The 9 Best Free Music Download Sites to Legally Download Music for Free (2024)

Whether you need beats for a creative project or you simply want to have music files rather than streaming, you'll find plenty of websites to download music legally and for free.

1. YouTube Audio Library

The YouTube Audio Library is where you'll find lots of aesthetic music you've mostly heard in vlogs. It's mainly aimed at people who need royalty-free music for YouTube videos. With a YouTube account, you can access the library via YouTube Studio and download as many songs as you wish.

According to its terms and conditions, you can use the tracks in any YouTube video you create, including monetized ones. Besides free music tracks, the YouTube Audio Library also includes sound effects.

Hit the small Play icon to listen to each song sample. If you like what you hear, click the adjacent Download button. Attribution is not required unless the track carries a Creative Commons license.

2. Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive has been around for many years but remains as popular as ever. Most of the free song downloads are from lesser-known artists, but occasionally, you will see a famous name pop up. Regardless, it's a great site that's similar to apps that help you discover new music.

All the tracks on the site are perfectly free to download and listen to. However, if you intend to alter the songs or use them commercially, you need to check the license associated with each recording and follow the correct attribution format.

3. Bensound

Bensound is another good place to get music. You can filter the tracks by genre and mood, such as cinematic, ambient, rock, hip-hop, and more. You can even filter the music by instrument.

As a free user, you have access to more than 80 copyright-safe tracks. The site is particularly suitable if you're looking for music for your social media videos. Just make sure you provide the attribution correctly.

4. Musopen

If you don't like pop, rock, and other mainstream genres, you can download classical music for free at Musopen.

Musopen has recordings from some of the most famous musicians of all time. You'll find everything from Bach and Beethoven to Tchaikovsky and Holst. You can search by composer, instrument, period, and mood to locate the content you want.

The site extends beyond music downloads; it's also an online source for free sheet music and educational resources.

5. The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is useful for much more than just laughing at how bad the web looked in 1999. You can also download music for free.

The best part of the site is the Live Music Archive. It was built in partnership with etree.org and features shows and concerts from a range of leading artists. All the bands in the collection are "trade-friendly," meaning they've granted fans the right to freely trade some of their music for non-commercial means.

The library doesn't just cover music; it's also one of the best websites to download audiobooks. You'll also find public affairs talks, radio shows, and poetry readings.

6. ReverbNation

If you're an up-and-coming band, ReverbNation is a great site to sell music online. Since the site is primarily aimed at new bands, you won't find tracks from the current chart-toppers. Don't let that put you off, though.

ReverbNation has launched the careers of many top bands, including the Alabama Shakes and Imagine Dragons. That means you can be the coolest kid at school by downloading music from tomorrow's hippest artists before they become famous.

To download an artist's music, you need to create an account on the site first, head to the artist's profile, and tap the Become A Fan button. The Download icon will then appear next to the selected songs available for users to download.

7. Last.fm

Owned by Paramount Global, Last.fm is a large music website that tracks your music and recommends new songs accordingly. The site also offers a list of free music downloads. Just tap the Download icon next to the track to save it.

While you can download the music for free, it's best to only play them for your enjoyment because Last.fm's free songs cannot be used for commercial projects. They're for personal use only.

8. CCTrax

CCTrax offers free music downloads that are covered by a Creative Commons license. It specializes in electronica, dub, techno, and ambient tunes.

You can download every song on the site, and no payments are involved anywhere. However, you need to read about the Creative Commons license. You can filter the music by license type on the main page so that the tracks from the resulting list can be utilized without legal repercussions. ​​​​​

9. Audio Library

Audio Library is a comprehensive website to download free music from, and you can use all the tracks you find on the website in various projects. You can also download these songs for free if you only want to listen to them privately. If you use the songs elsewhere, you just need to credit the author (you'll see a prompt to do this when you download a song).

Audio Library covers music across several genres, including cinematic, dance, hip-hop, and more. You can also browse based on mood and artists. The website is very user-friendly, and you can choose to either download from the artist's website or direct from Audio Library instead.

The sites above mostly specialize in helping you download music from unknown and upcoming artists rather than current stars. It's largely inevitable, as the biggest names in music generally don't distribute music for free. If a site offers a free download of Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift's latest album, it's probably illegal.

If you want to legally download the latest mainstream singles, you still need to use paid services like Spotify. But if your goal is to discover gems by independent artists or get free songs for your YouTube videos, these free music sites will meet your needs well.