Downloading Music from the Internet

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Downloading Music from the Internet

There are many ways to download music off the internet; some legal and some illegal. There are so many websites about downloading music, it can be confusing to people which ways are legal and which are not. Some sites and programs charge a monthly fee while others have consumers pay per song. Then there are others that advertise “Free Downloads” and falsely state that downloading free music is legal. There are many advantages and disadvantages to downloading music legally and illegally.

There are various ways that one can obtain and download music off the internet without having to worry that his/her favorite jams will be serving him/her jail time. According to about.com, the best places to buy legal music are iTunes music store, Emusic.com and Napster 2.0. Apple Computer recently created the iTunes music store that provides over a million songs from major labels that can be purchased for 99 cents each. In order to use this service, one must download the iTunes player onto either your Mac or PC. This “store” also allows the user to burn an unlimited amount of CD’s. Millions across the world own an iPod that can have these music files downloaded onto it as well. Another included perk to this “store” is called Artist Alerts that notifies the user via e-mail when a newly released CD from your favorite musician has been added and available to download. Emusic.com was one of the first sites to sell music online and offers unrestricted and un-copy-protected MP3 files. The price for the service begins with a free two week trial including 50 free downloads. If the user wants to continue the service he/she may continue to pay $9.99 a month for 40 downloads. This service allows one to sample the track before it is purchased/downloaded and one can also download entire CD’s. Napster 2.0 is unlike the old file-sharing Napster that had become recognized as the service that would give out downloads and lawsuits. This new Napster is an online music store that is owned by Roxio and can only be used if one downloads the Napster software. Napster 2.0 has established content agreements with the five major record labels and other independents. More than 500,000 tracks are offered and a 30 second clip for each song is offered before it is purchased. The cost is 99 cents per song or $...

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...ing CDs. Because of this, music sales have dropped 31% over the last 3 years. Some consumers feel as though the record industry has been charging too much for CDs and downloading music for free is a way of getting back at them. There are some people who think that charging fines is not the way to help this situation. They think that there should be an easy way for people to buy music on the internet so they can continue to make money,. Large fines may upset consumers and they may never spend a dollar in a record store again because they are upset. The only way to avoid being charged a lot of money is to buy CDs in record stores.

By downloading legal music, one has to pay money for songs that he/she downloads and illegal downloading lets people get free music. Each way to download has its advantages and disadvantages. If people choose to download music legally, they do not have to worry about being charged high fines. People who download illegal music do not have to worry about paying per song and like getting music for free. When one decides which way to download, he/she looks at the good and bad things about each and makes his/ her own judgment about it.

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