular donator to the Provide Tam With Music fund. She has filled my greedy little hands with more new beautiful music than you can shake a stick at. So if you ever come across a Bean hold on for dear life, because she knows good music when she hears it and is always willing to share. God bless her.

6) Online music mags/sites:
I love online music magazines, because even though they may be free they often have quality reviews and even better offerings of music for nothing. 3hive is brilliant! I get choked up just thinking about it. They collect all the legal downloads from record companies, artist websites etc. and put them in one place. They call it sharing the sharing. So sweet.
Daytrotter is slowly becoming my new spiritual leader. They have regular live sessions with the most wonderful bands and you can listen to all these exclusive sessions for free. For some reason many of the bands feel compelled to play new or lesser known songs on Daytrotter, which is just heaven.
Then there’s The Downloader. I love Daytrotter, but I want to make babies with The Downloader. I’m not sure how or when or why I came to be on this guy “Matt The Downloader’s” mailinglist but it’s the best thing ever. The site claims to be the “complete guide to legal music downloads” and I’m inclined to believe it. He has a lot of of free mp3s from new bands and the best thing is he puts them in a top ten list in order of most downloaded track. If there’s something I love almost as much as free music, it’s lists … and shoes and bags, but that’s a whole other story.

7) Record companies:
Record companies, especially the smaller ones, are a great source too. Just look up your favorite artist’s label and visit their site, they’ll often have some songs to sample from. Absolutely Kosher Records even sends a free sample CD of their artists to anyone who joins their mailinglist. I’ve mentioned Filthy Little Angels a couple of times, but they have the best themed free music downloads ever. My favorite is still the Grease one. Their artists covered a song from the musical in their own unique way and we get to listen to it for free.

And that’s how I build up my library without spending a dime. But hey ever heard of that excellent broke-ass band that’s still playing twenty years later? Yeah me either. I may be greedy, but if you want your favorite bands to stick around they’re gonna need some cash. So if you come across a band that takes your fancy, support them any way you can and buy their stuff.