If you want to download music for free then the Internet isn’t exactly short of options, so discovering that we now had another, in the shape of the new MP3jam, didn’t exactly fill us with excitement.
But then we actually tried the program. And it turned out to be a real surprise.
Take installation, for instance. You just know this will be one of those applications which tries to slip at least three browser toolbars through your defences, right? But no -- there are no unwanted extras here, no marketing hassles at all.
The program opens with a simple interface, essentially just a search box. And we expected this to deliver simple keyword searching only, but no – it works much like Google, but on your desktop. So you can search for tracks, albums or artists; type just a letter or two and you’ll see popular matching searches; and once you’ve selected whatever you need, MP3jam displays a very complete set of matches, complete with album art, release date and track times.
If you want to download individual songs or entire albums then you can do so at a click. These then show up under a separate Downloads tab, later, which allows you to use the program as a simple music organiser or media player.
Isn’t this all a monumental infringement of copyright? Well, yes, although MP3jam’s case appears to be that because they collect content from YouTube then it’s someone else’s problem, and they will pull particular files if a DMCA notice is served. Which sounds sort-of reasonable to us, although we couldn’t help wondering if the program also accessed content from elsewhere (not least because its folder includes a file called mp3jamexe.LastFmConnector.dll).
If you’re concerned about copyright issues, though, you don’t have to download full MP3′s. MP3jam also provides a Play button next to each track, so you can just use it as a streaming service if you prefer, playing individual songs or your chosen album with a click: this really is a music downloader with something for everyone.
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