People these days like to stream music from different platforms such as Spotify but it is not an ideal solution. While you can get access to millions of tracks for an affordable monthly cost like Spectrum packages, you won’t be able to own that music. This means that if the service shuts down or changes then chances are that you might just lose access to everything in your library. But wait, there is an alternative. You can consider buying music digitally via different platforms such as iTunes or Amazon. However, this could get a bit expensive.
So, what should you do? Well, there are a number of websites that allow you to download music for free. Yes, you read that right! Moreover, downloading music from these sites would be completely legal! What are those sites, you ask? Well, here are five of them.
#1. Bandcamp
Bandcamp is a highly popular site among musicians as it allows artists to upload their music. It also enables them to set the price for their physical and digital albums along with merchandise. The website supports all the popular audio formats including MP3, WAV, and FLAC.
If you are looking for music that you can download for free, simply search for tags like ‘free download’ or ‘free.’ If you are using the site on a smartphone then after getting the app, you can head over to Search, select a genre and then hit ‘add custom genre.’ This will allow you to search for tags.
#2. DatPiff
This site is purely dedicated to hip-hop music. Here, you can not only stream but also download mixtapes that are uploaded by both emerging and established artists such as Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Future, Drake, and Meek Mills among others. This site quite literally satisfies the craving of rap fans by bringing them fresh and banging tunes that will get them grooving.
#3. The Internet Archive
The audio archive for the Internet Archive offers access to free podcasts, music recordings, and radio programs. Also, you can look through the Live Music Archive where you will find the recordings of live performances. Please note that not all things can be downloaded. But the ones that can be will be available in different audio formats like MP3, and Ogg Vorbis.
#4. Last.fm
Last.fm doesn’t house its own music. Instead, it recommends music to others. Therefore, if you play a song on the site, a YouTube video of that particular track would start to play. Similarly, if you hit the download button, then this will take you to iTunes, Amazon, or any other platform where you can purchase the tune.
However, you can still find free music on the site. To get your hands on some free music, head to the footer of the website. There, you will see the option that would say ‘Free Music Downloads.’ Just click on. It will not take you to another page where you would be able to see the complete list of songs that you can download for free. The best part is that no subscription or sign-up is required to download music for free.
#5. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is the go-to place for amateur artists to share their songs. The platform works much like Spotify i.e., allowing hip-hop music enthusiasts to stream their favorite songs. However, SoundCloud does give the option to artists to make their music available for free download. You can download these files in different formats like WAV, MP3, MP2, AAC, and WMA to name a few. To download a song, make sure that you have a SoundCloud account. If not then you can easily create one for free.
Conclusion
And there you go! These are some of the sites which would enable you to download the music completely free. Another thing you should remember is to have access to a strong internet connection. This is because you would not like it when the connection disrupts while you are in the middle of downloading an audio file. I personally use the Ultra Spectrum packages so that I may not only download but also stream my favorite songs on different platforms easily. You can do the same to have a seamless listening experience.