With the rise of music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora, listening to music online has never been easier. However, there are times when you may want to download music onto your iPhone to listen offline, especially if you are somewhere without an internet connection.
The good news is there are several legal ways to download and listen to free music offline on your iPhone. In this article, we’ll go over the top methods to get free music downloads for offline listening on your iPhone.
Use a Free Music Download Site
One of the easiest ways to download free music to your iPhone is to use a free music download site. These sites offer a library of legally licensed music you can download for free and listen to offline.
Some popular free music download sites include:
- Free Music Archive – Offers a wide range of genres from independent artists. All music is licensed under Creative Commons.
- Jamendo Music – Features over 500,000 tracks across all genres from independent artists. Licensing allows free downloads.
- NoiseTrade – Musicians and bands upload their music to promote themselves. You can download tracks for free in exchange for your email address.
- DatPiff – Specializes in hip hop mixtapes. Mixtapes are available for free download with registration.
To download music from these sites:
- Go to the site and browse or search for tracks to download.
- Once you find a track you want, click the download link or button.
- An MP3 file will download to your computer.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer and transfer the MP3 files to sync them.
- The tracks will now be available in the Music app on your iPhone for offline listening.
Use a Free Music App
Another way to get free music is through apps designed for free music and podcast downloads. Here are some top options:
- Spotify – Spotify’s free tier allows you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts for offline listening. You’re limited to shuffle only playback though.
- Pandora – Pandora’s free streaming radio lets you download stations for offline listening with no limits. Downloads expire after 30 days.
- SoundCloud – SoundCloud’s free account lets you download a limited selection of tracks to listen offline.
- Podcast Apps – Apps like Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Castbox allow you to freely download podcast episodes to your iPhone for offline listening.
The download process varies by app but generally involves:
- Finding a track, album, playlist, or podcast you want to download within the app.
- Tapping the download icon next to it to download to your iPhone.
- Opening the Downloads section of the app to listen offline.
Use YouTube to MP3 Conversion Sites
You can download MP3 versions of songs on YouTube through free YouTube to MP3 conversion sites. Here’s how:
- Go to a YouTube to MP3 site like YTMP3 or YouTube-MP3.org.
- Paste the link to the YouTube video of the song you want to download.
- Click convert. The site will extract just the audio into an MP3 file.
- Click download to save the MP3 file to your computer.
- Sync the MP3 to your iPhone through iTunes or Apple Music.
A few things to note with YouTube to MP3 downloading:
- Quality is often lower than an official track download.
- Ensure the video itself is authorized to be converted, don’t pirate official releases.
- Downloaded MP3s may contain ads or watermarks.
Record Streaming Music with a Digital Recorder
With apps like Spotify, you can record songs as you stream them to create your own downloadable music files. Here’s how to record streaming audio:
- Get an audio recorder app like Apple’s Voice Memos, Otter Voice Notes, or Audacity.
- Play the song you want to record on Spotify or another streaming service.
- Start recording in your audio app so it captures the song as it plays.
- Stop recording once the full song has played.
- The recording will be available as an MP3 to save and sync to your iPhone.
Things to keep in mind:
- Recorded quality won’t be as high as an official download.
- Don’t distribute recorded songs, just personal use.
- Streaming services may limit how many tracks you can record per month.
Rip Songs from CDs
If you still buy physical CDs, you can “rip” tracks to MP3 format to sync to your iPhone using iTunes or Music. Here’s how:
- Insert the audio CD into your computer.
- Open iTunes or Music and click on the CD icon.
- Select the tracks you want to import.
- In the import settings, choose MP3 encoder and the bitrate quality.
- Click Import CD to rip selected tracks to MP3 format.
- Sync the files to your iPhone.
Things to note about ripping CDs:
- Avoid re-encoding lossy files like WMA. Stick to ripping CDs.
- Higher bitrates near 256-320kbps yield better quality.
- Syncing to your iPhone may take longer with large bitrate files.
Download from P2P Sites (Use Caution)
Peer-to-peer (P2P) sites and torrent clients allow you to freely download music files from other users. However, there are risks:
- P2P networks are often used to share copyright-protected songs illegally.
- You may download low quality files or mislabeled tracks.
- Torrenting without a VPN exposes your IP address and activity.
- Copyright infringement penalties can be $750 to $150,000 per illegal download.
Instead of P2P, use legal free music downloads methods in this guide. But if you do torrent, take precautions:
- Research the track source so you don’t download pirated official releases.
- Use a secure VPN to protect your IP address and privacy.
- Scan files for malware before syncing them.
Try Limited Free Trials
Paid music services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music offer limited free trials for new users. You can use these trials to download a number of songs before they expire:
- Apple Music – 3 month free trial. Download up to 100,000 tracks.
- Amazon Music – 30 day free trial. Download as much Prime music as you want.
- YouTube Music – 1 month free trial. Download ad-free songs, albums, and more while trial is active.
Just remember to cancel the trial before the end date if you don’t want to pay.
Use the iTunes Store Free Song of the Week
Every week in the iTunes Store on your iPhone, there’s a Free on iTunes section with a Song of the Week available at no cost. You can easily download the free song for offline listening each week.
Just note that the free downloads don’t accumulate. Each week’s free song expires and is replaced by the next week’s track.
Listen on Pandora with Limited Skips and Replays
Pandora’s free tier limits you to:
- 6 song skips per station per hour
- 12 song replays per station per day
Within these limits you can replay and skip to customize your listening without paying. Just set up stations based on artists or genres you like.
Conclusion
Listening to free music offline on your iPhone is totally possible without having to pay or pirate. Take advantage of legal download sources, apps that let you record or download within certain limits, and free trials of premium music services.
Some of the best options covered in this guide include:
- Free music download sites like Free Music Archive
- Music apps like Spotify, Pandora, and SoundCloud
- YouTube to MP3 converters
- Digital recording apps to record streaming audio
- Ripping CDs you own to MP3 format
- Limited free trials like Apple Music and Amazon Music
Using these sources, you can build up an offline music library on your iPhone and enjoy ad-free listening without breaking the bank or the law.