In our music discovery spotlight this week, we showcase another selection of free promotional tracks that cover a wide range of genres designed to broaden your musical horizons :

Via Tania

• Become Forest (Grafton Primary Radio Edit) (3:57)

For Via Tania fans, here's another free track following on from the promotional Wonder Stranger song that we covered previously. This track is also an example of her unique sound that mixes Björk-style vocals with dreamy melodies. Via Tania's new album, Moon Sweet Moon, (The:Hours) is now available from the iTunes Store.

Dragonette

• Pick Up The Phone (Richard X Remix) (3:45)

This free track is a remix of, Pick up The Phone, from Canadian electro-pop band, Dragonette. The music video of this song can also be viewed on YouTube. Dragonette's new album, Fixin to Thrill, is due out early 2010.

Little Dragon

• Blinking Pigs (3:39)

Taken from their new album, Machine Dreams, this promotional track showcases Little Dragon's electronic music style. Blinking Pigs serves up a mix of 80s-style synth and dreamy electronic effects to produce a unique futuristic sound. The Swedish band's new album is now available from leading digital music services.

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If you're searching the Internet for free educational downloads, then how about using iTunes U? This is a free service that is built into the iTunes Store and provides over 10, 000 free audio and video lessons on a wide range of subjects. Whether you're looking for video lectures or audiobooks on a particular subject, iTunes U has a good selection of categories that you can choose from; science, mathematics, language, and fine arts are just some of the subjects on offer.

The material that iTunes U hosts is of a high quality and has been created mostly by universities, colleges, and other educational organizations. There's a 'Top Downloads' section too which is useful to see what the most popular downloads are and it can give you an idea on what you'd like to study next. One of the best things about using iTunes U for your studies is that all the files you download can then be viewed at your leisure - either on your computer or transferred to an iPod/iPhone for learning on the go!

For more information on using iTunes U as a free educational tool, read our iTunes U Guide on how to get started.

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Here's another selection of free music tracks that you can either download or stream. Hopefully these full-length tracks will give you a good idea about the type of sound that the band/artist produces before you decide to purchase their music. The free promotional songs this week are:

Boat

• We've been friends since 1989 (2:31)

This free promotional track by the band, Boat, is taken from their new album, Setting The Paces. This track is a good example of Boat's unconventional and sometimes chaotic indie sound. Their new album is now available digitally from the iTunes Store.

Blacklist

• Flight of the Demoiselles (4:20)

For indie music fans this week, Blacklist are another band that you might be interested in. The free music download, Flight of The Demoiselles, is an indie track that also has a blend of rock guitar riffs that give a nice 80s style feel to the track; similar to bands such as U2 and Manic Street Preachers. There's also the Flight of The Demoiselles music video that you can watch on YouTube or via their website. Their debut album, Midnight Century, (Weird Records) is now available from digital music services such as Amazon MP3, Emusic, and iTunes.

Midnight Juggernauts

• 4 Remix Tracks (27:16)

This set of free remix tracks by Australian band, Midnight Juggernauts, showcases their multi-genre sound that encompasses electro-pop, electronica, alternative dance, and a few other electro-orientated styles. The remixes that you can download via Off The Radar are a taster for their new album, The New Technology, which is available as a limited edition physical from Acephale Records, or as a digital download from the iTunes Store.

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According to an article published by NPR, Google will shortly be announcing the launch of a new music search service that you can use to buy songs. Rather than directly providing a music library, Google will be extending its search facilities to provide links to songs that can be purchased from select digital music services.

Google are hoping that consumers who already use the popular search engine to find resources on the Internet will like the familiarity of their interface and use it for purchasing digital music too. Google is certainly a mighty power on the Web, but can it really compete with the king of the digital music services - namely the iTunes Store?

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In our music discovery spotlight this week, we showcase another selection of free promotional tracks that cover a wide range of genres designed to broaden your musical horizons :

The Prairie Cartel

• No Light Escapes Here (4:46)

The free music download, No Light Escapes Here, is a track from the electronic band, The Prairie Cartel. There's also the No Light Escapes Here music video that you can stream or download. Incidentally, their music has also been featured in the video game, Grand Theft Auto IV. The Prairie Cartel's new album, Where Did All My People Go is now available via their MySpace page; the digital release is slated for release on Oct. 27.

The Toxic Avenger

• Toxic is Dead (5:11)

Not to be confused with the 80s American cult classic comedy of the same name, The Toxic Avenger is a French electrothrash producer. The free promotional track, Toxic is Dead, is a hardcore mix of electronic sounds ranging from fat bass lines to distorted synths - similar in style to the Bloody Beetroots that we covered in a previous blog. The new album, Scion CD Sampler Vol. 26: The Toxic Avenger, which also features remixes from: Designer Dr*gs, The Juan Maclean, Ladytron, and others, is now available from the iTunes Store, AmazonMP3 and other top digital music services.

French Miami

• God Damn Best (2:48)

The free track, God Damn Best, is taken from French Miami's self-titled debut album. This free song showcases French Miami's unique sound of post-punk mixed with synthetic sounds. The French Miami CD/LP album is in stores now and is also available digitally from leading digital music services.

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If your MP3 player or car stereo system refuses to play songs in order, then there's a few simple techniques that you can try to get your device to behave. These are:

• Correctly tagging your music files using software such as MP3 tag editors
• Upgrading your device to the latest firmware
• Pre-fixing a song's filename with the track number

If your digital music device is flash card based and still has problems (even after trying the above methods), then it could be the way the music is stored on the flash card. Believe it or not, some MP3 players read the tracks on flash storage cards in the order that they were saved - they don't sort in alphabetical order. In this case, a software program like MP3dirsorter could be the answer. This is a free program for Windows that can sort folders and files in alphabetical order - it's even good for alphabetically sorting other media too.

For more information on using MP3dirsorter, be sure to follow our tutorial on How to Make Your Songs Play in Order which uses this free piece of software.

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Our music discovery slot this week features another set of free music tracks that you can either stream or download. These full-length tracks cover a wide range of genres and will hopefully help you to discover bands and artists that you might not otherwise have found. The free music downloads this week are :

THE:HOURS Podcast Vol. 2

• Various (45:05)

This 'mixtape' from the record label, THE:HOURS, contains 10 full tracks from top artists such as David Bowie, Björk, Fever Ray, and others; the full track list can be viewed on THE:HOURS' blog. Their Podcast Vol. 2 compilation is in celebration of the release of Via Tania's new album, Moon Sweet Moon, that we covered recently in our weekly free Music Downloads blog.

Drink Up Buttercup

• 2 tracks (6:08 total playing time)

Philadelphia-based band, Drink Up Buttercup, have just signed a record deal with Yep Roc Records, and to celebrate this event they have two free tracks on offer for fans to download for free. Their retro style of music can be best described as being hit with a mix of psychedelic rock, acid folk, and a good deal of chanting. By signing up as a fan via their MySpace page, you can download Even Think and Heavy Hand. There's also another 5 free music downloads via Daytrotter.com that can be either streamed or downloaded after signing up.

Yes Giantess

• Yes Giantess Mixtape (59:51)

The Yes Giantess Mixtape is a gigantic 60 minute mix of songs from top artists such as Mariah Carey, Prince, Erasure, Lilly Allen, and the legendary Michael Jackson. Yes Giantess who deliver 80s style electro-pop tracks have also got the following free remixes for download via the Neon Gold Records blog:

1. Tuff N Stuff (Pirate Stereo Remix)(4:08)
2. Stuck On Repeat (Fake Blood Remix) - Little Boots (6:28)
3. Don't Bring Flowers (Yes Giantess Remix) - Erik Hassle (6:54)

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In order for you to organize your music library and use it efficiently, it's essential to have the correct tag information (sometimes referred to as ID3 metadata) embedded into your files. Examples of this type of data include: artist, album, genre, and other information normally displayed on your MP3 player or software media player.

There's little doubt that manually tagging all your music files can be time consuming and a tedious exercise at the best of times. So, what's the best way? Even though most software media players come with built-in tag tools, they can be very limited in what they can do. If you've got a large selection of music tracks that need tag information added, then using a dedicated MP3 tag tool is often the best way. Not only are media tagging software programs capable of editing multiple files, but some of them even support metadata services such as Freedb - used to automatically add the data to your files.

If you're looking for software to tag your music files, then consult our guide on the Top 5 Free MP3 Tag Editors to start tagging the easy way.

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Our music discovery blog this week features another helping of free music downloads designed to widen your musical tastes. The free music this week is:

Semi Precious Weapons

• Magnetic Baby (2:51)

The free music download, Magnetic Baby, is a promotional track from the Brooklyn-based band, Semi Precious Weapons. The song is a hard rock track that's typical of the band's 'rebellious' style of music. Their debut album, We Love You, is now available as a digital download from Amazon MP3, MusicSpace.com, or the iTunes Store.

Steed Lord

• 3 Remix Tracks (14:31 Total playing time)

Here's 3 free music tracks by the Icelandic electro-band, Steed Lord, that blends electro-dance beats with vocoding (electronic manipulated vocals). The three remixes via Rcrdlbl.com are:

1. Dirty Mutha (Crookers Remix)
2. Dirty Mutha (DJ Mehdi Remix)
3. Sometime - Heart of Spades (Steed Lord's "Ja Ok!" Remix)

Steed Lord's double-CD, Truth Serum Remix Project (New Crack City Records), will soon be available on Beatport and iTunes.

Wax Tailor

• Say Yes (4:26)

Jean-Christophe Le Saoût, otherwise known as Wax Tailor is a French music producer and DJ. This free promotional music download is an audio trailer for his new album, In The Mood For Life, (available on iTunes) which is a good example of the experimental Trip-hop genre that blends Hip-Hop with dance music. As a bonus for Wax Tailor fans, there's also the complete Say Yes track that is featured on his new album which can be downloaded via Spinner.com.

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The UK-based digital music service, 7digital, has announced that it has finally completed its U.S. roll out. 7digital which operates in several different countries (mostly in Europe) will now offer its 6 million+ MP3 music library to consumers in the United States. Prices for albums will be $7.77 while songs will cost 77 cents each.

The pricing for both albums and songs is competitive when compared to major pay-per-click digital music services such as AmazonMP3 and iTunes, so it will be interesting to see over time how 7digital perform in the U.S. and how much market share they eventually control.

For more information, be sure to read our 7digital Music Service Review.

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