Continuing with our series of articles on how to replace the consumption of proprietary content with free ones, We will see how to say goodbye to music streaming services.
I insist that it is not about downloading commercial music from unauthorized sources but rather about consuming content free of copyright or whose authors allow free distribution.
Why quit music streaming services?
Since I started writing about Linux, almost 15 years ago, My position was never to tell readers what to do but rather to mention alternatives. In this case, doing so would also be hypocrisy. I write this listening to Bach music on Spotify.
I use Spotify knowing that I am sharing my consumption habits with this company and with those who decide to let them see them. Additionally, I understand that content I like may become unavailable or the subscription price may change.
As I am not a music lover but a music listener who is not too demanding, for the moment none of these reasons are enough to give up the comfort that the service offers me. But, For people who are relevant, it may be useful to know other options.
How to say goodbye to music streaming services
Thenn I am going to list some sites where you can find music that you can download and copy to all your devices. Of course in most cases you won't find the hottest artists, but on the other hand it can be a great way to listen to new ones. Keep in mind that although much of the content is free, in some cases you have to pay.
- Internet Archive: Besides music, the audio section The portal contains recordings of radio programs, concerts and audiobooks. Most of the content is in English.
- Bandcamp: Nothing to do with the Mac program of the same name. Is about a place where you can discover new artists and reward them for their work.
- Artist Share: A plataform to finance the creation of new music.
- CC Mixer: En this site, in addition to listening and downloading you can interact with the music.
- Dogmazic: This portal In French, it has been allowing music to be shared and downloaded under free licenses for more than 20 years.
- Faircamp Webring: Es a directory of musicians and music producers who use the Faircamp site generator to spread their music.
- Khavi: Offer electronic music for non-commercial use. Some browsers may mark it as an unsafe site.
- Musopen: Lovers of classical music you will find on this site a selection of recordings by the best authors of the genre as well as scores. By downloading the applications for mobile devices you can listen to a selection of songs.
- SoundCloud: to listen to and share audio files.
- Jamendo: Site to download royalty-free music and use it in commercial activities.
Music stores without digital rights
If you prefer to pay for your music, here are some places where you can buy in a traditional way
- 7Digital: Only available for some geographic regions, This store contains titles free of anti-copy mechanisms
- Analekta: Portal sales of classical music albums.
- Beatport: Site electronic music sales. It is in our language.
- emusic: Shop of music with a wide catalog of all genres in mp3 format and guaranteed compatibility with any player.
- Zunior: Any alt-country or Canadian indie fans in the room? This store offers a wide variety of titles in mp3 or flac format in CD quality. You can also download the PDFs with the covers and other related printed material.
- HDTracks: Portal selling DRM-free music of different genres.
- Juno Download: Here We will find electronic music in mp3, wav and flac formats.
- Qobuz: It is a streaming service that also allows you to download music and discuss it with experts or other enthusiasts. It has applications for Windows and mobile devices as well as a player for the browser.
In the next article we will continue listing places where you can get DRM-free music and how to enjoy it on our Linux.