When you think of online music, your thoughts almost certainly turn to the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. The ubiquity of such subscription steaming services make this entirely understandable, and it's easy to forget that there are other ways to get your music fix. But how about a free music downloader?
While the big-name streamers are undeniably popular, they have various limitations and disadvantages -- not least of which is the fact that they cost money! If you're looking to reduce your monthly outgoings, there are plenty of free tools and apps that can be used to get your fill of music.
The beauty of downloading music is that you have it available offline without the need to pay a monthly fee, and you can easily transfer files between devices as you need to. With a free music downloader, you're in control, and that's what's especially appealing for many people. While not terribly common, it is certainly not unknown for tracks or even entire back catalogues of artists to disappear from individual services - this is simply not an issue if you have downloaded the tracks you love.
Join us as we take a look at five of the best free music downloaders to give your ears the treat they deserve.
- Get the best YouTube downloader to save your YouTube video on your PC.
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There are a number of programs that let you download music from YouTube, SoundCloud or Facebook, but very few support as many sources as Any Video Converter. In fact, the software lets you paste a link from any of over 100 popular video, music, and social media sites to quickly download content to your computer.
Any Video Converter supports downloading high-def files up to 4K and even includes a basic editor for clipping and merging audio or video files. The software also supports native ID3 tag editing, so you can organize your music files according to artist, album and genre. Finally, Any Video Converter can output audio to MP3, AC3, OGC, WMA, M4A and many more, allowing you to choose your preferred file type.
With an easy-to-use and intuitive interface, a huge range of supported sites like YouTube and SoundCloud, and multiple output formats, Any Video Converter will help you keep your music collection growing and fresh.
Read our full Any Video Converter Free review
Soundcloud Downloader is an online tool rather than a downloadable app, but this makes it no less noteworthy. In many ways, the fact that this is a website rather than an app works in its favour as it not only means that Soundcloud Downloader can be used on just about any operating system, it is also incredibly quick and easy for the developers to update.
It is a very simple tool that can be used with both individual files and playlists -- although, strangely, the site splits these up into two separate tools. Whichever you decide to download for posterity, the tracks you select will be saved as MP3s.
There are no fancy options, just paste in a URL and start downloading. If you're looking for quick and simple, you can't go far wrong.
Vuze may not have the simplest user interface among torrent clients, but it’s one of the most powerful and makes an excellent music downloader. The app’s developer made sure to include all the features you’d expect from a torrent client, like magnet link support, bandwidth limiting, and IP filtering. Plus, by choosing between beginner, intermediate and advanced interfaces, you can show or hide advanced features like proxy usage and per-file peer filtering.
Vuze also has a number of traits that help it to stand out. First, it supports RSS subscriptions and will automatically download new torrents as they’re added to a feed. Next, the Vuze Remote web app lets you manage your downloads from any computer or smartphone. Finally, a metasearch will take any query and run it through a database of popular torrent sites. Add to that a robust rating and comments system, and you’re sure to find the song you’re looking for.
Once users get used to the wide range of features, Vuze is sure to become their go-to program for downloading new music.
Read our full Vuze review
For those looking for a simpler and more streamlined torrent client, qBittorrent has everything you need to download torrents quickly and securely, and nothing you don’t. It’s completely free, with no ads or hidden fees, and 100% open-source. When it comes to exchanging files online, this transparency can give you some extra piece of mind.
There are a number of handy features here for finding and downloading music. For example, the search feature supports user-made plugins to expand its capabilities and search the most popular torrent sites. This also means you can stay away from pirate sites, which certain ISPs monitor. Like Vuze, qBittorrent also lets you manage your downloads remotely by setting up a WebUI. You’ll need to select a port and enter your IP address each time you want to connect.
qBittorrent is great for beginners or users looking for a simple interface without any bells and whistles, and is free of pesky advertising.
Read our full qBittorrent review
FrostWire combines two powerful methods for downloading new music: peer-to-peer (P2P) torrent sharing, and cloud-based downloads. FrostWire is a fork, or off-shoot, of LimeWire, created after the latter imposed stricter sharing protocols for audio files. Since that time, it has gone through numerous evolutions, and several useful features have been added.
An easy-to-use search bar connects you to a large P2P network of users sharing content as well as cloud-based sources like SoundCloud and Archive.org. Once you have your search results, you can check you’re getting the right file by streaming directly from the cloud source or by previewing torrents before they finish. Plus, you can easily navigate the file directory of any torrent and select which audio files to download, saving you both bandwidth and disk space.
A built-in media library and player makes managing, growing, and enjoying your music collection a breeze. For users looking to leverage both torrent and cloud-based downloads, this is the program for you.
Is it legal to use a music downloader?
It is, as long as you're downloading music that's not copyrighted. Music that is will need permission to be downloaded, but asking this from major music companies may be a stretch.
As long as you can find non-copyrighted music, you're perfectly in your right to download it for your listening pleasure.
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