There are few other interesting things other than the free downloading of MP3s and other media. This is a problem that is hitting the music industry pretty hard, and despite many campaigns and law suits against the perpetrators, it's just to hard to stop them all.
On top of this, who wouldn't want free music? These days, purchasing all of your favorite artist's albums at the store or even online is expensive, with album prices sometimes as high as $25. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of individuals downloading these albums and songs online. However, there are cheaper and even free alternatives to getting MP3s.
First of all, there are many websites that offer free mp3 downloads with the completion of certain affiliate offers. These offers may be free or may be something with a "money back guarantee." Often times you will be asked to apply for a credit card, or accept some kind of a free trial.
While this can be a little irritating, the reward will often be free music, so it's not always so bad. Sometimes up and coming bands will also offer free downloads via their fan pages as a way to create buzz for the band. This is an opportunity to get behind a band early, as some of these bands are really impressive, and will only grow as time goes on. Some major bands are even posting their music for free online throughout various websites.
Whether they are fed up with record companies, or simply want to control their own content, you can find several excellent albums available completely free and completely legal right on the band's website.
For people willing to pay a little for their music, there are a lot of fantastic options. However, these pay sites also often offer something for people looking to get their music for free as well. Napster and Rhapsody both offer free trials that will get you access to all of their content for a limited period of time, but there are others that are just plain, "free.".
They also offer a monthly payment plan that will get you access to all of their songs for one small fee, once a month. On the other hand, they also offer MP3s to buy at a lower price than you would typically find in the store (though this is not always the case.)
Other websites offer you 21 free song listens on their website before you even have to sign up for the trial, so sometimes these are great deals. Finally, we have iTunes. This service has taken the music world by storm with it's simple pay per song system. It's great if you want to pick and choose tracks from an album without paying for the whole thing.
Great if you're into the singles, but don't have much interest in the other songs. For instance, buy a soda and you'll have a shot at a free song download. This is done with all kinds of food, and sometimes with other products as well.
The only problem is that you will need a credit card to activate your account. As you can see, there are many ways to download free media!