www.Under-Mouse-Arrest.com: Top websites for free and legal music , mp3 and songs or royalty free music , You can use use in your homemade videos to earn Cash on Youtube , metacafe and other viral video sites

Nowadays there is much reported about the rise of illegally copied music being made available on the Internet. However, there is also plenty of music on the web that is free and legal. In this post we look at ten sites or services that offer free legal music to download.

Music Search Engines - All the Music Search Engines

ArtistServer.com
ArtistServer has been around since 2001, albeit under the name ElectronicScene.com. In 2005 they transformed the site to widen their scope and incorporate social networking features. At its core is a database of over 7,000 songs that can be downloaded for free. An artist’s catalog also has an RSS feed that can be subscribed to like any other feed, allowing the user to keep up to date with any new additions. Photos, videos and blogs from artists complete this interesting site.

Live Music Archive
The Live Music Archive has a large collection of live recordings from a wide range of artists, from David Gray to Mogwai, and there is also a lot of music from lesser known bands. The site runs a policy which does not adhere to any particular set of laws, and states so in its Terms and Conditions, and makes the user responsible for making sure that the content is legal in their own country.

Archive.org
Hand in hand with the Live Music Archive is archive.org’s collection of regular mp3s, including a good selection of out-of-copyright music. Although only hardcore fans of pre-1950s music will find this interesting for now, I expect this to become more and more important as time goes on — the early Beatles tracks are due to become public domain in only five years! Update: aside from out of copyright music, there are lots of contemporary tracks available, released under a Creative Commons license.

eSpew.com - Free Online MP3 Music Search Engine

Epitonic
Epitonic has a great selection of free tunes, ranging from Grandaddy and Mercury Rev, through to Carl Cox, Mr Scruff, Badly Drawn Boy and TV On The Radio. The site is a little confusing at first, but once you work out where the genre and artist lists are, its fairly simple from there on in. Epitonic also has a large number of online radio stations based on several genres and subgenres that are worth a listen.

GarageBand
The mighty GarageBand, the unsigned band promotion and social review network, has proved to be the catalyst for success for a few bands in the States. After uploading their tracks on GarageBand and then being favourably rated, they have gone on to be offered contracts and even made it to the Billboard charts (the band “10 Years” hit number one with “Wasteland” in 2006 by doing just this). The site covers a wide range of genres and offers a large number of tunes for download. The majority of artists will be unknown to most people, due to the nature of the site, but the review and rating system makes it easy to pinpoint and listen to the most popular tracks.

Download.com
CNET’s Download.com offers a music section which combines an online store and a repository for free and less widely known music. Fortunately they’ve realised that a lot of people come by solely for the free tracks and have provided a direct link. Again, the music is generally from unknown and unsigned artists, but the range and quantity of material here is staggering — at the last count it stood at 75,425 free MP3s!

SpiralFrog
Bit of a blind recommendation this one, but SpiralFrog has just entered limited beta, with a view to launch later this year. Its proposed model is interesting — downloads will be free, from a number of labels (Universal seems to be the biggest backer at the moment) with a potential catalogue of 700,000+ tracks, but users will be made to view advertisements while each track is downloading. I dont know how this will work in practice (i.e. will download speeds be throttled back to give more advertising time) but in theory it sounds like a good deal. Unfortunately the service is only available in the US and Canada at the moment, but I expect it to be available in other countries if it takes off in North America.

Amazon.com
The popular one-stop-shop has a small selection of tracks available for download for free. These are changed regularly, but are often by known artists.

iTunes
Its also worth mentioning that Apple’s music store also offers free tracks, usually by up and coming artists. The list varies depending on which country you are in. [Ed. this website keeps track of what music is being offered for free on iTunes each week.]

eMusic
eMusic is a digital music store that doesn’t offer free downloads per se, but I thought it was worth including because some of the introductory offers let you download 100 free tracks in the first month, after which you’re free to can cancel your membership and it wont cost a penny!

Note: We’ve probably only scratched the surface, so if you know of any more places on the web where you can download free and legal music, please add those in the comments.

Refernce links

http://www.last100.com/2007/08/17/10-sites-for-free-legal-music/

Mp3 links

http://www.dnb-sets.de/

MusicIP - The Music Search Engine

Specialist Music Sites Back to top
remixwars.com
A site that features a wide variety of electronic (Industrial, EBM, Darkwave, Synthpop, Electronica, Noise) mp3 downloads. You can also download loop files to remix. Unfortunately, to download songs, you must be registered. Use a throw away address.
ZikWeb.org
Weekly updated original mp3s plus online radio. Home of Phoebus and NoSushi.
650-Breaks (Hot Shit !)
Online mixes archives from Amon Tobin, Coldcut, Dj Shadow, Dj Spooky, Diplo, Sixtoo and more...
karadar.com
Karadar offers a simply superb selection of all things classical. Downloads, librettos, texts, et al. The only 'problem' is that the mp3 download process has been made deliberately complex - including a classical music question gateway - to foil leeching ignoramusii (?). Still brilliant though!
Free List of Mp3s, Reviews, Search Engine
Half a million links in the list to date and adding about 10-15 thousand per day, Some really neat stuff and weird stuff. The best part of the site is the keyword search and the Review pages. Add your site to have it scanned as well.[Update:not sure about this site at all, the search function and overall design are very strange for instance! Ah well. Red]
Agnula Libre Music
A database of Libre Music (works which have been put by their authors under a license which allows free redistribution and usage). Artists, who want their music to be accessible to the widest audience possible, without artificially limiting how and how much their creations spread around, can better publish their music there, instead of on this Wiki page.
The MIT Free Classical Music Site (down)
Short but sweet page of free music primarily taken from concerts of the MIT Chamber Chorus and Concert Choir, but there are other cool classical music links there too. Definitely worth a look.
micromusic.org
Micromusic.net is many things. first we are a music label, though we deal with .mp3's and hard drive space not vinyl! Micromusic.net is also what the users make it. It is an organic community that can shape their own identity by uploading and downloading, organising parties, bringing their own projects to micromusic.net, making bands with other micromusic.net members, helping with any aspect of the site programming, designing... whatever.
hippocamp.net
Huge electronic music Net label based in Manchester UK - some amazing free mp3 releases including BSR, DNCN, Maroufleur, Batfinks and Domestication Of The Dog.
hXcmp3.com
Loads and loads of hardcore, post-hardcore, and metal songs for download. Most of these tracks are DIY or pre-production recordings, but there is an equal number of gems for the angst-ridden 16-year-old scenester in you.
Kahvi Collective
mission: to gather and provide free electronic grooves. area of operation: internet
Feng's Distorted World
Presenting Free and Legal Mp3 Downloads from Underground Electronic Music Artists.
Blentwell
Blentwell is an ongoing document of the evolution of blended music. A daily updated link log of hot mixsets and fresh new tracks heard online..
d1rt7
Beats, breaks, mixes, shit...
Helgoland
Avantgarde Pop from Hamburg
Plinko Manor
Free punk rock from the local South Bend, Indiana music scene. More added all the time.
OneManBrand
Free bizarre brokenbeat mp3s from this stable of underground talent based near brighton, uk. New and remixed tracks added all the time.
publicdomain4u.com
Like the Blues and 'olde tyme' stuff? Then you'll like the Public Domain mp3's coming out of this small site. Needs much more to make it really sing and dance, but still a nice alternative to all the indie stuff out there.
AsianClassicalMP3.org
Small and select collection of Asian classical music tracks taken from cassette tape recordings. Worth a visit if you're an enthusiast.
Classic Cat
Free classical music is difficult to find among the many hosting sites. Classic Cat provides a neat overview - sorted by composer and work.
donnerfarms.org
'Donner Farms are proud to broadcast the finest in old-fashioned music, the kind that Maw-Maw Donner and Pap Donner loved to play and listen to on the porch or by the fire.' Streaming old fashioned music broadcast.
ughh.com
Hip Hop. Vinyl singles for sale, free radio streaming, Top 40 and new releases. Couldn't find any free downloads though.
ragga-jungle.com
Surprise! It's a ragga-jungle site. Streaming radio and free registration needed for music downloads.
centurymedia.com
Heavy metal fans only. This is your stop. Downloads of all sorts of stuff. Heavy!
metalblade.com
Another one for heavy metal fans.
remix.overclocked.org
Computer games are fun. So too apparently is the background music when it's remixed and offered as mp3 downloads. Lots of downloads!
catholicplanet.com
Christian mp3 downloads (from here, not from up there silly!) Watch out also for the Catholic Jukebox and the reviews.
freekidsmusic.com
Small, but tastefully targeted (OK it's bright, alright?) children's mp3 music download and streaming service. Not many tracks, but links back to artist's sites offers more. Includes charts.
mperia.com
An online indie music store, designed to help artists sell their tracks directly to listeners and keep most of their own money. Lots of features to help artists promote themselves and to help listeners find good stuff.
NetNewMusic
A music portal dedicated to contemporary classical and avant garde music; linking sites with freely available mp3's by several hundred selected contemporary composers.
Zenguin
Independent artist collective, many genres. Downloads available at most of the artist sites. The Radio Room highlights unusual stations and sound collections.
Guitars 101
Eclectic guitar focussed site with variable selection of streaming and downloadable mp3 tracks featuring...er...guitars. The axeman cometh!
Free Music Group
Quick reference page to several free, legal sites. Featured are the solo piano, solo guitar, Christmas, children's and Christian music below.
Free Solo Guitar
New, but excellent resource for multiple fingerstyle guitar artists who present full-length songs for free download.
Free Solo Piano
Well-trafficked site features quite a wealth of solo piano music by popular indie artists.
Christian MP Free
New, but growing selection of indie Christian artists. Emphasis on quality material.
Free Kids Music
Very popular source for free music for kids.
Free Childrens Music
As above, a great place to discover top indie music for children.
Feels Like Christmas
Traditional or contemporary, instrumental or vocal. A treasured source of quality legal music to enhance the holiday season.
The Free Music Directory
Developing directory of sites which offer at least one full-length, high-quality song download on their site. Free listings to all who qualify.
smart-music
Searches the web for the finest free dance music available. A collection of independent techno, house, hip-hop, broken beat, downbeat, nu-jazz and electronica genres.
DJ Kenny Mac
Eastern Europe from Kyiv (but in English), offering a small number (as yet) of Ukraine free alternative rock downloads and info. Free submission's for qualified bands interested in networking East and Central Europe.
Dr. Safa YEPREM's guitar page
Special documents for Art of Flamenco and Guitar, videos, lessons and mp3 files.
MIDI Pianola & Player Piano Rolls
Links to huge archives of midi-files converted from late 1800s & early 1900s punched paper rolls for automatic player pianos. Get one of the widely available free midiPlayers for your PC/Mac and take a trip back in time.. these collectors/archivars deserve a massive thank you for the effort taken.. just wonderful !!
Out of the Blue Productions
Floor filling Electronic Beats for your ears! A MUST HEAR! Go to music page!
the roots music listening room
wonderful collectors site including 1000++ mp3s of the oude time music, mainly from vintage 78rpm recordings now in the public domain, a true treasure chest !
Zambian Music Site
The best site for all Zambian Music
Musician War
A site that encourages members to upload original compositions and \"duel\" where community members can vote on their preferred track. (Site formerly known as guitarwar.com).
headjog - royalty free music
high impact royalty free music, instant downloads
General Music Sites Back to top
United Bands
Lots of free downloads from Indie bands around the world, but mostly in America. Lots of community features, voting, friends, online journal and more.
Mixposure
Nice selection of over 6000 tracks for streaming and download, along with useful reviews. Definitely worth a look!
My Space
Rapidly becoming the 'street' music community of choice. Massive amount of unsigned talent - some very good! - showcased on their own mini-site pages with lots of cool community features, photos, comments etc etc. If it's too loud, you're too old!
IntoMusic
This niche site offers music from independent musicians releasing their own material - unlike many large portals, it chooses quality over quantity and has unique english quirkiness with reviews of the artists. It's a cross between an english music mag and an mp3 site. Nice design and some nice features.
Common Tunes
Billed as a 'community directory of freely available music'. Eclectic collection of Mp3 tracks ranging from Beethoven to the Beastie boys. Nice design, but since it's in beta I suspect that it's very much an early work in progress. One to watch though! \\

largehearted boy
Daily downloads, daily news, bittorrent downloads and much more.
kingblind.com
Music News, Album & Concerts Reviews, Free and Legal mp3's, Music Videos, Art / Entertainment and much more.
usounds.com
mp3 blog which also hosts downloads from labels such as Radio Khartoum and Ninjatune. Reviews and more.
earbuzz.com
Reasonably sized indie music sales portal with a fair amount of full tracks to download. Definitely worth a visit.
somesongs.com
Nice simple song portal. No actual downloads, but lots of direct links to artists tracks hosted elsewhere. Neat!
insound.com
Self proclaimed indie rock record store with a small record label on the side. Offers streaming radio, lots of signed bands and a very respectable collection of free mp3 tracks for download. Nice vibe.
dmusic.com
A front end portal for more than 16,000 artists and 51,000 tracks. Throw in some news, forums and a general community feel and you get the picture. Nice place to visit and worth taking time to browse.
peoplesound.com
Unsigned artist portal, and part of the Vitaminic Group. Some interesting foreign bands.
playvox.com
65,000 'specially formulated' mp3 tracks which can only be played or downloaded by the site's advert sponsored Play Vox Studio player. In its favour, the site does offer a fairly decent partnership with artists (50% revenue split on sales and a share of any potential company profits).
pastemusic.com
Started as a online record store but now also a record label, magazine, internet radio station and mp3 site. Alt-country, Folk rock, Americana and singer/songwriters are strongly represented but pop, emo and indie rock are here too.
belgiummp3.be
Belgian mp3 site, featuring over 1000 tracks for download and streaming from 600 artists, all in English.
Musical Family Tree
Features a lot of indie bands from Mid West USA, in the hope of exposing them to a larger audience. Message boards, downloads, streaming, it's all there. (Update : Definitely worth a look, if you like this style)
indieTunes
Music community for independent music artists offering online auditions, streaming radio, free downloads and music sales. Offers artists the highest payback anywhere in the world. [Update: Nice looking site, some good music, although not a huge selection of free downloads yet. Red.]
Broadjam
One of the fastest growing community of indie artists on the planet. Broadjam is the engine driving the music of independent musicians around the world.
Music Therapy
Music Therapy: Dr Julie Trudeau invites you to enjoy her online music natural health products and join her love affair with the phi harmonic vibrations of the Music of the Spheres. Buy digital Music created by her and enjoy life!
Ez-tracks
Free MP3 ? music downloads that are hundred percent legal. Select from over 30,000 free MP3 ?'s, from a vast collection of genres. Stay up to date with current music news, discuss your favorite song and artist, add your music, and more.
Miscellaneous Sites Back to top
Legal Torrents
Site dedicated to 'Creative Commons-licensed, legally downloadable, freely distributable creator-approved files' distributed via BitTorrent ?. Lots of music, but also movies and books too.
Certified Sound MP3 Mastering
Online Mp3 mastering service for the Independent Artist. We have the experience to bring out the best in your studio mix. Check out our quality at our free streaming radio site.
iTunes freebie downloads
Great - i.e. comprehensive and growing - list of free music downloads currently available on the iTunes store. Delivered by the good folk on the MacRumors forums. Good on yer!
Bestmp3links
Web site listing links to web sites with free legal music and mp3 downloads.
Links to Tens of Thousands of Legal Music Downloads
The original July 2003 (updated in Feb 2004) essay about all this legal and free music stuff with lots of links.
The Online Music Business Space
An excellent, up to date and frozen summary of the major info on this page.
The Hype Machine
An experiment that gathers songs posted on mp3 blogs and presents them in an easy to consume manner. It lets you easily listen to the new music that has been posted today by a great variety of bloggers - discover and fall in love with something new!
Mr Red Penguin
Amusing blog with various free and hard-to-find indie mp3s.
Free Music Blog
Basically what it says. A blog celebrating free and legal music around the world.
Use Free Music
Visit NEWS/Free track for good quality free loops & samples with a new track every month. Site also provides Royalty Free Music for Film, TV, and web based media. Site has produced music for Dr. Who, Graham Norton & iBuzz.
365 Days Project
The legendary 365 Days Project, in which an mp3 a day -- of mostly outsider, novelty, and oddball recordings -- was made available for the public to download over the course of 2003. It has been archived in its entirety, complete with images and vast commentary on each selection on UBUWEB.
Knobtweakers.net Free Mp3 Blog
Free electronic music downloads, daily. Techno, electronica, house, drum n bass, IDM, glitch, trance, breakbeat, hardcore, downtempo, minimal, 2-step, garage, even the occasional chip. All legal.
radioqualia
Interesting art entity. They brought you Free Radio Linux, and bring you streaming softwares, manuals, music and more.
Subsystence
Subsystence is a web magazine, but not in the traditional sense. The Downloads section on the main page features bi-monthly stores of electronic music mp3s from a variety of Chicago-based artists.
Close Your Eyes
A cool list of mp3 blogs, which post links to tracks in various music categories. Well worth a visit if you're starting off. See also Thom:Blog for another selection.
Mystery and Misery
This awesome blog links to legal (and free) music of all different genres from the really obscure to lesser known (for now) indie bands. Each post comes with a mini bio and review.
MP3Blogs.org
Mp3 blog aggregator, boasting over 45 blogs which feature mp3 tracks to listen to and download. Also supplies rather useful RSS feeds if that's yer bag.
remixfight.com
What it says, a collection of eclectic mp3 remixes available for free download. You get to vote for them too, so that's fun. The vote and fight changes regularly, which keeps it fresh.