BearShare

BearShare is a website that has over 20 million songs and videos available for users to download. You can download the program for free. Users get online and download songs. When a song or video shows up in the file directory within the program, then other users can download the song onto their computer.

Music lovers have been downloading files from the program since December of 2000. In 2005, BearShare was forced to close the website down. However, another company purchased the program and gave it a different name. The new name of the music sharing program is BearShareV6. The software has been updated so that is it faster, as well as safer for those who use the program. There are songs and videos available for purchase, but many of them are free because they are shared between people online instead of strictly coming from a company.

The MP3 format is the default file format for those who share music and is the most popular choice, though there are other less well-known formats available. A media player is on the site so that users can listen to a piece of a song before deciding to download the entire thing. Downloads are verified by a fingerprint method to make sure that the songs are non-infringing. There are limits as to how big a file can be before it's shared, as well as the length of the song. Television shows and movies are not eligible for download on BearShare. The site is a good way for people to find music that they might not be able to find in a store and then transfer it to their own media player. However, there could be files that slip through the system and create viruses in your computer, so you need to know what to look for when making file selections.