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The Internet Archive
Known for its enormous collection of books and other texts, The Internet Archive is also home to more than 14 million audio recordings, all of which can be accessed for free from the digital library. The Internet Archive is a non-profit project that is aimed at providing access to historians, researchers, academics, people with print disabilities, and the general public. The ‘Live Music Archive’ section of the website hosts free music from a variety of leading artists. The music downloaded from The Internet Archive cannot be used for commercial purposes. If you’re looking for background music for your video or vlog, you will need to look somewhere else. However, if you simply want to download music for personal listening, The Internet Archive is a great place to check out.
YouTube Audio Library
To help content creators make videos on its platform, YouTube provides a collection of free music and audio recordings that can be used for free as background music on the videos hosted on the platform. You can use the music listed on YouTube Audio Library on your monetised videos without having to worry about being copy-striked. Hit the play icon to preview the sample and click on download to save the music on your device.
Jamendo
Jamendo is one of the best websites to discover and listen to indie and unsigned artists for free. With over 240,000 songs and 40,000 artists, Jamendo is one of the biggest music platforms on the Internet. You can also find free royalty music on Jamendo, which can be used for videos and any video content you want to publish online. You can browse music by genre and discover new, unsigned artists. In order to download a song you need to register and create a profile on Jamendo first.
SoundCloud
Most music enthusiasts and audiophiles are probably already well-aware of SoundCloud. One of the biggest music platforms in the world, SoundCloud hosts indie and unsigned artists. You can directly download a song from the artist’s page if the artist has enabled that option. You do not need to register or create a profile on SoundCloud to download a song. SoundCloud is also an excellent website to discover new artists from a variety of genres.
Bandcamp
Like SoundCloud, Bandcamp hosts a large number of independent artists that still haven’t been signed by a big label. Bandcamp allows you to download music for free, and you can even tip the artist any amount you deem fit. In order to download the music for free, all you need to do is enter ‘0’ in the tipping amount. You will need to create an account on Bandcamp before downloading any music.
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive provides royalty-free music to content creators and video producers. The website hosts millions of royalty-free recordings and soundtracks. You can choose from a multitude of genres and find the perfect soundtrack for your content. The music listed on this platform is protected by the Creative Commons license, allowing creators to use the music without the hassle of any copyright issues.
Musopen
Musopen is a website that exclusively publishes classical, orchestra, and chamber music. You can download music from composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, and more for free. Apart from letting users download music for free, Musopen also provides access to sheet music and other educational resources related to music. The website is easy to navigate and provides a bunch of search filters to find the music you want.
CCTrax
CCTrax also publishes music that is protected by the Creative Commons license. Unlike Free Music Archive, CCTrax exclusively focuses on electronic music. The music you download from CCTrax is royalty-free and can be used as background music on the videos you publish online. Some music may come with a ‘BY license’ which only allows them to be used as embedded files on other websites.
NoiseTrade
Unlike most websites on this list, NoiseTrade hosts music from some well-known popular artists that you can download for free. You can find music from Phoebe Bridgers, Wilco, Alabama Shakes, and other popular artists on this platform. The only catch is that you have to register from a valid email address, which the artists will use to send you promotional material. If you’re willing to get past that, you can find lots of interesting music available for free download on this platform. Read Also: Best ways to Fix ‘Sleep Tracking Not Working’ on Apple Watch
Conclusion
These are the 10 best websites that let you legally download music for free. Depending on the website, you can use the music for personal listening or for commercial purposes. If you are a content creator there are tons of other royalty-free music websites that you can look up with a simple Google search. The only downside is that you will not find any popular music on those websites. If you want to download music for personal listening, the websites in this article are excellent resources for free and legal downloads.
