Music has changed forms over the centuries, as have the instruments used to create the sounds of music. From the most primitive of instruments and sounds created thousands of years ago by early man to the highly engineered and electronic components of media, music has evolved to fit the era of the people who listen to it. The forms in which music exist have changed too, as the last several decades have seen a huge multimedia revolution. From records to cassette tapes to compact discs, music has been available in portable compact forms. Due to the digital and computer technologies developed and popularized, music downloading from the internet to personal computers and then to tiny media devices has become an easy way to carry around more music than ever before in a tiny space. There are precautions consumers should exercise when choosing music downloads over other types of media when adding to their music collection.

Music by definition varies from person to person and many varieties exist. Whether you like rap or classical or rock music, the internet has many sources of music to cater to all music lovers. Music downloading, since it has become popular, has also become easier for consumers to use and manage within their personal computers. Popular sites like iTunes, napster, and msn are easy and offer many perks; lesser known sites may require a little bit of work but can be cheaper than these popular, mainstream sites. One of the advantages to music downloading is that you never leave home to obtain your favorite songs. You can shop for your favorite song in your pajamas and makeup free, if you like. This has high curb appeal: download songs that help ease your grief during your recent breakup without ever having to face the clerk at the music store. Another advantage is that some songs are hard to find now on CD and must be ordered if they are not a current hit. Online, music downloading can yield some of the hardest-to-find music collections at the push of a few buttons and with no waiting. And you only pay for the songs that you truly want, so unless you want to buy a complete album there is no need to do so. Music downloading allows for the easy acquiring and management of whole music libraries through the tiny space of a personal computer, taking up much less room than the record or cassette tapes of a generation ago and with a smaller likelihood of being damaged. Music downloads can be very affordable, being only a dollar or less on popular music sites.

As great and convenient as music downloading sounds, there are risks and dangers. A personal computer can crash without warning and a whole music collection can be lost for good, including the large amount of money that was spent. A smart computer user backs up all of their files, including their music files. Since having a large music collection can take up lots of room on a hard drive, it can be a wise idea to purchase an external hard drive of significant size and use it solely for the purpose of storing music and other media, and this in turn is not only an organized and efficient way to store music but can also help prevent the hard drive of a computer from crashing or having other problems.

One of the biggest threats when downloading music involves the possibility of contracting a virus. Watching what music sources a consumer chooses to use and making sure their personal computer is protected with up-to-date antivirus software is really the only protections against virus problems. Using sites like napster and msn might cost a tiny bit more than some cheaper and lesser known sites but they offer safer content and sometimes features that cannot be found elsewhere. Being careful of copyright infringement should also be in a consumer's mind. There are copyright laws that need to be obeyed under penalty of law, and ignorance is not an excuse. Before venturing to download music, education about music downloading is vital. There are many benefits, but consumers need to be mindful when using this modern convenience also.