25 Sites for Free Streaming and Downloading Legal Music

<h2 id="section---OnlineMusicResources">Online Music Resources</h2> <p>College is a great place to discover and share new music, but with the RIAA cracking down on campuses all over the U.S., illegal file sharing is a thing of the past. The following is a list of 25 great sites where you can stream and download the hottest tracks - freely and legally! </p> <h2 id="section---SocialMusicSites">Social Music Sites</h2> <p>These social networking sites offer bands and their fans a place to create profiles, link up and share music. </p> <h3 id="section---1.SoundClick">1. <a href="http://www.soundclick.com/">SoundClick</a></h3> <p>SoundClick is one of the oldest social music sites on the Web. Create a profile, connect with your favorite artists, and download tons of new music for free. </p> <h3 id="section---2.Jamendo">2. <a href="http://www.jamendo.com/">Jamendo</a></h3> <p>Jamendo allows artists to license their songs via Creative Commons and make them downloadable for free. Find someone you want to support? Jamendo also allows users to (optionally) donate directly to their favorite artists. </p> <h3 id="section---3.CcMixter">3. <a href="http://ccmixter.org/">ccMixter</a></h3> <p>Are you into making - or just rocking out to - remixes, samples and mash-ups? ccMixter offers tons of free songs and remixes for download, all licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/">Creative Commons</a>. DJs and musicians can also grab sample packs and a capella tracks for free, then upload their own creations to the site. </p> <h3 id="section---4.PureVolume">4. <a href="http://www.purevolume.com/">PureVolume</a></h3> <p>This popular social music site allows premium artists to connect with fans and offer free song downloads. </p> <h3 id="section---5.MP34U">5. <a href="http://www.mp34u.com/">MP34U</a></h3> <p>Supported by the Muzic network, users are the source on MP34U. Sources post their favorite songs and you nab 'em with free, legal MP3 downloads. </p> <h3 id="section---6.Tastebuds">6. <a href="http://tastebuds.fm/home">Tastebuds</a></h3> <p>Tastebuds is a social site where people can post music to share. Although there are social and dating components, it can also be used as a resource for finding new music based on bands you already like. </p> <h3 id="section---7.Playlist.com">7. <a href="http://www.playlist.com/">Playlist.com</a></h3> <p>This site allows users to stream self-made playlists from their collections, plus share songs and playlists with friends. </p> <h3 id="section---8.Youtube">8. <a href="http://www.youtube.com">Youtube</a></h3> <p>Youtube is not just for videos. Youtubers have uploaded songs and albums and created playlists that are easy to stream. While many song uploads are just accompanied by album art or artist pictures, there are also official music videos and new releases from the Vevo channel. </p> <h3 id="section---9.HypeMachine">9. <a href="http://www.hypem.com">Hype Machine</a></h3> <p>Hype Machine aggregates millions of songs from all over the web that can be streamed for free and sometimes downloaded for free as well. </p> <h2 id="section---MusicBlogsAndMagazines">Music Blogs and Magazines</h2> <p>These blogs and web zines offer thorough music reviews and free MP3 downloads. </p> <h3 id="section---10.FreeAlbumsGalore">10. <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/curator/Free_Albums_Galore/">Free Albums Galore</a></h3> <p>Want to try out some new music but not sure what you're looking for? This blogger does the work for you: he reviews new bands and provides direct links to download their whole album(s) free and legally. </p> <h3 id="section---11.Stereogum">11. <a href="http://stereogum.com">Stereogum</a></h3> <p>This music review blog offers tons of free MP3s and select whole albums for download. </p> <h2 id="section---MassiveMusicCollections">Massive Music Collections</h2> <p>These sites offer huge, searchable repositories of free, downloadable MP3s. </p> <h3 id="section---12.Archive.org">12. <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/audio_music">Archive.org</a></h3> <p>The Internet Archive is an online library that offers tons of free data, from text to images to archived websites, including hundreds of free songs. Other popular audio downloads at the Internet Archive include live albums and concerts, audio books and old radio shows. </p> <h3 id="section---13.MP3Raid">13. <a href="http://www.mp3raid.com/">MP3Raid</a></h3> <p>MP3Raid is a search aggregator that accesses millions of free, legal sources for downloadable music. </p> <h3 id="section---14.IMSLP">14. <a href="http://www.imslp.org/">IMSLP</a></h3> <p>The International Music Score Library Project is a particularly good resource for classical music. As a bonus, if you play an instrument, you can sometimes find free sheet music and learn to play the music yourself. </p> <h3 id="section---15.NationalJukebox">15. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/">National Jukebox</a></h3> <p>Organized by the Library of Congress, National Jukebox is another resource for streaming classical, ethnic, and religious music. If you're looking to broaden your musical experience, there are also tracks of jazz, theatre numbers, and even yodeling. </p> <h3 id="section---16.FMA">16. <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/">FMA</a></h3> <p>The Free Music Archive is just that: a free music archive. Users can download songs directly to a variety of devices for easy access. </p> <h2 id="section---MusicStores">Music Stores</h2> <p>Lots of music stores include big selections of free downloadable and streaming MP3s. Get the direct links to the good (free!) stuff here: </p> <h3 id="section---17.ITSFreeDownloads">17. <a href="http://www.itsfreedownloads.com/">iT'S Free Downloads</a></h3> <p>No more frustrating i-hunting! iTunes and iPod users can hop on this website to go directly to the latest free tracks on iTunes. </p> <h3 id="section---18.Epitonic">18. <a href="http://www.epitonic.com/">Epitonic</a></h3> <p>Epitonic offers free songs by popular and emerging indie bands from all over the world. Full albums are available as paid downloads. </p> <h3 id="section---19.ITunes">19. iTunes</h3> <p>That's right. Every week, iTunes offers one free song for download. If you are already using in iPod or another Apple product, this is an easy way to try new music for free. </p> <h3 id="section---20.MP3.com">20. <a href="http://www.mp3.com/free-music/free-mp3s">MP3.com</a></h3> <p>Mostly known for their massive paid music offerings, MP3.com also has some downloadable gems for free music seekers. </p> <h3 id="section---21.AmazonMP3Store">21. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MP3-Music-Download/b?ie=UTF8&amp;node=163856011">Amazon MP3 Store</a></h3> <p>Amazon offers over a thousand free songs for download at their MP3 store. Check out their featured free song of the day, where they promote new music by up and coming bands. </p> <h3 id="section---StreamingAndInternetRadio">Streaming and Internet Radio</h3> <p>Do you love radio, or just lack the time, disk space or bandwidth to download all this music? Check out the best streaming music sites on the Web below. </p> <h3 id="section---22.Last.fm">22. <a href="http://www.last.fm/">Last.fm</a></h3> <p>Last.fm allows users to listen to tons of free popular music, rate songs and create and share playlists. Create a free profile and get music recommendations based on you and your friends' favorites. </p> <h3 id="section---23.Pandora">23. <a href="http://www.pandora.com/">Pandora</a></h3> <p>Pandora is a free streaming Internet radio station that's tailored to your tastes. Select an artist or song to start a new station and Pandora will use the music genome project to play songs that are similar to your pick. Give each song a thumbs up or thumbs down to further refine your station. Registration is free, and users can create different stations for every mood or occasion. </p> <h3 id="section---24.We7">24. <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/we7">We7</a></h3> <p>Don't mind sound ads? We7 offers a huge selection of free streaming songs preceded by short advertisements that support the cost of royalties and rights management. </p> <h3 id="section---25.YahooMusic">25. <a href="http://music.yahoo.com/">Yahoo! Music</a></h3> <p>Stream popular songs and music videos for free on Yahoo's Internet radio and music video site. MP3 downloads are available with paid subscriptions.</p>