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to Episode 07
Kazaa privacy
Sites with freebies
Rollingstone.com
Amazon.com
Garageband.com
Insound.com
Epitonic.com
Affordable site with selection
Puretracks.com
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Inbox:
Downloading Music
Stephanie told Street Cents Kazaa is giving her computer viruses. She wants to know where she can get the music she wants without risking viruses and without spending a lot of money. Street Cents gives Stephanie the low-down on downloading.
Viewer Letter
My family recently had to disable Kazaa because it gave us viruses and damaged our computer.
My sisters and I love to download music, but a lot of the legal download sites cost money.
Are there any free music download sites that won't give my computer viruses?
Or are there Web sites that offer the popular artists I listen to at a reasonable price?
Stephanie
Viruses
The thing about file transfer programs like Kazaa is you don’t know what you’re getting and you don’t know where it’s coming from. That means there's always a risk that you could download viruses.
Some of the songs you download could be infected with viruses. Some of the music files are actually viruses disguised as music files. Hackers know people will download those files and make them on purpose.
Plus, the software you install to use programs like Kazaa makes it easy for hackers to get into your computer, even if you’re not using the program.
If you choose to use a program like Kazaa, you could protect yourself with the latest anti-virus software like Norton Anti Virus 2003. You’d have to keep updating your software. And check out the Kazaa security and privacy page so you can stay up-to-date on any of their virus protection programs and information.
But there’s something else you should think about when using a file transfer program like Kazaa.
The Law
Using file transfer programs to distribute music without artists’ permission is illegal. In the US, the music industry has already filed over 200 lawsuits against people trading files, and there are more lawsuits to come.
In Canada, the music industry isn’t filing lawsuits like they are in the US. They’re rather trying to take an educational approach. They’re trying to teach people not to illegally share music because they say it hurts the industry.
The music industry insists most artists aren’t all that rich. Plus, they say the cost of putting out a CD involves distribution, marketing artist development and paying royalties.
Options other than Kazaa
Freebies
There are some free download sites. They mostly feature up and coming bands who make their music available for free on the Internet. They do that in hopes of getting discovered.
There are also sites with “teaser tracks.” Popular artists make certain songs available for free. There isn’t much selection though, and you’d never find a whole album.
Affordable
Street Cents suggests a site like Puretracks. It’s a Canadian site that offers music from popular artists like the ones Stephanie likes.
They have a large selection and it’s priced pretty reasonably too. For example, if you get 50 Cent’s album Get Rich or Die Trying, the most it would cost is $13.99. The price we found at HMV in Halifax for the same album was $20.69.
Song prices from Puretracks range from $0.99 to $1.39. Album prices range from $9.99 to $13.99.
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