We all know about iTunes and Amazon. You know those places that make you buy music? And then there's the much (much) cheaper alternatives disguised under the label "peer-to-peer" such as LimeWire and BitTorrent. But we're law-abiding types here, so this time I'm recommending these free and totally legal music-related hubs. You can still remain a cheapo, but at least you won't be causing musicians' strike.

Social FM

www.social.fm
Stream your music collection directly from your computer. It's not an online service per se as you need to install its free program on your program to be able to broadcast or listen to other members' music over the Internet. There are other fun gadgets you can do with Social FM though, like putting a player of your music collection on your MySpace profile.

Pros: The ability to listen to your music collection from anywhere so you don't have to move MP3 files around when you change computers.

Cons: You will have to keep your computer connected to the Internet. And if you have a pathetic connection, this is obviously not very reliable.

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Musicovery

www.musicovery.com
Can you feel the music? Maybe the music can feel you. Whether you're gloomy or happy, upbeat or depressed, just tell this online music player and it will select music to suit your emotions. If you're a Nokia user, you can get Musicovery on your phone too - and it's free.

Pros: It gives you a set of recommended tracks so you can choose wwhich one you want (or don't want) to listen to.

Cons: You can't specify artists or albums, just your mood. Also, you will need a high-speed connection if you don't want your music to stop half way through a track.

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Last.FM

www.last.fm
An online social networking site (like MySpace or Facebook) that connects people according to their tastes in music. When you listen to a song on your computer, the website will take note of (or "scrobble") the track, name and artist, and you can then listen to their online radio based on your scrobbled music collection and find online friends with similar tastes.

Pros: The website has a vast music collection making its recommendations quite accurate.

Cons: Even though you can search for music by artist name, what will be playing will be a compilation of similar bands.

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Midomi

www.midomi.com
"Damn, what's the name of that song that goes, doo di doo di da?" If this constantly happens to you, sing or hum your tune to Midomi and, oh miracle, watch your song come up. This search engine doesn't work with keywords but with your voice. The service is free but you need a microphone to upload your voice.

Pros: Just looking for songs is hilarious. Think of it as karaoke with an exam at the end. The results are very complete - track name, artist and which album it is from.

Cons: There aren't real music tracks here, just a bunch of "fan recordings" (other singing lunatics like you). Only any good if you have a tune stuck in your head.

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SellaBand

www.sellaband.com
SellaBand is a service for indie artists in search of fame and fortune. Artists can sign up for an account and upload their music to this website. The fun part lies in the promotion. If you can get members (called "Believers") to invest in your music by purchasing a "part" (US$10 each) and raise more than US$50,000, SellaBand will get you a producer (real ones who worked with big names like Nelly, Tori Amos, Manic Street Preachers and more), an agent and a recording session in a real studio.

Pros: For artists, it's a chance to create a fan base before you even sell your first CD. For music lovers, it's a chance to support your favorite band and push them to the top.

Cons: You can get free music, but only the stuff no one else has heard of before.