Rather not pay for a music streaming service? Then, it's worth checking the best free music downloaders.
While music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are great, offering a huge library of artists and tracks, they require a paid subscription, which may not be affordable for everyone.
That's where the best free music downloaders come in. These tools and apps let you get your fill of music without costing a dime, listen offline whenever you please, and easily transfer your tracks between devices. What's more, they allow you to preserve your music collection - while streaming services are subject to library changes and artists' back catalogs being removed (but it's not common).
Downloading music can be a tricky subject, though. The first question that comes to mind is, is it actually legal to do so? It is, but only if you're downloading music that's not copyrighted; otherwise, you need permission. Asking this from major music companies may be a stretch, so as long as you find non-copyrighted music, you're perfectly within your rights to download it for your listening pleasure.
We've tried and tested numerous free music downloaders and compiled our list of top recommendations below. Currently, our favorite is Any Video Converter Free (which you'll also find on our best YouTube downloader list), as it easily allows you to download music from YouTube, Facebook, and SoundCloud. If it's not for you, though, we have several other options for your consideration.
The best free music downloader apps for your PC 2024
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Several programs let you download music from YouTube, SoundCloud, or Facebook, but very few support as many sources as Any Video Converter. 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 PC.
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 it's no less noteworthy. In many ways, the fact that this is a website rather than an app works in its favor as it not only means that you can use it on just about any operating system, but it's also incredibly quick and easy for the developers to update.
It's a very simple tool that can be used with both individual files and playlists - although, strangely, the site splits these into two separate tools. Whichever you decide to download for posterity, the tracks you select are saved as MP3s.
There are no fancy options; just paste in a URL and start downloading. If you're looking for a quick and simple free music downloader, you can't go wrong with this.
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. This transparency can give you extra piece of mind when exchanging files online.
There are several 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 avoid pirate sites, which certain ISPs monitor. Like Vuze, qBittorrent also lets you manage your downloads remotely by setting up a WebUI, but you 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 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 an off-shoot of LimeWire, created after the latter imposed stricter sharing protocols for audio files. Don't let that connection put you off, though (RIP every millennial's family PC).
Since its launch, FrostWire has undergone 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 and cloud-based sources like SoundCloud and Archive.org. Once you have your search results, you can check you're downloading the right file by streaming directly from the cloud source or 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 make 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.
