Guilty Pleasures
Our bad boy web producer Paul Katcher shows you how to find music online in a snap
April 7, 2003
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 Even with Napster's demise, free
file-sharing software abounds
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Just across the street from where I sit and write this article, the soundtrack CD for 8 Mile, the widely acclaimed movie starring Eminem, is "on sale" for $16.99. That cost includes the audio plus all of the overhead involved with producing a CD. I just want the audio, and I can find it online in jiff. Here's how.
First I launch Kazaa, the most popular peer-to-peer application for the pilfering of not only music but images, documents and movies. Kazaa is free to install and use, but it comes bundled with extra software that bombards users with pop-under ads. It's a price millions are willing to pay for cruising around with a packed 20GB iPod without having once stepped into a record shop.
Searching for songs by artist, title or album is a breeze, and Kazaa's rate of success for a quick download is better than its list of competitors that includes Blubster, Xolox, Morpheus and Limewire (which is the only one that's Mac compatible).
Kazaa is essentially a fancy way of tapping into another person's hard drive via the web. Once you have established a solid connection with someone else, you can highlight a song title and click "See More From This User." You'll instantly be shown an inventory of your new best friend's designated "shared" folder. It's a great way to pick off 10 or so songs from specific artists in one fell swoop.
Another tip is to tack on a search word like "acoustic," "live" or "bootleg" when searching for songs by your favorite artist. It's a great way to fetch audio from performances in concert, on awards shows and guest spots at radio stations. To that end, you may also want to try searching for "Grammys," "cover," "benefit," "unplugged," and "awards."
Yes, some may call these downloads stealing, others call it fair use. The line between thief and fan is obviously blurred. What is clear, however, is that the line at the record store selling $16.99 CDs is getting shorter and shorter.
Links:
CNET Reviews 10 P2P Apps
Everything you need to know about the latest choices, plus links to download them
The Race to Kill Kazaa
A Wired feature on the battle between copyright cops and the P2P app that's bigger than Napster
Analyst: Internet File-Sharing Bigger Than Record Business
A media analyst warns record companies that failing to embrace digital distribution is a losing battle
Copyproof CDs Moving to Market?
Copy-protection technology on music CDs may be headed for the U.S. market in bulk this year for the first time
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