Really... are all internet music downloads illegal? The answer is absolutely not. There are several
legal online music download services out there. If you download to your heart's content, I guarantee you will not run into any problem, at least in the United States and other developed countries.
It is important, however to distinguish between those sites and ones that claim they are 100% legal, but aren't - see Internet Music Downloads Illegal Issues.
Also important to note: You do not need to spend money in order for the download to be defined as "legal".
There are legal ways to download free music as well. In fact, paying money up front to a subsciption based P2P does not necessarily mean that downloading from those sites are legal.
Are all internet music downloads illegal on peer to peer sites? Nope. Only downloads whereby the songs are copyrighted and you do not receive permission from the artist or the record company that made them, are illegal. This permission is assumed for ALL songs from legal networks.
There are special license arrangements with these digital music services and the record companies/ artists. No such arrangement exists with P2P sites - but you could still download them if you receive permission from the artist and record company, or if the song is not copyrighted.
No matter which route you go to download music, you would get alot more than just music if you buy the cd versus downloading the mp3.
Some people question us whether there is a way to save alot of money by buying cds online versus going to your local retailer. There are - please refer to this page often for updates.