5 Ways to Get Free Music for MP3 Players

2024 Author: Jason Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-19 22:11

This wikiHow teaches you how to download free music that you can add to your MP3 player device.

Step

Method 1 of 5: Downloading Music from SoundCloud

Step 1. Open

Google Chrome.

Click or double-click the Chrome app icon, which looks like a red, yellow, green, and blue ball.

If you don't already have Google Chrome on your computer, you can install it by visiting https://www.google.com/chrome/, clicking “ DOWNLOAD CHROME ”, double-clicking the downloaded file, and following the installation instructions.

Step 2. Add the “SoundCloud Downloader” extension

This free extension allows you to download music from SoundCloud:

• Go to the SoundCloud Downloader extension page.
• Click " ADD TO CHROME ”.
• Click " Add extension ” when prompted.

Step 3. Open SoundCloud

Visit https://soundcloud.com/ via Google Chrome.

Step 4. Search for the song you want to download

Click the search bar at the top of the SoundCloud main page, then type in the title of the song you want to download and press Enter.

You can also enter an artist (or album) name, or search for a music genre

Step 5. Find the song you want to download

Swipe until you find the song you want to add to your MP3 player device.

Step 6. Click Download

This button is below the song title and sound wave. The song will be downloaded to the computer immediately afterwards.

You may need to confirm the download or select a save location before the file is downloaded

Method 2 of 5: Downloading Music from YouTube

Step 1. Install the 4K Video Downloader program on the computer

4K Video Downloader is a free program for Windows and Mac computers. You can use it to download audio versions of any YouTube video, including videos that use music. To install it, follow these steps:

• Windows - Go to https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-videodownloader, click “ Get 4K Video Downloader ”, double click the downloaded installation file, click “ Yes ” when prompted, and follow the on-screen installation instructions.
• Mac - Go to https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-videodownloader, click “ Get 4K Video Downloader ”, double-click the downloaded installation file, verify the installation if necessary, click and drag the “4K Video Downloader” icon to the “Applications “folder, and follow the on-screen prompts.

Step 2. Open YouTube

Visit https://www.youtube.com/ through your computer's web browser. The YouTube main page will appear after that.

Step 3. Find the desired song

Click the search bar at the top of the YouTube page, then type in the title of the song you want to download and press Enter.

Step 4. Select videos

Click the video with audio that you want to save. After that, the video will be opened.

Step 5. Copy the video address

Select the full address of the video in the address bar at the top of your browser window, then press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac).

Step 6. Open the 4K Video Downloader program

Click or double-click the green and white 4K Video Downloader app icon to open the program.

On Mac computers, you can find the 4K Video Downloader icon in the “Applications” folder

Step 7. Click Paste Link

It's in the upper-left corner of the window. The copied link will be pasted, and 4K Video Downloader will immediately search for the video you want.

Step 8. Change the downloader category to audio

Click the "Download Video" drop-down box in the upper-left corner of the window, then click “ Extract Audio ” in the displayed drop-down menu.

Step 9. Select the download quality

Click the checkbox next to the quality you want (eg "High Quality"), in the middle of the page.

Step 10. Choose a download location

Click the button Browse ” in the lower right corner of the window, then select the folder you want to use as the location for storing MP3 files and click “ Save ”.

• On a Mac computer, click the “ ⋯", and not " Browse ”.
• Usually, you need to choose a folder that is easily accessible (eg " Desktop " folder).

Step 11. Click Extract

It's at the bottom of the window. After that, the video will immediately be downloaded as an MP3 file to the selected save location.

While 4K Video Downloader usually bypasses copyright issues, you can still experience problems downloading popular music (eg music recently released by top musicians). Try waiting a day and try downloading the music again, or downloading another file without deleting the error file to see if the new download can fix the old download

Method 3 of 5: Downloading Music from Audio Archive

Step 1. Open the Audio Archive

Visit https://archive.org/details/audio via your computer's web browser.

Step 2. Click the search bar

This bar is on the left side of the page.

Step 3. Find the desired music

Type in a song title or artist name, then press Enter.

Step 4. Select the song you want to download

Click the title of the song you want to download to open its page.

Step 5. Scroll to the "DOWNLOAD OPTIONS" section

This segment is at the far right of the page.

Step 6. Click the VBR MP3 option

This option is in the " DOWNLOAD OPTIONS " link group. After that, the MP3 file of the selected song will be downloaded to your computer.

You may need to confirm the download or select a storage directory before the file is downloaded to your computer

Method 4 of 5: Downloading Music Streaming Apps

Step 1. Know when you can use music streaming apps

Apps like Spotify and Pandora are available for smartphones and tablets such as iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

If you have a regular MP3 player, and not a smartphone or iPod Touch, you will need to use one of the methods previously described

Step 2. Download the app

Some fairly popular music streaming apps include Spotify and Pandora, but you can use other free apps available on your device's app store. After selecting the desired application, download the application:

• iPhone - Open

  

  touch " Search ”, touch the search bar, type in the name of the app and touch the button “ Search ", choose " GET ” to the right of the app name, then enter your Apple ID or Touch ID when prompted.

• Android - Open

  

  Play Store, type in the name of the desired streaming application and touch “ Search ”, select the name of the application, touch the button “ INSTALL, and select ACCEPT ” when prompted.

Step 3. Open the app

Touch the button “ OPEN ” in the App Store or Play Store window, or touch the app icon on the device's home screen.

Step 4. Register with the selected service

Touch the link “ Sign Up ” (or something similar), then fill in the form that appears to create an account.

If you already have an account, sign in to it using your login information (e.g. email address and password), then skip the next step

Step 5. Skip the initial setup of the service

This procedure differs depending on the selected application, but usually you will need to select a preferred genre and/or musician.

Step 6. Select the music you want to listen to

When you're done setting up your account, you can search for songs, artists, playlists, and other content. Content (eg songs) will usually play immediately upon being touched.

Free versions of streaming apps are usually ad-supported so you can't create playlists or select all the songs you want to enjoy without being interspersed with ads and/or other unselected music

Step 7. Try subscribing to a music service

By subscribing to a monthly service, you can get rid of ads and listen to music continuously.

If you use Spotify, you will need to subscribe to the service via a computer

Method 5 of 5: Adding Music to an MP3 Player

Step 1. Make sure you have the right type of device

You can add music to your regular MP3 player on Windows and Mac computers.

• To add music to an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPod, you first need to put the music into iTunes on a computer, then sync the device with iTunes.
• If you want to add music to your Android smartphone or tablet, you need to use Google Play Music or a USB cable.
• If you're using a Windows computer that has Windows Media Player, you can add music to your device via Windows Media Player as an alternative (this step doesn't work for Apple devices like the iPhone).

Step 2. Copy the music you want to add

Select music by clicking and dragging the cursor over MP3 files, and pressing Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac).

Step 3. Connect the MP3 player to the computer

Plug one end of the MP3 player's USB cable into the computer, and connect the other end of the cable to the device.

If you are using a computer with a USB-C port instead of a USB 3.0 port, first purchase a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter and plug it into the computer

Step 4. Open the MP3 player folder

The process you need to go through is different, depending on the computer you're using:

• Windows - Open

  

  File Explorer, click " This PC ”, and double-click the name of the MP3 player in the "Devices and drives" section. If the MP3 player window opens automatically, skip this step.

• Mac - Open

  

  Finder, then click the name of the MP3 player on the left side of the window. You can also double-click the name of the MP3 player that appears on the desktop.

Step 5. Locate the “Music” folder

You can find this folder either in the main folder of your MP3 player, or open the "Internal" or "Storage" folder first, depending on the device you're using.

• You may need to open the " Music storage " folder.
• You've come to the right folder when you find all the song files stored in your MP3 player.

Step 6. Paste the copied music

Once in the " Music " folder, press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac) to paste the music you copied earlier.

It may take a few minutes for the music to finish copying to the " Music " folder

Step 7. Disconnect and disconnect the MP3 player

By disconnecting the device from the computer, you will avoid damaging the copied files:

• Windows - Click

  

  in the lower right corner of the screen, right-click the fast drive icon, and click “ Eject ”.

• Mac - Click the " Eject " button

  

  to the right of the MP3 player name in the Finder window.

Tips

• MP3 player devices can usually play files other than MP3s. For example, some devices can play WAV, AAC, or M4A files instead of just MP3 files.
• You can convert most audio files to MP3 files.