How I Built a Library of Great Music for Almost Nothing

I clearly remember my first efforts to build a music library.  I must have been eight years old, listening to the year-end countdown on the local AM radio station. When they reached number one, my dreams came true as they started playing "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney. I hit the record button on the cassette recorder, put the microphone up to the radio speaker, and I was in business!

Now almost forty years later, I have my first iPod and am working on building a mostly new music collection from scratch, without spending loads of cash on iTunes. Doing so takes a fair amount of effort.  It also requires being satisfied with a lot of unknown artists. Nonetheless, I've found some great tunes and my collection has surpassed 1500 songs. And no, it's not just sitar music. Here are my sources and methods:

• Classical music - Kate and I enjoy classical music, especially on long road trips.  On Amazon you can pick up "albums" containing dozens of pieces for two or three dollars.  We have enough to last us through a trip to Iowa, and I've spent less than ten bucks.
• Free songs of the day - Several sites offer a free song each day, including Google Play, KEXP radio, and Rolling Stone Magazine.  
• Free stuff on Amazon - Amazon has thousands of free songs and adds new stuff on a regular basis. I check it daily.  Here's a link (note you have various sort options and can browse by category):   Amazon Free Music.  They also have a "Free Music from Rising Artists" feature which is updated monthly with a dozen or so new songs.
• iTunes - Every Tuesday iTunes posts a couple of free songs.  Not as generous as Amazon or Google, but I've found some stand out selections.
• More from Google Play - In addition to their free song of the day, Google will occasionally have other free song offers and special deals.  I've found some great songs for 25 cents a piece, for example.
• Other deals from Amazon - Amazon frequently runs sales, such as 25 cent songs, or albums for a buck or three.  Again, I check daily.
• Dealnews - I regularly peruse the Dealnews website (because I'm a little obsessive about that!), and often find free music deals from other sites not mentioned above.  They also post special Amazon offers where you can enter a coupon code for a free song or two. 
• Used compact discs - I've recently discovered that my local pawn shop carries a huge selection of completely disorganized CDs for a buck a piece.

For more ideas, here's a link to a great article from Lifehacker (be sure to peruse the comments, as well):

http://lifehacker.com/5928183/how-to-legally-boost-your-music-library-without-spending-a-dime