Like so many in the world, I am a music fiend. I started singing from a young age and took up piano in Kindergarten. My other siblings are also musical, so my dad used to teach us traditional music and have us perform at various family functions (throwback to when we all four sang “Lo How a Rose” at a Christmas dinner at my grandmother’s house years ago). Yet despite my absolute love for all things music, I cannot seem to get myself to actually purchase any music. And since the iTunes prices have gone up a whole dollar per song, there is hardly any incentive for me to click that “Buy” button. I use Spotify just like everyone else, but am again not willing to pay for the upgrade to Premium even though it’s discounted for students. Call me cheap, but I just don’t want to pay that. Maybe it’s also that I’d rather spend my funds on taking the Metro in DC and eating out. Luckily, however, NoiseTrade.com has come into my life. Now let’s clear the air, NoiseTrade.com is not a website or program that illegally converts music from YouTube or wherever into an mp3. I am not into that at all. NoiseTrade is a legal website that allows you to listen and download an inordinate amount of music from a number of up-and-coming artists (and sometimes already well known artists like Ben Rector) — for free. In the words of the website, “NoiseTrade Music helps artists and labels meaningfully connect with fans through the exchange of free music…” You can search through NoiseTrade by genre or what’s currently popular to find any music that brings you joy. After previewing an artist’s album, you can choose to download it to your computer and are given the option to leave the artist a tip of suggested value. This is not a required portion of the downloading process at all, but I think that it’s a unique element that you can’t quite find anywhere else except if you’re at a bar with Billy Joel leaving a tip in his jar.
After you’ve downloaded the album, you may begin getting emails from the artists which I think is super neat. These emails aren’t spamworthy so don’t delete them. They announce upcoming concert dates and locations, and give you the chance to read up on what the artists are doing. The emails are personal and help you get to know the artist better, therefore enhancing the experience of NoiseTrade even further. NoiseTrade allows you to directly connect with artists and learn more about them, about their music, and support them directly. For these reasons I so support the website and the artists who put their music on it. If I could tell you just how many songs and albums I’ve downloaded I would, but that would be impossible because I’ve downloaded a ridiculous amount. I highly, highly recommend that everyone give NoiseTrade.com a visit to see what they’re all about. They are doing incredible things for the modern music industry and are legally enabling us the listeners and music enthusiasts to appreciate today’s diverse array of artists!