Friday, July 11, 2008

How To Find legal Zune music downloads

By Daniel Lincoln

Legal Zune music downloads are much sought after these days. It is in fact quite easy to find them and you will find out how. The good thing about Zune is that it totally frees its owners from the digital rights management DRM download restriction. DRM is copyright information embedded onto the MP3 files which stops downloaders from file sharing with others. Because of this, it is a more versatile player and you can find more places to legally download Zune music.

Zune Marketplace

This place is the source of all media downloads for Zune. But it is different from iTunes to iPod. iTune MP3s are not Zune-compatible. In other words, because of the DRM embedded in iTunes files, you cannot play it on a Zune. Since Zune has partnered with 4 major record labels like Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI and Universal Music Group, the selection of songs at the Marketplace is huge and comparable to iTunes.

Zune Marketplace is a subscription based service, which means you need to sign up and pay for the songs you are going to download. Like iTunes store, however, you can also find free legal Zune music downloads. These free songs are recorded by independent artists.

Premium MP3 Services

Such sites are online music stores offering MP3 downloads on a per download or subscription basis. They are not directly related to the MP3 player manufacturers or record labels. Look around and you may come across those which offer a free 30-day trial period just for you to try out their services. There is a limit to the number of downloads you can get though. Once the trial ends, you will be charged thereafter for the songs you download.

They are permitted to distribute the music and they often provide a free download interface or download manager to manage your downloads. It is easy to synchronize this software with your Zune player. But you need to first check if their files are Zune-compatible.

Online Streaming Radio Stations

Another great source of legal Zune music downloads are the online streaming radio stations. From the pop-up players, you will be able to see the song title and artist name. If you like what you are listening to, you can always follow the link to the download site. These radio stations have long standing business relationship with the major record labels and smaller independent labels so you should be able to find some really good music.

What about using free sites to get Zune music downloads? My advice is to avoid those totally free sites. Essentially, they earn their money by offering adware and spyware laden client applications to users. You get free music, while they get to flash those persistent and irritating commercial ad pop-ups, pop-overs, pop-unders before you. Worse still, if you are not careful, viruses will make their way to your computer. So, do spend a little money and enjoy your peace of mind downloading legal Zune music downloads today instead.

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