How they work: FreeAllMusic and Guvera have advertisers sponsor free song downloads

How they work: FreeAllMusic and Guvera

The hardest part about both FreeAllMusic.com and Guvera.com is clearing the waiting list to get invited to join. After that, there are two different ways of finding songs to download.

At FreeAllMusic.com:

— Users can search by song, artist or album or can pick one from a list of top hits.

— Then they pick a song and choose from a range of advertisers to sponsor the download. Users watch one video ad featuring that brand. One click later, and the song downloads to the user’s computer and can be transferred to a portable device. Users can get five songs a week.

— Advertisers on Free All Music pay about $2 for the right to present one video ad. Each download also sets off a slew of 150 ads that are spread to other music-related sites on the Internet, such as AOL Music. These display ads let others know that a user downloaded a particular song for free, thanks to the advertising sponsor. Users must opt in to be part of the campaign.

At Guvera.com:

— Users must fill out a profile and list favorites in an array of categories from food to music. People who fill out more surveys get more credits to spend on music, but it also makes them better subjects for targeted ads. The credits can eventually be tapped out: Companies sponsor only a certain number of downloads per customer.

— Searching for a song brings the user to a list of advertisers willing to sponsor the download. After clicking on one, the user is taken to an advertiser-branded page and can download from there. However, just getting there can be tricky. The company is working on making navigation easier to understand.