Lately I have become addicted to downloading (legally of course) music. This isn’t really news coming from a musician, but it has been way more serious than usual lately. I have been spending close to $50 a month at the itunes store. I keep rationalizing that, as a music teacher, I am merely conducting research, and therefore, it is tax deductable, and not such a big deal. But still, it is getting expensive. I started looking around on google and found some pretty cool links that could help me get my fix while saving a few dollars. Now keep in mind, all you type A’s out there, that each link is totally legit and legal. I hope you find it all useful.
This is an amazing internet radio station that creates custom playlists according to your tastes. All you do is type in an artist, and the fancy schmancy pandora software considers all the elements that make up your said artist, and voila: it puts together an entire radio station suitable for your tastes. Feel like listening to folk music that happens to be more modern than the old Pete Seeger stuff? Type in “Nickel Creek” and you should get a whole list of bands worthy of your listening ears.
This is a good link to pass on to your students. Basically, the guys over at Rcd Lbl have teamed up with many a musician and gained their permission to submit one song each for free download. The musicians agree that it is good exposure and will hopefully inspire listeners to BUY their other songs. The genre is primarily indie rock.
Magnatune New Age Piano Podcast
Ahh, how I love the age of the podcast. There are tons of podcasts out there that are just waiting to hop into your computer or mp3 player. This is one example of a sample of beautiful piano pieces. If New Age isn’t your thing, check out the other podcasts below:
One of the best NPR podcasts, in my humble opinion.
For the Classical lover.
Groove Salad: Taste of the Week
For those of you with an interest in down tempo electronica.
This is just a small sample of all the great music out there in cyberspace. If you know of any great websites or podcasts, please post them here. I have an addiction to feed!
Pandora Radio is so cool! I’ve already made a few stations based on different artists. I loved everything that they played. It was crazy. They even found artists that I wouldn’t have believed that they would have indexed. This is fun!