How to Listen to Music for Free (Legally)

Listening to music for free does not mean pirating it. There are several fully legal ways to enjoy music at no cost.

Ad-supported streaming services let you play millions of tracks in exchange for occasional commercials. These are licensed and pay artists through their royalties.

Public-domain recordings are another treasure trove. Works published before copyright protection (or whose rights have expired) can be streamed and downloaded freely. Historical 78rpm discs and early recordings are classic examples.

Official preview clips — such as the 30-second samples offered by music stores — are provided by the platforms specifically so you can discover and sample music legally before buying or subscribing.

Always use licensed sources. If a site offers entire current albums for free with no obvious business model, it is probably not legal.

Here are a few tracks you can sample right now — tap a card to play the 30-second preview, then open it on a licensed service to hear the full song: