Local and Regional Publications
Local and regional publications online can actually be a decent source of otherwise unavailable free and legal MP3s. I always mean to spend more time looking into this, but so far haven't managed to. Only so much time in the day etc. But when I do happen to stumble upon local and regional magazines or newspapers with good free and legal MP3 collections, I put a blurb about them here.
with free and legal MP3s
Baltimore City Paper
There are more than 100 Baltimore-area bands and musicians with MP3s available on this page. There are no specific editor's picks here, but bands that have been specifically reviewed by the paper are noted, and you can sort them to look first at reviewed bands, which theoretically should lead you to some of the better acts faster than browsing randomly.
Boston Phoenix - "On the Download"
The Boston Phoenix has had a longstanding, continually evolving online music presence. (A song from the Phoenix was in fact one of the first three TWF picks ever here on Fingertips, back in May 2003; the song was "Blackbirds," by Erin McKeown.) But combine the volatile world of alternative newspapers with the changeable web and you get nothing that lasts too long; as far as I can tell the old MP3 archive there is gone. But in its place, since April 2005, is this "On the Download" blog which tries to be something of a hip and happening music blog, not necessarily concerned with free and legal music, while also hosting a certain number of exclusive local free and legal MP3s.
BBC/Wales - Music
The BBC has a tangled web of web sites over there at bbc.co.uk, most of which seem really interesting and/or informative. They're just a bit hard to sort out--too much of a good thing, maybe. Anyway, one that I've stumbled upon is a separate section covering Wales, within which, lo and behold, is a page featuring some 85 free and legal MP3s from a variety of Welsh artists. I can't vouch for the overall quality, but I do know that you can find four songs from Los Campesinos! here, so that's an excellent start.
DC9 at Night - The Dallas Observer Music Blog
This blog is a daily feature on the Dallas Observer web site; among its postings are semi-regularly entries featuring a free and legal MP3. Sometimes they are exclusive, even. The link above takes you to the "MP3" category, grouping all posts with MP3s together.
Houston Chronicle - Local Bands
Every city should be so lucky as to have its local bands featured in this well-put-together of an online music page. There are about 60 local acts featured in this section of the Houston Chronicle's web site, each with a concise, at-a-glance collection of information, including a photograph, discography, and a few MP3s for downloading. If the music is good here, this place is a gold mine.
Lawrence.com
From one of the U.S.A.'s largest college towns comes a page featuring more than 200 local bands and their MP3s. Among the acts you'll find here are a number of bands with good reputations on the national independent scene, including the Get Up Kids, Mates of State, Koufax, A. Graham and the Moment Band, and the Appleseed Cast. (The occasional major-label artist is listed here--I noticed Freedy Johnston and, logically enough, Kansas--but without MP3s.) Lawrence.com is produced by the Journal-World newspaper in Lawrence, Kansas.
Local Cut - "Cut of the Day" (Portland, Oregon)
No surprise that Portland--that oh so cool haven for musicians, artists, and environmentalists--has a cool local publication offering daily free and legal MP3s. Some of them are tracks you can find elsewhere online, but some of them are not. The link above takes you to the so-called "Cut of the Day" archive, listing all previous tracks. As this site is rather blog-like, the tracks can be browsed only by going back through previous pages--look for words "Next Entries" at the top. Why they put this at the top when you most need it at the bottom, and why the words "next entries" actually take you to songs that were previously posted--well, don't ask. Blogs are not good at organization. But there's a lot of good music here if you're willing to slog through. And the main site--Local Cut--is pretty cool as well, an online music spinoff of Williamette Week, the local alternative newspaper. Nice feature: "Tour Diary," in which Portland bands blog from the road.
Metro Times Detroit
Another alternative newspaper with a storehouse of MP3s. And another vast array of unedited music to sort through. But a little help is on the way--the Metro Times has separated out the stuff it thinks is particularly good in a sub-section called "Metro Times Picks," which you can find here.
Hear and Now (San Francisco Chronicle)
Derk Richarson writes a print spinoff of his KPFA (Berkeley) "Hear and Now" radio show for the San Francisco Chronicle's web site; the column often spotlights one particular musician and is accompanied by some free and legal MP3s that, often, aren't available anywhere else. There are two catches, however. One is that the links don't seem to stay online for very long. Also, at least sometimes, Richardson, DJ-like, introduces the song right there in the MP3. Not my idea of a keeper in that case, but this is worth keeping an eye on for some exclusive finds.
Playing in Fog (San Francisco)
Not a little bit of investigation was required for me to figure out what, exactly, Playing in Fog is. Apart from understanding that it had something to do with the San Francisco music scene, I couldn't tell upon first visit whether it was a local promoter of some sort, an online magazine, or even a concert venue. What was quickly apparent, however, was a trove of MP3 links the site maintains featuring songs from S.F.-area artists, some signed to small record labels and some as yet unsigned--roughly 90 in all. Among the bands and musicians featured here are Jolie Holland, Summer at Shatter Creek, and Thee More Shallows. The MP3s aren't exclusives--everything's a direct link to an MP3 stored elsewhere, but the assortment is clearly selective, which is a good thing. Oh, and as it turns out the site is a sort of cross between a zine and an event calendar, featuring gig reviews and a live photo archive in addition to the MP3 collection.
The Providence Journal
For a medium-sized city newspaper, the Providence Journal has a nicely developed
music section on its web site, including a handsome collection of free and legal MP3s
from local and regional bands, here. The one catch--and quite a big fat catch it is--is that you must
register with the web site to have access not merely to the songs but to the music
section itself. And I mean register--this isn't just "give me your email address,"
it's "give me a whole lot of personal information." I think this is idiotic and suggest you steer clear of this place
unless you get a kick out of entering your personal information on random web sites
around the internet. And yet because it's such a nice local site, I'm at least telling
you about it, and I will visit there myself semi-regularly (I registered, for the good
of the cause) to see what's up there that's good. The good news is that the songs themselves
are accessible directly, without registration, so if I find something good and write
about it, you can use my link to download the song.
Washingtonpost.com - MP3
Subtitled "Self-publishing by and
for the Metro region's music community," the MP3 section at the Washington Post
is bolstered by having a list of top downloads and editor's picks, which can help the casual visitor (in theory) find some of the best music on the site more quickly.
updated 15 Feb 09
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