Music lovers who are also library card holders now have access to free music downloads through the Allen County Public Library.
The service – called freegal – was launched this month, said Stacey Pearson, who heads the Art, Music and Media department at the Allen County Public Library.
“As of today, we’ve already had 8,500 downloads,” Pearson told library board members Thursday.
Library patrons are allowed to download three songs a week using their library PIN numbers with no limit to the time they are allowed to keep the downloads, Pearson said.
The week begins each Sunday at midnight.
Music is downloaded in an MP3 format and may be saved to any computer, mobile device or MP3 player, including an iPod. No special software is required, and patrons have commented on the ease of downloading, Pearson said.
Hundreds of thousands of songs are available in over 100 genres of music, Pearson said.
New music is added daily, and songs are available on an individual basis only – no albums can be downloaded. Sound samples are available to help patrons with their selections.
