Enjoy Lawsuit-free Music

That usually means buying it, of course. And if you think buying music can be pricey, imagine the cost of paying the RIAA off in an effort to stay out of court.

Can I legally download non RIAA music?

Q: Since the RIAA are the ones suing people over piracy, is it legal for me to download songs put out by non-members of the RIAA over Limewire? go to http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/ and search "In Flames" It says 'safe, meaning the label is non-RIAA. So if I download any In Flames song, the RIAA cannot sue me, right?

A: It's only legal if you are given explicit permission by the owner of the song. In fact, if you download non-RIAA music you're ripping off the artists directly, instead of fat cat music industry execs. Try http://www.cdbaby.com/ if you want to buy music by independent artists. This way the artist gets most of your money, instead of the crumbs the RIAA feeds them.

Two New York attorneys have dedicated a blog (albeit a blog that needs a little design work) to chronicling their fight and others' against the RIAA, which as you have probably heard, is mailing out lawsuit notifications left and right these days. Not that this is new or anything.

The lawyer's blog site includes links to music sites that do not fall under the RIAA cartel's influence. You can support artists directly buy purchasing music from these kinds of sites.

In case you care to boycott the RIAA, RIAAradar.com allows you to sort the indie music from the music that is released by RIAA members (members include Sony, RCA, Epic, and other huge names that you probably know).

None of this is meant as an endorsement or... whatever the opposite of an endorsement is... towards the RIAA or people who download music illegally or big-time artist sellouts or anything. I don't do a lot of downloading, so I don't have a dog in this fight, although I find the RIAA's tactics heavyhanded. But since I work for an industry that is big on DRM, I know how companies and corporations feel about piracy.

And what blog about music wouldn't be complete without a link to Weird Al (who is always somehow simultaneously at the cusp of, and yet right behind, the Zeitgeist) who recorded a song that you are supposed to download, called, appropriately, "Don't Download This Song." Reverse psychology at its best?