Saving Money and Still Getting High-Quality Music
- Major streaming services (rightfully) get a lot of attention but there are alternatives well-worth mentioning.
- Music is for everyone and you don’t have to invest to listen and download it.
- We take a look at some of the best places to get free music in 2022.
With copyrights and the convenience offered, streaming services now take up a huge chunk of what’s being listened to online. Still, many users decide to go around it. It’s only fair to note that getting access to free music has never been as easy either. We browse through some of our favorite sites with an insight to help you choose the perfect spot for yourself.
Jamendo
Jamendo was founded in the winter of 2004. Originally under the name Peermajor, it was part of a global push to enable free access through Creative Commons licenses. It has since developed across the board and offers a well-rounded service. After multiple revisions to the site and apps over the years, Jamendo offers a high-quality interface defined by speed and simplicity.
Indeed, you can listen and download music for free (or support artists) but hardly stops there. It’s ultimately a place to connect the artists with audiences. With over 500,000 tracks now available across selections as well as 15 different radio stations, there’s a lot to discover. Through Jamendo Licensing, the company also lets clients get music for videos and/or background music for venues.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a long-standing digital library offering access to an insurmountable number of files. The non-profit was founded in 1996 and now has over 700,000 tracks across audio collections. This is well-embedded among books and other texts, movies, and software, which history aficionados and nostalgics are bound to love. This includes:
- Over 34 million books and texts,
- Over 7 million movies and videos,
- Over 4 million images,
- Over 800,000 software files.
at Internet Archive offers few current choices, though. With that in mind, it can feel like this is more of a spot for one’s school project or a trip down memory lane. The amazing audio library is still well-worth checking out with many vinyl collections, epic live radio performances, and concerts available.
SoundClick
SoundClick created a social network of their own in 2007, already recognized as an established entity beforehand. It now has over 4.5 million tracks on offer from over 500,000 artists. The site is very easy to use with an intuitive approach through categorization and a minimalistic player at the bottom, as many reviews suggest too.
Among many genres and charts, hip-hop dominates at SoundClick and these tracks are bought the most too. While it can be easy to torrent music, as showcases here, artists don’t really have the option. SoundClick thus works best for young hip-hop artists to get inspiration and beats to use in their new songs. This led to the site becoming renowned as a place for instrumentals.
Free Music Archive
Founded in 2009 by East Orange, KBOO, and KEXP, FMA has a huge archive of music available for download. You simply navigate the site, preview files with ease and download what you want and when you want it. However, there were things we didn’t like as well. design feels somewhat outdated and sound quality is often lower than that of the competitors.
FMA has changed ownership a couple of times over the past couple of years. However, it has kept its genuine idea of offering free music under the Creative Commons license. The site still stands out as one of the big guns in the industry with over 50,000 artists showcased and over 500,000 clients using their services.
Audiomack
was founded in 2012 and it immediately caught the eye of many. The site gained a following as popular artists such as Chance the Rapper, Eminem, and Nicki Minaj all released exclusive songs on it. However, it’s always had more in store than just exclusive tracks, and users recognize it.
The huge collection offers depth while the easy-to-grasp interface allows easy discovery. High-quality sound with no fees and many tools for artists themselves make this a well-rounded service. You can create playlists or check what’s trending right now, as Audiomack employs an innovative approach we just loved.
Honorable Mentions: Amazon, SoundCloud, and Last.fm
We now move to some of our honorable mentions – sites that we could (not) fit into the list for one reason or another. We start with ! It’s a great source of free music and has a lot to offer. This means a great array of artists, near-perfect sound quality, and interface. However, we could not really list it above as artists choose whether you can download, listen for free or just preview tracks.
has a big collection of music available for free download too. Many Amazon users love the option and it’s a great addition to the site. However, it’s hardly a dedicated service, and not all music is free, even when you are logged into your Amazon account.
Lastly, Last.fm! One of the pioneers, Last.fm removed their collection back in 2014. The site now merely with just a handful of downloads available. It has rather switched to Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify links you can use to listen.
Final Thoughts: Where Should I Plug In?
We have now covered some of the most important sites where you can get free music from. Most of the services listed offer extensive libraries so where should you actually go? This will largely depend on your preferences. We touched base on what’s available on each of them but we recommend browsing each for yourself before jumping to conclusions. It’s important to note all of these sites feel best suited for quite specific users. See where you fit in and start listening to free music today!