If you are asked to register to use a service, keep in mind privacy:  use an alternative email address.  Do NOT ever give out your address or phone number to any service (these or any others). This is just one suggested service that you may find helpful until a more permanent solution is found for our students (feel free to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) :

eMusic :  An indie-music fan favorite, eMusic is a paid subscription site that lets users download a certain number of songs per month. The baseline plan offers 24 songs per month for $11.99. Bonuses: free song previews, and new users can download 35 song files for free.

KaZaA :  You may remember the days when KaZaA was the post-Napster king of illegal music downloads. The former peer-to-peer file sharing site had been shut down but recently came back to life in a legal form. Its service costs $19.98 per month for unlimited downloads from KaZaA's catalog of 1 million songs, which is relatively small compared with its competitors. The blander, legal site isn't getting much love from reviewers.

Rhapsody: Crupnick, the analyst, called Rhapsody the "grandfather" of the subscription sites. Owned by RealNetworks, Rhapsody lets users play any of its 6 million songs on demand for $12.99 per month. That's pricier than some, but the site comes with an air of respectability and a variety of songs.

Napster:   The site was big in the '90s before it closed amid legal wrangling over copyright. It's back now, owned by BestBuy, and offers a $5 monthly plan that gives you access to stream Napster's 7 million songs on demand and to download five music files per month. It has a larger catalog than any of its close competitors.

These sites let you stream music over the Internet, usually for free, instead of downloading it to their computers. Some of the sites don't always give consumers song-by-song choices of what they're listening to.

Pandora : The most buzzed-about music site at the moment, Pandora users create their own radio stations simply by typing in the name of an artist or song they love. Pandora's computers analyze your choices and stream music that's similar stylistically. After legal battles, the site recently reached an agreement in which it pays royalties to musicians and record companies.

My Space Music :  The former social network juggernaut now is known mostly for its music site, where bands blog, promote new albums and often offer up full versions of some of their songs for users to play on demand. Observers look for the music aspect of MySpace to make or break the original site, which is being eclipsed by Facebook and Twitter.

These sites combine elements of online social networking with trends like mixtape trading of the 1980s and our inner desires to be everyone's favorite DJ.

Blip.fm : Blip.fm turns its users into micro-blogging DJs. Blip fans post songs they're listening to and make comments along the way in a Twitter-like fashion. Site users can tune into anyone's radio station to learn about new music and to keep tabs on friends' moods. The site also integrates well with social networks like Twitter. So you can also fill your Twitter feed with the latest tunes, if you so choose.

imeem: Imeem combines social networking with music discovery. Users can stream music from the site for free and can easily share tracks with their friends. It's essentially the digital revival of the mixtape -- make a playlist and send it to your friends online. No dual tape deck required.

Other takes...

The Hype Machine: The Hype Machine offers a new take on the radio station. The site looks for song files posted to music blogs, then stitches together the week's coolest tracks in a single feed. The free service is best for the indie crowd or those looking for something new.

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Remember:  sharing copyrighted music, video and software is unacceptable.  Make SURE you are familiar with policies about copyright and plagiarism.