The music industry has been rocked in a number of ways recently, and not least because of the quantity of free music downloads being offered by various artists and organisations. Pleasant surprises in the form of Peter Gabriel’s We7 and Sony’s full-on (and new-found, AND very surprising) commitment to free music downloads really do promise to turn around an industry that was in danger of stagnating.

Some groups are leaping on the free music downloads bandwagon (excuse the pun) and offering entire albums for free – or at least very close to it. Last year Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” allowed fans to pay as much as they wanted for the download version; Nine Inch Nails’ latest album “The Slip” is being offered on the band’s website for free. The band’s leader, Trent Reznor, said, “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years – this one’s on me.” Free music downloads is alive and well.