Download Music Online - Getting the Best Deal, Legally

The days of getting in your car and driving to the nearest record store for your tunes are a thing of the past. Filling your MP3 player with music by downloading it off the Internet is not the wave of the future... it's here right now! However, back when you were buying CDs, at least you knew your music was legal and you weren't violating any laws.


Nowadays, you need to be careful and well-informed about music copyright regulations. Otherwise, you could very well be the next target of a very expensive recording industry lawsuit. So, how do you know that you are not only downloading your music legally, but you are also getting the best value for your money? A good place to start is to completely eliminate any site that offers you unlimited music at no charge. Yes, every now and then an up-and-coming artist will offer his own music free on his website. However, if you're using a website or download network that allows you completely free access to tracks by well-known bands, you should run the other way... fast! So, does that mean you're stuck with sites that charge expensive download fees for each song you choose? Absolutely not!


The plans offered by legal music download sites offer a variety of membership and purchase options, and you are sure to find one that will work for you. I'll outline a few of the pricing plans here, and with a bit of research you will be able to easily uncover others. First, there are the music sites that have a standard per-download charge. These do not require any type of membership fee, and you usually can only preview short clips of songs before you purchase them. The price per track at these sites usually starts around $0.99, and I've seen it go as high as $1.29. Another popular way to sell music online is to offer a paid membership, with per-track download charges.


These web sites often allow their members to stream unlimited music, and charge a reduced per-track fee (generally about $0.67) if the member would like to download a song to burn to a CD or load on their MP3 player. Finally, one of my favorite pricing models is a monthly subscription that will allow a pre-determined number of downloads each month. These sites usually offer a free trial period so that you can become familiar with the types of music they have available, and will even allow you to download a limited number of songs free during this time. (I've seen this deal offered for anywhere from 10 to 25 free tracks.) If you then decide not to continue your membership past the trial period, the songs you've already downloaded are legally yours to keep.

By Chad Connors

Chad Connors is a 21-year-old college student who loves being able to download his music on the Internet. His website, Reviewer's Choice, has an entire section devoted to helping you select the best music download site. Visit it today at
http://reviewers-choice-online.com/category/music/

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Why Everyone Loves Singing Songs

You have to admit that even if you don't have a great singing voice, there's just something about singing songs that make you feel a little bit happier inside. You might not do it in public, and you might not even admit when you do it in private, but chances are you sing periodically throughout the day. Music has the ability to take you to a whole new world, giving you the escape that you need to survive throughout the day. Through singing, people can share their experiences, emotions, and dreams with the world. It's a beautiful process that is often taken for granted.

So what is it about singing songs that is so special? Some might say that singing can give someone an instant rock star quality, which most people desperately seek in their own lives. Others think that singing is just a natural process that happens after someone hears a sound. If you ask me, everyone loves singing songs because it allows them to step into a new character, similar to why people enjoy dressing up on Halloween. Even people who love their lives like to take a break from them every now and again. Singing songs can provide that outlet for people to escape from life, even if it's only for three brief minutes.

If you need an escape while you're at home, then you should consider trying some karaoke. You don't have to do it in front of a crowd of people unless you really want to, and you might be surprised by how quickly it will make you feel better. A good karaoke software program will let you be a singing superstar and track your performance so you can constantly improve.

You have a lot of karaoke options, but the main two things you can choose from are karaoke machines and karaoke software. The machines will sit somewhere in your house where you can access them whenever you need to. The software, on the other hand, will convert your computer or game system into a karaoke machine so that you can save some space and still enjoy all the benefits of the machine. Whatever you get is up to you. After that, all you have to do is pick a song and wait to jump into a whole new world.

Finally you must remember that you should not pay for the same music twice. there is some decent karaoke software that will actually convert your current MP3's and CD's into karaoke songs. This will save you a huge amount of money as you will not need to but specific karaoke CDs.

Anyway why would you actually pay for the same music twice?

I have found that Singing Superstar is relatively inexpensive, and it pays for itself after the first or second use. You will save hundreds of dollars in karaoke music CDs by just using some simple conversion software on your computer or game system.

To see more information on the latest and greatest Karaoke Software you should visit our review page here: Quality Karaoke Software

Rest assured, I have tried Singing-Superstar and can personally recommend this product.

From my review I have found that Singing Superstar is easy to use, offers loads of extra features, and is the closest I have come to having a professional karaoke experience without even leaving the house.

Only Singing-Superstar lets you use the power of your PC to sing along with almost any song ever made...
Singing Super Star lets you sing solo or join in with up to 6 mates to create a real life singing performance.
Join in the karaoke revolution and see if you have what it takes to become a Singing Superstar.

By Kelly Michaels


Kelly Michaels
Independent Reviewer
http://www.karaokesingingreview.com/

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Songwriting Instruction - What to Write About?

So, you want to write a song but don't know where to start or what to write about. Well, you're not alone. Sitting there staring at a blank piece of paper or computer screen is something that happens to all of us. In this article, I'm going to give you a few ideas for coming up with things to write about. Hopefully, these tips will get you on your way to writing your first great song.
Do me a favor. Right now...turn on the radio. I don't care what station it is. It can be rock, country, R&B, or easy listening for all I care. Just turn on the radio and wait until a song comes on. When it does, listen to the lyrics. Yeah, I know...a lot of songs have lyrics that are impossible to understand. This is especially true with speed metal. Anyway, listen to the lyrics. What is the singer singing about? Write down the general topic. After you're done, pick another song and do the same thing. Keep doing this until you have a list of about 20 or 30 topics.

If you listen to enough songs, you will begin to see patterns. Over the 45 years that I've been listening to music, the categories that seem to pop up the most are love, hate, overcoming adversity, war, poverty, nostalgia, novelty songs, charity and giving to others, and some very obtuse themes that are quite hard to categorize. These main themes should give you plenty of ammunition to use for your songwriting arsenal.

But if listening to songs on the radio isn't enough, go look at your own life. Certainly you've had experiences in your life. The older you are, the more experiences you're sure to have had. Many times, a personal story, whether it's sad, funny, or overcoming your own adversity, is going to be perfect material for a great song. As a matter of fact, some of the best songs ever written were written from personal experience. For example, Harry Chapin's song "Taxi" was written loosely based from his personal experience at the United States Air Force Academy.

The key to coming up with an idea is to clear your mind and not censor yourself. Too many people say, "That's a dumb idea" before they even give it a chance. Don't do it! Let yourself be a kid again. Kids will say and do anything and not think about looking or acting stupid. As a songwriter, sometimes we have to do the same thing.

By Steven Wagenheim

To YOUR Songwriting Success
Steven Wagenheim

Want to get more great FREE tips on songwriting? Visit my blog at http://songwriting-tips-online.blogspot.com/

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Easy Guitar Songs For Beginner Guitarists

There's no doubt about it, almost all people who start learning how to play the guitar do so, to be able to play popular songs. And the quicker the better! Thankfully, there are many very famous songs which are easy to learn and play, even for novice guitarists.

So once you are comfortable with your basic chords, chord changes and alternate plucking, have a go at these popular, yet easy guitar songs:

Good Riddance - Green Day

A very fun and energetic song that will improve your chord change technique, strumming skills, as well as single string plucking. The first part of the song involves arpeggiating, than strumming chords G, C9 and D, which is very easy, since your 3rd and 4th fingers hardly need to move. The second part of the song involves adding more chords to the simple strumming pattern, making this a great beginner guitar song to learn.

Greensleeves - English Folk Song

A very popular song from long ago, that most people associate with medieval times. This song is great for beginners, as it is made up of 2 separate sections, both involving fingerpicking:

The first is comprised of chord arpeggios. The chords you'll need to know are: Am, C, D, E, B7, G.

The second section of the song is the melody, where you'll be fingerpicking single and double strings. Easy to learn, and loads of fun to play!

No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley

Probably one of the most famous songs in the world, it's easy to play and your friends and family will love listening to it. The main section involves 3 chords which are very easy to switch in between. The second section involves bar chord strumming, which might be somewhat challenging for beginners, but hey, it's great for practicing bar chords.

Godfather Theme (Speak Softly Love) - Slash

The ever popular theme to The Godfather movie got a new twist after Slash played it's cover version. This is an electric guitar song, a beginner guitar solo song actually. You'll be picking individual strings, and practicing vibratos and slides while learning this song. You'll need to set up a nice sound on your amplifier, with a bit of distortion and a slight delay (echo).

Wonderwall - Oasis

A very popular song that will really improve your strumming and chord changing skills. To get the authentic Oasis sound, you'll need to place a capo at fret 2, so if you haven't purchased one yet, you'll need to go out to your local music shop before you start learning this song. You'll be strumming 6 chords, but the great part is that your 3rd and 4th fingers stay on the E and B strings of fret 3 throughout the song, making it easy for beginner guitarists who haven't come to terms with changing chords yet.

Playing songs is a great way of learning and advancing your guitar techniques and skills, as it makes practicing the guitar fun and motivating. Learn how to play the above, as well as many other beginner guitar songs at TheGuitarLesson.com. The website provides video guitar lessons for beginners with animated tabs and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.

By Tom Fontana

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