Free music is fun, but just try to find it

Everyone wants free stuff.

But when it comes to music, “free” means “illegal” to a lot of people — the result of both the freewheeling era of Grokster and other discredited music-sharing services and the recording industry’s efforts to combat them.

But music that is both free and legal is increasingly available online, and not just from unknown bands. Just visit Amazon, type in “free music” as your search, and you will find a shop with free MP3s from Alison Krauss, Madness, the Strokes and other artists.

Record companies, musical artists and retailers increasingly recognize the value in giving away music. If you get one free song, they reason, you might buy the rest of the album — or, in the case of the iTunes Music Store and other retailers, individual songs.

But finding free music isn’t nearly as easy as buying tunes at online stores. To find free music, you need to become an active consumer of online music, visit music Weblogs, listen to podcasts and seek out tunes at online music retailers, record companies and artist Web sites.

Jeremy Schlosberg, who runs Fingertips ( www.fingertips.com), a wonderful spot with reviews of free MP3s, notes how hard it can be to find good music that is both free and legal.

“It’s quite the conundrum, actually — there is more good music being produced than ever before in history, and yet it’s harder to find than ever,” he writes. “Free, legal MP3s are particularly hard to find, as they tend to be scattered across hundreds if not thousands of different Web sites around the world.”

I generally don’t go trolling for free tunes; that seems like too much work. Instead, I stumble upon free music as I’m buying music at the iTunes Music Store, listening to podcasts and checking out blogs and music review sites, such as Fingertips.

Case in point: Just recently, I was listening to Coverville ( www.coverville.com), my favorite podcast, when I heard a cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” by an artist named Jonathan Coulton. I looked up Coulton on iTunes, and while I found him, I couldn’t find his “Baby Got Back” cover. But I located his personal Web site ( www.jonathancoulton.com), and with it, a trove of freebies, including the Sir Mix-a-Lot cover.

If you want to seek out free tunes, think about delving into the world of MP3 blogs — blogs highlighting and reviewing free digital music. Just beware: Some of these play by the rules, but others don’t care much about legal niceties.

I enjoy the variety of tunes at Fat Planet ( www.fatplanet.com.au), a spot with MP3s “taken from artists’ sites, labels or other legitimate sources.”

Record companies also provide links to free tunes. Just Google a record company with artists you like, and you may uncover some freebies. Matador Records, for instance, includes a page with MP3s of some artists I like, such as Yo La Tengo and Laura Cantrell.

And the easy route? Online music stores, which typically feature a spot with free downloads. Artists realize they can draw attention with a new album if they provide a freebie — sometimes a tune from the album, sometimes a remix or extra.

Just watch out: Freebies are fun, but you may end up spending cash.