Sites and apps for music suggestions
Sources for finding legally free music to download:
Bandcamp
Noise Trade
iPhone and iPad Music Apps
Pandora
TuneIn Radio *
I Heart Radio
Shazam *
SoundHound *
*Paid versions also available with more features.
Pandora has been updated including removing the limit for free accounts
Pandora has been updated. The website has been redesigned to take advantage of HTML5. The biggest change for users is there is no longer a limit for those with free accounts. Other changes include easier station creation, more social options, and control improvements.
Starbucks free iPhone app (Shazam)
Starbucks’ cards for a free song a week has expanded to include a free app of the week. This week it is the popular music app Shazam Encore which is normally priced at $5.99. Shazam Encore allows unlimited tagging.
Free Music at NoiseTrade
NoiseTrade allows musicians to put up their music for free downloading. In order to download the music you must enter an email address which is passed onto the musicians. Musicians can list an album, EP, single, or live recording. As the music is put up by the musicians themselves the music can be legally downloaded (see the Legal Notes on the website). There is the option for tipping the musician, but these tips are not required to download the music. There is also an option to promote the artist on Facebook, Twitter, or by email which is a nice way of helping the artist.
NoiseTrade does not use DRM (digital rights management) so you can play your music on your computer, your iPod, or any other device of your choice that is MP3 compatible.
Finding music on NoiseTrade can taketime especially if you have specific music tastes, but it has some great albums.
Spotify
The popular music service Sportify is now available in the US. The free version requires an invite, but there is a pay version available without an invite.
Songs for Japan on iTunes
Songs for Japan is a compilation benefit album. The album has songs for a variety of music tastes including songs by U2, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Justin Timblerlake, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Madonna, Josh Groban, Bon Jovi, REM, Keith Urban, Black Eyed Peas, Enya, Kings of Leon, Queen, Norah Jones, and more.
Amazon Cloud Drive
Amazon Cloud Drive offers 5 GB of free online storage for digital files. Acceptable files include music, photos, videos, and documents. If you purchase an MP3 album from Amazon you get 20 GB free for a year. Paid plans are also available.
Knot of Light is focused on apps, ebooks, music, iPhone wallpapers, and other resources that relate to mobile devices. Updates vary depending on the available news.