Free & Legal MP3 Downloads

• Amazon.com is well known for selling books, CD’s, and electronics, but did you know that they also offer free and legal music downloads? In addition to their weekly Music You Should Hear podcast, which features full tracks from what they call an “eclectic group of artists,” they maintain an archive of tracks from previous shows. They also offer full sample tracks from selected albums. Their free music downloads are searchable. To download you will need an Amazon account; if you don’t already have one, you can create one with your name, e-mail address, and password.

• Garageband.com features independent artists and offers both free and legal MP3 downloads and CD’s for sale. Downloading requires no prior registration, and you don’t need to sign in. If you’re a musician, Garageband.com offers free MP3 hosting to help you promote your music.

• The online magazine Salon.com’s Audiofile column offers a song of the day for download (recent entries include “Sad Days, Lonely Nights” by James Blood Ulmer, “While You Were Sleeping” by Elvis Perkins, “En Casa Del Trompo No Bailes” by Orquesta Riverside, and “Committed to Parkview” by Porter Wagoner). Songs are available for direct download or as a podcast. No registration or sign-in is required.

• The British-based MFiles features free downloads of public domain classical, ragtime, and Christmas music. They also offer free downloads of MIDI files and sheet music. Their MIDI selections include military bugle calls, French brass bands, hymns and church music, and Auld Lang Syne. Downloads do not require registration or sign-in.

• BetterPropaganda.com has a selection of thousands of tracks from independent artists for free download. All downloads are legal. The site also links to video interviews with independent artists on YouTube. No registration or sign-in is required to download.

• Oddio Overplay features links to other web sites that offer free and legal music. The sites promote full-length tracks from independent artists who are unlikely to be heard in mainstream media.

• The Red Ferret Journal is a huge directory of sites that offer free music downloads. Each site is categorized and reviewed. The Red Ferret Journal promises links to “one million free and legal audio tracks.”

• The Internet Archive’s Live Music Archive includes a huge list of live concerts, including the Grateful Dead Collection. The site states that explicit permission was given by each group or artist for the music to be shared. No registration or sign-in required. Downloads are available in many formats (streaming, Ogg Vorbis, MP3), either as complete concerts or as individual tracks.

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