Image Credit: ReutC
You don’t really have to spend a lot of money to fill up your iPod, or download songs illegally if you really don’t want to. Here is an ultimate guide on how to download free music legally.
1. How to download free songs from last.fm
last.fm is perhaps best known for its intelligent internet streaming radio service, but it also offers up a nice selection of free MP3 downloads – many of them from prominent artists like Moby and Nine Inch Nails.
2. How to download two Nine Inch Nails albums for free
Nine Inch Nails has always taken the stance of siding with free music and giving back to fans. He also puts his money where his mouth is, and has released TWO albums for free download. The Slip, and his collaboration with Jane’s Addiction aptly called NIN|JA.
3. How to download free live music
The Live Music Archive or etree.org claims to be a community committed to providing high quality live recordings – and it does not fail in that department. Featuring a long list of commercial and indie artists performing live including Hot Buttered Rum and Smashing Pumpkins, this is a great place to complement your existing music collection.
4. How to download free songs from Amazon.com
It’s a little known fact that Amazon has a ton of free songs and albums available in their store. As I write this, there are more than 840 songs available for free as album-samplers featuring all kinds of acts from Paul Simon to indie groups.
5. How to download all the songs from South by South West (SXSW)
SXSW is a music festival held annually in Austin, Texas, which has been taking the world by storm. If you didn’t make it to the festival, you’ll be glad to know that all the music from 2005 till 2009 is available for free download
6. How to download good free indie music
Having a distaste for repetitive and clichéd tracks played on your local station? The Free Music Archive is a movement inspired by open source ideas and features music handpicked by nine ‘curators’ – here you’ll find free and perfectly legal music created by mostly indie artists.
7. How to download free awesome remixes
ccMixter is a place where things really get mixed up – in a good way! Here you’ll find tracks that have been remixed by users, some with outstanding results. If you’re getting tired of what you’re hearing now, a visit to this site might refresh your senses.
8. How to download free Japanese music
Muzzie is a site which offers free Japanese music downloads. If you don’t understand Japanese, you may not understand the reviews but the all important letters MP3 is in English are you’ll know where to click.
9. How to download free music handpicked by audiophiles
Epitonic is a curated music website featuring fresh indie music that has been handpicked by audiophiles. Members can also listen to college radio stations, read reviews and view artists profile in this well managed site. Yet another good way to discover tomorrow’s star talent!
10. How to download good free video game music
OverClocked ReMix is a huge library of video game music. Although there are music from games such as the good ol’ Metroid Prime, Pokémon, and Final Fantasy, its true draw lies in the remixes done by fans – here you’ll find thousands of dedicated work done for the love of gaming.
11. How to download free legal music using torrents
LegalTorrents is an “online digital media community” that hosts thousands of music files, downloadable using a torrent p2p software. Of course, being a media community, there are also pictures, videos, audiobooks and other free goodies available for grabs.
12. How to get involved in an indie music community with free music
ArtistServer.com is a huge collection of over 10,000 songs, complete with artist information and social review capabilities. Head on here if you’re in need of fresh music to complement your music collection.
13. How to download free songs on iTunes
Every week iTunes releases a “Single of the Week” featuring an interesting up-and-coming artist, a “Discovery Download” to broaden your listening tastes and an iTunes Latino “Single of the Week” showing off some of the newest Spanish language songs. All these can be played on your computer in iTunes, on your iPod or burned to CD for listening anywhere. This page is for US store downloads, this one for international store downloads, and this link gives you free audiobooks. You can also try this thread on MacRumors for a full list of all the free songs on iTunes.
14. How to help independent artists get signed
Garageband is a social review network for independent bands vying for exposure. You can vote for your favorite indie bands and help take them to stardom. Since its inception, this website has already helped jumpstart the career of several bands, the most notable being the band “10 Years’”, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard charts after getting favorable reviews at Garageband, as they have over 1000 radio partners. Who knows, you mighthelp the next Guns ‘n Roses or Nickelback get signed!
15. How to download free classical music
On Wikipedia you will find a gigantic list of classical music downloads which are in the public domain, or shared by the commons law. Get songs from all your favourite composers from Bach to Beethoven here. The drawback though is that the files are in .Ogg format, which may not be the most popular or widely supported file standard. If you cannot play it on your desktop, Wikipedia has some tips to help you along.
16.How to discover new talent and get their songs for free
PureVolume is a premier social music site with streaming as well as downloadable songs from emerging artists.
17. How to get free music from one of the oldest sources of free music on the web
Being the granddaddy of free legal music downloads, mp3.com has offered countless artists the chance to strut their stuff before the world. It still offers up one of the largest collections of free legal music to date.
18. How to vote for independent music digg style
thesixtyone is an interesting take on ranking indie music, by running them through a digg style voting system where the cream of the crop rise to the top and get a lot of exposure. As a listener you can play a active role in making unknown people stars on the indie scene.
19. How to get recommendations for free downloadable music
On Amie Street, the community determines the price of music. Every song starts cheap (or even free!) and increases in price up to 98 cents as more and more people purchase it. This ensures that you get music at a sensible price. If you find cheap songs or albums, that means they’re new to the site and/or undiscovered; conversely, when you pay top price for an album, you know that a lot of people think it’s really good.
As you browse Amie Street and purchase music, the site learns more and more about your tastes, and the recommendations for you quickly become customized.
20. How to find old 78 RPM and cylinder recordings and download them for free
Archive.org, the Internet’s super-archive has with them a very interesting collection of really old records, now preserved digitally. Here you can download from this collection of thousands of 78rpm records and cylinder recordings released in the early 20th century.
21. How to download free international music
Available in seven languages, Jamendo offers the largest catalog of music under Creative Commons licenses. For artists, it’s an easy and efficient way to publish, share and promote their music, and also to make money, through ad revenue sharing and commercial partnerships.
22. How to download free Australian music
23. How to share and recommend songs, as well as download them for free
iLike allows you to share playlists and recommendations with friends riding on networks such as Facebook and Bebo, as well as download some of the songs on the site for free.
24. How to discover more new indie bands
Tuneshout allows you to discover independent artists you can’t find anywhere else, meet other listeners who share the same musical tastes as you, and participate in the popularity of TuneShout artists by writing review an
25. How to download free reggae songs
While most free music sites specialize in rock, the Dubroom carves out a very unique niche for itself specializing in reggae music, offering loads of free downloadable MP3s as well.
26. How to interact with emerging artists and share music
PureVolume is a website for the discovery and promotion of new music and emerging artists. Listeners and fans can also create profiles to interact with artists and each other, as well as track and share music they like.
Since the site’s launch in 2003, PureVolume has been widely recognized as a premier social music site and has received praise in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and beyond.
27. More ways to download free indie MP3s
Mp3 4U is a website which scours the net to find the best free MP3s on the web and puts them up here.
28. How to download free Amiga music
Yes, that’s right – AMIGA music. UnExoticA is a collection of music ripped from Amiga Games and Demos. It aims to provide complete rips with full credits for all Amiga game and demo soundtracks.
29. How to download free punk rock MP3s
With more than 50 bands under their wings, Fatwreck offers up selected tracks for downloads so you can sample all the punk rock you need.
30. How to download free classical sorted by composers
Classic Cat is a directory with links to over 5000 free to download classical performances on the internet, sorted by composer and work. Download everything from piano to classical guitar songs.
31. How to download free heavy rock music
Hellcat records is an independent label specializing in heavy, punk and ska rock records.
32. How to download free European electronic music
Electrobel is a living community bringing together artists and fans, organising music events, coordinating mutual help and promoting the independent music culture across Europe specializing in every thinkable electronic music genre.
33. How to download the MP3 of the day from AOL
Spinner.com is a an AOL project which has a section dedicated to release one carefully screened MP3 every day.
34. How to download free piano songs
The goal for Piano Society is to bring classical music to a broader audience, as today it is unfortunately neglected by the general public, and they try to wipe away the elitist attitude towards it. Piano Society offers artists, amateurs and professionals alike.
35. How to download free German songs
If you’re looking for more of a European flavor, you can try Ton Spion, a site which caters to German indie bands. Don’t worry about not being able to navigate the site as the words “FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD” is thankfully in English :)
36. How to download free dance tracks
Looking for free dance music? Check out Dance Industries for constantly updated dance tracks to get you going.
37. How to download free songs which have fallen into the public domain
PublicDomain4U is a a website which seeks to showcase all the best tracks which have since fallen into public domain.
38. How to download a free Coldplay album
Coldplay has released an album for fans, for free – no strings attached. Hurry and download it for free as it’s up for a limited time only!
39. How to download free children’s songs
Whether you’re babysitting, or trying to please you own child, music goes a long way in making them happy and assisting in a healthy development. FreeKidsMusic is a repository of free children’s music where you can download some terrific tracks for kids.
40. How to download free Christmas songs
When the holidays come rolling around, you don’t have to shell out big bucks to play those Christmas tunes. Just head on over to FeelsLikeChristmas and get yourself some free familiar songs.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Excellent article. Thanks for sharing these websites with us (especially in one article). I will certainly use a couple of them…
May 20th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
An excellent post, after many days!
May 21st, 2009 at 1:48 am
really good guide. i rely mostly on one of google’s search results for my mp3 addiction though. :D very good site indeed
May 21st, 2009 at 7:38 am
cool man! u rock… keep posting
May 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pm
fuyoh! what a great list! good job!
May 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Great post. Thanks a lot
Keep up the good work !
May 21st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
0_o? Where is the link to Pouet.net? This page only gave a brief mention to all the free “demoscene” music out there. What about Demovibes? What about Scene.org? Come on. Seriously. There is A LOT of amazing music in The Demo Scene…
Wannabe by Maxon;
Variform by KeWlers;
1995 by Kewlers;
Supermax by Complex;
Stargazer by Andromeda;
Come on. The Scene deserves a spot on this (otherwise amazing) list.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Toronto/Preetam/Raj/LCF/Danh – thanks, your kind words make the effort worth it :)
Anthony: Thanks for the recommendation – I’m sure there are tons of good sites out there – guys keep those site suggestions rolling in!
May 21st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
You left off nerdcore. Many/most Nerdcore artists offer their music for free legal download. You can grab a bunch of MC Frontalot tunes here:
http://frontalot.com/index.php/?page=mp3
May 21st, 2009 at 10:11 pm
For more nerdcore hiphop:
Rhyme Torrents has a bunch of compilations available. Quality is wildly uneven, but there are some classics in there.
http://www.rhymetorrents.org/
Hipster, Please! also has a couple compilations on his site.
http://www.rhymetorrents.org/
May 21st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
wow,
love all that SXSW stuff!!
Thanks!!
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:02 am
.. woOoo ..such a huge array of resource.
Awesome .. thanks for this we got to know about so many new and nice projects.
enjoy :)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 am
Haha, I download anything, everything I want legaly or not, why complicate life with this sites
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 am
Your forgot all of the wonderful music blog search engines out there like the hype machine and elbo.ws
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:37 am
http://www.spotify.com get an invite on a forum or at giveaway websites that can be found with google.
all det music you want for free and best of all is legal. :P
I love my spotify, use it evry day, i have started paying to get som benefits.
Can even connect the software with last.fm so it finds new nice songs for you
cant really explain how good and cool this is, they finaly got it.
Dont need winamp or anything like that anymore.
cheack it out :)
If you go true a proxy in england you can sign up for free without an invite :D
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 am
heya,
I’m the photographer who took that picture of the guy from Bloc Party at the top of this page. Thanks for using my photo on this cool article, I appreciate it. It would be cooler, though, if you followed the photo’s CC license and actually gave me the credit for it. :)
Admin reply to all readers about this comment: CC license dictates “You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).” As such, all photos are always linked back to the source as a form of attribution. Reut did not put down and specific attribution method on his Flickr page, but since he has raised it now, I am in contact and will add whatever additional attribution he requires. Why I am telling you guys this? No reason, just wanted to be transparent :)
Update: This issue has been settled with text attribution for title header image.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:28 am
@heihei – “If you go true a proxy in england you can sign up for free without an invite :D” Or you could just sign up on their site, download it and sign straight in…
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 am
On http://populair.eu/music you will find tons more of these sites.
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:08 am
Great article. I would like to add to it:
Ben Lee covers Against Me!’s album New Wave:
http://www.ben-lee.com/main_page.php?d=discog_other.htm
Loads of Peter Doherty’s work including accoustic sessions for free download on his official site:
http://www.frenchdogblues.com/
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
my.trance.dj updates daily and links to mp3’s and sites providing dance mixes and club sets done by DJ’s all over the world. Get on, get in and get up to some great 1-2 hour sets, certainly fills in the time on the train.
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
f*ck it! go to piratebay
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Here’s one you’ve missed for dance music
http://www.ektoplazm.com
May 25th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Thanks for the list!
Just a head’s up.. you’ve got PureVolume listed there twice.
Another one that could be added to that list is NoiseTrade. Excellent place to find new artists.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Found your link from liewcf.com/ Was here not long ago, found this page through digg.com
Keep the updates coming. Subscribe to your RSS ;)
May 28th, 2009 at 3:54 am
excellent post! I’m sure I’ll enjoy tha link about Video Game Music remixes.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
If you live in Sweden and have Telia as a SP you can use Telia Music Player. http://noje.telia.se/musik/musicplayer/ All you can eat download music for 99 SEK per mounth.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Great article, but the links are not enough apparent.
Two another links (french) for free music :
Review on free downloadable albums with link to download
http://www.freezeec.com/index.php?page=musique-libre.php
Free compilations :
http://www.freezeec.com/index.php?page=compils.php
May 30th, 2009 at 3:09 am
The best and most useful post i’ve read this month!
i’ve recommend to everyone in my twitter page.
congrats!
May 30th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
A nice collection
May 31st, 2009 at 12:46 am
I know this is supposedly to promote legal downloading, but what’s the point of downloading legally when the contents are mostly outdated or not from the mainstream. Plus most artists, even nine each nails for example, expect some profits in return. Spare the yada-yada, either buy or use pirate bay ;D
June 5th, 2009 at 4:44 am
http://www.mx3.ch – swiss indie music
http://www.virus.ch – swiss music against the financial crisis for free
June 5th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Hi Guys!
Don’t forget:
http://www.neppstar.net/cms_neppstar/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=1&orderby=dateD
Its the oldest free music station in Austria and Germany – and the license is older than the creative commons … :-)
happyness
Fritz
June 6th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Check out imeem.com
June 8th, 2009 at 3:34 am
nice nice list but too long …i use only musichijack.com , free, legal and there i can find everything that i am looking for, indie , j pop, oldies goldies , even videos….and…o yes u can convert that video to mp3 …o yeah!
June 14th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Hey! Don´t forget http://aurgasm.us, this site has a lot of wonderful music from not very known (but still, amazing) artists from all over the world. It even has coments and a blog section. Check it out!, it’s amazing really!!
June 14th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Thanks for share this awesome list and tips
June 14th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
great info!
—————————————————————–
sickk(o.o)rg owned by a hot wheels collector, a honda civic lover.
June 18th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
A brilliant article, thank you! I will use the coldplay one and the last fm and mp3.com one :)
June 24th, 2009 at 5:14 am
http://www.mp3plz.com provides the same as itunes but free why should we pay, also mp3 search and direct download + lyric search video search and make your own play list to place on facebook myspace etc
July 13th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Epitonic.com has been abandoned for almost 6 years now. Not a very stable site (bugs, dead links, its just falling apart). But before it was abandoned, it was amazing! I’m still upset after all these years later that it’s is no longer holds the impact it once held. Hopefully this list will help me get over that loss.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
It’s legal to download anything here in Spain, as long you don’t have any comercial interest, we don’t have that kind of problems!
July 20th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Garageband.com is a fantastic site. Go there now!!
July 20th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Ola gostaria de saber se é só quem fala o idioma ingles que pode usar os sites ?????? quem naum fala essa lingua não pode né!!!!!!
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:30 am
A great list indeed, but if those 40 sites don’t satisfy your ravenous appetite you could always try Catching The Waves, the net’s most amateurish and sporadically updated blog devoted to reviewing (legitimately) free netlabel & Creative Commons albums. The musicians have made the albums available for zip/nada/nothing and want you to download and share them as much as possible. You get the mp3, the whole mp3 and nothing but the mp3. :)
August 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
DId i mention that this article is awesome/
MUSIC, I’m coming!!!!!!
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Great guide. Thanks. You should also include NewMelodies in this article
http://www.newmelodies.com.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:25 am
check out http://www.freemusicexplorer.com to visuallly browse through archive.org RSS feeds
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
wow man seriously I was looking for something like that..Was trying to download free songs but never found sumthing free but u made my day :p
September 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Didn’t realise Amazon offers free music download. That is simply great. Legal Torrents is nice too.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Another great place to download free, legal, new MP3s, playlists and mixes – mostly indie and alternative rock, pop, folk – is Indie Rock Cafe. The blog is really popular (just search Google for indie rock or anything with indie,rock,songs, etc. in it) and the site comes up near top – so must be popular. I love the choice of music – always been turned on to really great new music.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:00 am
afaik, most of the free legal to download songs are from indie bands.
and once they become famous, they won’t put it for free anymore.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:33 am
http://www.Qtorrents.com FTW!!!
October 8th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
This is a cool list, so glad to find out.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
missingtoof.com and strikegently. best free music you cand find, and simplist to download :D
October 10th, 2009 at 11:14 am
how to downlaod everything for free…just search a torrent site
October 13th, 2009 at 4:55 am
I’ve found the 41st way, VKontakte. Russian social network, you can read about it here: http://about-vkontakte.blogspot.com
I think you shoud add it to the list.
October 13th, 2009 at 4:57 am
The 41st way, VKontakte social network, you can read about it here: http://about-vkontakte.blogspot.com.
I think you should add it to the list.
October 19th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
i`m using http://www.freemp3find.com . you can add it here so other people that are looking for free music to use it