There are hundreds of places on the web where you can download great quality music for use in your video production. Background music can help set a mood and possibly make or break your finished piece so you want good quality and in most cases, you want it free. Here are the top fifteen sites where you can find and download legal music to add to your video production.
This is a site that provides free music downloads that is curated by the biggest internet radio station in America, WFMU. They gather downloads from bands and independent record labels and have an extensive archive that grows daily. You can easily browse by the genre and take advantage of their music sharing platform.
The site works with Creative Commons artists who want to allow people free access to their music. You can view music by most downloaded, most played, and most popular. The site also allows you to search for artists you know and see if they have anything posted.
Believe it or not, there are thousands of free music downloads available on Amazon. You can sort by genre, popularity, and reviews, or sort alphabetically by album, song title, or artist.
With thousands of albums and artists to choose from, the site offers multiple genres from artists who want you to hear their music for free. To download, you enter your email address and they send you a download code. You receive your downloads in a zip folder, which are easily saved.
You can find music from both signed and unsigned artists right from their webpages. Browse through genres and music charts to find what you're looking for and you can listen before downloading. You can create your own station to keep track of music you may be interested in for future projects and talk with other listeners and get recommendations.
The website has a rather extensive music archive with music, podcast, music, audio, and live music downloads. You can browse by staff picks, most downloads of the week, or most downloads of all time. Many well-known artists' music can be found here.
This is another Creative Commons website that has hundreds of downloadable music from artists who want their music available for free to the masses. You can browse through a number of categories and genres to find what you're looking for.
With more than twenty-five pages of free downloads, Last.fm has a large selection to choose from. You can browse by genre or go through the list until you find what you like. The site also streams thousands of songs.
Yes, you can buy lots of music on iTunes but they also have thousands of music available for free download, as well. Once you're in the store click "quick links" and then "free on iTunes" and browse the selections. They are updated weekly.
This is a website that showcases unsigned and underground artists and their music. You can download or stream for free and search by genre or artist. The music is rated by users so you can get recommendations.
Some of the music available for free streaming or download is uploaded by independent artists and sometimes professional artists, as well. There are some restrictions where not all music can be downloaded but with so much music to choose from, it shouldn't be a problem.
Widely known as a video-sharing site, Vimeo also has fee music downloads through Creative Commons content. You have to create an account but you can then start downloading instantly.
Another site with Creative Commons content, and there is no need for an account set-up. Browse by genre and find what you're looking for from independent artists.
This is a digital media entertainment website that offers free music downloads. Not all are free but you can browse the free music categories and download what you like.
It might not have the biggest selection on the web, but the site still offers a broad selection of free music to download. You can search by genre or listen to the music of the day.