Commercial-Free Music

I hate listening to commercials while I'm enjoying music, hence my affinity for NPR/Mississippi Public Broadcasting (www.npr.org), and these two websites:

www.seeqpod.com trawls the internet for playable forms of your favorite songs & videos. It's free because it doesn't violate copyright laws by downloading music illegally--you get to listen to songs as many times as you want, but you can't keep 'em permanently on your computer, iPod, CD, etc. You can, however, create playlists accessible by internet--for example, I have one full of obscure songs by The Eagles to supplement my iPod Eagles stock, and one of songs by Yelle, a French electropop chick with a naughty sense of humor whose CD I can't buy here but whose catchy chansons caffeinate my mornings. I've also used this tool like a mix CD to create themed playlists, like "Mary," which features songs about ladies by that name--so far I have "Ah Mary" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Proud Mary by CCR (maybe I should add the Tina Turner version but I'm old school), and "Let It Be" by the Fab Four. A very short "mix CD"--other good Mary-themed song suggestions please??

http://somafm.com is a collection of genre-based streaming internet radio "stations" which play through Windows Media Player or iTunes. It's continuous music, with a voice announcing about every half hour that "You're listening to SomaFM, we're free, tell your friends." The artist, song, and album information updates in real time, and on any given "station" there's good variety. It's very low-maintenance; I've never had problems with the music interrupting to sync on me like I do with traditional internet radio stations.
There are 13 stations, or flavors, if you will--many of them are electronically oriented, but they also have Sinatra-y stuff, "bachelor pad," indie rock, industrial, etc. The one I listen to most is called Boot Liquor (ha ha, get it?): "Americana Roots music for Cowhands, Cowpokes, and Cowtippers," which includes the likes of Allison Kraus, Willie Nelson, Kasey Chambers, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Hickman, Dam Combo, Blind Boys of Alabama...basically anything kinda twangy and bluesy and old-school country rock, with some bluegrass & roadhouse thrown in. Right now they're playing "Set My Chickens Free" by Merle Haggard.

So cheers! Enjoy a healthy dose of freedom from the avalanche of auditory advertising.