Guest Author - Valerie Shoopman

There are several legal sites still around that allow you to either listen to music on your computer for free, or even better yet download the music to your MP3 player for free.

One of my favorite sites is music.download.com. CNet, who has been around the net since the early days providing free downloads and impartial product reviews runs this site. You can be assured that everything is completely legal and no nasty spyware is embedded or attached to any downloads.

They have over 110,000 free MP3 songs that you can sample, listen to the entire song, or add to your own playlist. In addition to creating your own custom playlist that you can shuffle or repeat, they have playlists already created in different genres. These pre-loaded playlists make it easy for you to find the music you like quickly. You can also search and sort the 110,000+ free MP3 songs by their average rating, song name, artist name, total listens, total listens in the last week, date added, or date updated. Be prepared to spend some time on this site!

If you like to keep up on new artists as they emerge, then artistdirect.com is for you. Once again, you can add songs to your favorites, however you do have to sign up for the free service. I find searching on this site to be a bit more cumbersome, but they do have some nice reviews and artist interviews. You will need to go to http://www.artistdirect.com/freemp3s to find the free stuff. Once you get there though, you can download the free MP3 songs to your computer and sync them up with your MP3 player. The short list leaves you wanting for a bit more though.

Next up is free MP3 music from an old site mp3.com that’s been completely restructured since the old days. Some like it better; others don’t care for the new site. However, the important thing is it’s now completely legal. You can listen to the music or download it to your computer and sync up to your MP3 player. They have a very nice user interface where you can easily search for the latest free music, popular free music, or music by an artists name. In addition, they have a top 10 free music download list so you can easily see the 10 most popular songs downloaded. There are even entire albums you can stream for completely free! You can see what others had to say about the artists and songs, plus join the free fan sign up and add your own thoughts and reviews.

So regardless of whether you’re a new band wanting to get recognition, an old artist with a new song, or just a fan of music looking for some new tunes, any one of these three sites will allow you to share and access music while connecting interesting people all across the globe. Enjoy!