An audiovisual project, an online ad, the soundtrack for your first video game, mixing songs as a hobby… in other words, you need music. But at the same time, you need music that won’t cause legal problems. Today we’ll explore three resources to download free music without copyright, and without headaches.
Remember the days when you could upload a video to YouTube using a song by your favorite artist and nobody would shoot you with laser beams? Unfortunately, every content creator today is forced to be a copyright expert, and the best way to avoid trouble is to dive into the waters of public domain, CC0, and other similar licenses.
We’ve already shared the best free image banks, and we also have an excellent selection of illustrations and vector icons… but what about music today? Fortunately, there are several portals that compile and share links to download free music without copyright, without prior registration, and without paying a cent. Here are three of those portals:
The best sites to download free music without copyright
FreePD
FreePD delivers hundreds of MP3s spread across ten different categories, all of which are in the public domain or under the CC0 license. The site’s two “plans” offer downloads of its catalog in larger packages (5 GB for the first, and more than 9 GB for the second), but nothing stops us from grabbing each song manually.
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive divides its archive into 16 genres, ranging from rock and blues to classical and electronic music. Within each genre you’ll find additional subcategories, but you’ll get better results with its internal search engine, which enables a filter to show songs exclusively under CC0.
Musopen
We’ve talked about this site before, but I think it’s worth a review. If what you need is classical music, Musopen is the right place. Even under the public domain filter, this portal has more than 4,700 melodies that you can download and modify without restrictions. All Musopen asks is that you create an account, and its free profile allows five downloads per day.
More than enough to get your feet wet when it comes to downloading free music without copyright. To close, we also want to recommend the portal of artist Antti Luode, who decided to share his entire catalog for use on YouTube under a CC 3.0 license (attribution). Enjoy!
