Everything is better when it's free. Food is a little tastier, clothes look a little better and music sounds even sweeter.
Thanks to a crowded scene and the rise of the digital age, there are plenty of ways to get your hands on free tunes. But how do you find all of them? Just turn to Twitter. Though it may be killing off its #Music feature, the social media site has a laundry list of accounts that scrounge up the latest free (and legal) music downloads.
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Though you're not going to get freebies from mainstream artists, you'll learn about a bevy of free tracks and streams from up-and-comers and familiar names.
Follow these Twitter accounts to feed your hungry inner music nerd.
New Mixtape from Kool A.D. (aka. Victor from Das Racist) Free on Bandcamp with Featurs from Toro y Moi & Talib Kweli: http://t.co/FTDCpzY7MN— Free Music Archive (@freemusicarchiv) March 23, 2014
The Free Music Archive's business is to document and gather all of the legal free music the web has to offer. That's a mighty task, but the Free Music Archive's risen to it, cataloging thousands of tracks in one place.
2. CMJ
Download the CMJ March Mixtape, feat. @eternalsummers, @weeknightmusic and more: http://t.co/29bGXr7Sik— CMJ (@CMJ) March 21, 2014
CMJ tweets like your one friend who knows way too much about music. The college-geared site is heavily into the indie scene, frequently tweeting about artists you should know. Though not every tweet is an offering of free music, CMJ will constantly update you about the goings-on of the music world.
Every month, CMJ puts out a free mixtape of handpicked tracks from popular indie artists, in addition to random posts about musical freebies.
3. Noise Trade
Download @TheB0nes' 'Reliable the Unreliable' EP for haunting blues tracks, FREE, here: http://t.co/YhmlUAtiJi— NoiseTrade (@NoiseTrade) March 18, 2014
Noise Trade's goal is to provide new music straight from bands to your ears. Artists sign up with the site and then upload what they want. Noise Trade hosts the downloadable tracks on its site, helping you discover new music along the way.
4. iTunes Music
Listen to Teeth Dreams free on First Play. #iTunesRadio (US only) #AskTheHoldSteady http://t.co/SarJGOEU7N— iTunes (@iTunes) March 20, 2014
Don't roll your eyes just yet. iTunes may make users pay for a majority of the tracks it offers, but it also has a blossoming free release section. Follow iTunes Music to stay up-to-date with nearly every new release in nearly every genre, and you'll also be the first to know when free tracks are up for grabs.
5. Stereogum
Download the War On Drugs' (@warondrugsjams) entire 3/19/14 NYC show http://t.co/y5wyG6DAAN— Stereogum (@stereogum) March 24, 2014
Stereogum is in the same league of encyclopedic cool music knowledge as CMJ. The indie music news site constantly tweets about new tracks that you can stream, and is also a curator of delightful free downloads. It gathers free MP3s all the time, and even puts together its own mixtapes.
6. 2 Dope Boyz
Stream/download: @WakaFlockabsm 'Re-Up' (Mixtape) http://t.co/gNgFYPt5n1— 2dopeboyz (@2DOPEposts) March 22, 2014
Hip-hop heads have sworn by the 2 Dope Boyz blog for years now as a way to keep up with the rap and R&B world. 2DB is obsessed with staying up on new artists, keeping you well-versed in all hip-hop matters. Be prepared for a constant barrage of tweets serving up new videos, album streams and mixtapes.