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Where to find free music
by Dean Mortlock
09.01.07 |
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In today’s world of file-sharing, court cases and heavy-handed record companies, it’s commonly assumed that anyone offering you music for free online is either a pirate, blissfully unaware or a disgruntled musician trying to stick it to ‘The Man’. Thankfully that’s not always the case, and although it’s still possible to find illegal downloads, a deeper search will reveal plenty of excellent (and legal) material.
But how easy is it to find good quality legal downloads on the Internet? The answer to that obviously depends on your tastes and how fussy you are. The fact is that there are hundreds of new and interesting songs being posted on the Internet every day. And while the majority of them are from unsigned bands (so it’s a bit of a ‘lucky dip’ to find the quality stuff) a bit of time, a smattering of patience and a sprinkling of luck should ensure that you find the best new music first.
EPITONIC
There are a few good sites for free music, but one of the best is most definitely Epitonic (image 1). Despite a redesign this year that hasn’t collected many fans along the way, it’s still an enormous band database and host of some excellent free tracks. Find a band you like and see if there’s a download for them. If not, then scroll down and look through Epitonic’s list of suggested alternatives and you’re sure to find one there.
REM
You may argue that their best work is far behind them, but REM’s decision to remix their Reveal album and put the results online was one of the cleverest uses of a band’s website we’ve seen for some time. The final tracks (10 in total) are mostly done by unknown remixers, but it’s definitely worth downloading the lot and listening to them – even if you’re not normally a fan of the band.
HARVEY DANGER
If you remember an extraordinary song from a few years ago called Flagpole Sitta, then you’ll remember who Harvey Danger are. The band has been quietly producing decent music ever since then, but without the commercial acclaim that many people thought they’d achieve. Last year though, they took the original step of offering their new album for free through their website (image 2). But why? In their own words: ‘The short answer is simply that we want a lot of people to hear the record.’ Is it an experiment that worked? Well, we found it and enjoyed it and, judging by its inclusion in a number of online forums and blogs, many other people did as well. If nothing else, it’s helped to get their music to a wider audience, and that’s got to be a good thing.
STEREOGUM
MP3 blogs are commonplace on the Internet and, through regular updates, offer visitors the chance to download new and original tracks from unsigned bands or those on the cusp of greatness. Stereogum (image 3) is one of the better ones, as it’s intelligently written, doesn’t take itself too seriously and always has plenty of new and interesting material. A quick search on Google though, will soon provide you with plenty of bookmarks of alternative sites.
MYSPACE
How can you talk about free music without mentioning MySpace? The cultural phenomenon that launched the career of the Artic Monkeys and host to more free music than you’ll ever listen to in your lifetime. Most bands (big or small) have a page here and it doesn’t take long before you’ve plunged in and are thinking about downloading a song from bands and creating a page of your very own.
Regular visitors to iPlay Collective will know that we do our bit to champion new music here. Our New Music forum is the place to go to if you want to see what’s currently being recommended for download – and it’s also the perfect place to go to if you’re in a band and want to promote yourself – while the best new music we find is put up regularly in the New Music section of the Directory. And that’s not all. If we find any legal downloads from more established band, then we’ll put them up on our Free Music link immediately – look for the direct link on our front page.
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1. There are also hundreds of downloadable ‘mash-ups’ available online too, but that’s a different subject altogether. Check out our mash-up Masterclass (coming soon) for more information about what they are and where you can find them.
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2. While the majority of the files you download will be in the MP3 format, some will be in an alternative one (like WMV, for example). Converting them is very straightforward though, so go to our FAQs section if you’ve got a file that iTunes won’t recognise. |
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