My name is Chuck Foster. I’ve been wading in the cesspool of Rock Writing since February 2002 when I became a regular contributor to The New York Waste. At the end of 2003, I joined the team at Under The Volcano, and, in Spring 2007, when UTV tanked, Jack brought me on board.
Anyway, I’m here with a purpose. I’m actually relatively new to the music downloading phenomenon. Sure, I toyed around with Napster back when it was new, free, and the bane of METALLICA’s existence, but then I lost that job (and that computer) because I was spending more time trying to find RADIO BIRDMAN songs than actually doing any work.
It wasn’t until about eight months ago, when I was given the computer I am currently using, that the concept of MP3 technology really grabbed hold of me and further fueled my constant thirst for music.
I was finding new and exciting ways to waste time at Freewebarcade.com when I found a game called VR Defender Y3K which inadvertently led me to a whole new way of discovering and downloading music. The game was cool enough, but the pulsing electronic music blew me away. After I died and the game was over, I noticed an ‘if-you-liked-the-music-click-here’ link. I did and the link brought me to Newgrounds.com, an online social network that is geared toward tech-heads who construct flash video games and compose music on their computers. On a whim, I searched through the electronic genres and ended up downloading a lot of music, as downloads are free and you don’t have to be a member to download.
The MP3’s had me. I even joined Emusic.com in January of this year.
It’s the free social networking sites that really fascinate me, though. They’re like the record labels providing us, the proverbial DJs, with brand new music for our own private radio stations.
And so, my goal with this blog is to explore websites where users can upload/download music at will and to report my findings so you can learn about some undiscovered, unsigned talent whose music is floating in the cybernetic ether of the internet.
Right now, my three main sources are Newgrounds, Myspace and the Internet Archive. I’m open to suggestions, so let me know if there are other websites where free, legal, unsigned, independent music can be downloaded.
In my next post, I’ll tell you about some artists I’ve discovered, but for now, you can check out my Newgrounds Profile, where you can hear some music I’ve done on my four-track, and my MySpace Page, where you can read more about my writing endeavors.
