Free Online Music - For Real?

[Tango Alpha Delta]

I just spotted this announcement on Last.fm's blog: http://blog.last.fm/2008/01/23/free-the-music


I'm a little slow (it apparently rolled out Wednesday), but I thought Last.fm was pretty neat before*; if this means what I think it means, this could be awesome.  Talk about changing the business model.



*Member since November; come visit (tadmaster) if you want to see what I listen to.

[wakela]

A subscription model makes so much more sense.  Will subscribers be able to download these to their MP3 player?

I've been using futhernet for years.
http://www.furthurnet.org/index.php
It's open source, peer to peer, song sharing.  But they make sure that the bands that they share have given permission, and none of the music has been commercially released.  So mostly it's unreleased recordings of live shows.  It's mostly jamband (Grateful Dead, Phish) kind of stuff, but I've surprised at the mainstream shows I've found (Talking Heads, U2).

[clonepod]

I've read over their site and it is only free music for three plays... and there is mention of how I could use this music for my podcast, clonepod.org.  I don't think this really free, but it could be a great source for identifying music you might want to buy.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

I've read over their site and it is only free music for three plays... and there is mention of how I could use this music for my podcast, clonepod.org.  I don't think this really free, but it could be a great source for identifying music you might want to buy.

You're right... it's not completely "free", but it is quite useful for previewing stuff you might like.  I usually have to listen three times before I can really tell if I "like" a song, anyway.

They are still (I think) working on a Euro2.50/month subscription plan that would give you unlimited streaming access, but the artists/labels have the option to let you download for free, or not.  Personally, I love that I can put a link to killer songs in blogs and forum posts... in fact, I Feel Fantastic about it!