You may wonder how big record companies and the countless number of music artists can offer free music downloads online, and be able to make any profit whatsoever.  In fact, many independent artists are doing just that.  That is, not making any profit whatsoever because they are using the offer of free music downloads to lure genre specific fans to their songs.

Now, the big boys on the block, namely the big record companies and music publishers can offer free music downloads online and make a profit to boot. How do they do this?  In a new form of business partnership with various online websites, media player, and communications device manufacturers, the companies offering their music downloads for free receive a royalty or licensing fee back from the advertising company.