How to Get Free Legal Music Downloads – Really!

Many people want to know how to get free legal music downloads online. The good news is that it is possible, if you know where to look.

Many people search the Internet looking for alternatives to pay legal sites. But when searching online for Rhapsody, iTunes and Napster sites, you’ll get millions of results which can become frustrating. Furthermore, when searching online for music download sites, it can be very hard to tell the difference between legal music sites and file sharing sites.

P2P file sharing sites are confusing for many people because they make clear that they provide a legal service – which is true. But although P2P file sharing networks are still considered legal, it’s how these P2P file sharing networks work that have gotten some people in serious trouble with the RIAA and MPAA.

Basically, anyone who is caught downloading or sharing copyrighted material could be sued by the RIAA or MPAA. And in more recent news, P2P file sharing companies, and individuals that encourage illegal downloads of music and movies, are now also being sued.

Few people fully understand the hidden dangers and security risks of getting free MP3 downloads using P2P file sharing networks. These risks includes; adware, spyware, viruses, hackers and online privacy risks.

So how do you get free legal music downloads online? There are a variety of legal music sites that give you free mp3 downloads of cutting edge music, Indie music and up and coming new music stars.

Free Legal Music Download Sites:

1) Epitonic.com – Epitonic works mostly with small, independent record labels. Epitonic provides high-quality music downloads and a searchable database of “Cutting Edge Music” in a variety of genres including; Rock, Folk/Acoustic, Hip Hop, Pop and Jazz.

2) Garageband.com – GarageBand.com is a top independent music distributor and they feature popular free indie music. The site has thousands of Independent songs in their database that you can listen to, download and review. GarageBand’s top songs are promoted by 1,000 radio partners and they featured music from Bo Bice (an American Idol finalist) before he was a big star.

3) eMusic.com – Although the subscription service is not free, with eMusic you can download music legally for free when you sign-up for the free eMusic download trial. Emusic features over 600,000 tracks and hi quality digital music fidelity. Emusic provides the best legal music download trial online by giving you 25 legal MP3 downloads for free.

4) Amazon.com – Although not a large selection, at Amazon you can download music legally from a few top musicians. To find the free music downloads section, just click on Amazon’s “Free Downloads” tab where you can browse some free music selections.

Because new music downloads are usually always copyrighted, the sites above will most likely not have the latest new song downloads. However these sites provide a huge variety of free legal music downloads for you to choose from.

The Voice and The Music in Commercials Are Sometimes From The Same Man

Everyone knows that commercials use voice-over artists to speak the sales message, and musicians to create the tunes that play in the background, but one man in Los Angeles is doing both jobs.

Meet Scott G, who is recording artist THE G-MAN, whose albums are on iTunes and distributed by independent label Delvian Records.

“It is a thrill to be able to do the voice and music for these giant companies,” G says, referring to Verizon Wireless, Goodrich, and The Auto Club. His voice work and musical compositions are on 4 radio commercials for Verizon Wireless, 8 for aerospace firm Goodrich, and one for Triple-A, The Auto Club.

As the owner of G-Man Music & Radical Radio, and creator of award-winning radio commercials and music for both radio and TV spots, Scott G is very aware of the needs of ad agencies and advertising clients. “The main point of a commercial is dissemination of information,” he points out. “You want your target audience to respond by picking up the phone, clipping a coupon, ordering a product, going online, or simply remembering your product or service. The commercial has to insinuate its way into the consumer’s brain in a very short period of time.”

In addition to his ad and marketing experience, he is very involved with utilizing the web for alternative distribution of his music. Earlier this year, hundreds of websites and newspapers ran a story (“Peer-to-Peer to Launch a Career”) of how The G-Man made history by giving his music away on the Internet, encouraging P2P filesharing of his work, and even sending individual tracks to DJs and remixers so they could create new versions of his songs. This resulted in club play, airplay, an indie record deal, a publishing deal, and worldwide press attention.

Songs by The G-Man have been called “Moby meets Bowie” (by producer Pete Anderson), “Moby meets Devo” (by TV producer Paul Rich), and “The rhythm of machines with melodies of the heart” (by music writer Janis Amy). Released by Delvian Records, The G-Man’s albums are: GRIN GROOVE (2002), ELECTRO BOP (2003) and PLATINUM AGE OF THE REMIX (2004), and each has been hailed as a sonic masterpiece by reviewers. A fourth album, SONIC TONIC, is completed and currently being mastered for release in 2005.

The REMIX album features G-Man songs in dance/trance mixes by Matt Forger, who has worked with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, and features tracks that reached #1 in Russia and #5 in Europe. PLATINUM AGE is now in its third month in the top forty on the Masspool DJ Association Dance/Crossover Chart.

Scott is a member of The Recording Academy (NARAS), a creative director of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP), and writes about music for many organizations, including MusicDish and the Immedia Wire Service. The G-Man’s songs are on iTunes and Amazon as well as at the following sites:

G-Man’s music and commercial production work for clients such as PayLess Shoes, Warner Bros. Records and more may be played at:

“I love working with clients like Goodrich and Verizon Wireless,” G stated. “They want material that catches your ear without distracting from the spoken message, yet they desire the music to be inherently valuable in its own right.”

The G-Man’s music is on lots of commercials but “you often wouldn’t know it because I work in many different styles,” G states. “The tracks on my albums are electronic-pop but my commercial music is in pop, rock, jazz, electronic, hip-hop, alternative, or ambient. Whatever the project needs is what I compose, and that’s the challenge.”

G-Man Music created a polka last month, something that is about as far removed from The G-Man’s electro pop or dance/rave songs as you can get. “As I said, when it comes to music for commercials, I compose whatever it takes!”

Rap Music – The New Frontier? HipHopology 101

ROLL CALL

During the early to mid ’70s, visionaries like Kool DJ Herc introduced new ideas to the way music was played. Like some other music-loving ‘bredren and sistren’ along with myself, Kool DJ Herc was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Following the footsteps of Jamaicans that came before him, he relocated to the Bronx, NYC and took root. With a sound system like no other, there was always a party when Herc spun records. Folks from all city boroughs showed up, and brought their friends. Most of them had never experienced anything like Herc’s thunder in the clubs or at ‘block parties,’ where he was a hometown favorite. There’ll be more on these unique, social gatherings a little later. Kool DJ Herc was one of those cats that was thinking outside the box for a long time, and inspired other DJs to follow suit. Everywhere Herc touched down, he left a distinctive mark imprinted in the minds, bodies, and souls of music lovers in and around the vicinity.

Afrika Bambaataa was homegrown in the Bronx. He is best-known for taking the radical, independent factions of the Hip-Hop lifestyle and organizing it all into an urban music society…and for being the first rapper, ever. In 1984, he worked on the song “Unity” with the recently departed Godfather of Soul, James Brown. (We’re gonna miss ya, ‘Soul Brother #1.’) By mixing block parties with DJs and break-dancers, he synergized all the varying entities of Hip-Hop through his Zulu Nation. The Zulus educated inner-city youth about their history and empowered them to be productive citizens. His ears were open to all types of music as he became a catalyst for blending rhythmic styles from Africa with Funk, Go-Go, Jazz, Reggae, Rock, Salsa and Soca for the first time in music history.

Bambaataa’s affiliations included the Rock Steady Crew and Double Dutch Girls. There was also a spray-painting graffiti artist who parlayed his love for ‘visual art’ into being the host of a popular show that engaged the minds of America’s Black and White youth. It ended up changing Rap music history all over the world. Now with a ‘retired’ can of spray paint, Yo MTV Raps’ Fab 5 Freddy was also a key player in the classic film, “New Jack City.” There’ll be more on that captured moment in time a little later, after we finish up with Afrika Bambaataa (& friends), and dig further into the chapter: there’s some real meat in thar! That’s what’s up.

Afrika Bambaataa became a major music producer in his own right. He spent a lot of time logged in at Tommy Boy Records between 1982 and 2017. While there, he produced a huge hit for the New York club and radio scene, 1982’s “Funky Sensation.” To me, that song defined a new era of music for both myself and the City of New York. “Funky Sensation” helped to establish a path that many dance music producers followed, well into the new millennium. Another historical Rap label that Bambaataa put some time in with was Profile Records.

Profile was the home of a trio that made music history: Run-DMC and the late Jam Master Jay. Their chronicles defined the next wave of Hip-Hop and fashion by way of brimmed Fedoras, leather pants, blues jeans, and unlaced, Adidas sneakers. During the winter, they sported snorkels with fur around the hood. In New York winters of the 70s, we sported hats like Kangols (still popular) and ‘Robin Hoods'(with side feathers) on the dome. Some folks liked toboggins and ski caps for their ‘masking’ feature. Brooklyn later picked up a pseudonym–Crooklyn. Our 70s fashion also consisted of colorful silk shirts (Versace predecessors), polyester pants with stitched pleats running down the sides called Swedish Knits, and bell-bottom blue jeans with zippers at the foot.

Squares (L-7’s) wore no name ‘rejects,’ but our popular footwear included Converse All-Stars, red, black and green Pro Keds, Pumas (my favorite were rust-colored), PONY’s, and shell-toe Adidas. We had interesting acronyms for the latter two brands. “I could tell you, but…” you know the story. Looking back now, I notice that Adidas kept the same body style longer than the Ford Explorer did! My New York winter-wear included snorkels, sheepskins, leathers, ‘Maxie’ and ‘Cortefiel’ coats with soft fur on the collar; they were the rage. People got stuck up (ganked) for them, too. I once witnessed someone grab a friend’s hat right off his head – as the train doors closed (this guy was quick!)

Some of my ‘classic’ garments are still intact: a black Robin Hood hat with a now-wilted side feather, a colorful, winged (big collar) polyester shirt with a Disco theme on the front, my sky-blue high school graduation three-piece suit, ‘Mack’ full-length Maxie coat (it looked good; mom made it), and black Cortefiel coat are all stashed somewhere around Area 51. Don’t ask me what I’m going to do with them, but my coats still have fur around the collar. Does “E.T.W.” (Extra Terrestrial Wear) sound catchy to you? Let’s check in with ‘Rush’ (Phat Farms), ‘P-D’ (Sean John), ‘J to the Z’ and ‘Double D’ (RocaWear), ‘Fiddy’ (G-Unit), and WTC (Wu Wear) for the final answer.

I’m being told to nix the trip down memory lane and stick to the script, so it’s back to the original ‘bad boys’ of 80s Rap. Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay opened up Pandora’s box with their classic hit “Rock Box.” I got a premonition of what was around the corner for Rock and Rap early on: sampled ‘guitar crunches’ fused with ‘dem phat Hip-Hop beats, boyee!’ Then the crystal ball revealed something else to me – up jumped Def Jam Recordings, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, all using overdriven guitar sounds riding along with the big, deep 808 beat that caused car trunks (and the inside of your body) to vibrate.

Run-DMC and Jam Master Jay un-laced their Adidas and went on to re-make Rock group Aerosmith’s classic “Walk This Way,” then invited the original rockers to get in on it. Along the way, Run-DMC sold a ‘few million’ records. In the background was one Russell Simmons, pushing buttons on his remote control. Then he got a cellphone. But before groups like Run-DMC made it to the game, there was one of the first major league rappers–Afrika Bambaataa. Oh yeah; along with his group The Soulsonic Force, Bambaataa fired off a ground-breaking shot remembered as being ‘most strategically launched’ from the annals of New York’s urban jungle.

When the classic “Planet Rock” hit Billboard’s charts (it hit the year 1982 in a BIG way too), the song considerably changed music history. It used a similar robotic, vocoder-like sound as the one found in Kraftwerk’s smash “Trans-Europe Express.” “Planet Rock” was a smorgasbord of cool electronic sounds and Hip-Hop beats. Meshed together with samples from other records, it captured the attention of music lovers caught dancing to the non-stop, funky sensation of this incredible new beat. Afrika Bambaataa’s Electro-Funk style went on to influence the sound of music styles like Dance, Electronic, House, and Techno. If a sound system exists anywhere in the galaxy, I predict that “Planet Rock” will rock it. In the meantime, you can listen out for this classic hit on Internet radio, satellite radio, broadcast radio, clubs and dance parties everywhere. ‘Nuff said–next!

Creative minds of legendary pioneers such as Russell “Rush” Simmons, Eddie Cheeba, Spoonie G, Lovebug Starski, The Juice Crew, Marley Marl, MC Shan and D.J. Hollywood are also among those credited as being key leaders in the surge that brought Rap music and Hip-Hop culture to mainstream society. Many people may think the Sugar Hill Gang was one of a few initiating forces in Rap, but there were actually many other hot acts out there grinding to earn their dues
–like those affiliated with Rush Productions. Rush was building a name for itself as a music promotion company to be noticed. I’ll expound upon the meteoric rise of the dynamic institution which followed this event shortly thereafter.

With affiliations everywhere and credits that include the timely debut of Hip-Hop players like Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation, Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Scott La Rock, DJ Red Alert, and countless other faces hidden in the trenches, Rush was on a mission to conquer the world. The first-generation of Rap and Hip-Hop spawned a godfather, Russell Simmons, in addition to all these other creative talents. Collectively and in unison, they helped to centralize the cultural origins and sound of this music for an evolving world. The second-generation leaders of this new movement would include Russell’s little brother Joseph, who along with Darryl McDaniels and the late Jason Mizell, made up Run-DMC: the first artists of their kind to go platinum by selling a million Rap records on Profile Records. This was just the beginning; Def Jam Recordings was on the way.

Now let’s connect the dots with Sugar Hill: Back in 1957, a group called Mickey & Sylvia recorded a Bo Diddley song, “Love Is Strange.” Guitarist Mickey Baker and a vocalist named Sylvia Vanderpool established themselves in the music market as a potential hit-making duo. In 1964, Sylvia married a man named Joe Robinson. Their union led to the formation of a legacy that wouldn’t play itself fully out until the Rap craze hit. In 1973, Sylvia rolled the dice and released a huge hit, “Pillow Talk.” This song established a format that would be followed straight into the Disco heydays. Originally written for Al Green, his pass became Sylvia’s score when it tallied up a #1 R&B and #3 Pop hit. “Pillow Talk” was a sexy song that featured lots of heavy breathing, whispers, sighs and moans. It’s reminiscent of Donna Summer’s classic hit, “Love to Love You Baby.”

Sylvia Robinson synergized her abilities as a singer, musician, producer, and record executive to take her whole game to another level. As a key player at All Platinum Records, she had a hand in Shirley & Company’s 1975 hit “Shame Shame Shame.” This became a top dance song, and hit #12 on the Pop charts. By 1979, Englewood, New Jersey’s Sugar Hill Gang busted a big move by releasing a classic, “Rapper’s Delight.” In the background were Sylvia, Joe, and their Sugar Hill Record label. Passing their genes on to son Joey, Sugar Hill’s West Street Mob went on to release hits like “Ooh Baby” and “Sing A Simple Song/Another Muther For Ya.” Other aces in the deck included groups called The Sequence and The Funky 4+1. They scored a few hits with “Funk You Up,” “Simon Says,” and “That’s the Joint,” which used a nice sample from my girl Cheryl Lynn’s song “Got To Be Real.” We’ll be taking her song apart and putting it back together again in another chapter of this book series, “What Is A Song.”

Using finance money from Roulette Records chief Morris Levy (you can find out more about this guy in the book “Hit Men”–a highly-recommended favorite of mine. “I could tell you more, but…” You know the drill. As Sugar Hill grew, so did its artist roster, with the addition of Grandmaster Flash and his collective unit, The Furious Five. Although the Sugar Hill owners paid up a big balance and purchased the remaining interest in their company by the early 80’s, things began to sour for them: a deal with MCA Records died and a fire toasted their legendary studio. The label eventually shut it doors by 1986.

Almost 10 years later, retail-friendly Rhino Records picked up the Sugar Hill catalog and resuscitated the masters in the same way that they’ve done with many other lost or obscure masters. Through creative re-packaging, Rhino went on to revitalize the music (and some careers) of artists that were probably still waiting on royalties from the previous owners of their master recordings. The Sugar Hill Gang, West Street Mob and Sequence all have been released on various Sugar Hill compilations. An interesting occurrence after the Sugar Hill assault was the massive availability of the sequencer, drum machine, synthesizer, sampler and MIDI around the early 80s.

‘Creatives’ and ‘infamists’ among the likes of Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, The Bomb Squad and producer Marley Marl locked themselves up in ‘Big Apple laboratories’ coming up with the next lethal mix of sound. When released, Def Jam and the ‘Sound of Marl’ quickly put music listeners into a ‘yoke’ as concoctions they whipped up became highly potent chemicals on the proverbial ‘periodic music table of elements’ upon hitting the airwaves; through radio station, mobile and club DJs. I cannot over-emphasize it enough: ‘BIG UPS’ to these guys! After the creative synergy of vocalists, musicians and producers, DJs are credited as being one of the most direct pipelines to exciting new music. You should take note that “DJ” makes up the initials of Def Jam. Now let’s keep the record playing; teacher’s not through with today’s lesson yet…

Independent labels like Profile, Sugar Hill, Priority, 4th. & Broadway and Tommy Boy scooped up young, talented Hip-Hop artists. Major labels like Columbia, Epic, MCA, Mercury and Warner Brothers got an early jump on the game as they formed alliances with Rap labels and artists. Moves like these were executed through street-savvy labels like Def Jam. It grew into the premier, multi-faceted music conglomerate of the century. Started in a college dorm room, Def Jam is now managed from a corporate boardroom, and worth hundreds of millions.

Founder Russell Simmons parted from his share of the company in 1999, after the Universal Music Group made him a $100 million offer that he couldn’t refuse. We’re not talking pesos here, folks! Let’s breeze through a few landmark events regarding Def Jam Recordings: In 1983, the company was founded by Russell, who was called “Rush” when he was business partners with one Rick Rubin. Before this form of osmosis occurred, Simmons ‘did the business’ behind pioneers like Kurtis Blow, the first Rap artist with a major record deal. He signed on with Mercury Records; it was a part of the PolyGram distribution machine. The label went on to forge a long-lasting relationship with Kurtis Blow, Russell ‘Rush’ Simmons, and his growing company.

In spring of 1984, I began a two season internship with Def Jam’s distributor. By fall quarter, I was a college rep. During Def Jam’s first decade, I marketed and promoted every record released through the pipeline. This included music by the distributor’s affiliated Epic label. Epic was born to CBS Records (a division of CBS, Inc.) during the early 50s. It was a cute little Classical/Jazz label and grew to be a strong, healthy major label with many active body parts (Rock, R&B, Country). Epic picked up other siblings. One of them was T-Neck Records. An influential Soul/R&B/Funk collective of the 50s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond the new millennium terrain, The Isley Brothers ran a music empire tucked inside this fully-functional sibling unit’s clothes. And bank account–let’s call it a budget.

Another sibling was Portrait Records. By the 80’s, Portrait had sold millions of records by major stars like Cyndi Lauper, Sade and Stanley Clarke. Since Epic was the oldest kid, it acquired a firm place in history as the foundation that supported the throne of none other than the King of Pop music, Michael Jackson. As a matter of fact, the former lead singer of Motown’s Jackson Five actively participated (along with wildly colorful CBS Records group president Walter Yetnikoff) in the disbursement of CBS’ unwanted offspring (CBS Records, Inc.) to the Sony Corporation in 1988. By 2004, Sony Music Entertainment had consolidated its monster Columbia and Epic labels, then merged with another major record label: BMG. On the Internet, iTunes was selling millions of digital downloads. But that’s a story for later. Stay tuned.

Def Jam product began flowing through shortly after I jumped in the big game to see if I could swim. I witnessed the music of many groundbreaking artists ‘rushed’ through the system. Notable executives like Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles entered the fold, as promoters like Wes Johnson and Johnnie Walker locked down efforts to turn the airwaves into ‘Def Jam radio.’ Def Jam became one of the hottest commodities in distribution by the other major label within a major label.

This record company made its mark by using a red trademark on the product it manufactured. Columbia Records was the big brother of Def Jam: the hottest Rap label in the Hip-Hop market. Def Jam had million-selling acts like LL Cool J, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, and later arrivals like DMX, then Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records. Columbia, also known as “Big Red,” was owned by music giant CBS Records. By 1991, CBS Records was purchased by the Sony Corporation for some $2 billion that I’ll say came out of the ‘petty cash fund’ (they had OLD money, and plenty of it). CBS Records later became Sony Music Entertainment. If you haven’t guessed already (where’ve you been?), here’s a prediction: you’ll read about more adventures with ‘the firm’ as we move along.

Between all of this ‘promoting’ (as a college rep), I managed getting an introduction to Russell Simmons at a Jack The Rapper convention in Atlanta by Columbia’s national director of Black music promotion, Miss Mike Bernardo, who is such a sweet lady. At this time, she was next in line to the vice-president of Columbia’s national promotion department: Vernon Slaughter and Mike Bernardo were responsible for the overall performance of Columbia’s Black radio and club promotion department. Vernon later became one of Atlanta’s top power brokers. He was LaFace Record’s first general manager, personally signing artists like Toni Braxton to the label. He later became a key player at a law firm headed up by powerhouse entertainment lawyer Joel Katz, and was the legal muscle behind many artist deals, movie soundtracks and no telling what else!

As vice-president and national director respectively, Vernon and Mike implemented the national strategies set forth by Columbia. The staff consisted of dozens of regional promotion people strategically placed in key American cities. Throughout my career at the label Vernon, Mike, and the promotion people I knew showed me plenty of love, and were first-class players in the game, too. Not long after Def Jam’s arrival, I became an account service rep, then a Black music marketing rep for Sony’s southeast regional branch in Atlanta. I doubt if there was any connection. Anyway, Def Jam left Sony for PolyGram in 1994 (also the year that I parted company with Sony and launched a recording studio); that same year, PolyGram purchased 50% of Sony’s holdings in Def Jam.

By 1996, PolyGram bought another 10%, and in 1998 the Universal Music Group (UMG) acquired PolyGram Group Distribution (PGD) to become the world’s biggest record label. After a series of major operational changes, longtime staffers Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles severed ties with Def Jam, which by now had grown to include other hot labels like Atlanta-based Def Jam South (headed up by The Geto Boys’ Mr. Scarface), Disturbing Tha Peace (Ludacris), Def Soul, Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Roc-A-Fella. Though DMX’s product was released through Def Jam, his Ruff Ryders crew got a label deal with Interscope. In the post Cohen/Liles era, former LaFace/Arista big-wig L.A. Reid re-appeared at the helm of the big ship. Then, multi-platinum rapper Jay-Z became the new chief of Def Jam (now part of Island Def Jam Music Group), proving that he too, could do what Rap music guru Russell Simmons’ legendary rapper Kurtis Blow said he wanted to do: ‘Rule The World.’

The future of Def Jam included plans for more affiliations with labels like Atlanta’s Slip-N-Slide Records (Ying Yang Twins). Atlanta was now a city on the move, and Simmons made it a frequent stop on his international itinerary. From Rush Productions and Kurtis Blow to Def Jam, OBR and Rush Associated Labels, to Rush Communications and Phat Farms, the Visa ‘Rush Card,’ a beautiful model-wife and kids, to astronomic amounts of future cash flow, Russell Simmons demonstrated his ability to serve as the Rap game’s foremost guiding hand…and ‘head of the household,’ too. He was the proverbial captain of a ship, navigating through those often-bumpy waters of the constantly shifting Rap/Hip-Hop industry. Def Jam Recordings became an extraordinary multimedia company because of a determined visionary’s ability to reach out and touch people– through the power of Rap music and the Hip-Hop culture. Simply put, none of these entities could be spoken of without mention of the great and powerful, “Mr. Rush.”

Jazz: The Growth of Contemporary Jazz Music

Born in the early 20th century in African American cultures, jazz is a musical style that has developed and evolved all different genres of music. Dating from early 1910s to the 1990s, jazz has contributed to the growth of music. Sparking a rise to a variety of music styles, the spread of jazz across the world influenced trends from early New Orleans Dixieland styles to Latin Afro-Cuban even playing a part in the development of funk and hip hop in the 1990s.

Aside from playing a part in the growth of sub-genres, jazz within itself has been influenced by a variety of musical genres. Most commonly the trends of R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles helped shape jazz fusion into what we know to be smooth jazz. With tracks of encoded rhythms and down-tempo beats, smooth jazz is often confused with styling of contemporary(urban) jazz music. A modern growth is urban jazz, which slot in aspects of hip-hop; which is intended for listeners who would normally listen to radio stations that play an assortment of hip-hop and R&B. While smooth jazz is soft and mellow is content; contemporary jazz music is blunter and grabs the attention of its listeners.

Among the players who commonly perform this style of jazz are Dave Koz, Boney James, Paul Jackson Jr., Nick Colionne, Bobby Perry, Urban Jazz Coalition, Streetwize, and Tha’ Hot Club. As well as other contemporary jazz artists such as Bob Baldwin, Michael Lington, Brian Bromberg, David Lanz, Bobby Ricketts, Kim Waters, Daniele Caprelli, Ken Navarro, Walter Beasley, and Peter White. As popularity for late night radio airplay throughout the years grew; doors where open for contemporary jazz music artist like Kenny G, David Sanborn, the late George Howard, George Benson, Marc Antoine, Bradley Joseph and contemporary jazz flautist Najee. These jazz musicians had a tendency to play their instruments in at such a harmonious frequency that it was rare for the measures to go un-noticeable.

The contemporary jazz radio arrangement, which commonly played fifteen-minute sets involving instrumentals wrapping a vocal song or two continued to grow and flourish over the 1990s and early 2000s. In the late 2000s, most markets began losing contemporary jazz stations and in a variety of media markets, this arrangement does no longer exist over the air except online or on HD Radio.

By 2017, as contemporary jazz remained on its persistent decline on the syndicated radio airwaves, an increasing number of non-commercial stations have grown an interest in the music and began to add it to their programming.

More recently contemporary jazz music downloads, in opposition to radio, has been at high volumes on iTunes. If you find these artist to be of interest, Richard Brown is must have in your collection.

How To Get Unlimited Music MP3 Downloads Instantly

Ever wondered how to get unlimited music MP3 downloads? Music lovers probably have asked the same question many times. There are of course dozens of websites that talk about them but not everyone has the luxury to find out and look through the tons of information. The aim of this article is to show you how to find unlimited MP3 downloads and yet do so affordably in the simplest way possible. You will also discover more hot tips about MP3 music downloads.

Unlimited music MP3 downloads can be found at online music stores like iTunes for iPod, and other stores like HMV, Walmart and more. These are music giants and have some of the largest offerings in the world. Though they do not exactly have unlimited music MP3s, their collection often go in the range of millions of songs, music videos, sound tracks, music etc. Normally, it would cost you about 99 cents or below to download per music or song.

Nowadays, some music stores have taken the level of competition a bit further by offering monthly or even yearly memberships. Several offer a limited number of music MP3 downloads while others let you download unlimited number of music MP3 files. This move has totally revolutionized the way music downloads are previously handled. Needless to say, when you can access millions of music MP3 downloads for a small one-time fee, you would be downloading music online whenever you are free. You also need not think twice whether you should download this song or that since you can download both and all.

Everyday, it is estimated that tens of millions of music MP3 downloads take place around the world from these music download sites. Now that we know that there are places to download music MP3s for a lifetime fee, it is best that we also learn how to find a great site to download. There are a few important questions you need to ask before you decide.

1. How many different music genres does the music MP3 download site have?

If I were you, I would subscribe for a music MP3 download site with as many music genres as possible. Your taste for music may change with time. Today, you might like J-pop, tomorrow, it could be hip hop or even classical instrument pieces.

2. How much does it cost to get unlimited music MP3 downloads?

There are music sites that offer lifetime memberships for a one-time price. With this choice, there is no need to go with monthly plans. But even for one-time fee, never go for anything above $50. In fact, the rates nowadays are so reasonable that you can easily grab one that costs you below $40.

3. What are the usage rights for the songs you download?

Not all sites are the same for unlimited music MP3 downloads. Several membership sites allow you to download and burn the music onto CD to be played on other devices while there are others which restrict you to downloading onto your digital player only. Save the trouble by joining sites that give you no-restriction rights.

Once these three questions are properly answered, you would have found the ideal site for unlimited music MP3 downloads. To quicken the whole process, visit my music blog and see for yourself which are the best places for unlimited music MP3 downloads.

Free Radio iPhone

If you haven’t heard it yet, AccuRadio is the internet’s leading independent radio broadcaster, the quintessential personalizable, multichannel streaming radio listening service. Enter FlyTunes, a company that has just created a mobile version of “Hurricane”, its patent-pending streaming technology, and you have a partnership that was made for iPhone.

At the April 14th RAIN (Radio and Internet Newsletter) Summit in Las Vegas, FlyTunes announced the launch of a complete mobile AccuRadio portal which combines a user-friendly interface, targeted advertising delivery, and enhanced streaming quality (QoS). Best of all, this new mobile radio service is iPhone compatible. This gives satellite radio giants Sirius and XM a run for their money, as they still scramble to get support on the various smartphone OS platforms.

Webcasting, or internet radio, currently serves over 50 million American listeners each month. And already AccuRadio – as the self-avowed “Next Generation of Radio”, and one of five nominees for the 2008 Webby Awards (“the Oscars of the Internet”) in the category of Best Radio – serves a good half-a-million of them, at least. That number is poised to swell now that smartphone users can access the service through their handheld devices – including the iPhone. Not only that, but the service is also available for users of the iPod Touch.

Whatever your musical tastes, AccuRadio has it, offering Rock, Pop, Classical, Country, Jazz, Broadway, and more: over 320 different genre-specific stations in all. Other categories to titillate mobile music fans include Oldies, Blues, Soul, Hip-Hop, Latin, Swing, Cabaret, Celtic, Reggae, Native American, and Chinese Pop. Now that’s variety! Plus, as if that wasn’t enough, AccuRadio even lets users build their own radio channels, if they like.

On the critical side, the mobile interface is still more like standard, traditional or “terrestrial” FM radio than satellite or internet radio in that it doesn’t yet display the name of the song playing, and doesn’t let users skip past songs they don’t like. Stations load up as a QuickTime movie.

If webcasting was once the new frontier, mobile webcasting has now taken its place, and rightfully so. Our culture is one that is increasingly on the go, and not everybody is crazy about the idea of listening to the same music from their iTunes library or other MP3 collection over and over again. The innovation of the FlyTunes’ AccuRadio mobile platform allows people on-the-go the same ever-changing variety of audio entertainment that commuters have had for decades through their car stereos.

Wedding DJs: To iPod Or Not to iPod

It’s no secret that Utah is the wedding capital of well, the world… Chances are if you’re reading this article you’re either planning on getting married yourself, or are helping a friend or loved one plan their wedding. Planning a wedding can be a crazy thing, especially without any help. Recent polls of newlywed couples are showing that one of the most important things that couples neglect to do when planning a wedding is taking adequate time to arrange the wedding entertainment. You might be surprised to find out that upwards of 80% of all wedding guests are saying that the thing they remember most about a wedding reception is the entertainment. While the bride and groom are the stars of the show, it’s clear that providing adequate entertainment for your guests is one of the best things you can do to put together and unforgettable wedding.

In looking for logical and economic ways to cut the costs of putting on a wedding, more and more couples are turning to iPod’s as the main source of entertainment at their weddings. Some reception centers have a PA system built into their venues making an iPod seem like an easy alternative to hiring a professional DJ. Many couples automatically think that hiring wedding DJs is going to be too expensive. Misguided wedding planners are even recommending turning to an iPods to save some money rather than hiring a professional wedding DJ. While initially this may sound like a great idea, here are some very important things to consider before deciding to go the do-it-yourself route with your wedding entertainment.

The first and perhaps most important job for a professional DJ is to play music that your guests are going to enjoy. Good Djs are able to read the crowd and play music that best fits the atmosphere you are trying to create, and appeals best to your guests. Let’s see an iPod on shuffle mode do that! The only real way of keeping a smooth flow of music going is by having a Dj who can react on the spot to the preferences of you and your wedding guests. Developing the skills necessary to read and react to a crowd isn’t a task that can be left to just anyone. Skilled professional DJ’s should have ample experience performing in front of crowds and have a good feel for what type of music to play within the first couple of minutes of being at your wedding. He needs to be able to “read the crowd” and select each song based on what the crowd will be most responsive to at any particular moment.

A DJs responsibility is to run the show. When a DJ is running the show that means that you don’t have to. A professional DJ is not afraid of speaking in front of large crowds and is able to gain “control” of a room. A DJ is not there to boss you and your guest around, but rather to keep the flow of events that are already happening going on. A professional DJ truly is the Master of Ceremonies for your entire event. An iPod can’t make announcements (at least not yet, check back with me tomorrow…) A DJ knows how to do such things as: handle your grand entrance introductions with appropriate music cued in the background, introduce the first dance and parents dances, announce the cake cutting, and set up the bouquet and garter toss. Do you really want to worry about those sort of things instead of thoroughly enjoying your special day?

Besides the professional skills a DJ has to offer, the person in charge of the music needs to have a very broad knowledge of music and experience playing all different types of genres. Simply listening to the radio or owning a lot of CDs does not qualify someone as having a broad knowledge of music. Unless you’re a music collector, chances are you don’t have a music library with big band swing, the latest international salsa hits, current pop music chart toppers, oldies, classic rock, hip hop and dance tracks along with everything in between. A professional DJ will have thousands of title selections and the ability to match the right type of music to your guests. Unless you want to subject your guests exclusively to your musical tastes, chances are you’ll probably have to buy some more music to better suit all of your guests. Do it yourself would have to spend hours on iTunes and hundreds of dollars on music to put together a playlist just to last long enough to cover the average reception. Once you get to that point all of the cost savings of deciding to use an iPod have been lost and you’re out several hours of your time.

Professional audio equipment is another important thing a DJ brings to your reception. Some reception centers have built in PA systems, however most of them are completely inadequate for the size of the venues in which they run. If your chosen venue doesn’t have a PA system, that leaves you with the responsibility of tracking down speakers, amplifiers, microphones, and mixers. Most wedding-sized PA systems that are available for rent run anywhere from $250 to $500 dollars per day, and that doesn’t even include set-up. Do you know the difference between a mini plug, an RCA plug, a quarter inch plug and an XLR plug? Once you’re able to track equipment down, in most cases you’ll need to provide a truck or van to lug all the equipment around. Are you starting to get the picture?

If planning and organizing all this is beginning to sound like just one big hassle, you’re right! Once rental fees and the hassle of putting together playlists and untangling raveled cables is tallied, hiring a professional DJ can end up being the more economical choice than even the do-it-yourself iPod approach. You’d definitely be better off hiring a professional. A professional DJ takes care of everything for you. Is it possible to do it all yourself? Sure it is, but after hearing about all the hassles involved who would really want to?

The Black Eyed Peas : IXS

The Black Eyed Pea is an International fame American hip-hop group. They are from Los Angeles, California, America. The group is composed of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie. Their music styles are pop-rap and alternative hip hop. The Black Eyed Peas Group was created in 1989 when will.i.am real name William Adams and Apl.de.ap real name Allan Pineda met and started rapping plus performing together around Los Angeles. They also got opportunity of signing to Ruthless Records that is run by Eazy-E, after inviting the attention of the nephew of Jerry Heller who is Eazy-E’s manager. Having another friend in their group, Dante Santiago, they named their trio Atban Klann.

In the beginning of their career, The Group faced some problems. Their first album, “Grass Roots”, was never released as Ruthless did not consider the social themes mirrored in the group’s music to be marketable to their listeners. The Group was renamed as Black Eyed Pods by Atban Klann. However, Finally it was decided to name it Black Eyed Peas, because – as will.i.am stated on the front cover of the Monkey Business album, “Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul”. There were also changes made in the team of the band. The band replaced their original third member with Taboo real name Jaime Gomez, plus had Kim Hill as a steady background singer. Contrary to many hip-hop acts, they opt to perform with a live band and chose a musical and clothing style that wildly different from the “Gangsta Rap” sounds of other Los Angeles-based hip-hop acts at the time.

Most of the performances of the band were exhibited in the local club circuit since the mid-’90s beside fellow acts like Ozomatli and Jurassic 5. Then they launched their second album named Bridging the Gap in 2000. This album contained the hit “Request + Line” featuring Macy Gray. In 2003, they released their third album, Elephunk which proved to be a superhit. Importantly, The lovely voice of Stacy “Fergie” was featured in this album.From this very album the anti-war anthem “Where is the Love?” came. (possible protest against the Iraq war which began the same year the song was released. in 2003) featuring an unaccredited Justin Timberlake that proved the band’s first major hit, mounting at #8 on the US Hot 100, in addition topping the charts almost everywhere else, counting six weeks at #1 in the UK where it was the biggest-selling single of 2003.

Another great song of “Elephunk” was “Shut Up” that ranked at #2 in the UK. However, One of the critic commented on this song as “the single most vacuous, pointless, vile and generally loathsome song in a generation”) and topped the charts in many other European countries including France and Germany. Elephunk was an international success and went gold and platinum in the US, UK, Germany and other European markets. The third single from the album, although significantly restyled from the original Elephunk version, “Hey Mama” hit the Top 10 in the UK, Germany and other European countries and reached #23 in the US.

The Black Eyed Peas continued enjoying their work and wrote many new songs.Their next album, Monkey Business, was released on June 7, 2005. The first single of the album, “Don’t Phunk with My Heart”, was an instant hit in the U.S., going to number three on the Billboard Hot 100. This song rested on the highest pinnacle yet of their career and they brought home another Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. The song also became three in the UK, and five in Canada, and number one in Australia. Though it also earned some criticism due to its obscenity. Another song form the same album “My Humps”, instantly achieved commercial success in the U.S. and reasonable substantial radio play regardless of the sexually suggestive lyrics; also reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Black Eyed Peas released an iTunes Originals play list of their greatest hits in Sept 2005, as well as some that were re-recorded especially for purchase through iTunes. The play list involved popular songs like “Don’t Lie”, “Shut Up” plus a new version of “Where Is the Love?”

It is worth mentioning here that Black Eyed Peas also involved themselves in the social welfare services. They established the Pea Pod Foundation to help suffering children globally. The foundation is administered by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. On February 6, 2006, At a concert in Hollywood, California the band was joined by Sergio Mendes, Jessica Simpson, and other stars to benefit the foundation.

Keeping in view of the modern trends, Black Eyed Peas also produced a remix album, named “Renegotiations” on March 21, 2006. It is actually the Remixes” to iTunes. It includes remixed versions of Ba Bump, My Style, Feel It, Disco Club, They Don’t Want Music, Audio Delite at Low Fidelity, plus also the standard version and video of “Like That”. And the next week it was released on CD without the music video. Others who took part in it were on the EP included DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Erick Sermon, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Large Professor.

MIA Sings Against Virtual Media, Government, and Bad Journalism

M.I.A. is nearly impossible to review without heaps of research into her political views and life. It’s also impossible to not acknowledge the recent New York Times debacle in which journalist Lynn Hirschberg’s unfavorable profile caused M.I.A. to retaliate by posting the reporter’s phone number on Twitter. If there’s one thing that M.I.A. wants us to know, it’s that she doesn’t follow rules.

The same can be said for her music. While the dubstep influence is still apparent on many tracks on her new album, /\/\/\Y/\ (Maya), M.I.A. strays from her world and alternative hip hop genres of the past and adopts a more industrial, electronic and punk-influenced sound. Maya pushes M.I.A. further from the mainstream despite her major success with “Paper Planes,” but this move is not a bad thing. Once exalted by hipsters until she headed too close to the public eye, Maya takes M.I.A.’s sound and vision somewhere that neither side would expect.

While her past two records were named for her father (Arular) and mother (Kala), the new release is M.I.A.’s first name. Many of the tracks seem like she is justifying herself and her views, to some degree, while also acknowledging that she is proud to be successful.

Born in London, Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam had a rough childhood, including a move to her family’s native Sri Lanka and her father becoming a political activist. The story is long, but it is easy to see where her political side began.

The album is also a rant against social media and Google, in the sense that our connectedness through the internet also means we are directly connected to the government (this is blatantly stated in the album’s opener, “The Message”).

The most experimental track seems to be “Steppin’ Up,” which opens with the sound of power tools put to a steady rhythm that could be a slow club jam if it weren’t for the surprise industrial vibe. It’s over this mesh of beats and found sounds that M.I.A. raps “You know who I am,” and “I run this fucking club.”

“Teqkilla” is also somewhat experimental. It’s very hard to pinpoint exactly where she’s headed in the song musically, but the beat is catchy and the electronic, almost classic-Nintendo sound effects are a great addition. It does drag on a bit at over six minutes, but the track is nice to jam to mindlessly, as most of the album is filled with politics and social opinions.

The first official single, “XXXO,” which also has a remix featuring Jay-Z, is definitely the most radio-friendly, both musically and in content. There’s still an industrial-like sound, but there are also aspects of techno and pop. It’s also mostly a song about a troubled relationship in which M.I.A. sings, “You want me [to] be somebody who I’m really not.”

“Lovalot” may be the best song on the album, sonically. It has a slow, rolling beat and a steady rap with some interesting stops and starts to really draw attention to the lyrics. She starts out by saying, “They told me this was a free country. Now it feels like a chicken factory.” She also proclaims that she “really love[s] a lot,” but she’ll still fight back. Of course with references to the Taliban and bombings, it keeps to the underlying theme of M.I.A.’s career.

Perhaps Lynn Hirschberg was right to say that M.I.A. speaks like a “trained politician,” as many songs feature her echoing vocals preaching as if she was a world leader addressing her nation. The first track released, “Born Free,” samples classic punk rockers Suicide and features M.I.A.’s booming, reveb-laced voice over powerful electric guitars and a fast cymbal rhythm proclaiming that she was “born free.”

The video is also a statement on racial cleansing in the sense that it can happen anywhere–even, apparently, in a white country that decides to get rid of all the redheads. Meanwhile, “Meds and Feds” is a stomping rock track with hard guitars and the repeated line “I just give a damn.” M.I.A. knows where she stands and wants us to know it, too.

Many reviewers and bloggers find M.I.A. hard to digest. It’s easy to simply analyze the music or to dismiss her as “old news,” but the fact is that she may be one of the most influential artists in the past few years, even working with artists like Christina Aguilera. Still, it seems she really couldn’t care less what critics think, because after all, as she says on the album, “All I ever wanted was my story to be told.”

M.IA. may not be part of the hipster underground, but Maya is far from a sellout album. In a world of pop music laced with product placement, copying styles and over-the-top images, it’s refreshing to hear an artist truly paving her own way, no matter what society says.

It’s also nice to have an album that could be taken at face value or analyzed much deeper in terms of political statements-a task that takes more than one small article. Maya hits stores on July 13 on her own label, N.E.E.T. Recordings, but a few tracks are already up on iTunes. She also headlines Hard NYC on July 24 on Governor’s Island.

SoundTaxi Media Suite

What is SoundTaxi Media Suite

SoundTaxi Media Suite is a set of 5 software products into a single package (5-in-1). It includes an Audio and Video converter, a web video downloader, a music downloader, a DVD copier and a Web radio recorder. The set includes as we said 5 different tools which are:

• SoundTaxi Media Converter
• RipTiger Online Video Downloader
• GetRadio Internet Radio Recorder
• TuneGet Music Downloader
• 1Step DVD Copier.

Those tools will cover all your multimedia needs without having to look for standalone products. The software is simple to use, even for the beginner, and the entire set is 64% cheaper compared to the total price you would pay if you purchased the products separately.

Tools included in SoundTaxi Media Suite

SoundTaxi Media Converter

With SoundTaxi Media Converter you can convert videos and music into any other format without any restrictions. You can now play all your songs and movies on iPod, any other MP3 player, CD player, mobile phone or PC – without any problem. SoundTaxi Media Converter converts video files and music from iTunes, Zune, Napster, Yahoo music, MSN Music etc.

RipTiger Online Video Downloader

RipTiger lets you download online videos from sites such as YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, MySpace, MetaCafe, Daily Motion and many other sites. You’ll be able to convert the downloaded videos into popular formats such as MPEG2, WMV, AVI and more that will work on your PC as well as your iPhone, PSP, or other portable device. RipTiger is able to download more formats than any other software available.

GetRadio Internet Radio Recorder

With GetRadio, you can listen to web internet radio on 25,000 radio stations. Listen to classic rock, pop, jazz, electronic, hip hop, blues, rap, disco, country, pop and much more. Select the music genre or the station and GetRadio legally records songs with no loss of quality. You can even select specific artists to record.

TuneGet Music Downloader

TuneGet lets you search and download free music. It takes just 2 simple steps and downloads take only seconds. You can even find songs that you can’t remember the exact title or the artist! TuneGet has an amazingly large database and includes just about any music genre. It’s legal to use and there are no subscription fees.

1Step DVD Copier/Ripper

1Step DVD lets you easily convert DVD to iPod, DivX, iPhone and many other formats. You can even back up your DVDs to other DVD disks or to your PC without losing quality.