I’m a huge music fan, and I not only enjoy listening to it, but I also have fun playing it, as well. Because of my obsession, I always remain on the lookout for new bands and music that I may have never heard of before. Major label acts aren’t the only game in town - an innumerable amount of talented smaller groups tend to slip through the cracks due to a lack of financial support and a minuscule amount of promotion. The RIAA has made it very hard for us to casually listen to and discover new bands without a financial commitment, but the good news is that a large number of independent musicians are making their music freely available online, and Jamendo will link you to it.

Here’s the deal: artists distribute their music under a specific Creative Commons license, which allows us to download, remix, and share their music in a legal way. Take that, RIAA. You can listen to these albums online, and if you like what you hear, then you can download the music on BitTorrent or eMule. Feel free to review, rate, and discuss the music with others. Every little thing that you do to spread the word contributes to the potential success of the artist, and that’s worth more than the price of any CD.

Tags: cd, riaa, music, bittorrent, creative commons, bands, jamendo, artists, emule