Freegal Complete User Guide - Waterloo Public Library

Freegal Music
What is Freegal?
Freegal Music is a free digital music service that allows you to search a collection of over 3 million songs in
MP3 format and download them permanently to your computer and mobile devices. Freegal includes music
from new and legendary artists under Sony Music Entertainment labels.
Getting Started with Freegal
You can access Freegal through the library’s web site with
your Waterloo Public Library card.
1. Type your card number to login.
2. Each cardholder can download 3 songs per week. Your
quota is shown at the top of the page. Every Monday at
12:01 a.m. your download usage is reset to zero.
3. On the Freegal website, Browse by Genre, Featured
Albums, click on the Top Ten lists, use the A to Z list, or do
a search by artist name or song title.
4. If your browser supports Flash, you can click the small
arrow next to each song title to play a short sample of the
song.
5. Click the Download Now link to download the MP3 song
file to your computer.
6. There is no need to install software
on your computer. Once the song is
downloaded, it can be played on your
computer and can be transferred to
your portable devices.
How does Freegal Music work?
WPL cardholders can download
absolutely free and legally up to three
songs per week. Once you log in, a
download usage counter in the upper
right corner displays your weekly
allotment of 3 songs. For instance, 1/3
means that you have a weekly limit of
3 downloads, and you have used 1 of
those downloads. Each Monday at
12:01 a.m. your download usage is
reset to zero.

How do I search Freegal?
Browse by Genre, Featured Artist, or Newly Added, click on the Top Ten lists, use the A to Z list, or do a search
at the top of the home page by artist name or song title. Use the Advanced Search to look for things like
composer. If your computer or device supports Flash, you can click the small arrow next to each song title to
play a short sample of the song.
How do I download a song?
Music tracks are downloaded as mp3 files and can be permanently saved on your computer or portable
device. There is no need to install any software on your computer. Download a song first to your computer by
clicking the “Download Now” button located next to the selected song and save it to a location of your choice,
then transfer it to your portable device if you wish.
Recently Downloaded Songs
The Freegal website keeps track
of your download history for up
to two weeks. Click on the
Recent Downloads link to
access My History to redownload
a song to your
computer.
Can a song be played on
portable devices?
Yes. Songs can be first downloaded to a computer then transferred to a portable device or downloaded
directly to your mobile device with the Freegal app.
Using Freegal on Mobile Devices
Does Freegal have an app?
Yes - Freegal has a free app for iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch devices available
from the App Store and an app for Android devices through the Google Play
store (formerly Android Market). Music downloaded through the apps will be
available to play within the apps.
Why won't my iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch store Freegal music downloads in
iTunes?
When you access the Freegal web site (as opposed to the app) from a mobile
device and hit the Download Now button, the song streams and will probably
play once. However, the rules Apple has in place will not allow it to be stored
on your device unless you download the song using the Freegal app. Mp3 files
need to be loaded into iTunes on a computer and then synced with the
mobile device.
How can I transfer a song to iTunes?
If you have tried to download a song through the Freegal web site using your
mobile device, or if you want to move songs from the Freegal app to iTunes, you will need to log onto your
Freegal account from your computer and visit the Recent Downloads page. Your Freegal downloads are stored

there for up to two weeks. You can download these files to your iTunes account at no cost to your download
cache during this period of time and then transfer them to your iPod/iPad/iPod Touch. Once you have saved
the songs to your computer you will be able to move them to your iPod/iPad/iPod Touch. You can download
the files to your desktop or your music folder and import the songs into iTunes by either dragging the songs
into the window or importing them from the menu. The next time you sync up, you will see that song in your
music library on your iPod/iPad/iPod Touch and it will stay there as long as the song remains in iTunes on your
computer. PLEASE NOTE: you only have a two-week window in which to re-download the songs from your
Recent Downloads.
Freegal Help
Why does the counter say I’ve downloaded 3 songs when I’m sure I haven’t?
Anytime you click on the Download Now link it counts towards your weekly allotment and it cannot be
reversed. You may have started a download then changed your mind and cancelled it. It’s also possible that
you inadvertently clicked on the “Download Now” link to a third song and not realized it. It will count towards
your download limit even if you cancel the download before it is complete. Unfortunately, we cannot credit a
download.
I've downloaded a song, but can't find it on my computer:
The downloaded songs may be automatically stored in different places, depending on the operating system
you are using, the type of browser you are using, and the way your computer is configured to handle mp3
files.
Here are some techniques that may help you locate the mp3 files you have downloaded to your computer:
There may be a folder on your computer called "Downloads" that contains the mp3 files you
downloaded from Freegal
There may be a folder on your computer called "Temporary Internet Files" that contains the mp3 files
you downloaded from Freegal
If you use the Firefox browser, check the settings in the Tools -> Options menu. The "General" tab shows
the location that is used for saving downloaded files
If your computer is set up to automatically open mp3 files in iTunes, let iTunes manage the file location
for you. In order to keep the songs in iTunes after the initial download from Freegal, click the
"Advanced" tab on the iTunes Edit -> Preferences menu, and check the box that says "Copy files to
iTunes Media folder when adding to library"
Use your computer's Search capability to locate your files. For Mac computers, this is the "Spotlight"
tool. On Windows PCs, look for the "Search programs and files" box when you click on the Windows
Start button. A good way to search for your Freegal mp3 file is by typing in the artist's last name, or a
distinctive word from the song title
Note that when downloading a Freegal song on an iPod/iPad/iPod Touch, there is no easy way to save
the mp3 file on your device. The recommended method is to download from Freegal to a computer and
then transfer the mp3 file from the computer to your portable device
Here are a few more things you can try to locate where the song was saved.
If you are using Windows Media Player:
Open Windows Media Player
Click on the File menu
Toward the bottom of the menu, you should see a list of all recently played music
Click on the song file you got from Freegal - this should cause it to play

While in the Now Playing mode (you can click on the “Now Playing” tab to get there), you should see the
song listed under Now Playing
Right-click on the song title and select Properties from the menu
You should now be able to see where the file has been saved to on your computer, listed next to
“Location:” in the properties window
From the Properties window, you can also select “Open file location” and this will cause a dialog box to
open the folder that contains the file. From there you can copy or drag it to your desktop or wherever
else you’d like to keep it
If you are using iTunes:
Open iTunes
Locate the song in your music
Right-click on the song title
Select “Get Info”
Select the “Summary” tab (by default it’s the tab that’s open in the “Get Info” dialog box
Toward the bottom of the dialog box, there is a “Where” section which tells you the folder path where
the song is located
You may find through Windows Media Player or iTunes that the song file is located in a Temporary Internet
File. You can go to “My Computer” from the Start menu on your computer and double-click through each of
the folders listed in the “Location:” or “Where” box (depending on which media player you are using).
Typically you’d start with your C: drive (usually called the Local Hard Disk), then click through “Documents and
Settings” then the next folder and so on and so forth, to get to the song MP3 file. Once you get to the file, you
can then drag it (or copy and paste it) to another location (your desktop for example). If it’s left in the
temporary folder there’s potential for it to be deleted by your computer system automatically.
Nothing happens when I click on the play arrow to listen to the song sample:
If you're having difficulties playing song samples, please check that your browser’s Flash Player is version 10 or
higher. Please note as well that Freegal Music is only fully supported on Internet Explorer 7, 8, or 9, Firefox,
Safari, and Google Chrome; it is not supported on iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, but you can save songs on your
computer and then transfer them to your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. See the section above on iPhone/iPad/iPod
Touch for more information.
I am getting an error message when I enter my WPL card number to enter the Freegal site – help!
First, make sure your library account with the Waterloo Public Library is active and in good standing. Second,
make sure you are visiting the Freegal site from the Waterloo Public Library web page at eBooks & Downloads.
Do not bookmark the Freegal music web site and attempt to log in from a bookmark on your browser.
I log in to Freegal, accept the terms and conditions, and then I’m taken to the About Us page or given a
notice that I’m not authorized to view the site.
There may be a setting on your computer that is preventing you from logging in to Freegal Music. There are a
few things you could try that may enable you to get through.
Private Browsing allows you to browse the internet without saving cookies, web cache files or visited
pages. Try opening Freegal in a Private Browsing window. How to open a Private Browsing window
will vary from browser to browser but typically you can do it by opening the browser and clicking on
the Tools menu (Wrench menu in Google Chrome and Action Menu in Safari). From there go to

InPrivate Browsing option (if using Internet Explorer), Private Browsing (if using Firefox), Incognito (if
using Google Chrome) and Private Incognito (if using Safari).
Try clearing your browser history and deleting your browser cookies. How to clear the browser cookies
and history varies from browser to browser, but typically, you can do it by opening the browser, and
clicking on the Tools menu (Wrench menu in Google Chrome). From there it might be under a “Delete
browsing history” option (if you are using Internet Explorer), “Clear Recent History” (if you’re using
Firefox), or History (if you’re using Chrome). From there, you should see options specific to browser
history and cookies. If you are using Internet Explorer, you may also try putting your security settings
back to default.
Try http://www.bnl.gov/itd/webapps/browsercache.asp for more general information on clearing your
computer’s cache – it is updated frequently and has step-by-step information for a variety of browsers
and versions for PC and Mac
Internet Explorer setting
If you are using Internet Explorer 7 or 8, you may need to adjust how your browser treats temporary
internet files. You can get to this option by following these steps:
Open Internet Explorer
Click on the Tool menu
Select “Internet Options”
In the General tab section, in the “Browsing history” area, click on the Settings button
In the “Temporary Internet Files and History Settings” dialog box, select the option for “Every time
I visit the webpage” (by default “Automatically” is selected)
Click the OK button
Click the Apply button
Click OK
Close Internet Explorer and then re-open it and try accessing Freegal Music again
Using the “Logout” link
This may also happen if another household member is not using the Logout link when done with
the Freegal Music site (or if you are using Freegal Music on two different computers). Simply
closing the browser does not clear a user’s session from Freegal Music. To resolve this issue, try
having the other person in the household use the Logout link in Freegal Music and then try
accessing the site. You may need to clear your browser history initially.
My song partially downloaded or only the first few seconds of my song plays:
Once in a while, your Internet connection may be interrupted or time out and you might experience an
incomplete or problem download. Freegal Music allows you to download previously downloaded songs again,
without using up one of your weekly downloads. Songs you’ve had trouble downloading during the current
week or previous week can be downloaded again.
To re-download a song, log into Freegal, and click on the Recent Downloads link located at the top of the page.
Then, click the Download Now link for the song you had trouble downloading to save it again. You have two
(2) download attempts for each song in the Recent Downloads page. If you re-download a song twice, the
Download Now link will change to say Limit Exceeded and the song will be removed from your Recent
Downloads page.
Questions? Contact AskUs at askus@wpl.ca and we will try to help you.