Another connection for jam bands is www.etree.org, which points listeners toward recordings stored online and is equally fastidious about high fidelity. Meanwhile, concert recordings of all sorts, from vintage 1960's bootlegs to music only a few days old, have been traded at www.sharingthegroove.org, although the site is currently undergoing maintenance.
The Library of Congress
Through the years, tax dollars have supported researchers like Alan Lomax on excursions to collect music from every nook and cranny and tradition they could discover across the United States. The Library of Congress has made a considerable amount available free online. A place to start is the American Memory Collection (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/audio.html), with fiddle tunes, American Indian music, border music from the Rio Grande, Dust Bowl songs and more.
Folkways Records
In 1987, the Smithsonian Institution bought the catalog of Folkways Records, which had set out to document every sound in the world and continues to support projects like a 20-disc collection of Indonesian music. Many of the Folkways recordings can be heard on the Web at http://www.folkways.si.edu, from "Classical Music of Iran" to "Creole Music of Suriname" to "Music of Indonesia Vol. 1: Songs Before Dawn."
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) has set out to preserve material that might otherwise disappear from the Internet, including Web pages, documents, books and video clips as well as audio, and it includes a Live Music Archive with more than 10,000 concerts via etree.org. Most are from jam bands, but there is plenty to choose from. (More than a million people have downloaded Grateful Dead music from the archive.) The archive also includes an assortment of other audio under All Collections, which has 131 songs from 78-r.p.m. discs, and more than 3,000 songs on what it calls netlabels, most of them releasing electronic music. Try the exotica-tinged selections from Monotonik.
Iuma
The Internet Underground Music Archive (http://www.iuma.org) was a pioneer of free Internet music. It was founded in 1993 as a place for musicians to post their own music online, and it just keeps on expanding. Unfortunately, it is both overwhelming and overwhelmed; finding a good song requires extraordinary luck, and downloading it will take a while. Like the other send-it-yourself sites noted here, Iuma can make a user appreciate what record company scouts do.
Garageband
Hopefuls face Darwinian competition at http://www.garageband.com, where musicians are encouraged to rate 30 songs before submitting one of their own (or pay a $19.99 fee instead) and other listeners are also assigned tracks to rate. The songs that rise to the top of the charts have a chance to be heard on Garageband's radio outlets or collected on its compilation albums. Garageband demands original songs, not cover versions, and its top-rated ones tend to sound more professional, if not always more distinctive, than those at other mass upload sites.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
holy shit! i didnt know Folkways had downloads and so on! Brilliant.
Great stuff Eric.
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks Duker, as is often the case, I am a mere conduit
3 - Matt Wardlaw
Archive.org is damn cool for sure.
For fans of Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket), I highly recommend downloading the 2 CD fan recording of their live project, Mutual Admiration Society, from 8/17/04, that is on Archive.org.
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=17333
As someone says in the comments, it sounds almost as good as an official live recording, and it's an audience recording!
Also worth a look, is Etree's download site of trade-friendly artists
http://bt.etree.org
and Easytree
http://bt.easytree.org
Tons of good live music!
4 - SFC SKI
THanks for the heads-up! While I have no problem paying a reasonable price for good music, free is always a good thing when it comes to music.
Now that "Corporate Rock" rules the airwaves, the only way to find a lot of non-Top 40 is through word of mouth and sites like these.
THanks.
5 - Douglas Mays
I would really love to see new statistics when it comes to picking out hit singles nowadays. I think downloading adds a whole new perspective to that issue.
An indy CD I put out (of a great Seattle band, pre-grunge) got some commercial airplay and noticed that that particular song suddenly got some downloads.
OK. For reference only: www.cdbaby.com/X-15. Anyway, I love this whole new dimension to music. As long as everyone gets their fair share.
peaceloveguidance
6 - Eric Olsen
thanks for the input guys!
7 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
i now have an mp3 digest on my site, changed every monday. i don't know if thats legit, though. the address is www.mondoirlando.com/mp3_digest.html
Very legit, however, is the completely free mp3 version of The Greatest Record Ever Made, which can be found at www.mondoirlando.com/eric_noble.mp3
This is a ridiculously exciting time for online music, i gotta say. Makes a fella feel good to be part of something this damn huge. Even if its only on the "downloading" side. "I was there, man. I downloaded Selfish C**t back in 2004, no kidding."
oh, and Eric, joking aside, you SERIOUSLY undersell yourself with the "mere conduit" thingy. That right there is nothing but slander, my friend. Your work on this site is utterly invaluable. As in good.
8 - Eric Olsen
much appreciated Duke, I suppose I meant this one is just a linker not a thinker