Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 9: Download music for free from popular websites
• Method 2 of 9: Tap into music communities
• Method 3 of 9: Visit Mixtape websites
• Method 4 of 9: Follow artists
• Method 5 of 9: Visit free music websites
• Method 6 of 9: Convert music from YouTube
• Method 7 of 9: Download music with a torrenting program
• Method 8 of 9: Find a music forum
• Method 9 of 9: Using software to share files
• Tips
• Warnings

All your favorite music for free! It sounds almost too good to be true, but there are several options, both legal and non-legal. The steps below describe how to download music for free over the internet in various ways.

To step

Method 1 of 9: Download music for free from popular websites

1. Visit your favorite music store online. Most of the larger music stores on the Internet have a wide selection of songs available for you to download for free. These are often single songs from a CD or music by new artists. Downloading this type of free music is completely legal.
   • Amazon has a large collection of free MP3s that is regularly updated.
   • Google Play Music also offers a varying collection of music that you can download for free.
   • It is also possible to download free songs from time to time via 7Digital. Click on "Free MP3s & Deals" in the top menu.
   • Jamendo offers a large amount of free music under the so-called Creative Commons license. This means that you can download the music for free for your own use.
2. Shop around during the sale. Larger outlets organize special sale sessions and events where they offer music at great discounts or even for free. Please visit their websites regularly when such events are organized. They usually do this around major holidays.
3. Check out iTunes. In addition to online stores, iTunes has its own store that you can visit through the program. If you click on the “Free on iTunes” link you can browse all the free music currently available. The collection is often changed.

Method 2 of 9: Tap into music communities

1. Visit the website of a so-called music community. In the world of digital music, the use of special websites for streaming music is becoming increasingly popular. Some of the most popular sites are BandCamp and SoundCloud. On these sites, artists can put music online that visitors can then stream and sometimes download.
   • Not all songs on SoundCloud and BandCamp are free to download. It is often possible to download a limited number of copies of newly released music for free, but after that you have to pay for the song.
   • A lot of free downloadable music can be found on PureVolume. Choose an album and click on the Free MP3 link to download the songs.
   • NoiseTrade is a music community where artists post music so their fans can download the songs for free. All this music can be downloaded completely legally.
   • Last.fm also offers free downloadable music from a wide variety of artists.
2. Search for music. You can search by artist or song title, or you can browse a specific type of music for new hits. On the websites above you will often find remixes of popular songs that you can download or stream for free.
   • There are also more and more artists who release singles and old recordings for free through these websites.
3. Convert streamable music into downloadable files. Various websites allow you to access the URL of a particular song on SoundCloud so that the music is converted into a downloadable MP3 file. Please note that this is not in accordance with the SoundCloud terms of use.

Method 3 of 9: Visit Mixtape websites

1. Go to the home page of a particular website. Mixtapes (in this context) are albums that remix songs by other artists and / or the artist who created the album. Online mixtape communities follow certain rules that make their mixes legal, so you can download them without fear of doing anything illegal.
   • The most comprehensive website where you can find free mixtapes is DatPiff. This website mainly features so-called underground hip-hop and music by promising new DJs.
   • Other popular websites are That Mixtape, LiveMixtapes and MonsterMixtapes.
2. Register if necessary. Find out how to sign up on the website (On DatPiff, this is near the top right of the home page). Click on “Register” and fill in the requested information.
   • These websites derive most of their revenue from advertising, and will likely try to persuade you to sign up to receive advertising for offers during the sign-up process. Always look for the "no thanks" link, or something similar, to decline these offers. (On DatPiff.com, these are usually red letters in the bottom right corner.)
3. Browse mixtapes. Read ratings and comments from other users and look for songs that are highly rated or experiment with new songs.
4. Download a mixtape. When you have found a mixtape that interests you, first click on “Listen” or “Play” to listen to the song. If you like, click the “Download” link to download the song to your computer.
   • Within certain mixtape communities you are only allowed to download a certain number of songs per day (but you are entitled to more for a fee), but they often offer you other “free” mixtapes (which do not fall under your maximum). Therefore, check that list first to make sure that you can download as much new music as possible every day.

Method 4 of 9: Follow artists

1. Search for your favorite artists. Search for them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and through their own website. Become a fan of their social media pages and sign up for their mailing list.
   • Google your favorite artists and search for all the different social platforms they operate on. That way you can be sure that you will learn as much as possible about him or her.
2. Become a fan. Many groups and artists can be followed online via social websites such as Facebook, and you can also subscribe to the mailing list on the personal website of the artist. If you show that you are a loyal fan of your favorite artist, you will often receive free downloadable new radio singles, demo versions of songs, recordings of live sessions and other fun extras as a reward.
3. Make sure you stay up to date with the latest developments. Your favorite groups should let you and their other fans know when you can download new trial songs. As long as you make sure you're a fan of enough artists, you might be able to download a nice new song every week, and it's completely legal.

Method 5 of 9: Visit free music websites

1. Visit free music websites. Free MP3 files can be downloaded from many websites and blogs. Some blogs offer complete albums before they are officially released. Besides the general music websites, there is a wide variety of blogs related to a certain type of music.
   • Usually these websites operate within a legal gray area. For 100% legal free music, look for websites that release music under Creative Commons law, or that host music in a public domain.
2. Search for a specific song. Scroll through the songs on the home page, or enter the title or artist name in the search bar at the top of the screen to search for a specific song.
   • Never click on the ads. Most of the time these are deceptive and can lead you to download dangerous or intrusive software. It almost never happens that they give you more free music.
3. View the music data. Most websites will have the music details right next to the result. Some files show the playing time, file size (in Mb) and bitrate. This can help you find what you are looking for.
   • The bitrate reflects the sound quality of the file. With MP3 files, the bitrate is usually between 60 and 320 Kbps. The higher the bitrate, the better the quality. A bitrate of 256 Kbps means CD quality, while 192 Kbps equals radio quality.
   • Lower bitrates produce smaller files. This is useful if you don't have that much memory space on your computer or MP3 player, but still want to store as many different music as possible.
4. Listen to the music before downloading. Click on the "Play" link below the song title to listen to it within your browser so you can determine if it is really what you were looking for.
5. Download the file. When you are ready to download the song, right click on the “Download” link below the song title and choose “Save as ....”. Choose a location on your computer and save the file there.
   • Sometimes it is not possible to download the music directly from the website, but the website will connect you to certain download services.
6. Check if it works. Go to the file on your computer and open it by clicking it twice. Make sure the file has been downloaded correctly. If so, save it and add it to your favorite music program.

Method 6 of 9: Convert music from YouTube

1. Go to a so-called YouTube conversion website. There are several websites that give you access to a YouTube video link to an input field so that you can “rip” an audio file from there for download, usually in the form of an MP3 file of medium quality (128 Kbps).
   • Converting YouTube videos is not in accordance with the website's terms of use. If you download music from the site too often, YouTube can block your IP address from accessing all YouTube sites.
2. Surf to YouTube and find a song you want to download. Select the address bar of your web browser and copy the full web address (URL) of the video.
3. Then paste the URL of the video in the field of the conversion website and click "Convert Video". The converting process may take a few minutes depending on the length of the video file.
4. Download the file. Once the file is ready, it will appear above the text field. Click on the “Download” link to save it to your computer.
5. Click twice on the file. Open it on your computer and check that it has no flaws. This problem with converted MP3 files is not as common today as it was a few years ago, but it is still good to check.

Method 7 of 9: Download music with a torrenting program

1. Buy torrenting software. Using torrents is probably the most popular way to share music over the internet. Torrents are files that instruct your computer to copy parts of a target file or folder (such as an album) from other torrent users until you have copied the album completely.
   • The above software runs torrent files and helps you manage your torrents. µTorrent is a small, fast and reliable free torrenting program. You can download it from the official website.
   • While searching for torrents and downloading the torrent file are not prohibited, standard copyrights do apply to the content of any file transferred via torrents. This means that if you don't have a legal copy of the song you are downloading, the material you downloaded is actually illegal.
2. Install the software. Click twice on the file you downloaded to start the installation process. The installer will probably ask you to install search bars and other additional software. You can always choose not to install all of that.
   • Finding a torrent. You can find added torrents or torrent lists on many websites, as torrent files are not illegal in themselves.
   • Search among the results for user ratings and comments. Go to the files that receive positive comments and are well rated - other files can be misleading or even dangerous.
3. Download the torrent file. The file should be very small - a few dozen Kb at most. This is because the torrent is just a series of instructions telling your program what to do. When you have downloaded the torrent, it should open automatically. If not, open it via your torrent client.
4. Wait for the file to download. Torrents download can take anywhere from a few minutes to almost a whole day. This depends on the size of the file you are torrenting, and the number of “Seeders” (people who have the entire file) that are currently sharing the file.
5. If possible, leave the torrent available. After downloading your music, you can extract the files and listen to them at your leisure. While it's not mandatory, it's considered neat if you leave the file on your list for others to download parts of it through you.
   • Some private torrenting communities require participants to maintain a certain download-seeding ratio in order to remain a member of the site.

Method 8 of 9: Find a music forum

1. Find a community that shares music. Most larger websites set up by a community (like Reddit, for example) do have one or more communities that are specifically dedicated to music. Take a look around and familiarize yourself with the community rules before posting.
   • Sharing music through a forum is no more legal than sharing through torrents. The great thing about a forum is that it is much less likely to be followed by the authorities or taken down because a forum is only accessible to members.
2. Note if there are ongoing discussions with the topic “share” or “sharing”. Depending on the website you visit, this may only be the case very occasionally, or several times a day. If you find a discussion, join it.
3. Choose an album. You will see people posting albums via hyperlinks to sites like Mega, Zippyshare and Mediafire. You can download the album in question directly via these links.
   • Copy the link and paste it in a new tab. When prompted, click the file to download it.
4. Scan the file to see if it contains viruses. Don't forget to check the downloaded file with your antivirus software to be sure. To do this, right-click on the file. You should then see a menu where you can find the antivirus option.
5. Open the file. If the file appears to be okay, open it and extract the music files. You don't have to share it with others like a torrent.
6. Offer something in return. When you know your community a little better, it's fine to ask for music if someone else has it. But you're likely to get a lot more positive response if you offer to put one of your own albums online first.

Method 9 of 9: Using software to share files

1. Download music over a network to share files. File sharing refers to the direct exchange of files with other users. The safest and most reliable way to share files for free is Soulseek. Soulseek also gives you access to one of the largest music collections available online.
   • As with other file programs, always be careful when downloading files from unknown users. Programs like soulseek do not use a virus scanner and do not protect users from malicious files. As a user you are responsible for the safety of the files you download.
   • Sharing music through a file sharing program is illegal if you do not own an original copy of the music you download. By offering music for others to download, you also increase the chance that you will commit a criminal offense yourself. These programs are usually safe because they are used within a community and thus controlled, but remember that there is always a risk of sharing music that you do not own.
2. Download the Soulseek software. The latest version can be found at http://www.soulseekqt.net/news/node/1. Click on the link at the very top under the title of your operating system (Windows, Mac or Linux).
3. Install the software. Click twice on the downloaded file to start it and install the program.
4. Run Soulseek. The program will ask you to create your own username; this is not that important, so you can choose any name.
5. Create a music folder to share music with others. Most Soulseek users will not allow you to download files from their library if you do not share some of your files with them. You don't necessarily have to share your entire library, but it will be appreciated if you do.
   • Click the Options tab.
   • On the options page, click the File Sharing tab.
   • Click the Share Folder button at the very top of the window.
   • Browse to the folder you want to share and click “Share”. You can do this as many times as you want, so you can share multiple folders.
6. Search and download music. Click the Search tab and enter your search query in the text field. Press Enter and view the results. Check the bitrate (to the right of the search results) and the file size (on Soulseek you can find MP3, M4A and FLAC files). If there is something for you, click twice on the file (s) you want to download.
   • You can sort the list by Transfer Speed ​​to download files only from users with a fast internet connection.
   • If you want to download an entire album at once, double click on the address list above the song list. That way, you'll download everything within that address list (or at least anything you can see within the album's folder). Some users don't sort their music by album, so be careful not to accidentally download an entire address book with thousands of songs.
   • As long as you leave them open, the search results are continuously updated.
   • With every new search you perform, a new tab will be opened below the search bar. You can close the tabblat once you are done with it.
7. Find out how far you are already. Click the Transfers tab where you will see two new tabs, Uploads (Uploaded files) and Downloads (Downloaded files). Under Downloaded files you can see what you are currently downloading and the files waiting to be downloaded. Under Uploaded files you can see the files that other users are downloading from your computer, if so.
   • Light blue letters means the file to be downloaded is still waiting. If your entire album list remains light blue for too long, right-click and select Retry Download to restart the process. Most users allow a maximum number of downloads at a time. That is why there is often a queue of people waiting before you can download the file of your choice.
   • Dark blue letters means that the file is currently being downloaded. A progress bar and a bar indicating the bit rate of the transfer will appear on the right. The higher the numbers, the faster the download will be.
   • Green letters means that the file has been downloaded successfully. You will also see a bar next to the file showing the full progress.
   • Red letters indicate that the download has been canceled or aborted. This can have many different causes. Wait until you've downloaded the other songs, then try downloading the files with red letters again before looking elsewhere. You can right-click on the file and then click Retry.
8. Add the files to your library. Soulseek by default stores all the music you have downloaded in a folder on your hard drive titled "Soulseek downloads," in a subfolder called "complete." When you have the files you were looking for, drag or copy them from the download folder to your own music program.

Tips

• Podcasts often feature music, but there is a lot of talking in between. Via the AOL podcast MP3 of the Day you can download one free song every day.
• Instead of downloading the files, you can also stream music directly over the Internet. This way you can listen to music directly via the internet without using the memory of your hard drive. A few popular websites that offer free sound streaming are Grooveshark, Pandora, and Last.FM. YouTube is also a great way to stream specific songs, if you don't mind a video included.

Warnings

• Downloading music without paying for it is always illegal. Although the chances of getting into legal trouble with this are not great, you should be aware that you always run a certain risk. The fines for illegally sharing music can be quite high.