The internet has changed how media is handled to a large degree. Videos, music, and books can all be transmitted from one place to another near instantly and with little practical loss to either end. Some optimistic souls have seen the new potential and capitalized on these new technologies to bring free music to the public, while still finding ways to pay artists.

Note: This post is not about where to get free downloads of the band that you don’t want to pay for at iTunes or Amazon or wherever, but rather, we’re exploring music that is genuinely free to begin with through alternative methods.

Jamendo

Jamendo is my personal favorite site for free music. There are many high quality bands that I found through this site. Including, but not limited to Brad Sucks, Try^d, Silence is Sexy, and Josh Woodward. All songs on Jamendo are available for download. The artists offer their music free of any required charge. Each artist’s page, however, has a “Support this Artist” button, where you can make donation of your choosing to the artist. Jamendo supports PayPal, so it’s not too difficult. And all donations go directly to the artists (minus a few cents transaction fee for using PayPal). Additionally, Jamendo splits ad revenue with the artists based on page hits. Jamendo has some other really great features regarding licenses for derivative works, but I’ll get to those later.

Noise Trade

This site offers an interesting platform. While Jamendo relies on implied word of mouth/donations to help support artists, Noise Trade gives you a more firm nudge in that direction, offering their albums for download for a trade. Either you can send an e-mail to 5 friends suggesting the album, or alternatively, you can make a donation of your choice to the artist, with a minimum donation of one dollar. The price is low, if a bit forced. The search functions seem to be a bit restrictive on this site, though if you’re coming up empty on things to listen to, Noise Trade provides a decent platform for discovering random new artists.

Last.fm

Last.fm is a bit more mainstream than the other sites. As such, you’ll find a lot more closed music on the site. It gets an honorable mention, though, because of its great ability to get new artists in front of you. When I first signed up for the site, I added a few of my favorite Jamendo artists to my Library. After that, most of the artists that would be generated that last.fm thought I would like would also be artists featured on Jamendo. As an example, I found No, Really (she has an amazing voice) via a last.fm suggestion, and then downloaded her music from Jamendo.

For the Musicians

In the internet age, there’s never been more methods of distribution for up-and-coming musicians. For starters, the sites listed above all include semi-easy sign-ups for bands/artists to upload their music. Since most of the sites include ways of paying artists, you’ll probably need more than just a username. If you don’t already have a PayPal account, I’d suggest you get one before beginning this sign-up process.

In addition the above, though, here’s a few more sites:

Bandcamp

Most music sites allow you your own profile on their site, but no matter which one you go with, be it last.fm, Jamendo, or MySpace (or all of them), you still only have a profile on their site. Their site. Not your own.

Bandcamp gives you a little bit more personalization of your hosted site. As an example, take a look at the bandcamp site for Silence is Sexy. Aside from a small bar at the bottom of the page (and the very obvious yourbandname.bandcamp.com URL), there’s very little on the site besides your own band’s banners/music. If you’re looking for a home front for your band, but aren’t quite ready to make a site or hire a web designer, bandcamp is the perfect middle-ground.

bandcamp does offer support for custom domains, though they admit the process can get a little technical, so if you’re not technically inclined, you may want to find a nerdy friend to help out with this one-time setup process.

Oh, and as a sidenote, bandcamp has the single most hilarious FAQ page I have ever read.

Audio Portal, Garage Band, and more…

If your goal is to get your music heard, you can’t have enough methods of distribution. Each site has its own community of listeners and downloaders. I personally frequent Jamendo, and occasionally dash over to last.fm. Others may use Pandora and frequent MySpace music. It’s not uncommon, though, to find the same band on all of these sites. So feel free to explore. Some more options include the Audio Portal at Newgrounds, Garage Band, or CD Freedom. All of these sites offer various methods for free or paid distribution.

Your Rights (And Responsibilities)

A lot of the sites listed above offer methods to distribute music freely. For consumers, especially those with no money, this sounds great, and fantastic, and wonderful and….

But what about the artists? The internet is notorious for being a scary place for musicians. Much like walking down a street in New York City sounds fun, so long as you make sure not to get mugged, a musician wants to put their music online to be heard, without having it stolen. Interestingly, both of these ideas aren’t necessarily based in reality. New York has a much lower crime rate than it once did, and the Internet isn’t just a breeding ground for movie and music pirates.

Generally, your right is to control where and how your music is distributed. Unfortunately, the decision isn’t as easy as it used to be. Some of the methods listed here will mean you lose some control. Many sites are governed by what’s called Creative Commons licenses. Using one of these licenses will give your listeners permission, not just to download, but also to cipy and redistribute your music. This can be good or bad for you, the musician. On the one hand, you’re not getting compensated for every copy downloaded. On the other, sometimes exposure is more important than sales. The decision has to be up to you.

A Note About Creative Commons

If you’ve decided to look into alternative methods of music distribution, it would be beneficial to learn about CC, so you know what you’re getting into.

The short version is, Creative Commons allows you to say to your listeners “You are allowed to download this album/song and pass it on to your friends. We promise, we won’t sue you.” There’s several different types of licenses, some that don’t permit any kind of modifying or remixing, and don’t permit commercial use of the song. There are other more free licenses (and you can read about all the different combinations on the Creative Commons website). Though, generally, you’re at least permitting the people who download to pass your music on to other people.

Each site is different in how they handle your rights. As an example, all music on Jamendo is governed by some form of Creative Commons license or another, while bandcamp does allow you to enable paid downloads or free downloads. Be sure to check each site’s rules on download before uploading (or downloading).

Good Luck!

There’s a ton of options. Having options gives you a lot of opportunity, so make the best of them.

*Disclaimer — I am not a musician. I made one song using Garage Band a couple years ago and promptyl forgot about it. I’m more a video kind of guy. I don’t have any kind of expertise in music distribution. I’d just encourage any artists (in music, video, or any other medium) to explore all possibilities. And have fun!