How to download music to your iphone for free

How to download music to your iphone for free

  • There are many ways to listen to music on your iPhone for free.
  • Using apps like Audiomack and FMA, you can legally download tracks for free to listen to when you don't have any connectivity.
  • Streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora have free, ad-supported modes. You can stream these songs, but you can't download them without a subscription.
  • If you have digital music files or CDs, you can download them to your iPhone for free as well.
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The only thing better than music is free music, and you're no doubt on the lookout for ways to listen to music for free on your iPhone.

You might remember the days when Apple gave away a free song every week on iTunes, but those days are now gone. But that's okay; there are a number of other ways to get music on your phone for free.

Download tracks from AudioMack

If you're looking for free tunes for your phone, Audiomack is a great option because unlike some music apps, it's chock full of tracks from popular and mainstream artists. Not only is the app free, but you can listen to all of its songs for free as well (though the music player does show ads).

To download a song to your phone, just tap the download icon to the right of any track. It won't be added to your personal music library; you'll still need to play the song from Audiomack. But anything you download will be available offline when there's no internet connection available.

You can store songs from Audiomack's music catalog on your phone for offline listening. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Download music from the Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive is a non-profit digital library managed by the radio station WFMU. All the music in the archive is free to download, and the FMA app gives you access to all of its tracks, organized by genre. The music collection is not vast, and most of the artists will be somewhat eclectic, but there are some good songs to discover here.

To download tracks, you need to add them to FMA's queue, and then open the queue list by tapping the button at the bottom right of the interface. Then just tap "Offline Play to download the songs to your music library.

FMA has a relatively small collection of songs, but they're in a wide variety of genres and available for download. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Stream music for free on your phone

While music from streaming services isn't technically "downloaded" to your phone, you might not mind the distinction — as long as you have an internet connection. There are a lot of streaming services with apps for the iPhone, and a number of them let you listen for free (though you will have to hear the occasional ad, just like radio). Here are a few of the many streaming apps that can hook you up with free music on your phone:

  • Spotify
  • Pandora
  • Deezer
  • YouTube Music
Streaming apps like Pandora have free, ad-supported modes, and offer access to virtually any song you could possibly want to hear. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

Download your own music collection to your iPhone

Don't neglect your own collection of CDs and MP3s — you can easily copy any songs that are stored on your computer to your iPhone. You will need to connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable and to manage the songs in iTunes.

For complete instructions, read our article, "How to download music and other audio files to your iPhone."

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Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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