There’s tons of MP3 music search tools out there on the net but some can be very dangerous. A lot of search tools appear ‘free’ at first, you might be paying a lot more than you bargained for with a pc infected with adware and spyware.
All sorts of data is collected by adware and spyware like sites visited, keystrokes pressed, and can remotely install dangerous programs without the user knowing. If you see a new browser popping open on your PC unprompted, then this is likely as a result of adware.
It is known that as much as 85% of MP3 search engine scripts infect the computers that use their search functions. Even the music industries trial lawyers have been known to pay for this information to prosecute users. So a good firewall is needed and a bit of knowledge on what sites are safe for a good MP3 search experience
Ok, what’s the deal with MP3 search engines? Well, they offer you the opportunity to search for and listen to any song/podcast/artist in the world. The beauty is that you don’t even have to download the music to listen to it. You can have it streamed to your MP3 player.
We like ClipNiche.com, which is a commercial script which can be purchased from the site and uploaded to your website. We tested the search functionality with a few difficult artists and songs not easily found on the Net. Clipniche came uptrumps every time finding not only songs, but also many related titles, soundtracks, etc.
The site has a free demo page that allows anyone unlimited use of the search tool and allows the user to stream or download the music and no adware or spyware detected.
So, is it legal? The answer will always be clouded by the music industry, but there is not illegal to use sites like clipniche for listening to music. The problem may be if you start distributing the music downloaded from these sites, but even that is debatable. I found it much easier to simply listen to the streaming music without downloading, so there are no legal issues or loopholes whatsoever. You should really be more worried about the harm you may do to your computer by visiting the wrong sites. The music industry is coming to the realization that music search engines are actually good for their sales as users will always want a real copy of the music they really like without fear of buying something they are unfamiliar with.