Crazy MP3 Deals...

Johnny's sixth installment of the American Recordings catalog was released today - his 78th birthday. You can download it through Amazon, today only, for $3.99, and I strongly suggest you do.
Johnny Cash - Ain't No Grave

If you download songs from the iTunes store, stop. Really. All songs are now $1.29 and are DRM - making it very difficult to do what you want with music you rightfully paid for. There are plenty of other places on the internet to pick up DRM-free music for much cheaper.

The Amazon music store is just as big as iTunes catalog, and their 10 million mp3s still go for only $.99. In addition to their daily $3.99 deal, each month, Amazon also makes 100 mp3 albums available for only $5. Here are some notable ones:
Johnny Cash - Love
Crazy Heart Soundtrack
Dawes - North Hills -- highly recommended
Blackroc - Blackroc -- The Black Keys-produced Hip-Hop album
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Dawn Landes - Sweetheart Rodeo
Andrew Bird - Mysterious Production of Eggs
The Soft Pack - The Muslims
see all 100 albums

And in Amazon's $7.99 bracket:
Johnny Cash - American IV (The Man Comes Around)
Matt & Kim - Grand
O Brother, Where Art Thou Soundtrack
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
The XX - xx
Patty Griffin - Downtown Chruch -- highly recommended
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Reckless Kelly - Somewhere In Time
The Soft Pack - s/t
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
The Avett Broths - Emotionalism -- highly recommended
The Black Keys - Rubber Factory
She & Him - Volume One
Dave Rawlings Machine - Friend of a Friend -- highly recommended
Fleet Foxes - s/t -- highly recommended
Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
Monsters of Folk - s/t
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Wilco - Wilco [The Album] -- highly recommended
The Swell Season - Strict Joy
Ryan Bingham - Roadhouse Sun -- highly recommended
Gillian Welch - Revival
Ray Wylie Hubbard - A:Enlightenment...
Dr. Dog - Fate
Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind
Neil Young - Harvest
see all 114,706 albums

eMuisc is where I get a large majority of my purchased music. I pay $11.99/month for 30 downloads (about $.40 a song). There are 4 other plans to choose from on either side of that. Additionally, eMusic puts select albums on sale. They do this by offering a full album download (10-14 tracks) for only 7 credits - or something close to that. When you initially sign up, you'll also get 25 free downloads to start.

Even Better: if you're reading this and want to get in on the action, email me (paytontx12 @ comcast.net). I'll send you an invite, and we'll both get 50 free tracks to download.

Another great online music source is AmieStreet.com. They offer music on a demand-based system. When as song is first added, it's FREE (or very cheap). Each time the song/album is downloaded, the price goes up slightly, songs capping out at $.98 cents. So if you're quick, you can beat any deal, anywhere.

Often, I'll get emails from AmieStreet featuring free mixes. The songs on these mixes remain free - right now, there are over 400 million free songs. Sign up, and they're yours. There's no cost for signing up - you can add funds to your account when you'd like.

Check out their albums available for <$2
Check out their albums available for <$5
Check out their albums available for <$8