By Mike Barclay of 10 Cents Worth
nati/flickr
If you’re anything like me, music is a large part of your daily routine. The problem with being an avid fan of music is that there is always something new that you want and buying albums can become pricey. At $1.29 a song, and anywhere from $9.99 up to $19.99 an album (the higher price is usually for a box set), even if you only buy one album a week, you’re still looking at $40-$80 a month for music. So how do you fill the craving without breaking the bank?
Buy songs, not albums
In the era of CDs, you had to buy the whole album to get the one song you wanted. With iTunes, it is easy to avoid spending $11 or more on a full album, and instead spend $1.29 for the song you want. What sense does it make to get an entire album, when you’re only looking for 1 or 2 songs? Not much.
Trade with friends
There is a way to get music for free if you think about it. Do your friends have the exact same music collection that you do? Probably not. I’m constantly going over to my friends’ houses and trading music with them. If you’re technically savvy, you can sync your iPod to a friend’s iTunes account and add music from their computer to your player. Ask your friends if they want to share music. There’s nothing better than free.
Use the internet
It used to be that in order to compare prices you had to go from store to store. Not any more! Now we have websites to find the cheapest price possible.
GetCheapMusic – Pretty simple really. Go to the site, type in an artist name that you’re looking for, and it’ll pull up all the information about the CD’s that you’re looking for. It also gives you an option to “compare prices.”
LegalSounds – You might not be able to find the latest CD, but the site sells songs for $.09 a piece and has quite a bit of music. With this pricing you can get roughly 12 songs for the same price you’d pay for one song on iTunes.
SwapTree – I’ve mentioned this one before, but it applies just as much to music. It’s a bartering site for all things media. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather swap CD’s or some other object that’s of the same value, than shell out cash.
Internet Players
Another option is to listen through a music share site, a few of which I review below. You won’t be able to download songs directly to your hard drive, but you can pretty much listen to anything you want.
GrooveShark – This site is free to sign up and create an account. Then search for any artist or song and add it to your personal playlist.
Pandora – Plug in a band you like and the site will pick similar artists and songs. Give Pandora feedback whether or not you like its selections and the site customizes your streaming “radio” station.
If your budget doesn’t allow splurges on music, look hard and you will be able to satisfy your hobby without breaking the bank. Is there anywhere else you get music for free or cheap?
April 29th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I’ve also found some steals on used CDs on Amazon if you want the whole album. I’m a little leary of the legalsounds etc sites that are run from Russia…just because it has legal in the name, doesn’t mean it’s legal! Although most reviews I’ve seen on that site say they can’t find anything illegal…I’ll also check the other sites now, thanks for the post!
April 29th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Coming from a musician, yes there are free & LEGAL ways to get music. But remember to always do it LEGALLY otherwise the musician (who’s music you obviously like) gets jipped.
April 29th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Gen > I agree. I’ve seen a lot of great deals on amazon, and even iTunes will put out some good stuff as far as cheap deals. And I’m usually leery of those sites as well, but I looked into the ones I posted. They should be pretty solid.
Heather > I too am a musician, so I fully understand the value of a CD purchase to the artist. Excellent point.
April 29th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
You can get 2 free songs every week on iTunes. Each Tuesday, there are 2 new songs that are available for a week. One is at the iTunes store itself; just scroll on the first page until you see the free single. This was a tip right here a few weeks ago. The second free single is from Starbucks. Go into any Starbucks and pick up the free iTunes card (usually where folks pick up their orders). Follow the instructions on the back of the card to redeem the free single at the iTunes store.
April 29th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
I spent the better part of my free time last year converting my entire collection of LP’s, 45-singles and cassettes into mp3s in order to build up my digital library. In addition, I hit up all of my friends and converted all of their LPs, 45-singles and cassettes into mp3s as well and uploaded everything into my digital library. In return, I give them access to my entire collection which currently stands at 12,171 tracks. It would take 32-days, 18hrs, 12-minutes and 43-seconds just to listen through the entire thing just once. I have hundreds of albums and a ton of artists ranging from Abba to ZZ Top and just about everything in between. I pretty much have a little of something in practically all music genres. I love all types of music, including TV show tunes.
I have been exchanging mp3 files with a friend way out in Michigan for roughly 3 years. I have also asked all my friends if they would be interested in sharing their CDs. Sharing music amongst friends is an excellent way to build up your music collection cheaply and it also strengthens the friendship due to a common interest.
Also, I sold off my entire CD collection, most of the LPs and all of my cassettes since they were no longer needed and took up valuable space inside my house. Everything is on my hard drive, external hard drive and mp3 player.
April 29th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Hey,
you’re so right that buying a song not an album is a good tips on budgeting our spending on music. We found that easily 50% of most albums weren’t worthy of a second listen and those less than acceptable songs were taking up valuable memory.
So yeah, just buy the songs you like, and also look for some retro ones or less mainstream music that may not be charging a premium.
We use itunes and it’s secure and reliable.
Cheers,
Guy
April 29th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
I have a box worth of CDs that I want to sell. Where is the best place to take them? I live in the San Fernando Valley.
April 30th, 2010 at 11:14 am
You can also join great services like FirstListen, which help musicians publicize their work. In return, you listen to the music and have to fill out a survey with your thoughts. I consider it a bargain!
April 30th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Pam. Just about any music store will buy your CDs. But my recommendation is Amoeba Music in Hollywood. Good luck.
May 1st, 2010 at 9:01 am
I am a big fan of the ipad and am really looking for the new models coming out!
May 5th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Thank you so much for your insight on Bargain Babe» Free and cheap sources of music, MP3s, and streaming songs , I totally agree with you. It is good to see a fresh outlook on this and I look forward to more.
June 14th, 2010 at 4:31 am
Aamazing, just purely amazing performance