”I found this info helpful for seeking out bargain gear and listening to music."
-Amy K., Princeton Day School

"I enjoy the fact that I can order somthing from Gutiar Center and try it out for a few weeks! If I don't like it, I take it back. This is how I settled on my Gibson Guitar."
-Mike K, Guitar Student

"...I got front row tickets for Maiden on Tickets Now! I've tried them all, and this is the most amazing place to get tickets."
-J. Richardson, Maiden Fan

"Steeler Tickets are almost impossible to get, but I always get them on Stub Hub!
- Johnny Z

"I never thought I would be able to see Stone Temple Pilots tis year! I am happy because I never had the opportunity to get good tickets. TicketNow is very solid…"
-Steve B., East Hampton High School

"Emusic is a very cool way to get exposed to new indi music! I heard the new Eisley record on hear and they are one of my favorite bands! This is how I get exposed to new music"
-Anja P., Independent Music Supervisor for Film

"Well, it's a parallel world with a new paradigm taking place. We have to adapt to it. Like I said this conversation goes beyond Chuck and Lars. This is industry versus the people and the people got technology on their side and we gotta adapt"
-Chuck D., Public Enemy

"I can honestly say this is what I lisetn to all day. This is the best music resource ever!"
-Jeremy Palmer, Quityourdayjob.com

"This is so simple a chimp with a pineapple can use it. Super solid!"
-Johnnie Walker, Zoo Professional

"The zero percent interest helped!. This is how I built my recording business and paid the balance off in 9 months!"
-Aaron, Principal Studio

"I had to see the Yankess this year! Got to see Jeter olay short at the all star game!
-Scottie P, Yankee Fan

"I went to Coacehlla and got kick ass tickets! The concert was rockin like Dokken!
-Stephanie P, Huge Concert Fan

What are the best deals on digital music, concert tickets and music gear right now!


	"Without Elvis, none of us could have made it" - Buddy Holly

With so many resources on the web, how can you narrow down your search?

Simple—as a music fan, active concert attendee and musician, I've narrowed down this dilemma into a few simple searches. Based upon my experience these are the sites I recommend.

eMusic

EMusic had 4,000,000 tracks available for download and sold over 100,000,000 tracks as of December 2006. New subscribers receive 25 free downloads over a period of 14 days. The trial account turns into a billable subscription account immediately after registering for a trial. Refunds are possible under certain circumstances by contacting eMusic customer support. Subscriptions allow users to download a number of tracks per 30-day period. A basic package allows for 30 downloads, with Plus and Premium subscriptions offering more downloads per month at higher prices. Every month the download limit is reset (regardless of how many songs were downloaded).

EMusic also offers "booster packs" to subscribers, which expire after 90 days rather than after a month, and are consumed when subscribers download tracks beyond their monthly allotments. Earlier business models supported an "all-you-can-eat" downloading pattern. For a monthly fee, customers were able to download as many tracks as they wished from the service.

EMusic caters to an older audience with the average subscriber being 39 who subscribes for at least a year. Older listeners may also be drawn because arguably "adult" genres of music--classical, jazz--are typically represented by longer tracks than such "younger" genres as punk and hence reward cost-conscious consumers seeking out bargains for their alloted 30 downloads per month. Click eMusic: 25 Free MP3 Downloads to find out more details and to find out how you can get 25 free downloads!

Napster

Along with the accusations that Napster was hurting the sales of the record industry, there were those who felt just the opposite, that file trading on Napster actually stimulated, rather than hurt, sales. Proof may have come in July 2000 when tracks from English rock band Radiohead's album Kid A found their way to Napster three months before the CD's release. Unlike Madonna, Dr. Dre or Metallica, Radiohead had never hit the top 20 in the US. Furthermore, Kid A was an experimental album without any singles, and received relatively little radio airplay. By the time of the record's release, the album was estimated to have been downloaded for free by millions of people worldwide, and in October 2000 Kid A captured the number one spot on the Billboard 200 sales chart in its debut week.

One of the most successful bands to owe its success to Napster was Dispatch. Being an independent band, they had no formal promotion or radio play, yet they were able to tour to cities they had never played and sell out concerts, thanks to the spread of their music on Napster. In July 2007, the band became the first independent band to ever headline New York City's Madison Square Garden, selling it out for three consecutive nights. The band members were avid supporters of Napster, promoting it at their shows, playing a Napster show around the time of the Congressional hearings, and attending the hearings themselves. Shawn Fanning, the founder of Napster, is a known Dispatch fan.

Since 2000, many musical artists, particularly those not signed to major labels and without access to traditional mass media outlets such as radio and television, have said that Napster and successive Internet file-sharing networks have helped get their music heard, spread word of mouth, and may have improved their sales in the long term[citation needed]. Although some underground musicians and independent labels have expressed support for Napster and the p2p model it popularized, others have criticized the unregulated and extra-legal nature of these networks, and some seek to implement models of Internet promotion in which they can control the distribution of their own music. Nonetheless, Napster is a great resource for musci on a subscription basis.

If you wnat to check it out, be sure to click on the 7 day free trial or at the very least, a classic scene from the Italian Job. Shawn Fanning (playing himself) stealing the program from a computer expert played by Seth Green while the latter is napping, providing a humorous folk etymology for the name. Later in the movie on the Los Angeles traffic control boards we see the phrase "You will never shut down the real Napster"

Rhapsody

Rhapsody's main focus is on an a la carte subscription jukebox model, although it also supports per-track purchases. There are three main subscription plans: Rhapsody 25, Rhapsody Unlimited, and Rhapsody To Go.

Rhapsody 25 is a free, ad-supported version, allowing consumers to stream 25 songs on-demand per month and to access 25 Internet radio stations at no cost.
Rhapsody Unlimited is a paid subscription at $12.99 per month. This option permits unlimited selections of music from the Rhapsody catalogue and access to radio stations programmed by Rhapsody.

Rhapsody To Go is also a paid subscription at $14.99 per month. This option offers the same features as Rhapsody Unlimited plus the downloading of unlimited selections to computers without purchasing songs on a per-track basis. Users are not permitted to burn the tracks to CD, but they can be transferred to compatible PlaysForSure portable devices. These "subscription downloads" (also called tethered downloads) cannot be transferred to an Apple iPod due to rights disagreements. The recent announcement that EMI will let digital retailers sell DRM-free music downloads will enable Rhapsody and other companies to sell major-label songs that play on the iPod, provided that they make such arrangements with the individual record labels.

Purchased Music Non Rhapsody To Go subscribers can purchase individual songs and albums directly from Rhapsody, in a way similar to the iTunes Store. Songs generally cost 99¢ each or $9.99 per album, depending on the agreement with the label. Rhapsody Unlimited subscribers receive a 10% discount on purchased music.

Rhapsody on TiVo Rhapsody subscriptions are now being offered by TiVO to be played through their DVR units. Rhapsody on Nokia Internet Tablets In March 2007 Real Networks teamed up with Nokia to provide access to the entire Rhapsody catalog starting with N800-N810 series internet tablets running Internet Tablet OS 2007 & 2008 (Maemo). Within the range of a Wi-Fi access point and with the minimum Rhapsody subscription, users can STREAM (but NOT download, nor keep/purchase on the device itself) any song in Rhapsody's library in full-length CD quality sound. The Rhapsody client on the N8x0 does sync with Rhapsody playlists via the internet (which are stored on Real's servers) but does not sync encrypted content via the PC Rhapsody client, when connected via US

Guitar Center

Guitar Center plunged into the new millennium with the forward-moving momentum of the previous decade and a vision of vast expansion. Guitar Center reached the 100th store mark with the Grand Opening of the Little Rock store on February 21, 2002. In 2005, G.C.'s acquisition of Music & Arts Center brought 62 new stores throughout the US, catering to a completely new instrument market. With clear-cut goals and good old fashioned customer service that caters to the musician's every need, Guitar Center still proves more than ever to be a strong link between musicians and the tools of the trade.

The future looks bright as Guitar Center continues to open stores across the country. Guitar Center has no intention of slowing down and will be around for generations to come. You can check out our Grand Opening page to see where Guitar Center is growing to now.

Aside from their growth, they have the best return policy and always have cool clinics. The most recent clinic they had on Sunset Strip featured legendary guitarist Dave Mustaine. If you want to get the latest reviews on some gear, send me email and I will send you updates.

StubHub

Using the StubHub website, a buyer may select from available tickets to an event. Stubhub charges a service fee of 10% of the purchase price of the tickets. A shipping and handling charge is then imposed and tickets are either shipped via FedEx Express or picked up the day of the event. In total, StubHub earns 25% of the purchase price of every ticket sold: buyers pay 10% more than the listed price and sellers receive 15% less than their listed price. However, if you want to see a particular concert and need tickets. This is the way to go!

TicketsNow

TicketsNow established in 1999 is a marketplace for premiume vent tickets. More than 90% of all professional ticket agencies that list, but, and sell secondary event tickets online utlize this software developed by TicketsNow. This is one of the fastest growing companies and is the premium ticket provider for USA Today, Fandango, and AOL. Moreover this is the official sponsor for the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars. TicketsNow was recently acquired by Ticketmaster which pretty promotes everything anyway! If you are looking for upcoming concerts or sporting events be sure to click here to check them out!