Erstwhile adware propagator and previously an illegal tool, Bearshare is back with a vengeance that may be enough to topple iTunes from the top spot. With development heavy on its social networking platform, version 9 is poised to do more than just give you free music, it’s positioned to give you Bearshare music. By definition, that music is now completely legal and free.

Industry observers may note that the two are mutually exclusive terms that often don’t play well with one another. But with the acquisition of Bearshare by Music Lab, LLC through a court settlement in 2006 with the RIAA, it is definitely the real thing. To date, there are over 15 million songs available for free and playable on Bearshare’s network. As always, its selection of premium content is available for a price that puts it on par with iTunes.

So, can Bearshare version 9 really trump iTunes?

It’s highly likely, given that Bearshare has a plethora of features that the iTunes simply doesn’t have. For one, iTunes portrays itself as just a program that wants your cash and plays music for you. Bearshare does infinitely more by also becoming a dating software that lets you find people with similar musical leanings.

Did that sink in?

With Bearshare music downloads become more than just a shallow exercise and becomes meaningful because of the social aspect. Imagine yourself sharing a song you just downloaded with somebody special. You can also share that music so that person can also enjoy it even when you are not interacting with each other.

Exciting Features That Others Simply Don’t Have

Aside from being a cool dating software, Bearshare version 9 features some of the most ground breaking features that will rock your world. For one, Bearshare music features an ‘Our Moods’ category which connect with the user in ways that are authentic. If you have ever felt sad and lonely because you were just dumped by your girlfriend or boyfriend, then you may like to play songs that reflect your deepest passion. Once you click the ‘Discover’ tab and then the ‘I’m in the mood for’ link, you’ll be presented with several hundred moods that are custom made.

Here are some of the most striking ones:

1. The Cuckoo Nest

2. Getting Drunk

3. 15 Minutes of Fame

4. Hot Couture

5. Smoke Without Fire

These cleverly named Bearshare music playlists are premade with the goal of reflecting hard to describe situations and moods. Part of being human is being emotional and not always being able to describe that state. This is one more factor that sets Bearshare apart from the others. It is able to describe such emotional states through the premade playlists that have moods.

For instance, the ‘Cuckoo Nest’ mood playlist, has in it an eclectic mix of songs from different genres but have the same overall thematic approach. Songs included in this ‘mood’ are: Shine on You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd, Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill, Lithium by Nirvana, Crazy by Patsy Cline and 19th Nervous Breakdown by The Rolling Stones.

The song titles in the series speak for themselves quite clearly and reflect the disposition of well, a crazy mood. The lyrics and the title of the songs seem to be the main criteria for the inclusion of these in the selection. Nevertheless, it is a fun way to explore music that people are not often familiar with or accustomed to. In a way, it is a form of mixing it up to extremes that bring new awareness and a sense of adventure when it comes to music.

This manner of presenting music broadens the perspective of any aficionado beyond personal, beyond social and into the realm of the arbitrary.

Did you know that the catch phrase that describe the Cuckoo Nest goes like this: “Artists usually aren’t role models for mental stability.”

New Ways to Discover Music

Discovering Bearshare music is discovering what you haven’t heard yet. The present generation of audiophiles is often bound by the social norms that bind people in a given culture. In this way, you may say that Bearshare endeavors to provide several dimensions in finding music. The first dimension is discovery by searching what we already know. The second dimension is ‘social’, or what our friends or relatives know.

The final dimension is the system created by Bearshare staffers where music transcends its traditional boundaries. This is evidenced in the highly diverse manner of presenting music according to Genre, Date of Release, Grammy Awards, Editor’s Picks, Editor’s Choice and more. The importance of this for the end user can be summed up in one word “richness”. Richness is the variety and the ability to appreciate music in all its forms, origins and in all its presentations.

This prevents the phenomenon called by social scientists as “mono culture” or the prevalence of one distinct type of culture because of its pre-eminence. It’s actually a great idea by Bearshare because it encourages people from all cultures, from the East to the West, from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas to share their own brand of music as well as flavor the cultural pool with a diversified assortment.

Thus, it can be said that Bearshare music isn’t just about mainstream American pop culture, but an agglomeration of the world’s music. This can further be demonstrated for instance through the social aspect of sharing. An ideal example would be of an American teenager befriending an Asian or African teenager on the Bearshare social network.

The two share their own kind of music and come to appreciate each other’s uniqueness and difference. They become friends with a European teenager who then has his own musical preference. Then they mix, match and share their preferences over the course of many days. Who knows, maybe later on, they’ll develop an altogether different kind of music that goes beyond the inherent limitations of geography or even a single culture.

This is one aspect of Bearshare that can impact society and music in ways that can’t even be fathomed definitely.

It is quite similar to the genetic theory which espouses the need for diversity in the genetic pool. In this case, diversity in the musical pool would create more than just discovery and result ultimately in evolution. In this regard, Bearshare may very well be the next step not only in music sharing but also in creation.