Services > Technology > Downloadable Music > Freegal FAQs
Freegal FAQs
What is Freegal?
Freegal is a downloadable music service, like iTunes, available from your library. All you need is your library card number and PIN. With access to the Sony Music Entertainment catalog, it offers hundreds of thousands of songs, more than 100 genres of music, and more than 50 record labels. No special software is needed to use the service, and there are no digital rights management restrictions.
What's my PIN?
If you have never set a unique PIN (Personal Identification Number), try the last four digits of your phone number. If you have forgotten, or would like to reset your PIN, you can do so online or stop by any Multnomah County library.
I am unable to log in when I enter my library card number and PIN. What should I do?
First, be sure you have entered the entire 14-digit library card number. Though you may log in to the library catalog with only the last eight digits of your library card number, you must enter the entire number to log in to Freegal. If you have done this and are still unable to log in, please ask a library staff member for help.
How much music is on this site?
New music is added daily, but it's safe to say that there are thousands of artists, tens of thousands of albums, and hundreds of thousands of songs. The Freegal site has more than 100 genres of music and is rich in many of them. The content is based upon a license with Sony Music Entertainment, owner of 54 music labels. You can read more about Sony and its artists at www.sonymusic.com.
How many songs can I download?
You may download up to three songs per week on your personal computer or on one of the library computers. Each Sunday at midnight, your counter is set back to zero. After that time, you can download three more songs.
How will I know how many downloads I've used?
At the top of the Freegal site is your download counter. If it says 1/3, for instance, you have 3 downloads for the week and you have used up 1.
How do I download a song?
When you've selected a song, click on the "Download Now" link next to your chosen song. At the prompt, select "Save" and choose where you want to save the song.
If you're not presented with a prompt, try right-clicking the link and choosing the option to save the link (e.g. Save Target As, Save Link As, Download Linked File, etc.). This will let you choose where to save your song. If you do not or cannot choose the location, your song could be saved anywhere, depending on how you have your web browser and computer files set up. If you're not sure, find out before you download to save time and frustration.
Music is downloaded in an MP3 format and, once downloaded, can be played, transferred or burned to a CD.
(Note: Any time you click on the "Download Now" link, even if you decide to cancel it, the download will count towards your weekly allotment.)
Can I download a whole album?
Songs are available on an individual basis only. You can choose, over time, to download all the songs on an album. Listening to song samples can help you decide whether you want all the songs on an album.
What is the song sample?
The song sample is to the left of the song title. The sample allows you to preview a song, so you can decide whether you want to download a new song. To listen to the sample, click on the arrow to the left of the track.
What is My Wishlist?
Multnomah County Library patrons have no need to use My Wishlist. Some other libraries have a "download budget" for each week, so when one of these libraries exceeds its limit, its patrons' downloads must be moved to My Wishlist instead of actually downloaded. But Multnomah County Library has no such download budget. Multnomah County Library is able to offer an unlimited number of patrons three downloads per week.
What are the different ways to search for a song or artist?
The Freegal site is set up to browse or to search. You can use the bar across the top to browse by genre or by suggestions. You can use the grid at the bottom right to browse by artist in alphabetical order. You can search by artist, song, album or keyword. Expanded search options are under "Advanced Search."
Some tips:
- Start by browsing
- Choose "See All" under Genre to see how the music is organized.
- Artists are listed alphabetically by first name, and groups with names that begin with "the" (The Flatliners, for example) are found under "T".)
- Don't give up immediately if you don't find what you're looking for. Artists/performers may not be listed where you expect them to be. Use the advanced search if you get few or no results.
