Community Corner
Free Music Downloads At Scarsdale Library
The Westchester Library System has subscribed to a new, free music downloading service.
Although the outlaw days of downloading free music from Napster are gone, the question remains: where can music be downloaded legally without the fees typically involved with iTunes?
Luckily, the Scarsdale Public Library—along with all libraries within the Westchester Library System (WLS)—will now be able to access the entirety of the Sony music catalog.
Beginning tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 1, Westchester residents will now be able to access over three million songs on 10,000 labels utilizing the Freegal Music Service. Those with a library card can download up to three songs a week.
Find out what's happening in Scarsdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Freegal project is funded by the WLS and individual county library budgets, said Mamaroneck Public Library Director Susan Riley, who added that each library within the system pays a fee to be part of the WLS. A portion of the money contributed by individual libraries was set aside to pay for the new service.
Westchester is not the first county to have jumped on the Freegal bandwagon, whose current subscribers include the New York Public Library as well as libraries located in Connecticut, Oregon, California , Washington and Virginia. Freegal is operated by the privately-owned, Virginia-based company Library Ideas, LLC.
Find out what's happening in Scarsdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Unlike e-book downloads, residents utilizing the Freegal site can keep their free music indefinitely. They must, however, access the site through the library website where he or she is a cardholder, said Riley.
Westchester residents will be able to search for music in several different categories including artist and genre; MP3s can be loaded onto an iPhone or into iTunes and will work with any MP3 player, according to the website.
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