You may be interested in downloading free music downloads, but you are worried about the legality of downloading music.  You've read about the file sharing lawsuits and the viruses that threaten those who download free music online.

What if there were a totally digital online library where you could get archived media from years past including everything from MP3's to old goofy public service announcements? What if there were live shows of popular artists recorded by people like you who went to these concerts?

What if the artist allowed the "bootleg" recordings to be uploaded into the Internet archive library for anyone to download and use for their own noncommercial use? What it there were great music atrists on that site that you could download, but you don't know how to do it? What if this hub gave you all you need to know? What if you're tired of the questions?

Believe it or not you can download free MP3's of live shows by musicians including John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and Death Cab for Cutie. Currently 56,000 shows have been recorded and archived for your educational and research needs.  The artists say it's o.k., so you are o.k. to download their music posted on the site.

1. Get On The Right Page

When you go to the Internet Archive site, make sure you are in the "Live Music Archive." You can follow the capsule to the right.

2. Search For Some Artists That You Like

Type in the name of a few artists you like until you find a listing of shows for one of your entries.  If you'd like you can browse through a list of artists, great for when you have a lot of spare time.  There are hundreds to look through.  These artists have to be pretty cool to let you download this stuff. Various people used their own personal digital audio recorders to record the performances.

3. Select The Artist You Want

Click on an artist you like. For this example, I will choose John Mayer. Currently there are 57 shows not including the John Mayer Trio.

4. Find The Concert You Want

Browse by date or keyword. For example, if you want to hear stuff from the Continuum album, just check out 2007 and 2008 concerts. You may be limited by how many recordings are available for the artist you choose.

5. Preview The Music First In The Embedded Player

You should preview the music before downloading. There is a player to the upper right of the page once you click the performance you want. Hit play and test a few of the songs.  Not all recordings are going to be great, but most are very listenable.  You can quickly see if you like the quality first. Then follow the next step to download.

6. Download The MP3's To Your Computer

Download the VBR MP3's: Make sure to download the VBR MP3's for the best quality and compatibility. VBR stands for variable bit rate. You can download the entire show or separate songs. Toward the top left you will see Play/Download. Click VBR Zip and choose save when prompted by your computer to open or save.  This will save a zip version of all the songs.

7. Enjoy Your Music!

Find your files: Chances are your MP3's will go into My Music folder or to the desktop. You can add them to your Windows Media Player or iTunes, sync them to your MP3 player for portability, or burn a cd.  More advanced audio engineer types might want to do some slight EQ depending on personal taste, as most of the recordings are not mastered.