It was back in November 2007 that I discovered the fantastic KRCW, the PBS affiliate in Los Angeles. I was in town visiting my dad who pretty much only listens to KCRW 89.9 in his car, and I was blown away by the variety of eclectic music playing on the radio. I’ve never liked Top 40 music, so rarely listen to the radio. KCRW changed that – Mr. Fizgig and I listened to them all the time in NYC via their iTunes podcast.
I really like that they showcase up-and-coming bands, and I appreciate their playing world music. I’ve always had catholic taste in music and like to think I know something about a lot of genres (I regularly listen to electronic, house, flamenco, French vintage, jazz, African jazz, funk, classical, glam rock, retro pop, and alternative music) but KCRW has really expanded my musical horizons.
So I thought I would do two things in this post: firstly, sing the praises of my favourite radio station in the hopes that other people might discover them and support them during pledge time; and secondly, share with you my favourite links for downloading free music that is legally available to you!
KCRW
KCRW is the main NPR affiliate in southern California, and is a community service based out of Santa Monica College. Their free daily download (aka Today’s Top Tune) “…represents a cross section of KCRW’s eclectic music format” and is also available as a podcast.
Thanks to KCRW’s Eclectic24 channel, I’ve discovered bands like Elbow, Little Dragon, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Angelique Kidjo, and Michael Franti & Spearhead, to name but a few. In the past 6 months, I’ve also downloaded new favourites from DJ Cam, k.d. lang, If By Yes, Mexican Institute of Sound, Daft Punk, and Elbow.
Follow KCRW on Twitter | Fan KCRW on Facebook | Support KCRW
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Also worthy of a mention are these three other places to download free music:
Amazon
offers a monthly selection of free music from Artists on the Rise and Mp3 Deals.
eMusic
The eMusic daily download serves up a new free track seven days a week. Most of the music is labelled Alternative/Punk, and sometimes it can sound a bit teenage-angst-I’m-thrashing-in-my-parents’-garage-y, which I don’t like, but it’s worth a mention.
Bandcamp
is a great platform for independent musicians of all genres to showcase their talents. Navigate to their free download tag to discover new music. It can be a little hit or miss, but it’s fun to browse.
Where do you download your music from? Any links I should know about? Share ‘em in the comments section below!
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…and while you’re at it, check out this link to support public broadcasting – there’s a free download of music by artists like Tom Waits, Tinariwen, and Jolie Holland:
http://170millionamericans.org/ryvoice/
This is so cool! Wish we had a station like that here but I don’t have an Ipod…Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
You don’t need an iPod to enjoy digital music – you can download iTunes for free
This old girl learns something new from you almost every time I visit…I’m still cracked up because after I read your blog about the phone, someone sent me a link to an Ann Summers commercial! ROTF! Have a great week!