Black Friday Freebies. Deck the Halls with Free Music!

Play your Christmas music before Black Friday and you're likely to be compared to the neighbor who leaves his light-up Santa on his lawn until July.But now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas music is officially fair game. To get your Yuletide spirit kicked into high gear, Amazon is offering the gift of free Christmas music! Check out these downloads to get you rockin' around the Christmas tree.

House of Heroes- Silent Night
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KWGUNS/ref=s9_mands_bw_tr02?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-12&pf_rd-_r=0FNFMDXJBP3H6G2B7FYJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=484049891&pf_rd_i=163856011

BarlowGirl- What Child Is This?
http://www.amazon.com/What-Child-Is-This/dp/B001GD5DNO/ref=pd_ms_c_th_dm_tr_13?pf_rd_p=402083501&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=2301&pf_rd_i=dmusic&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1Q56KRA6NA65DQZ5H2YB

Sixpence None The Richer- Silent Night
http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Night/dp/B002P2DFGM/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_10

Relient K- I Celebrate the Day
http://www.amazon.com/I-Celebrate-Day-Album-Version/dp/B001KW8QVM/ref=br_fq_9?pf_rd_p=469729471&pf_rd_s=right-3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=678551011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0MNH3RRMNV0W04FSDRMV

Jars of Clay- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
http://www.amazon.com/God-Rest-Ye-Merry-Gentlemen/dp/B002OZJ86Q/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_1

Point of Grace- Winter Wonderland
http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Wonderland-Album-Version/dp/B00123FKKY/ref=pd_ms_dm_tr_11?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic


For those who aren't into the Christmas music scene...

Pillar- Fire on the Inside
http://www.amazon.com/Fire-On-The-Inside/dp/B002OGHYNY/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_17

Meredith Andrews- Who Is Like You
http://www.amazon.com/Who-Like-You-Album-Version/dp/B0017TC5LK/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_1

BarlowGirl- Hello Sunshine
http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Sunshine/dp/B002N8QIVM/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_8

And... an old-school freebie.

Rachel Lampa- You Lift Me Up (not to be confused with the Josh Groban song)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QP68DG/ref=dm_ty_trk

That should keep your CD Burner busy for awhile! Happy Black Friday and happy downloading!

Holy Musical Blowout, Batman!

Tis the season for great deals! With Black Friday only a few days away, Amazon is cranking out their holiday savings early with a vault full of $5 deals. Flyleaf, Relient K, Jeremy Camp, Addison Road, Pillar, Tobymac, Phil Wickham, Red and a good 40-something more artists, all for the price of a Mickey D's value meal. If you can't find something worth downloading here, throw out your iPod and take a musical vow of silence. For everyone else, download with caution. There are so many good buys, it's easy to get yourself in trouble (and in more debt than you intended) without even trying.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=s9_al_bw_feat?ie=UTF8&docId=1000455701&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-8&pf_rd_r=0SR65FN8ZGBAX1CQGCA4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=500704831&pf_rd_i=2236008011

With Christmas only a month away, this is just the start of the great deals to come. Happy downloading! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Flyleaf, Skillet, Kutless... Stick that in your iPod and crank it!

We’re getting close to the holidays, a time of sharing and caring. We here at Crank the Music want to spread the joy and pass some musical love your way in the spirit of the season. Five free downloads are yours to grab…. And don’t forget to tell your friends!

After the smashing success of their debut album, Flyleaf is back for Round 2 with “Momento Mori,” released on Tuesday. Amazon is offering the track “Again” for free for a limited time at http://www.amazon.com/Again/dp/B002VGP826/ref=dm_tw_flyleaf .

Freeccm.com has a smattering of tracks this week. Grab Skillet’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You,” Fee’s “Arms That Hold the Universe,” Todd Agnew’s “Written on the Wall,” and The Afters’ “One Moment Away” at http://freeccm.com/category/free-downloads/ . Registration with the site is required.

Finally, steals and deals are ripe for the taking. Use all that money you saved on the free downloads above to invest in some of these value-priced albums.

Kutless- It Is Well, $5
http://www.amazon.com/It-Is-Well/dp/B002R2IGXW/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_4

Britt Nicole- The Lost Get Found, $6.99
http://www.amazon.com/The-Lost-Get-Found/dp/B002IB3NIK/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_23

The Letter Black- Breaking the Silence, $4.29
http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-The-Silence/dp/B002NSVQPK/ref=pd_sim_dmusic_32

As always, we only link to legal downloads from reputable sites. If you find a deal you can’t pass up, drop CTM a note and share the love!

Copeland Breaks Up, Free Creation Fest Downloads + Relient K and Desperation Band

Indie kids who shake their fist at mainstream radio are mourning the loss of one of the fringe movement's most melodic alt-bands. Copeland is calling it quits, citing the standard "it's time has for us to move on... and follow other paths."
What those paths are, the band doesn't say, though they haven't ruled out one last album after a final spring tour.
Sad times indeed.

Onto the sweet treats of this Halloween week...

Creation Fest has a 10-song sampler up for grabs, featuring TFK, This Beautiful Republic, VOTA and more... Grab yours at http://www.creationfesttour.com/itunes/

If it's feeling a lot like Christmas in your home, or even just in your heart, Amazon is offering Relient K's "Let It Snow Baby... Let It Reindeer" for a smashing $6.99. You can rock (or punk) your way around the Christmas tree to the tune of the album's 20 traditional and non-traditional seasonal tracks at http://www.amazon.com/Let-Snow-Baby-Let-Reindeer/dp/B001KW8QNK/ref=sr_shvl_album_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1256861073&sr=301-4

Gotee Records has put up a few Relient K freebies ... Download "The Scene and the Herd," "Failure to Excommunicate," and "I Am Understood?" at http://www.gotee.com/artistsinfo.php?id=4

You have to sign up for their website, but what's 5 minutes for free rock?

New Release Tuesday is featuring Desperation Band's "Light Up The World," complete with chord charts, until Nov. 2. Surprise, worship leaders! It's in G. We just don't play enough worship songs in G.
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/freemusic.php

As always, if you see a deal you can't pass up, share the love! Drop me a line and I'll spread the word!

Happy Downloading... and gorge yourself on candy corn this week. ;)

Downloads from Relient K, House of Heroes, B-Reith and more...

Power punk and tongue-in-cheek lyrical hooks are back on Relient K's newest release, out today. Amazon MP3 is offering "Forget and Not Slow Down" for only $3.99 for a limited time.
http://tinyurl.com/ychj7bd

While you're at Amazon, download a copy of House of Heroes three-song EP, The End is Not the End, for free. Free downloads are the best way to expose yourself to a new band without dropping $$$ on an album you're not sure if you'll like. But hey, you just may find a new favorite. http://tinyurl.com/ya6bmr3

Rap's not my thing, but maybe it's yours. New Gotee artist B-Reith's EP, also up for grabs for free.
http://tinyurl.com/yd6ut4t

New Release Tuesday has a slew of free downloads this week, available until Oct. 12, including Relient K's "The Lining Is Silver" from "The Birds and the Bee Sides" and new-comer Stephanie Smith's first single, "Not Afraid." You have to be a NRT team member, but registration is free and they don't seem to kill you with constant e-mails. So it's a win for your I-Pod and your inbox.
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/freemusic.php

If you see a deal you can't pass up, share the love! Drop me a line and I'll spread the word!

Until next time, happy downloading!

Welcome to the Madness!

Welcome to the 3-chord circus that is Crank the Music!

All the world needs is another blog, right?

I'll try to make this one worth your while, discussing all that is Christian music and directing you to some free and reduced-price downloads along the way. Saving money means more money for more tunes (or more gear!). And that is definitely music to my ears.

Grab your six-string, crank up your tube amp and let's get ready to jam.

Happy rocking out!