NoiseTrade Offers Free Music

Everyone listens to music. Whether through the radio, iTunes, music sites such as Pandora or Spotify or some other way, music plays a prominent role in people’s lives. The only thing better than music is free music. This is where NoiseTrade comes in.

Launching in July of 2008, NoiseTrade allows visitors to download free albums and music from over 1,000 different artists and bands. The best part? The site is 100 percent legal.

Before anyone gets too excited, the site is primarily for indie artists or bands, so visitors shouldn’t expect to find any top 40 or super popular tunes here. However, some familiar names are available for download including music by “The Civil Wars,” “Young the Giant,” “Trampled by Turtles,” and “Dr. Dog “among others.

The site is perfect for those who like to be the first to discover new music. According to the website, “NoiseTrade provides an alternative for music fans who want to download good music and still support the artists they love. And it’s perfect for music fans who don’t have a lot of money but want to help great artists and fans just discovering new music.”

Navigating the site is easy. First you pick which album you want to download. Then you enter in your email address and zip code and are good to go. A download link will then be waiting in your email inbox. Just click the link, download the album, and your done. The downloaded songs even import straight to your iTunes library.

All of the music is free to download, however, along the way viewers have the option of donating anywhere from $1 to $25 dollars to the band. So, if you like what you hear and want to support the band, feel free.

At this point some may be saying it sounds too good to be true. Why would artists have their music available for free downloading? Well according to a post on the NoiseTrade web site, in an ever-changing music industry, this is a way for artists to gain a following. By giving one album for free, artists hope that fans will then decide to pay for the next one if they like what they hear. People may even be more likely to donate a few dollars if they are not required to pay. Back in 2007, Radiohead did something similar with their seventh album In Rainbows. The band released the album with a pay what you want model. The move seemed to pay off, with some paying nothing, and others paying full price or above.

In an age where there are a ton of different options when it comes to bands and artists, it may be hard to really break out and find new music. Now people can impress their friends by being the first to hear a new band. It may be intimidating trying to search through the site and sift through all the different artists but at the end of the day, who can turn down free music?