While getting music illegally may seem like a good idea sometimes, it is still much better to find a legit way to do it.
When you download the songs illegally, you aren’t supporting the musicians you like. However, it’s even more important that you risk your devices’ safety in this case. And the reason for that is simple: the sites where you can get music for free are often unsafe to visit, let alone to download something. So, when you’re trying to get those tempting dree tunes, you can easily get some malware as a “bonus”, which you obviously should avoid. With that said, there are still some options worth trying out when it comes to downloading free music, and you’ll find them here in this article. So, keep reading, frugality enthusiasts!
Free Music Archive
WFMU Radio New Jersey launched a project in 2009, to make music of all genres more accessible, resulting in the Free Music Archive. WFMU has cooperated with lots of partners to make this site a true gem for all music lovers.
There are two main ways of how the site gets tracks:
- It lists available music posted by the partners of this project.
- Its users can download the songs they created to the archives.
As a result, we have an impressive collection to browse through endlessly. Thankfully, there are more efficient ways to do it, for example, you can choose to listen to a particular genre or simply use the search function. What’s more, there are lots of podcasts available, as well as the studio sessions of popular radio stations, for example, Seattle’s KEXP.
SoundCloud
Not all tracks featured on SoundCloud are free, but there is still a notable collection of content you don’t have to pay for. Different artists won’t charge you for listening to their songs on this site. You can find what you like using different methods: you can browse by genre, artist, or just see what’s popular right now. SoundCloud has a whole segment for records posted with the Creative Commons license. This means that those tracks are royalty-free, so they can be used by someone else, and it won’t lead to a copyright claim.
ReverbNation
Some successful bands (for example, Imagine Dragons) started out on ReverbNation. They posted their music for people to enjoy without being charged, which helped them get a supportive fanbase. You can find lots of different genres on ReverbNation. However, it’s safe to say that pop, hip-hop, and alternative music prevails here (I mean, where does it not). ReverbNation has a huge community: there are approximately 4 million people on this site, including musicians, labels, and users. Of course, it has an extensive collection of tracks. It’s also fun to look at new artists and try to guess who’s going to become super-famous next.
Amazon
Given the size of this retailer site, one wouldn’t expect to get something for free here. And it is amazing, but Amazon indeed offers a wide variety of thousands of free tracks. You can spend hours scrolling through lots of songs from indie artists to classical musicians or well-known hits. Don’t let the procedure of checking out scare you away; you won’t have to pay for anything in your shopping cart if the music you chose is free!
DatPiff
Hip-hop fans, celebrate! The rap community has recently turned into an excellent platform for free music, mostly in mixtapes. A part of the creators here is just new and looking to become famous. Others are already well-known, and just want to treat their faithful fans by giving them some free tunes. The site is also known for frequent offers of free-of-charge tracks from top-rated musicians, such as Future and Drake. As if that’s not enough, DatPiff has a player for you to listen to the music before downloading.
Live Music Archive
Live Music Archive is a result of a combination of efforts of Internet Archive and etree.org. They are trying to create high-quality variants of real musical performances. They have myriads of records of concerts, including some trendy bands and musicians of different genres to choose from.
Browsing through this sheer abundance can be a bit tiring, but you can filter the results to make it easier. As soon as you notice a concert you loved, you are free to stream it or even download the tracks and play them whenever. The only drawback is that live concert records can sometimes be of not such great quality, so make sure to check everything before downloading in bulk.
You can also read our articles about the sites where you can download audiobooks and watch movies for free.
