Download free music: the best apps and websites you can use in 2021

Everything you need to know to download free music to your mobile, tablet or computer. There are those who, even in the middle of the year 2021, prefer to download their favorite music and enjoy it offline, without having to resort to platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer. Unfortunately for these types of users, it has become increasingly difficult to download music for free outside of these types of online platforms legally.

However, we can still find some applications for Android and websites that allow us to get music for our mobile or computer. Today, we explain everything you need to know to be able to download free music. Below is the list of apps and websites to download free music.

Apps to download music to your mobile

If you want to know how to download free music then read this article carefully. Although its popularity has plummeted due to the rise of streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music, the truth is that apps to download music on mobile phones still have their audience.

Android: Xiaomi, Samsung, Huawei…

Keep in mind that most apps to download music on Android are not present in Google Play, but you will have to resort to alternatives to the Google app store to be able to get hold of them. However, the links we provide you are totally safe.

NewPipe

Although it is a third-party client for YouTube, NewPipe has among its functions the possibility of downloading the audio of YouTube videos in high-quality formats up to 160 kbps.

It is a free, open source app that can be downloaded through F-Droid.

YMusic

Another good option to download free music on Android is YMusi. Like the previous app, this one bases its operation on the YouTube catalog to obtain the audio files of the videos, and allow you to save them in the memory of your mobile.

Thanks to the built-in search engine, you can find any song – which is on YouTube, of course – and download it for free.

The best applications to download royalty-free music

Before going to see the applications to download music on the mobile for free and legal, we must bear in mind that, obviously, on these platforms and services we will not find the works of the most famous artists worldwide.

Instead, the most common is to find music created by independents who have decided to share their creations with the world without asking for anything in return.

Some of the websites that we list also have free royalty-free music that can be used without problems in projects such as YouTube videos or podcasts.

Jamendo

Jamendo, download free music
Jamendo

One of the most popular platforms to download free and royalty-free music is Jamendo. It has a catalog of more than half a million songs, all of them available to stream or download for free.

And best of all, it has its own application for Android, with a built-in player and access to the complete music catalog. However, you can use your favorite Android music player if you want to.

Icons8 Music

Although it does not have an application for Android, Icons8 is one of the best free music download websites.

It has thousands of different songs by artists from around the world, and as reflected on the web, it is possible to download and share or use the downloaded music in any project for free, as long as it is accompanied by a link to the site Web.

Icons8’s music is divided into 20 different genres, and of course it will be possible to listen to each of the songs before downloading them. Once we have made up our minds, we are offered the possibility to download the MP3 audio file.

There is also the possibility of downloading the song in WAV format to obtain a higher sound quality, of course, paying a fee of $20 per month that also eliminates the need to accompany projects that use music with a link to the web.

FMA – Free Music Archive

Download free music with archive
Music Archive

Another application for Android from which to download free music is FMA.

The mobile adaptation of the famous royalty-free music bank “Free Music Archive” houses a huge catalog of high-quality songs, divided into different categories and genres, to make it easy to find the perfect songs for every occasion.

Thanks to the integrated player in the application, it is possible to listen to music before downloading it.

Incompetech

Another free music bank full of songs to download for free on your mobile is Incompetech.

It offers hundreds of different songs that you can save and play on your mobile completely free of charge. In addition, you can use the music in YouTube videos thanks to the Creative Commons license.

Bensound

Bensound free music
Bensound

The last alternative we offer you to download free music for mobile is Bensound. This platform was created by Benjamin Tissot, a musician who has been creating his own music for more than 10 years, and who one day decided to develop a platform where artists from anywhere on the planet could share their works with the rest of the world.

As in Icons8, Bensound’s music is categorized by genre, and the ability to listen to the music for free before downloading is offered.

Another similarity with the previous service is the need to accompany with a link to the web those projects in which one of the sounds downloaded from Bensound is used.

The best apps to download music on iOS: iPod, iPhone and iPad

If you have an iOS device, you can also download music to your iPhone, iPod or iPad using dedicated applications.

Although Apple’s operating system does not offer the freedom of Android in that sense, it is possible to find apps that allow you to get free songs and play them without the need for an Internet connection.

FMA

The famous royalty-free music platform has its own application for iPhone and iPad.

Free Music Archive for iOS offers the possibility of downloading music without copyright in MP3 format, which can be used in our projects, or simply to enjoy it on any occasion.

Evermusic

In addition to being a great music player for iOS mobilesEvermusic also allows you to download songs in some of the most popular formats, including MP3, AAC, M4A, WAV, AIFF or M4R.

Freegal music

Freegal Music
Freegal Music

A classic among the apps to download music on iPhone. Freegal Music is also one of the apps with the best design in its category.

It offers access to a large free music library shared by its user community, and it is possible to download MP3 files directly to our devices, being able to choose from more than 15 million songs of more than 200 different genres.

Apps to download music on your computer

Apps to download music on your computer

If you are from the old school and prefer to have your music library organized on your computer, we offer you some of the best applications to download music directly to your computer, be it Windows or Mac.

uTorrent

Within the bittorrent clients, there are many alternatives that we find, surely the most popular are utorrenttransmissionqbittorrent and Vuze, formerly called Azureus.

Although there are many clients, of course the best known is utorrent, which due to its lightness, functions and speed has won the hearts of users.

How does utorrent work? Through .torrent files or magnet links, that is, small files or links that connect to the application and that files are downloaded through P2P.

What is P2P? It is a system by which users who are downloading that file share it and thus it is faster to download it.

Where can I download torrents? To do this you have to go to torrent trackers, that is, web pages where users share the links and so utorrent can download them, some of the most popular are: – Elitetorrent – Puntotorrent – ThePirateBay

These are some of the places where you can find them, although there are hundreds more.

This application is available for Windows, Linux, Mac and it even has a web client so you can use it on your Android phone or iPhone.

Ares

Another famous P2P download tool is Ares.

Although the application was created in mid-2002, today it is still one of the most used options for downloading content of all kinds, including music.

You can use Ares to download music to your computer shared by other users of the application. Also, thanks to its built-in search engine, you won’t even need to search for your music on other torrent websites.

On Mac

Mac users are usually the ones who pay the most when it comes to listening to music, in fact iTunes, now Apple Music, has been the platform that has sold the most music by far, however, with the popularization of Mac and its MacOS system more and more users are looking to download music to their computers.

In this section we are going to teach you several methods so that you can choose which one best suits you.

iMusic: The best music download app for MacOS

iMusic is an application that, although it might seem official from Apple, is actually a developer who has created one of the most interesting applications when it comes to downloading music from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or Vevo.

This program stands out for its ability to search for music on the most popular portals among users such as YouTube or Spotify and download those songs to your Mac very quickly and easily. One of the things that stands out about this application is that it is compatible with iOS 14, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Plus and iPhone 12.

Mediahuman Youtube to Mp3

The Mediahuman application is especially useful when downloading music from Youtube.

Surely you are listening to your favorite music in this app and you want to transfer it to your Mp3 or iPod or iPhone to be able to continue listening to it without the annoying advertisements of the platform.

This application allows you to download music from youtube with hd quality.

One of the features that stands out the most is its ability to drag & drop so that you can drag the video from the browser or even paste it from the clipboard.

This app is free but with limitations, specifically the one that can be the most annoying is the speed limitation that for a specific song is not annoying but if you want to download entire playlists it is.

It has a subscription format for those who want to be able to download at the maximum speed of €9.99 although it is not really necessary to go through the box.

ClipGrab, the best free download app

ClipGrab is a free off-road app. Allows download from multiple sources:

  • Youtube
  • Clipfish
  • Facebook
  • Collegehumor
  • Dailymotion
  • Myvideo
  • Myspass
  • Sevenload
  • Tudou
  • Vimeo

The application stands out for its lightness and for the number of formats to which it can export. Among them HD quality or .avi or .mp4, .mp3 formats .

It is also available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Without a doubt, it is the one that offers the best functions to download free music.

If the free applications do not give you confidence for fear of viruses or your data being stolen, you may have some very interesting payment alternative.

Softorino youtube converter 2, the paid app to download music

Softorino youtube converter 2 is the second version of this incredible application for MacOS that allows you to download music and video from the most common pages (Youtube, Vimeo, etc).

One of the functions that makes it different from the rest is its integrated video browser that allows browsing and makes finding the song of the summer done from the application itself. Without using a browser.

The main feature of this application is how fast it downloads videos and music as well as its ability to share songs and videos directly with your iPod, iPhone or iPad.

This application is available on MacOS and Windows 10.

Frostwire, the complete download manager

Frostwire is an application very different from the rest, since it is not a song download application but a complete download manager.

With this application you can browse a web, search for all its songs and videos and download them in a matter of seconds.

One of the things that triumphs the most about Frostwire is its interface, beautiful and intuitive, you can also search for music directly in the app and it even has a complete player in case you want it to be your main song manager.

It also has compatibility with torrent files, so if you are a regular user of torrent trackers such as puntotorrent or elitetorrent, you will love this app.

If you prefer to have your music on Apple Music (formerly iTunes), you can sync the songs directly and from there to your iPhone, iPad or iPod in a matter of seconds.

This is one of the most useful and complete apps that we bring you here.

The best web pages to download free music

You already know which are the best apps to download music. Now let’s see which are the best web pages from which to obtain music for free to listen to on your computer, or to transfer them to your mobile and enjoy them anywhere.

Goear

One of the most famous and used websites to download free music is GoEar.

It is a “super search engine” for MP3 music that allows you to find any song, whether new or from decades ago, and then download it to your mobile and computer for free.

MP3 files can be downloaded in high quality, and best of all, it is not necessary to install extra applications to be able to download the songs or listen to them.

In addition, the page has a section with the most listened to music that offers us the most popular songs of the moment, ready to be downloaded.

Easy, fast and safe methods to download music

When it comes to downloading music, it is common for malicious users to try to introduce a virus or Trojan horse, especially when using torrents.

If this does not give you any confidence and you prefer easier, faster and safer methods, we recommend that you use the paid subscriptions of Apple MusicSpotify or Youtube Music.

It is true that these subscriptions cost money but it is the best way to be 100% sure, have the latest themes and be able to get all the power of the platforms.

Many of these subscriptions give you up to 20 hours of free music or are directly free in exchange for putting some ads on you, which can be a more than reasonable price if you don’t want risks.

SoundCloud Music

SoundCloud is the largest free music community out there today. It is an audio distribution platform, where anyone can upload their own songs and share them with other people, as well as listen to those of others.

While a good part of the music hosted on SoundCloud comes from independent creators, it is also possible to find the music of renowned artists around the world, who decide to share their hits for free through SoundCloud.

In order to download music from SoundCloud, you need to log into the platform. Also, keep in mind that the owners of the songs will be able to choose whether or not you have permission to download their music.

Spotify Music

Probably the most popular music streaming platform in the world . Spotify has become the favorite service of millions of people when it comes to enjoying their favorite music, thanks to its huge variety of artists, albums, playlists and other musical content.

If you use Spotify for free, you can listen to all the music you want, although you will have to endure the occasional ad.

But if you pay, in addition to getting rid of the ads, you will have the possibility of downloading music to listen to it offline, either on your mobile or on your computer.

Music from YouTube, Vimeo and Vevo

Although there are other options to listen or download music that you may not have considered.

They are some of the most used video platforms on the planet, which among their immense catalog, have millions of songs from tens of thousands of artists from around the world, available to listen to completely free of charge.

YouTube is probably the best option if you are looking to have access to the widest variety of streaming music. And if you pay for the Premium version, you will have access to YouTube Music to access and download your favorite music on your mobile or PC.

Another alternative is Vimeo, which, although it does not have a catalog as extensive as YouTube, does offer music videos by renowned artists, with the high quality that defines the videos on the platform so well.

You could not miss one of the most famous music video platforms in the world: VEVO. In it, it is possible to find the videos of the most successful artists on planet Earth, from Ariana Grande to J Balvin, passing through Lady Gaga or Rosalía.

Despite having its own platform, the best way to watch VEVO’s music videos is by accessing its official YouTube channel, where all available music is published.

Amazon Prime Music

Are you an Amazon Prime user ? You probably already have access to millions of songs totally free, and you don’t even know it.

And one of the advantages of Amazon Prime is Amazon Prime Music, a service with more than 2 million songs without ads and anywhere, with a mobile app included.

You can listen to the songs in streaming, or download them to your devices to listen to them without the need for an Internet connection. Also, if you want to go even further, you can also subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited to have access to more than 20 million songs.

Download music from youtube

YouTube is one of the platforms with the greatest variety of music videos, with an immense catalog of millions of songs in different versions, whether original, live, acoustic… So, why not take advantage of it to grow our music library ? 

The platform does not offer the possibility to download the audio of YouTube videos. However, there are tools that can help us to do it easily, both from the mobile phone and from the computer.

  • Download music from YouTube on Android with NewPipe: We have already talked about NewPipe before. However, it is worth remembering that the application offers the possibility of downloading the audio from YouTube videos in high quality. You can download it for free on F-Droid
  • Download YouTube Music on Android with GetTube: A much simpler and easier-to-use alternative to F-Droid for downloading YouTube music on Android is GetTube. It is an app that allows you to download any video from YouTube, including the possibility of downloading only the audio, in high fidelity formats. It can be downloaded for free on XDA.
  • Download YouTube Music to Computer with FLVTO – Another good option to download YouTube music is FLVTO. With it, you just need to copy the link of the YouTube video you want to download, paste it on the page and start the download of the MP3 file. You can use it for free on the FLVTO website.

These are some of the best music download apps, pages, and tools out there in 2021. From time to time, new platforms of this type emerge that improve on existing ones. We will update this article frequently to include them.

Comparison of audio formats: MP3, MP4, FLAC, AAC, M4A and OGG

The most popular format for exchanging music is the MP3 file format. The MP3 format is a format created in 1993 where the use of the internet and consumer sound technology (headphones, speakers, etc.) were not yet well developed.

With the advent of the Internet in the early 2000s, the MP3 format became very popular. Especially with the appearance of MP3 players that appeared as a copy of Apple’s iPod.

In recent years, applications such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music (formerly iTunes) or Amazon Prime Music have made the music format we play transparent.

But even so, there are many people who still want to download music so that they can carry it on a portable player, in the car or many other types of use cases where having the music downloaded is very useful.

Download covers

Maintaining a fully organized music library is essential for any self-respecting music lover. And one of the best ways to organize our library is by adding the covers of each of the albums stored on our devices.

But, unfortunately, not all downloaded music comes with its original cover art, and it is sometimes difficult to find the art that accompanies our favorite albums.

However, there are web pages to download covers that allow us to find exactly the images we are looking for, to add them to our albums and to maintain a fully organized music library. These are the best:

Internet Archive

The great Internet archive has a specific section in which to find album covers.

The web has thousands of album images from hundreds of artists, which can be downloaded for free.

Album Art Exchange

With nearly 600,000 album art from thousands of music albums, Album Art Exchange is one of the most popular and varied art repositories out there.

The project is maintained thanks to the user community, which shares their album covers with other people. The vast majority of images can be downloaded in high quality. Also, you don’t need to register to download the covers.

Google images

Of course, if you can’t find the cover you’re looking for, you can always resort to the solution that never fails: a Google search.

Simply type the name of the album followed by the name of its artist, and you will most likely find the album art available for download. Unless you are looking for a very specific and hard-to-find cover, this solution is unlikely to be of use to you.

Lossy formats

Lossy music formats are those in which some frequencies are lost in the compression process, producing smaller audio (optimal for storage or distribution) but different from the original.

MP3

As we explained, the MP3 format was launched in 1993. Its great advantage is that it was capable of compressing the audio very well, but with some counterparts, the sound had losses, so when we listen to an audio in MP3 format, we do not hear it as it was originally Recorded.

MP3 was a proprietary format until 2017.

AAC

The AAC format is widely used by Apple because it has the same quality as MP3 audio but with a higher compression level. AAC music takes up less space than MP3 music.

OOG

OOG (also called OGG Vorbis) is a royalty-free, patent-free alternative (unlike MP3 and AAC).

Lossless formats

Lossless formats are those in which sound quality is not lost in the compression process, which is why they are called “lossless” formats. The best known are: FLAC, ALAC and WAV.

FLAC

The FLAC format or Free Lossless Audio Codec (in Spanish: Free Lossless Audio Codec ) is an open format without patents and manages to reduce the file between 50% and 60% compared to the original.

ALAC (.M4A)

ALAC is the lossless audio format created by Apple created in 2004. Its main disadvantage is that it is only supported by Apple’s iTunes and QuickTime.

Wav

It is a format created by Microsoft and IBM in 1991 that allows storing sound waves with or without compression. It is a lossless format.

MP4 video formats

Many people were confused for a long time thinking what MP4 were audio formats, the next version of MP3. But that was not true, MP4 are video formats that combine image and sound.

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