Music streaming services are not without their problems. The biggest turnoff beingness the lack of ownership; if yous use Spotify, you don't own any music—yous've merely been granted a license to mind to information technology.

But not to worry. If you're wondering how to download music, wait no further. There are still ways you can become hold of free music. They are entirely legal, and the music volition be yours to keep forever. Here are the best MP3 download sites for free music.

1. YouTube Sound Library

The YouTube Audio Library is mainly aimed at people who need royalty-gratuitous product music to use in videos. Withal, anyone with a YouTube business relationship tin can access the library via YouTube Studio and download as many songs every bit they wish.

Co-ordinate to the library'south terms and conditions, you can use the tracks in any content you create; it's not just limited to videos. Y'all can also apply the songs in monetized videos on the YouTube platform.

Each song has a sample available, which y'all can listen to past striking the small Play icon. If y'all like what y'all hear, click the next Download button.

In addition to free music tracks, the YouTube Audio Library also includes sound furnishings. Again, they are gratuitous to use beyond your artistic works.

ii. Free Music Annal

The Gratis Music Archive has been around for many years, just it remains as pop every bit ever.

WUFM—an independent freeform radio station in New Bailiwick of jersey—curates the content. Most of the free song downloads are from lesser-known artists, but occasionally you lot will see a famous name popular up. Regardless, it is a bully way to notice new music.

Yous don't need to worry almost legality, as all the tracks on the site are gratuitous for personal use. However, if you're planning to use the songs in a commercial setting, you need to check the license associated with each private recording

3. Jamendo

Jamendo is a platform that allows unsigned contained artists to easily distribute their music to their fans. It currently has more than 240,000 royalty-free tracks from forty,000 artists.

The music is built around "Communities". Navigating to a particular customs (for case, Rock) volition introduce you to its leading tracks, albums, and artists. Y'all can sort the music by all-fourth dimension popularity, what's trending, and latest releases.

If yous desire to test the waters before y'all commit to a download, you can tune in to i of the site'southward themed radio stations.

4. NoiseTrade

They say there'due south no such matter as a free lunch. And if yous utilise NoiseTrade, that's partly truthful.

The artists who take listed their music on this site want something in return for the costless download, typically a postal address or an email address. The thought is for the bands to easily connect with people who like their music—mayhap to advertise an upcoming tour or highlight the launch of a new anthology.

The flip side is that you're more than likely to find artists you recognize. Sure, y'all're not going to notice The Killers' latest release, just most of the bands are already signed to a record label and have albums available.

v. Musopen

What if pop, stone, and the other mainstream genres aren't your thing? Well, if you're more into classical music, you're in luck.

Musopen is another site to download free music online. Information technology has recordings from some of the most famous classical musicians of all time. You'll notice everything from Bach and Beethoven to Tchaikovsky and Holst. You tin search past composer, performer, instrument, menstruum, and grade to locate the content you want.

The site extends beyond music downloads. You'll besides observe lots of complimentary canvass music and even some educational resources.

6. Amazon

Many people don't realize that Amazon has a vast repository of free music downloads. At the fourth dimension of writing, more than half dozen,000 songs are available for download.

Unlike some other free music download sites, you can frequently detect famous bands. Correct now, yous can discover music from the Foo Fighters, Ashaneen, Tony Elman, Carole King, and many more. The artists practice change occasionally, so if you lot find any music you similar, grab it while you tin.

Abroad from famous names, the collection also does a surprisingly good job of roofing niche genres. Sadly, Amazon has removed the feature that allowed you to filter the costless music by genre (though it'southward still there for paid music). As such, you'll need to do the digging yourself.

7. The Cyberspace Archive

Did you know that the Net Archive is useful for a lot more than than only laughing at how bad the web looked in 1999? It'southward too a fantastic free music website.

For a music lover, the all-time role of the site is the Live Music Annal. It was built in partnership with etree.org and features shows and concerts from a range of leading artists. All the bands in the drove are "trade-friendly", meaning they've granted fans the right to freely merchandise some of their music for not-commercial means.

The library doesn't just cover music; you'll too find old news and public affairs talks, radio shows, audiobooks, and poesy readings.

8. ReverbNation

ReverbNation is a great site if you're an up-and-coming band that wants to sell music online.

Withal, it doubles as a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to download gratuitous music. The site is primarily aimed at new bands; you lot're not going to discover tracks from the current chart-toppers.

Don't let that put you off, though. ReverbNation has launched the careers of many height bands, including the Alabama Shakes and Imagine Dragons. That means y'all tin exist the coolest kid at school by downloading music from tomorrow'due south hippest artists before they become famous.

nine. SoundClick

Similar then many of the sites on this list, SoundClick mainly features new artists who have not yet fabricated a proper noun for themselves in the music industry.

Not all the songs on the site are available to download for free; the artist has to make each rails available on a case-by-case basis and some require a small payment. Where downloads are available, y'all often have a choice of quality. The choices are usually a 320 kbps MP3, a 160 kbps MP3, and a lossless WAV file.

10. CCTrax

CCTrax offers free music downloads that are covered by a Creative Commons license. It has a special focus on electronica, dub, techno, and ambience tunes.

Every song on the site can be downloaded and no payments are involved anywhere. Be alert to the songs with the special "BY License" though, they are the only ones that you tin embed on other sites.

What Happened to FreeAllMusic?

Almost all of these sites specialize in helping you download music from unknown and upcoming artists rather than current stars. It's largely inevitable, equally bands who have already made it big have no need to give their music away for complimentary.

Equally a rule, if you encounter a site offering you lot a gratuitous re-create of the latest album by Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift, it'll probably be illegal to download it. In which example y'all should proceed with extreme circumspection.

1 such illegal example is FreeAllMusic. Like The Pirate Bay, it has been taken offline many times, only to rear its head at a new domain. A rebooted version persists to this day. Our advice is to steer articulate.

Learn More Virtually Downloading Music

Although it's nice to be able to take hold of free music downloads legally, there are plenty of ways to pay for the biggest and newest releases.

Earlier you get your wallet out, notwithstanding, it makes sense to check whether you like the music first.

How to Download Music From Spotify to Your Phone

Here's how to download music from Spotify so you lot can listen without an cyberspace connection.

Read Next

About The Author