It all started with Napster. Millions of people hopped online to partake of this popular music file sharing and download website. No more having to buy twenty CDs in order to get just the right mix of music for your computer or MP3 player. However, once the RIAA got wind of it, lawsuits about copyright issues sort of blew all the fun out of the free music file sharing website. In addition, other p2p music downloading web sites also suffered with a decline in users.
These days, there is still free music sharing websites. However, they are just biding their time as well in regards to lawsuits about those copyright issues. This music share business is fine for those songs whose copyrights have expired or have none. However, with all the lawsuits regarding the music file sharing web sites, many people are rather weary of some of the free music p2p downloads. It’s not that surprising considering that even private individuals are paying fines because of their music file sharing and downloading practices.
With all the free music sharing programs on the internet, you have to be careful with what you download. If you want to ensure that you are visiting legitimate music sharing sites, at some point you will have to pay a fee either per song or for a monthly membership which allows you “X” amount of songs to download at a time. Remember Napster? They are now a pay to download site so that they stay in compliance with the law.
You can still share music on the internet and find plenty of places to get p2p music downloads. If you try and download a copyrighted song, many of these programs will divert you to a subscription website where you pay per song or membership as mentioned above. There are music sharing clubs on the internet that you can find; just be cautious when downloading and sharing music.
The free music share trend is growing despite the copyright problems. The great debate about whether it is legal or ethical will linger on for years. The best thing for you to do is trust your instincts. If you encounter copyrighted songs for download from a music file sharing website, make sure that it is legal. Remember, this entails paying per song you download or at least a subscription fee. Without those parameters, it is doubtful you would be downloading those songs legally.