While getting music illegally may seem like a good idea sometimes, finding a legit way to do it is still much better.
Hey, music lovers! Want free tunes but don’t want to ding your favourite artists or bring uninvited malware to your device party? Well, fear not! This article is your survival guide in the wild world of safe, free music downloads. Stay tuned and keep scrolling, savvy savers. We’re about to dive into a fun adventure without the risks. Let’s jam!
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 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, or 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 retail 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!