Where to download music online

Since the arrival of file sharing programs and pirate torrents, the music industry has been trying to fight back by providing legal sites where fans can download music for use on MP3 players and computers. This article will look at some of the options.

ITunes

ITunes is probably the most well-known legal download site. With both music and video downloads, iTunes offers a complete service at very reasonable prices. Although, it deals exclusively with Apple products, so it is expensive to buy a player, the interface is constantly updated and some artists release exclusive tracks and videos on the service. With an extensive back catalogue and new music being added all the time, there is something for everyone on the site and you can choose to only buy singles or albums depending on your preference at the time.

Online stores

If you don’t have an iPod, iPhone, but still want to download legal music, then you can shop online through a number of stores. Play.com and Amazon are good places to start with artist and genres divided for easy access. Since they download in the MP3 format rather than the Apple format, they can be used on a variety of different devices ranging from cheap MP3 players all the way up to the latest smart phones. Downloading in MP3 also allows the files to be transferred easily. If you replace your MP3 player, simply reload all the music once you sync up the new player.

Torrents

Torrent sites such as Pirate Bay and Demonoid are illegal. Files shared in this way can and have caused problems for people, although it doesn’t happen as much. Although, the majority of these torrents are clean, they can also carry viruses that can damage your computer or make it vulnerable to viruses that could steal personal information about you from your computer. Some smaller or unsigned artists use torrent sites and release tracks and albums via these sites to try and get attention and interest from genre fans. This is a good way of getting attention, but at the same time, the bands can risk never seeing the fans again once they start charging for music.

Conclusion

There are many more places where you can download music from. If you are a true fan of music, then you will buy downloaded albums, in some cases, these come with added features that don’t make it onto the torrents. Torrent sites are being tracked down on, and more cases are being brought against them. If you use them, be aware that you may get in trouble or prosecuted.