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Four great apps for downloading free, legal music

Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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No matter what your musical taste, it’s always great to be able to discover new music. What’s even better? When the music’s free!

There’s a problem though. Although there are lots of ways of downloading free music, not all of them are legal. For lots of users, that’s a problem. Luckily in recent times, developers have realized that people want music without breaking the law, and have come up with loads of apps that allow you to download music that’s both free AND legal.

How do they do it? Well, there are lots of sources of free music out there on the internet – the problem is knowing where to look and keeping on top of all the new stuff. These apps do that for you, and because the app developers get the music from sources that have made their music available to share publicly, it’s also legal. Just because it’s legal though, doesn’t guarantee it’s safe. As ever, if you’re downloading files from sources you aren’t familiar with, make sue you’ve got a good anti-virus installed!

So, let’s take a look at four great apps for downloading free music!

Bearshare: music downloads in a familiar environment

BearShare’s not new, but it is a great option for free music. It’s really a legal file sharing app, but it’s especially useful for music downloads. It clearly aims to provide a complete experience, with loads of settings and configurable options. It’s also got good social functions, and a nice feature in the Discover button, which is specifically designed to help you discover new music. Just pay good attention during the installation process – it likes to catch distracted users out by making changes when you’re not looking!

music2pc – extreme simplicity, interesting music

music2pc is a relatively new app that could be described as the polar opposite of Bearshare. It’s stripped down in the extreme, with none of the bells or whistles you might expect. You can search and download – and that’s it! Users who appreciate simplicity will love it, and we were surprised by the number of interesting and new songs it threw up. Why not give it a try?

Pymaxe – deceptively simple

Pymaxe is another simple-looking app, but unlike music2pc, it’s actually hiding quite a few options. Before you search, it looks absolutely plain, but once you look for a song or artist, you’ll see a lot more appear. Pymaxe lets you preview songs and videos, open the webpage where it was found, and shows a summary of the song – and it’s source – in the preview window. You can also filter searches by Music, Video or Albums, making it easier to find what you want.

Songr – an old favorite, with good reason

Songr has been around for a while, but it continues to be popular because it does a good job. It’s another app that hides powerful features inside a simple interface. But unlike music2pc and Pymaxe, it’s a much more polished operation. Songr will search for songs, artists, and albums, offers preview and source information and, on top of all that, also allows you to buy music and search by lyrics. Making it, in our opinion, the perfect bridge between simplicity and power.

Do you know any other good free music apps?  Have any tips for finding free (and legal!) music? Share them with us below.

Niamh Lynch

Niamh Lynch

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