I’m a huge fan of anything that’s free. Which is part of the reason I love WordPress, Google, and the open-source world in general.

I believe that Free is not only a social good (hey, it’s saving people money!) but is in fact a great marketing tool as well. Google’s managed to turn billions of dollars a year in profit off of giving almost everything away. Musicians drive attendance at their show and even album sales by giving music away for free.

One great example of this is www.NoiseTrade.com, a website started by Derek Webb and a few others, NoiseTrade gives away (mostly independent) music for free, simply requiring an email address and a zip code. (Note: I’ve written about NoiseTrade before, but they’ve made some pretty significant improvements, such as only requiring your email address)

Why is this a good idea for the artists? Well, for starters, I’m much more likely to purchase concert tickets the next time one of the artists I’ve downloaded comes to visit my area, and thanks to them having my contact info and my area, they can let me know when they’re coming. It’s permission marketing at it’s finest. I get some quality music, and they have a better chance of me attending their concert. If I like them, in fact, I WANT them to tell me when they’re in town, because I’ll want the chance to hear them.

Anyhow, there’s a ton of good music on the site, and if you’re curious, here’s some of the albums I’ve downloaded recently:

Ampersand EP by Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken

Recovery by Jeremy Casella

Weightless by Katie Herzig

What music are you listening to?