The 5 Best Sites for Discovering Cool New Music

Ah, the internet! Great galumphing bastion of memes and more. While we here at ModSquad utilize the internet every day to get things done for our awesome clients, I also spend a lot of my free time in search of my first love–new music. Sure, you can have all the tips and tricks and tools in the world to maximize your productivity, but to me there’s nothing like a playlist full of music to get one’s day going strong!

I’ve gathered together five great sites to find new–and often free–music from up and coming independent artists.  Be sure to clear some drive space for album downloads, and let’s get rolling.

1.) Bandcamp
This is pretty much the home of new independent music in the US. Everyone from small, solo artists on the coffee shop open mic circuit to better-known musicians like Amanda Palmer, Sufjan Stevens, and Grimes, have a Bandcamp site. You can easily find great albums in all manner of genres for free–or the price of a latte–as many artists accept donations under “pay what you want” pricing.

For those who are always looking for new music for work or personal creative projects, there are even tag feeds to help you find music based on licenses like Creative Commons, podsafe, and royalty-free. On top of that, if you purchase/donate on an album, you then get unlimited streaming of that song or album on your mobile device using the Bandcamp app for iOS or Android. Definitely very handy for those living a digital nomad lifestyle!

2.) Jamendo
What Bandcamp is to the US, Jamendo is vying to be for the rest of the world. You can easily find music here from independent artists in Kansas all the way to Kuwait, and more. Add to that, the site has fairly robust language support, with an active community, and interesting music styles that you may not have previously encountered like afrobeat or folktronica.

The site’s overall strength is in the sheer amount of music it holds, but it is a bit trickier to navigate than Bandcamp. With that said, if you love instrumentals, electronica, chill-out, or other genres in that general neighborhood, (all great for focus playlists) Jamendo is definitely a place to stop by and get some tasty sounds for your ears. They also have an app for on-the-go use, should you wish to do your digging for chill-out music while in line at the DMV. (Really, who doesn’t need chill-out music there?)

3.) CCmixter 
CCMixter is a bird of a slightly different color from the two prior sites. While it contains lots of the same genres as both Bandcamp and Jamendo, it does require a bit more direct input to discover music you’ll really love. For example, if you select tags like “remix” and “vocals” you can find some great original vocal music being published by the talented CCmixter community spanning genres like electro-jazz, funk, pop, and more. As with the prior sites, you can also drill down on licenses to find things for corporate use, but be aware that as with Jamendo, fees likely apply here, whereas personal listening and downloads are generally free.

4.) OCRemix
If you’ve ever listened to one of eleventy-bazillion Zelda mixes, own at least one 8-bit chiptune album, or have ever played a video game and found yourself focused on the soundtrack, then this is the site for you! OCRemix is a community of artists who have covered (or reimagined) all kinds of music from the Super Mario themes, to creating massive Final Fantasy albums full of collaborations from artists all around the world. (My personal favorite is the free Final Fantasy VII album, Voices of the Lifestream.) While most of the music is free for personal and limited use–because really, who doesn’t like video games–this isn’t the place you want to snag music for your company’s next promotional YouTube video.

5.) Live Music and Netlabels at the Internet Archive 
Okay, so maybe digging through tons of new music on the hunt for great new bands isn’t your thing. Perhaps you’d prefer to road trip with classics like the Grateful Dead or Bob Dylan rocking out in concert? For live music fans who love bootlegs, the Internet Archive has you covered. You can head over to their Live Music Archive and snag recent uploads from everyone from fans to soundboard operators. The quality can be a little shaky at times, but there are some real gems to be found for those willing to do a bit of digging.

Along with that, the Internet Archive is keeping an eye on the future with a rapidly-growing section of netlabels, featuring everything from avant garde, to post-rock, to wave music. This is also a treasure trove of free music with varied licenses that work for podcasts, creative commons works, and more. (As always, read up before using for commercial projects!)

Hopefully these sites should give you a starting point on finding music you’ll love. If you have a favorite site to find music on that isn’t listed here, or a great indie band you just love to tell people about, drop us a link in the comments! Music is best when shared, after all.

Krystalle Voecks
Project Manager