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- Overview
- Free Music Archive
- Jamendo Music
- Pixabay
- SoundClick
- Internet Archive
- YouTube Studio
- Last.fm
- Bandcamp
- SoundCloud
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Finding the top sites with free music is easy. What's not so simple is knowing which sites let you legally download music for free.
I've tried dozens of sites with song downloads and weeded through them to find the 15 best ones. Downloading music through these sources is possible because the songs are either public domain or the artists have given the site explicit permission to share their music.
So many hidden gems are just waiting to be discovered. Enjoy!
Free Music Archive (FMA) stands out from the crowd because you can search for instrumental music only and filter searches by duration and specific licenses.
The charts let you find the best music of all time on the site, and the top music for the week and the month. There are also 16 genres to pick from, like blues, jazz, pop, international, experimental, and novelty.
All the free music downloads at Jamendo Music are made available through Creative Commons licensing, meaning the artists themselves have decided they want to give out their music for free for anyone to enjoy.
You can discover new music by viewing the most popular music and the trending songs. The 'latest' sort option is what I prefer to use because I can see what's new since the last time I visited the site. You can also search for artists you know to see if they have any music downloads here.
Another way to find great music here is by listening to one of the site's radio stations. When you find a song or artist you like, you can download that single track or the entire album. Playlists include Cool Instrumentals, Time to Dream, and Fresh & New.
If you'd rather stream music instead of download it, Jamendo gives you that option, too. There are also mobile apps.
Known for its free public domain images, Pixabay also has a massive collection of tens of thousands of free song downloads. I like to download music here because I can stream everything first and there are several ways to filter the music.
There are useful categories like beats, relaxing, and energetic. On top of that, you can search by keyword or look through these song downloads by simply sorting the whole list. This lets you clearly see which songs are trending, which ones were added most recently, and which tracks are marked as Editor's Choice.
SoundClick is the ultimate portal into finding free music directly from the artists websites. These creators have decided they'd like to let people download their music for free. This includes signed and unsigned musicians.
Browse through the music charts and genres until you find a free music download you'd like to have, and then either listen online or download that song. You can also create custom radio stations, get to know other listeners on the forums, and read more about your favorite artists.
While you can, of course, download music, some artists make their music available only after you've paid for the download, and others allow music streaming only.
Compared to these other music download sites, I don't like that this one mixes all the free and paid songs together. However, once you're on a list of songs, there's a price filter you can trigger to see only the free stuff. It's super helpful.
One of my favorite places to find obscure music is Internet Archive. It stands out because it has millions of results for free downloads of music, audio, podcasts, radio programs, and, most notably, their Live Music Archive.
There are tons of ways to browse these downloads. You can sort by view count, title, date published, or creator, as well as filter the results by media type (concerts, audio, etc.), topics & subjects (e.g., rock or funk), language, and more.
One thing I don't like about downloading music from Internet Archive is just the act of finding something. There are lots and lots of folders to browse through, and organization just doesn't seem to make as much sense as similar sites.
There are usually multiple file formats that you can download the music in, like MP3 and OGG.
How to Legally Use Copyrighted Music in YouTube Videos
YouTube Studio has royalty-free production music and sound effects that are meant to be used in videos you upload to YouTube. The best part? They're copyright-safe! In fact, YouTube has compiled this list, so there's no worry about legality.
Last.fm has several pages of free music downloads that fall into all genres. Just sift through the list to find something to save offline.
There isn't much to this website, but my favorite feature has got to be the ability to download MP3s in just one click. No user account. No pop-ups. It's quick and easy.
Besides downloads, you can also stream songs and get recommendations of bands you'll love.
Something I don't like about this website is that none of the free songs can be filtered or sorted, so you can't actually see which tracks were recently added or browse by genre like pop or rap.
Bandcamp makes it easy for artists to share their music in a "name your price" type of setting. This means that while you can pay for the music, another option is to put a zero in the payment box and download the song for free.
The Discover page is a great way to find the best-selling music at Bandcamp, plus new arrivals and songs recommended by artists. Most are available in several formats, including MP3, FLAC, AAC, OGG, and WAV.
Sometimes, there also isn't a minimum price on entire albums, meaning you can actually grab an entire album at no cost! This is a neat way to share music, and I was happy to be able to use it without needing a user account.
Finding just the free songs can be a challenge, but the name your price page is a good place to start.
How to Download From SoundCloud
SoundCloud has been a long-time favorite. It supports streaming and downloading free music. The content is sometimes uploaded by professional artists, while others are shared by independent musicians. It's one of my favorite websites for finding new music.
Not all the music here can be downloaded, and some require you to 'Like' a Facebook page to get the file. However, tracks that can be downloaded instantly and without an account, either have a dedicated download button in its menu or under the song.
Some ways I've had luck finding free music is to browse through the Creative Commons section or search for music tagged as free. Although, I've found other free music downloads here, too, that weren't in these areas.
- Last.fm. In the broadest terms, Last.fm operates as an overlay to your other music services to track your listening activities and provide recommendations.
- Bandcamp. While most of the internet has transitioned toward freemium models supported by advertising and subscriptions, Bandcamp offers a more traditional music marketplace online.
- SoundCloud. SoundCloud was designed with listeners and musicians equally in mind. It's essentially YouTube for music, allowing musicians to upload and share music with an online audience.
- ReverbNation. Many online music spaces lean toward independent artists, providing a marketplace and testing ground for new material, and ReverbNation is no exception.
- Bandcamp. Bandcamp hosts an immensely diverse catalog of genres to discover – and artists to fall in love with. Downloading music for free can sometimes be difficult for newcomers.
- Soundcloud. Our second free music download site is Soundcloud. Soundcloud often gets a bad rap these days. Aspiring cloud rappers would often make posts everywhere, asking people to “check out their Soundcloud.”
- YouTube Music. As convenient as YouTube itself, YouTube Music hosts millions of songs. It’s mainly used as a streaming service, but it does allow music downloads.
- Jamendo Music. Jamendo Music offers two categories of tracks – for personal use and licensing. As such, it is a valuable platform for artists to gain a following and collect royalties.
Jul 14, 2024 · Our website features an article on the “Top 10 Best Free Music Download Sites for Legal MP3 Downloads.” This curated list includes popular platforms such as Free Music Archive (FMA), Jamendo Music, Internet Archive, SoundClick, YouTube Studio, Last.fm, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and Musopen.
Jun 1, 2022 · Wynk Music. Brought to you by Airtel, Wynk Music has over 22 million Hindi, English, Bollywood, and regional songs that are available for free listening and downloading. All you need to do is log in with your mobile number and get access to songs from thousands of Indian and international artists.
Apr 15, 2024 · Here are our recommendations of the 12 best free music download sites to use legally. Listening to music is an essential part of a lot of people’s everyday lives. But with so many subscriptions to pay for, music streaming becomes an extra cost that chips away at the monthly budget.