Q Magazine this month (March 2007) published a list of a 100 websites where you can download music for free from. I’ve had a quick flick through the article – although some of the sites are artists giving away some additional tracks, others are actually streaming sites – which I thought was a cope out, so I thought I’d try compile my own list. Obviously there will be some overlaps, but hopefully I’ve got a few sites that Q haven’t. I can’t always guarantee that the sites provide the mp3s legally – but I can say that they don’t promote the wholesale sharing of copyrighted albums.
- iTunes – yes they have a free weekly song to help promote artists. There are other similar sites with free downloads or introduction freebies these include:
- eMusic
- Mp3.com
- Napster – now it has been legalised.
- XPoNential Music on demand – associated with the American WXPN radio station who record live sessions, some of which are available here.
- Archive.org – source of live bootlegs – archive insist on explicit approval from the artists for bootlegging of live performances – huge choice of bands. Archive.org also cover books and other downloadable content as well. More information on how allows tapping can be found at “bands that allow taping” here.
- MySpace’s music – artists both signed and unsigned promote themselves through the site including free track downloads.
- Live Spaces – Microsoft Equivelant to MySpace
- Wolfgang’s Vault – a nice library of live performances.
- An Aquarium Drunkard – blog which reviews and makes downloads available.
- Day Trotter – This site with blog etc. have managed to get artists to call in to their little studio to record songs for them which are made available though their site.
- GarageBand – unsigned and independent artists.
- LegalTorrents – As bit torrent becomes more common as a means to download, I’d imagine this site and others like it will pop up.
- Epitonic
- SXSW – The South By South West event website provides a huge preview download of artists performing at the festival.
- Blogs, some blogs provide free tracks to downloads, such as Arjan Writes
- Large Hearted Boy – my favourite blog, with a daily roundup of press articles and downloads
- Idolator – a prolific blog.
- An Aquarium Drunkard
- Stereogum
- Glorious Noise
- Furthur Net – dedicated to sharing live bootlegs using a dedicated peer to peer client.
- DimeADozen – a torrent based site for sharing bootleg recordings. Great site.
- Trader’s Den – An alternative to DimeADozen.
- dmusic – providing music licensed by artists using the Creative Common license .
- Filter Magazine – an online US magazine with downloads available.
- Big O Magazine – an online magazine from Singapore (written in English) although it covers a lot of politics it is also an interesting source of bootlegs and reviews.
- WOXY – the partner site to LaLa.com (US CD swapping service) provides live performances.
Okay – so it isn’t 100 strong – but not a bad start. I’ll update the list when I find other good sites worth of adding.
Tags: MP3 Download Sites Music Downloading Torrent
