the best music websites can meet diverse needs and interests of music fans and artists around the world. With new ones popping up everyday, it can be hard to find the best ones to follow, subscribe to or become a member of — and you only have so much time. That’s why we’ve made this list of 30 music websites we think are awesome!
Music websites should start here because it proves where every kind of music comes from. Ever wonder which came first, ska, rocksteady or reggae? (Ska did). Wonder no more! Simply scroll your mouse wheel in and discover where your favorite tunes got their roots.
Like MusicMap, Every Noise at Once shows what's what in the vast world of music. It's been around a while now, but it still manages to impress. It’s a visual map of all — all — the genres and subgenres of music accepted by music lovers around the world. It provides samples of each genre as examples, too, so you can listen to and learn about all the kinds of music which surround your own favorites.
Gnoosic (“new music,” get it?) learns about you and tries to play new music you’ll love which you haven’t heard before. It’s based on the Gnod system, or Global Network of Discovery, and it’s plenty of fun for every music fan.
Wolfgang’s (previously Concert Vault)
A subscription-based archive which streams live concerts from pretty much any major artist you can imagine.
The global “Authority in Free Mixtapes,” no rap fan should go anywhere before visiting DatPiff. ‘Nuff said.
Offering streaming and free downloads, The Source has a heavy emphasis on hip hop and indie rap for all walks of life
SoundCloud’s more geared toward hosting indie rappers than anything else, and a ton of them offer their music for streaming or download for nothin’. Just ask Chance the Rapper, who was made famous through SoundCloud, then saved the platform in 2017.
EDM Sauce is a great resource for all things EDM, but they really go out of their way to provide excellent downloads for no cash at all. If you haven’t been already, you’ve been missing out.
Basically SoundCloud all over again, but even more geared toward artists, ReverbNation is where some of the most intense musicians hang out. They also give a grip of their songs away for free.
Also great for these genres.
See above.
Everyone knows about Last.fm now, but hardly anyone knows they have a pretty big free downloads section. Dig in.
Everyone knows about Amazon Music, but did you know they try to cater to country music listeners? They do. They also have a massive section dedicated to free downloads. Here you go.
Musopen aims to make music free to download, and they specialize in classical. Only five songs can be downloaded daily without becoming a subscriber, but that’s still over 1500 free songs a year. How much music do you really need at home?
Bills itself as free music streaming, but offers free music downloads, too.
Primarily for streaming, but with downloads, too, Jamendo emphasizes independent artists. If you like great tunes with an oddball thrown in from time to time, this is for you.
SoundClick tries to be everything every artist and listener needs in a music website, and they do a great job. Part of that is making free music downloads available.
MP3 Juices invites you to “Search for your favorite songs from multiple online sources and download them in the best possible quality for free.” They don’t even make you register. Good on them.
Want to download an mp3 from a YouTube video? Here you go. Compatible with Android and iOS in addition to desktop computers.
Same as above, in case the former gets nuked.
Has been bought by Paste, but it's still online. “Thousands of albums. Completely free. Completely legal.” Well alright, then.
Epitonic started in 1999, went down for a few years, came back for a few years, and went down again in 2018. But you can still get some of the best music they made available over all that time from their official SoundCloud page here.
Internet Archive (Audio Archive)
The Internet Archive is impossible to describe in a short, useful way. Imagine someone started collecting everything that had ever been put online in a single place, kind of like the Library of Congress for books, but instead it’s for everything online, ever. Now imagine they have a section for stuff you can listen to. That’s the Internet Archive’s Audio Archive.
Be sure to see our handy article on the best streaming services here to see which service may be right for you. Downloads are being replaced by streaming and it totally makes sense why.
MusicTheory teaches and discusses the things which make songs work. If you ever wanted to know how to write a pop song which will stand the test of time, this is the place to learn. If you want to know how Beethoven is better than Bach, and vice versa, too, this is also the place to learn.
ReadSheetMusic patiently and in simple terms teaches the musician how to “hear” music on paper, and how to take music from the imagination and write it down so others can “hear” it, too. Really cool.
Pianote wants you to be a pianist, and they’ve created this handy site to get you working toward that goal. Why wait? Lots of it is free.
More a site for information than anything else, PKG has an insane amount of books and articles on all things related to playing the keys. It also features a bunch of basic and intermediate lessons for free, too.
Vaughty, or Vaughn George, gives lessons in synth and piano on his popular and extremely useful YT channel. Do eet.
JustinGuitar is a streamlined site with beginners in mind, first, but also with plenty of meat on the bone for players with stronger chops. Justin holds your hand through everything and makes a great, friendly tutor.
You knew they made awesome guitars, but did you know they made excellent teachers, too? They do. It makes sense, after all: the more people are playing, the more people are buying guitars, right?
GuitarLessons.com mostly provides videos, but they offer other services, besides.
Lots of videos with little structure. Great for players looking to dip in without much commitment.
A little more robust, StudyBass.com suggests three courses for the budding bassist, each with several units of study to master before graduating to the next level.
All manner of video and audio to learn from at this gigantic site for drummers who want a little edge.
Online Drummer is a much bigger site than just what’s free, but the free stuff will take a long time to learn. May as well start there.
Designed to be a full course in drumming, DrumAmbition’s free area offers you a personal teacher to guide you through some opening techniques. One of the better sites on this list, really.
Jam Zone, Powered by Harman (now Little Kids Rock and still cool)
Aimed at teaching young children everything there is to jamming on instruments, this website is tons of fun for anyone who has an instrument and some time to kill. You’re never too old to just jam.
If you’re a musician and haven’t been to the Musician’s Toolkit website, yet, you’re missing out. Wanna brush up on playing guitar? How about the saxophone? Maybe even the harp? Musician’s Toolkit even has a section on the euphonium, and it’s hard to find a player who even knows what that is.
The best music sites for fans and artists can be found on your own, but why when we do the work for you?
What can we say but you're welcome!
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the tunes!