There are many ways to get free music for your iPhone in 2023 without having to pay for downloads or subscriptions. With the rise of music streaming services, free online radio, and music download sites, you have several options to legally obtain free tracks for your Apple device. In this guide, we’ll go over the top methods and sources to get free music for your iPhone.
Use Free Streaming Music Apps
One of the most popular ways to listen to free music on an iPhone is through free streaming music apps. These apps allow you to stream music without paying a subscription fee. Here are some top free iPhone apps for streaming music:
Spotify
Spotify offers a free, ad-supported version that allows you to stream music from a desktop or mobile device. The free tier has limited features – you can only play shuffled songs and can’t download music for offline listening. But it gives you access to Spotify’s full music catalog. This is a great option for casual listening.
Pandora
Pandora is a customizable internet radio app. Just enter an artist or song name and Pandora will create a streaming station to match that music taste. The free version plays ads between songs. Pandora is ideal if you want a more radio-style listening experience.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud hosts music and audio tracks from independent artists. You can find remixes, covers, and original music to stream for free. SoundCloud has a large catalog of emerging and underground artists. The free version displays some ads.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music allows you to stream official songs, albums, playlists, and music videos for free. It has a large catalog of popular music. You’ll hear ads occasionally. You can also watch music videos and listen to live performances.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music has a free ad-supported tier that gives access to top playlists and stations. This is a good option for casual listening rather than searching for specific songs or albums. The free version has limited skipping and you can only play shuffled music.
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio gives access to over 1000 live radio stations from across the US. You can listen to talk radio, sports, news, podcasts, and music stations covering every genre for free. It’s a great option for talk and sports radio.
Use Free Online Music Sites
There are many websites that offer free music you can listen to directly in your iPhone’s web browser. Here are some top sites:
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a library of legal, free music uploads. You’ll find original songs across many genres from independent artists. All music can be streamed for free from the site.
Jamendo Music
Jamendo has a large collection of free indie music licensed under Creative Commons. You can stream tracks and albums spanning many genres from amateur and up-and-coming musicians.
DatPiff
DatPiff has a focus on hip-hop mixtapes. It hosts mixtapes from both major and lesser-known rappers. All mixtapes are available for free streaming online.
NoiseTrade
NoiseTrade offers free music downloads in exchange for your email address. You can also stream any track or album for free directly from the site without even needing to sign up. It features music across genres from indie artists.
Freegal
Freegal is a digital music service offered through many local libraries. If you have a library card, you can download and stream free music that your library has available. Selections are generally mainstream and cover many genres.
Bandcamp
Many independent artists offer free music downloads or streaming on their Bandcamp pages. You can search Bandcamp to find free albums across different music styles. Artists sometimes share free codes to download their albums.
Use Internet Radio Apps
Internet radio apps give you access to thousands of free digital radio stations from around the world. They work just like traditional radio – you tune in and listen to a continuous stream of music tailored to different tastes. Here are some top internet radio apps for iPhone:
TuneIn Radio
TuneIn has a very extensive catalog of over 100,000 radio stations covering music, sports, news, and talk radio. You can browse stations by location and genre or search for specialty stations.
Radio Garden
Radio Garden lets you visually browse live radio stations on a globe map. Spin the globe and tap a dot to listen into any station. This app doesn’t have as many stations as TuneIn but covers many countries.
iHeartRadio
In addition to streaming popular podcasts and live stations, iHeartRadio has a customizable digital radio feature. You can create your own commercial-free radio station based on favorite artists or songs.
RAV Player
RAV Player connects you to internet radio stations from around the world. You can browse stations by category like genre, topic, language, and location. It has a clean interface that’s easy to use.
Radioline
Radioline streams radio stations covering over 130 countries. You can search stations by location, language, topic, and genre. It has hundreds of local AM/FM stations, internet stations, and podcasts.
Check Out Podcasts
Podcasts are free, on-demand audio shows you can play on your iPhone. Many podcasts feature full music tracks, concert recordings, or discuss music. Here are some great music podcasts to follow:
NPR Music Podcasts
NPR offers many high-quality music podcasts like All Songs Considered, Alt.Latino, and Jazz Night in America that feature full music tracks. These are ideal for discovering new artists and songs.
Song Exploder
Each Song Exploder episode has a musician break down the process behind creating one of their songs. You get to hear the original studio tracks that went into constructing the song.
Questlove Supreme
Questlove Supreme is a music and pop culture podcast hosted by The Roots drummer and music nerd Questlove. He has insightful discussions with musicians and many episodes include DJ sets.
Broken Record
Broken Record hosted by producer Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, and former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam features Rubin in conversations with icons about their music careers.
60 Songs That Explain the 90s
This episodic podcast goes deep into one 1990s song per episode. If you love 90s music, you’ll appreciate the context and history behind each influential track.
Subscribe to Music YouTube Channels
YouTube has many music channels you can subscribe to for free that offer full songs, albums, and music videos. YouTube music is streamed through the YouTube Music app or YouTube’s iOS app. Some channels to check out include:
Vevo
Vevo shows official music videos and live performances from top artists. It features all the newest pop, rock, rap, and R&B hits and full album streams upon release.
Colors Studios
Colors Studios invites artists into their studio to perform stripped down versions of songs. It showcases up-and-coming indie talent across many genres.
The Relaxing End
This channel offers calming background instrumental music that’s perfect for studying, work, or relaxation. You’ll also find nature soundscapes, ambient tunes, and chill house mixes.
Majestic Casual
Majestic Casual uploads the latest indie, electronic, and nu-disco music. It’s a great channel for finding new EDM and down-tempo artists.
MrSuicideSheep
MrSuicideSheep shares the best new and undiscovered electronic music like melodic dubstep, future bass, chill step, and more. Fans of EDM will find great new tunes here.
Use SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a music streaming app, but you can also use the SoundCloud website directly through your iPhone’s browser. SoundCloud offers a mix of major label tracks, emerging artists, DJ mixes, and more. Create an account to like and follow artists to build a customized stream.
Explore Apps for Downloading Free Music
There are apps that aggregate free music downloads from various sources all in one place. While Apple’s App Store rules prohibit full music downloads, you can download and use these apps on your iPhone:
DatPiff
The DatPiff app lets you download free mixtapes from hip-hop artists directly within the app. It has a huge selection of rap mixtapes featuring new up-and-coming rappers.
Free Music Downloader
This app compiles free music from YouTube, SoundCloud, DatPiff, and more. You can download mixes, songs, and music videos to play offline.
Free Mp3 Finder
Free Mp3 Finder aggregates free music from several legal sources. You can download tracks to play offline without ads or limits.
Tubidy
Tubidy indexes free music and music videos you can download from YouTube sources. It lets you search and download free music conveniently in one app.
Audiomack
Audiomack specializes in mixtapes and albums from up-and-coming rappers and producers. You can stream or download free mixtapes within the app.
Use Social Media Music Sharing Groups
Participating in music groups on social media platforms is a great way to discover free tracks. Follow relevant groups on Facebook and join Subreddits or Discord servers dedicated to free music sharing. Here are some top groups:
r/FreeMusicFinds
This Reddit community is focused on sharing legal free music sources across all genres like albums, EPs, and singles.
FREE MUSIC Drops
This Facebook group aggregates places for free music downloads from both known and lesser known artists and bands.
Free Album Music 🔥🎶
Another Facebook group where people share links to stream or download free albums across many music styles.
Electronic Jams
This Facebook group shares free streaming and downloadable electronic dance music like house, techno, trance, and more.
This Is Our Music
A Discord server where artists directly share their music with each other and fans for free streaming and downloads. All genres are covered.
Check Bandcamp for Free Music
As mentioned earlier, many independent artists offer free music directly on their Bandcamp pages. Beyond just streaming, many artists provide free download codes for their albums, EPs, and singles. Check Bandcamp profiles of artists you like for available free downloads. You can also browse Bandcamp pages for various genres and checkout sections like “name your price” or “free download” to find more free music.
Listen to Free Music on Music Streaming Apps
The most popular free way to get music legally is through free tiers of paid music streaming services. While capabilities are limited compared to paid accounts, they allow free access to stream millions of songs through your iPhone and are handy for casual listening.
Spotify Free
Spotify’s free ad-supported tier gives access to their full music catalog. You can play any artist, album, or playlist on shuffle mode only.
YouTube Music Free
YouTube Music’s free version has ads and won’t work in the background. But you get access to all official songs, albums, remixes, covers, and music videos.
Pandora Free
Build personalized radio stations from your favorite artists on Pandora. The free version plays ads between songs.
Amazon Music Free
Enjoy top playlists and stations on Amazon Music’s free tier. Features are limited but you get access to a wide selection of music.
SoundCloud Free
Listen to music from emerging and established artists and follow playlists curated by the SoundCloud community. Limited to 120 skips per hour.
Get Free Downloads from Your Music Library
If you have a membership with a local library, don’t forget to check out their free music resources. Many libraries allow members to borrow and download free music online through apps like Freegal and Hoopla. You get a limited number of downloads per month from the library’s licensed catalog of albums and songs.
Rip Audio from YouTube Videos
A tactic some use to get free music is ripping audio from music videos on YouTube and converting the audio into an MP3 file. You can then import the MP3 into your iPhone’s music library. While ripping audio this way violates YouTube’s terms, it’s a free option used by many to download a specific song or album unavailable elsewhere. However keep in mind that the audio quality is diminished compared to a proper music download.
Conclusion
With streaming apps, music downloads, YouTube, and social media, you have many places to get free music for your iPhone in just a few taps. Streaming through free ad-supported apps offers the simplest way to instantly access millions of songs with no illegal downloading required. But you can also find free tracks and albums to download from sites like Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and Reddit communities. Just be sure any downloaded or ripped music comes from legal sources. With the resources mentioned in this guide, you can build an iPhone music library on the cheap.
