I love music. One of the most satisfying accomplishments in the world is when you find a song that perfectly describes a moment. It can be fast, slow, sad, happy, anything is possible for that single moment.
In High School I was the first person to own an iPod. In fact, my parents would threaten to take away access to buy myself music on iTunes as punishment. Now, if you look at my collection you will find playlists labeled only with a letter of the alphabet, some with sub numbering if I needed to expand. A, B, C, D, D1, D2, E1… no one knows or understands my music category system and is exactly the way I like it. But when you are hanging out with me and need some background music to fit the situation, I have just the letter for you!
I prefer buying my music as opposed to illegal downloading it… my HS ethics teacher did a number on me that stopped that habit real quick! But with majority of my money going towards coffee and books sometimes I have to get creative in finding free music. On average I download 10 high quality (and completely legal!) songs a week without costing me a dime. Below are my main sources for great and totally free music:
iTunes (2 Songs every Tuesday)
Most everyone knows of iTunes Single of the Week that comes out every Tuesday. But few know of the “Discovery Download” that they also give away! Both songs can be found in your iTunes store under the Music tab, just scroll down a bit further for the “Discovery Download” button on the left. Even if I am not immediately feeling the songs with the 30 second teaser I still download because most often these songs are being played on Grey’s Anatomy or the like within a year.
www.itunes.com
Amazon (Average 2 – 3 Songs throughout week)
If you head over to Amazon.com and scroll over “Downloads” on the toolbar and finally select “MP3” you will find a free single ready for you to download. I know iTunes comes out with a free song every Tuesday but I haven’t quite figured out Amazon’s consistency. Sometimes the same free song will be up for many days and other times I can find a new song daily. Not wanting to miss a chance I still peak into their site as often as I remember.
www.amazon.com
Nike (1 Song every Tuesday)
For those that are not Nike fanatics like I am you may not know about their Women’s interactive website. From designing shoes to lifestyle promotions and blogs, their women’s site has many ways to entertain. My favorite is their weekly MP3 giveaway. Every Tuesday a new song is downloadable and no account is needed. You will find this song on their monthly calendar (April’s Calendar click here>>) by looking at Nike Women and clicking on Lifestyle on the sidebar followed by Calendar.
www.nike.com
Mashable (Average 10 songs every Monday, 3 – 4 are enjoyable)
Every Monday, Mashable.com releases an article of the 10 bests songs they found online that can be downloaded for free. Some of the songs require a e-mail list sign up (Skip those!) but majority are just a right click away. Unlike the other sites, I don’t recommend downloading all 10 songs because you can… I hate to say it, but some of their songs are awful. Give each song a little listen before you dive in. [But download Bobby Smith’s “Breakup Song” from Mashable’s 4/12 article, I have been listening to it non stop today!]
www.mashable.com
Free Indie (When it rains it poors, but site isn’t as active)
Free Indie is a blog that offers multiple free songs for featured artists. By using relatively unknown “indie” artist you lose the hassle of the record companies begging for their pennies and still get very unique/potential hit songs. These songs are also free for use within promotions you may be creating. The nice thing about this site is blog posts from ages ago are still live and readily able for download. The only downfall of this site is that it has not updated for some time. Hopefully if enough of us visit, more songs will appear!
www.freeindie.com
Last.FM (Less than 1 song per week, keep checking back)
I use Last.FM not for music streaming but for new artist recommendations. It tracks what I am listening to and as I am giving away way too much information by allowing everyone to know my music tastes (yes, this says a TON about a person!) it is worth it for the new artist or song I am told to check out. While logged in I also find on my home screen available free downloads based off of my current interests. I think that the sites does a non personal search on the web to find songs because sometimes they are poor quality or not the correct artist… However, you may get a gem.
www.last.fm
