The end of an era

Ah, it seems like it was only yesterday that I started this blog. Writing about music is something that I truly enjoy, and what makes the music I write about on this blog extra special is the fact that everyone is able to listen to it for themselves with very little effort; there's no need to visit a store to purchase a CD, no need for an iTunes account, no need for Paypal account, no need for money of any kind. As Huey Lewis once sang, you "don't need no credit card to ride this train." Any music that makes it into a post here is at most a few mouse clicks away, and the only possible cost to anyone is the time it takes to download and listen to something. I have received many emails and comments about this blog, and it is always nice to hear from people who really appreciate what I am trying to do here. Thank you so much!

Put very simply, though, times have been pretty tough lately. The effects of the current recession can be felt far and wide, and it pains me to say that Totally Free Music is on the verge of becoming one of the latest victims of the recession - writing about free music is a lot of fun, but it just doesn't pay the bills the way it should. I would never want to leave my readers in the dark, though, so after thinking long and hard about this, I have come up with a way to keep the blog alive and continue to provide everyone with access to the same kind of great, free music I have always written about.

Right now, I would like to welcome you to Totally Free Music: Premium Edition. Basically, it will be exactly the same as the old Totally Free Music, except more, well, premium. Using the new subscription feature, readers will continue to have access to all of the free music that I blog about here.

If you don't want to pay for a subscription, there's virtually nothing to worry about. The full text of each post will always be available to everyone; however, no hyperlinks will be displayed to non-paying readers. Think of it as a kind of preview of what's available to subscribers. It is my hope, however, that readers will see the advantages offered by a subscription to Totally Free Music. I have trried to make a variety of subscription options to suit every budget; after all, free music need not be only for the wealthy!

List of subscription options (all prices are in CAD; for up-to-the-minute currency conversion, try this site [Purchase Hyperlink]):

• $10: one month's subscription to Totally Free Music
• $50: six month's subscription to Totally Free Music
• $100: one year's subscription to Totally Free Music
• $150: lifetime subscription to Totally Free Music, plus an exclusive "I am a paid supporter of Totally Free Music" wallpaper for your Windows desktop
  

For those who don't want to pay for a full subscription, individual hyperlinks will be available for à la carte purchase by clicking on "Purchase Hyperlink", which will appear next to each hyperlink (subscribers will have the option to turn off the purchase links if they so desire). The base price for each hyperlink will be $1, while bulk purchases will enable you to save money: any 3 links can be purchased for $2, any 5 for $3, and all of the links in any one post can be purchased for a flat price of $5. I hope that these flexible pricing options will help to make free music affordable to everyone.

Once an à la carte purchase has been made, there are no refunds. But any hyperlinks that you have purchased will continue to remain visible as long as you don't delete your browser's cookies (and be sure to take extra care when clearing your browser's cache, as that has been known to cause occasional issues as well).

Ocasionally there will be special offers, such as half-price subscriptions and perhaps even a few free hyperlinks. These offers will be made on a first-come, first-served basis; in order to be alerted to such offers as they happen, I would strongly recommend subscribing to the new Special Offer feed. [Purchase Hyperlink]

Links in all of the existing posts are in the process of being converted over to the new Premium plan. It's going to take some time for me to go through all the old posts and add Premium options to them, so if there's anything that you really want to grab, it's probably best to do so now while it's still free. I estimate that the entire site should be converted within the next 24 hours, so have fun (and while you're at it, if you spot any dead links or links that don't lead where they should, please let me know - I would be so embarassed if someone were to actually purchase such a link!).

So that's pretty much what's been going on with this blog lately. Basically everything will continue to be the same, just a little different. A sort of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" kind of situation, you know? If you have any questions or want some more information about all of this, please leave a comment here or send me an email. I look forward to continuing to provide paying readers with the best free music that I come across!