All for You – the CD, MP3, & streaming sections of your local library
Having fun… Isn’t hard… When you’ve got a library card!
My MP3 library spans four devices: two laptops, an external hard-drive, and the desktop in my childhood home, and the overwhelming majority of it I got for free. It’s all from libraries: my hometown’s, as well as the Boston and Los Angeles Public libraries.
When I finally started actively listening to music in 6th grade, no longer just letting it soundtrack after school rounds of Nightfire and Rayman Arena, I discovered troves of free material just next door to middle school. Sorting through stacks of CDs, I checked out Lily Allen, Morningwood, I Am Ghost, Nightwish, and hundreds more.
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In the years leading up to 2020, my CD-gathering habits had fallen by the wayside. With so much of the world’s music at my fingertips through streaming, I too, treated CDs the way the world does: as obsoletes. It seemed the MP3 wasn’t far behind either. With YouTube and Spotify, I had it all.
However, my attitude towards Spotify has soured and I discontinued my subscription. Obviously I still use YouTube, but it’s not my favorite way to listen anymore, especially when it comes to albums. In its place, I returned to the library, this time with new possibilities on the horizon. Because of distancing measures, I familiarized myself with two apps, Hoopla and Freegal, each available at many public libraries. Thanks to these apps and their physical catalogs, libraries present a literally endless source of music, from Debussy to Mndsgn to Davido.
Despite this wealth of material, it seems most people don’t know what’s available to them, even physical CDs. Sadly, so many laptops are incompatible with CDs because advances in technology are not always advances for the average plebeian, but your library might be as good a reason as any to get an external disc drive. Excluding CDs, there are still plenty of ways to make your taxes worth your while in music without ever needing to leave your home.
Physical surprises: 1991, Rye Rye, Katy B, Namie Amuro, Aaliyah
Do not ask me why the Cleveland Public Library system carries a copy of Namie Amuro’s Play, just know that they do. It’s one of many surprises discovered through searches in different library systems. The Boston Public Library system boasted a great selection of its own: Rye Rye’s Go! Pop! Bang!, Katy B’s On A Mission, and Azealia Banks’ 1991 EP.
When it comes to elusive streaming catalogs, like say Aaliyah, physical copies of her records are often available. I know that Aaliyah is in stock at the LA public library. If you’re like me and in dire need of this Jordyn Taylor X Darkchild song, which is also absent from Spotify, your library might have a copy of Confessions of a Shopaholic: The Soundtrack. Honestly, there is no reason not to take advantage of the physical CD section of your library – you literally never know what branch has a copy of Anniemal collecting dust just waiting for you to rediscover “Heartbeat.”
AS A HEADS UP, always make sure you’re getting the explicit version of an album. There is nothing worse than getting Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and realizing you’ve made a huge mistake.
Hoopla and Freegal – what they offer,
and their possible costs
Many libraries offer digital apps for music in addition to their physical catalogs. Both Hoopla and Freegal boast their own advantages and shortcomings (the name “Freegal” being one of them).
Hoopla allows you 10 albums a month for you to download and stream on your device, which you have for a full week. I would argue its both its catalog and interface exceed Freegal, and the ability to download and listen from your device lets you bring the music with you anywhere without need for WiFi. As far as 2021 albums go, I’ve streamed Chung Ha and The Armed, and there’s enough there to keep you well-versed on modern pop. Their general catalog is rather substantial and where the real glory lies – you can find a ton of AFI, MC Lyte, Fela Kuti, and thousands more on the service.
A hack – you can upgrade from 10 checkouts per month if you belong to more than one library. Personally, I have a Cleveland and an LA library card, giving me two accounts and a total of 20 borrows. Once an album is borrowed, you can “download” it to your iPhone and carry it around for a week without using any data. It really comes in handy for car and bus rides, where you can just sit and press play on Oklou’s Galore and see what all the (warranted) fuss is about.
Now we get to Freegal. Unlike Hoopla’s, Freegal’s the interface leaves a lot to be desired. The streaming bar, unceremoniously relegated to the bottom of the page, is criminally designed and doing the bare minimum, terrible but admittedly usable. Searching on the app offers its own bizarre adventure, where the artist and producer’s name might appear in the “artist” column for a song or album. Precision is helpful when using Freegal, and know that it can pay off to go searching with an open mind.
Because not only do you get unlimited access to their albums, there’s a special bonus: five free song downloads each week, a total of 260 songs a year. Know that downloads do not transfer over from week to week, so make sure you use them. The MP3s are (typically) okay quality, and there’s a ton you can choose from, but give the song a listen through on your best headphones or speakers before you tap “download.” The Freegal version of “Rollin'” by Brave Girls left me roiling, so to speak.
While the classics section remains hit or miss, Freegal’s lesser-known selections offer a ton of hidden gems from Moor Mother to Ghouljaboy to Brakence. Javiera Mena’s catalog, not typically found in most American libraries in physical form, all exists on Freegal, even recent singles like “Dos” and “Corazon Astral.”
There’s also a relatively well-stocked trove of historical and sometimes elusive classics. The KLF’s catalog always existed just out of reach, their presence mostly felt from the accounts of their huge popularity and legendary stunts. Through Freegal, you can not just hear but download these songs for yourself. Pitchfork also just did a retrospective on dream pop pioneers A.R. Kane and their classic 69; for those who want to listen without ad interruptions, Freegal offers that and tons of their other material.
Obviously, this ease of access comes with drawbacks. With Freegal and Hoopla, many librarians take issue with these apps. For one thing, libraries pay a fee to use each service, which increases their digital log but reduces the need for physical items. According to Sarah Houghton, Director of Discovery and Delivery at California Digital Library, Freegal downloads can cost a library $1 per song on top of the fees they already pay. Hoopla likely requires similar fees.
It admittedly puts a library user in a bit of an ethical grey area. If American bridges are anything to go by, publicly-funded anything that isn’t law enforcement stands on unsteady legs, and extra costs only shake the foundation further. That said, the burden of these costs should not fall on the common library user, whose taxes pay for these services.
Furthermore, services such as Hoopla and Freegal aren’t going anywhere as of now, so you might as well get take advantage of what they offer. You’d be surprised what you can, and can’t, find on these apps.
See below for a glimpse into what’s available to you, and also my taste from 2015.