1. Pay for use

This is one of the most effective ways to identify whether a site is legal or not. Look for download sites that charge you per song, or per month or per year.

If you see a site offering free music downloads for a certain trial period, then this doesnt necessarily mean that the site is legal. Many legal sites use this as an enticement, so do not be put off by that.

2. Size Limits

A legal music download site generally distributes music from reputable labels and artists. This means that you will not find a wide range of mixes and custom files that will almost certainly slow down your connection, and therefore take forever to download.
Moreover, if these files are small it assures the music retail industry that the music site is actually selling real legal music, and not the massive files associated with computer games and movies etc

3. Volume limits

Legal music download sites usually distribute their material on a per song basis. One of the major advantages of buying your music online is that you dont have to spend $17 for an entire album if you only want 3 or 4 songs.
Legal music sites will actually setup download limits as well as transfer rate limits. As a result, this prevents dishonest customers from setting up their computers to copy hundreds of files in a few hours.

4. Larger databases, Larger costs

The larger the databases that the legal download sites have, the more it will actually cost you. This can actually lead to paying a bit more than a normal CD in the shop IF the store has literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of songs because they could cost between $1 – $3.
Therefore, dont go for the exceptionally large databases. The reason why these sites are more expensive than the illegal music sites is because they are obliged to give a portion of their fees back to the recording industry.

5. Limited Choice

Most of the legal music download sites dont have the capacity or copyright authority to distribute hundreds of millions of songs. The songs are stored on servers with a finite amount of space unlike the tangled web of computer to computer file transfers from the illegal sites.

The other reason for the limited choice is that it is highly unlikely that they will get an agreement from every single record label to distribute their music online.

The quality of every online music catalog depends on the Music Studios that are providing the material. Established, and therefore popular artists usually switch labels at least once during their singing career. So you might have access to their newer materials, but not the older songs, or vice versa.

6. No Adware or Spyware

Legal music download sites like their offline retail counterparts are getting an actual fee for their service. They dont want to scam or upset their customers by placing dangerous and annoying spyware and adware programs on their computers.

7. Music Only

The fact is that a legal music download site will only have music on it to download. This means that you wont be able to download computer games, movies or anything else like this.

8. Copyright Notice

A clearly written copyright notice should be provided on the site stating:

a) The nature of the site owners authorization to distribute legal music files online

b) What you can do with the files once you have paid for them

c) Any limitations on either party as far as use and distribution of the files.

9. No file sharing allowed

You are only allowed to use the files for personal use. Unlike a CD (physical product) you cannot purchase songs, use them and then sell them to another party or distribute them free of charge to friends, family, web surfers etc.

10. Backed by a big label?

Most of the legal music download sites are backed by at least one major music label. People are looking for songs that are popular, on the radio, playing in the clubs or on MTV.
All of that commercial material comes out of the studio system. If the label does not provide the material, subject to fees, taxes and copyright notices, then the site cannot legally distribute them.

Now that you created your profile page on MySpace, how do you make sure people see it?
In order to promote your music, uploading songs, providing a bio or band history, uploading photos and video of your band playing or rehearsing, and joining various forums are all great ways to promote your music. But what about those people who are new to MySpace? Or those who don’t read forums or blogs? What about record producers who don’t have time to sift through hundreds of pages looking for their next big recording star? Making it easy to find your page will help you build a fan base and get noticed by labels. The tips listed below are ways you can market your page.
Tip#1: Links are important
Linking your page to other musician pages and to your web site will help to drive traffic to your profile page. The music community on MySpace is filled with musicians who are into making different types of music. Hooking up with some musicians and swapping links is a good way to expand your marketing net.
Record labels love to find two or three bands at a time in order to save money and minimize search efforts. If they find a band they like, they will also check out who is linked to the page. By helping out fellow musicians, you will be doing yourself a big favor as well.
Tip#2: Selling merchandise on MySpace
Since MySpace now allows you to sell CD’s and other promotional items on the site, this is a great opportunity to get your music noticed. Printed t-shirts, hats, mouse pads, and other merchandise can be printed up quickly and sold in order to build your fan base and advertise at the same time. If you have some cool stuff to sell, then you will build a reputation. More people will visit your page to see new items offered.
You can also partner with other musicians and sell items together if you choose. Cross-marketing with musicians of a different genre will allow you to tap into new markets. Most people enjoy a few different types of music. Appealing to different genres of music lovers will help build a strong, but mixed fan base.
Tip#3: Add keywords to your profile page
Specific keywords that demonstrate which genre your music belongs to, famous artists you sound like or admire, or a list of songs you upload can help get your page noticed by those conducting MySpace music searches. When people are in the mood to listen to different types of music, they usually conduct a search to find artists that match what they are looking for. Keywords allow your page to come up during searches.

Tip#4: Meeting new friends
Another way to increase traffic to your site is to meet others on MySpace. These can be musicians, music fans, tech junkies, or others that are interested in the music industry. Adding friends to your profile page will increase your exposure while increasing curiosity by those who are surfing the MySpace site. Pages that are popular will be looked at more often by others.
Increasing traffic to your profile page is crucial to your success on MySpace. While there are others way to market your music, the tips mentioned above are quick and easy to use. Getting your page out there will allow you to create a fan base and get you noticed by record labels.