Royalty-free music listening and downloading sites

How about listening to free music?

Many artists have chosen to release their tracks under a free license. What's more, a considerable amount of music has passed into the public domain.

Here are 19 sites where you can listen to and download tracks or complete albums freely and legally. Their composers and performers are not always well known... It's up to you to change that!

Happy listening and downloading!

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1. Au bout du fil. Au bout du fil is a French website promoting new artists. The most recent tracks are featured on the home page. You can also search by genre, or go back to other users' choices (most listened to, most downloaded). The site is young and not very well-stocked, but the tracks are, artistically and technically, of high quality. Great discoveries ahead.
   
   
2. Bensound. Over a hundred music tracks in all styles to enhance videos. No fuss, under Creative Commons.
   
   
3. Dig cc mitxer. The site offers exclusively original tracks under Creative Commons license, made from the electronic loops and a capella voice recordings available on the site itself. Search by genre and type of use. You'll have todig deep into this site, but you'll also come across some amazing tracks.
   
   
4. Dogmazic.net. "The Dogmazic.net music archive offers over 55,000 music tracks, all of which can be downloaded free of charge "in complete peace of mind and in complete legality". The musicians publishing on Dogmazic have all chosen to place their music under a free distribution license."
   
   
5. Easyzix. Easyzic is a community site offering free music, as well as forums, folders, scores... As with any site of this kind, access to its functions is gained after registration. Songs for listening and downloading are available under the free MP3 tab. You can download even if you're not a registered member, but you'll need to provide your e-mail address to receive the download link. As a member, on the other hand, you have immediate access to the downloads of your choice from the 3000 or so tracks on offer.
   
   
6. Ektoplazm. Ektoplazm is a listening and downloading site specializing in psytrance and techno. Entire albums can be freely downloaded. All albums are available in three file formats: MP3, FLAC or WAV. Ideal for livening up your parties.
   
   
7. Electrobel. Here's another site specializing in electronic music and its many categories. This is a Belgian site promoting artists from that country and Luxembourg. Curiously, the site is entirely in English. Downloading is via the player, which also includes a description of the track and the playlists in which you've included it.
   
   
8. Epidemic Sound. More than 40,000 tracks and over 90,000 sound effects. Royalty-free licenses from $10 per month.
   
   
9. FilmStro - Specializing in music for video. Purchase licenses with no limits on use or reproduction.
   
   
10. Free Music Archive. This site is the work of WFMU, the oldest American free radio station still in operation. It features thousands of tracks for free listening and downloading, selected by the station's music programmers and other guest "curators". The choice is eclectic and sometimes confusing, but if you're not afraid of venturing into the realms of highly experimental music, this is the site for you.
    
    
11. Incompetech. Strange name, this site is not at all incompetent! Electronic music of all kinds, classified by tempo, duration or genre. Listen directly or download as mp3 or from iTunes.
    
    
12. Icons. Free music in exchange for a backlink. The library is rich and easy to navigate. You can even get rid of the need for a backlink by subscribing for $20/month.
    
    
13. Jamendo. Jamendo is the best-known site for listening to and downloading music under free licenses. It is the ideal place for contemporary artists to promote their work. The home page features the most popular tracks and artists, as well as a radio function. When you listen to a track, the player opens at the bottom of your screen, regardless of the page you're on. So you can continue surfing the site without interrupting your listening. Jamendo also offers pro licenses for those wishing to use the tracks as background music in schools or as sound illustrations for their multimedia productions. 350,000 tracks are waiting for you, so don't miss out!
    
    
14. JoyStock. A bit like the free image sites, JoyStock offers dozens of royalty-free music files to accompany presentations and documents.
    
    
15. Marmoset Music - Original music by emerging artists, open licenses.
    
    
16. Mubert. Mubert offers music produced by an A.I. inspired by the styles of compositions submitted to it or already in its bank...
    
    
17. MusicBed - Specializes in songs for films and videos. Allows unlimited licensing.
    
    
18. Musicscreen. This amazing site contains hundreds of tracks, all composed by the same author, Hicham Chahidi. The tracks are only accessible by style, and are obviously intended to illustrate your videos or slide shows. Very practical for this purpose.
    
    
19. musique-libre. org is a free music association offering articles to help you discover free music.
    
    
20. Musopen. Musopen is a site specializing in classical or classically inspired music. All tracks are licensed under "public domain" or Creative Commons licenses. Search by genre, performer, instrument, composer, work form and period. The site also features sheet music and a radio station. You can choose random listening to get an idea of the diversity of the tracks on offer.
    
    
21. Revolution Sound Records. Here's a site that energetically campaigns for free music. Its artistic niche is urban electronic music. Few artists in the catalog, but several interesting collective albums. Worth checking out.
    
    
22. SmartSound - Royalty-free music and tools for adapting it.
    
    
23. Soundcloud- A lot of music is shared on Soundcloud, and some pieces can be used without having to pay royalties, or after agreement with the author. But check the type of license.
    
    
24. Videvo offers music tracks and sound effects in addition to its videos, royalty-free. Many are free. Tracks are indexed by genre and mood, such as "romantic, surrounded by the enemy, dramatic, patriotic, sports, vacation, etc.".
    

photo: akahodag via photopin cc