Where to get tracks for dj

Free downloads from label sites are getting rarer these days though as most have simply shifted to putting music up on music streaming sites.

There are smaller labels too like Tasty Records and Argofox that publish their own royalty free music for you to download. The reason these labels are on YouTube is because these songs have been cleared for use in YouTube as well as Twitch streams, and content creators are encouraged to download and use them in their videos. Apart from visiting your favourite labels and checking if they have any free music samplers to download, do a Google or YouTube search to see if they have any royalty free music channels or microsites where you can grab songs from.

Pros: Straight from the source of your favourite producers and DJs, a chance to get exclusive music and samplers through contests and promos. Similar to the iTunes Store, Amazon Music has a massive catalogue of tunes.

And you can legally download free DJ music from here, too. Amazon Music has a ton of music for sale, but it has a little corner where you can check out the free tunes the site has to offer. The quickest way to do this is to visit this link , which takes you to a page with search results for songs that are free. You can then go through the search results and sort them according to release date, artist name, and so on. The only downside is the free music search results tend to be a hodgepodge of music, audiobooks, and spoken word MP3s.

Cons: Free MP3 results are a mix of music, spoken word pieces and short audiobooks. No way to sort free MP3s by genre. Go to site: Amazon Music. Our DJ sets are only as good as the music we select.

A DJ since , he ran a successful recording studio for many years, and is a music producer and sound engineer too. Click here. Share Link copied to clipboard.

Joey Santos Content Creator. There are still plenty of places you can do just that, whether to build a collection without spending much money, or to discover something cool that nobody else has got… Once upon a time, all DJ music was bought, in physical formats. DMing producers for free music Remember that SoundCloud is a social networking platform — that means people get on it not just to share music, but to make connections with others too. Pros: Community of music producers and listeners, lots of free originals, remixes and bootlegs to be had Cons: Not as essential as it once was, strict policies regarding copyright material Go to site: Soundcloud.

Bandcamp Out of all the sites on this list, Bandcamp is the most artist-friendly when it comes to setting up a page. And do consider giving at least something if you love and can use a track! How did music downloads start? Start DJing with us and gain access to free music : DJing Made Easy Even if Napster was shuttered, the spread of MP3s could not be stopped: the technology that enabled music to be shared had been adopted by other P2P networks, and it became commonplace to download MP3s illegally.

How to get free music on Bensound There are eight main genres found on the Bensound page, and clicking on any of them gives you a list of the releases. Pros: Lots of royalty free music downloads in different genres, no need to sign up to download tracks Cons: Site looks dated and could be more intuitive to use Go to site: Bensound.

Learn to DJ with us with access to free music : DJing Made Easy You can also click on the tags in each release to find more music similar to it: this is useful because while there are only seven main genre categories, there are dozens of sub-genres that you can click through in the tags section of a release.

Pros: Catalogue focused on electronic dance music genres, free downloads without giving away an e-mail address or signing up for an account Cons: Site looks old, not a huge updated catalogue of music Go to site: CCTrax.

What is the Creative Commons licence? Get started in DJing with us with access to free music : DJing Made Easy So while a song bearing the Creative Commons licence can be downloaded for free, you may or may not use it for commercial applications such as a mixtape that you sell or a song that you produce and upload to streaming and online stores. Jamendo One of the newer sites on this list, Jamendo is a platform that lets you legally download free DJ music from independent artists, and it also gives the artists an opportunity to upload their music for music placement consideration in TV, film, and online content by music supervisors.

How to get free music on Jamendo A great place to start on Jamendo is by going to the Explore section in the home page. How to get free music on BeatStars The best part is that while the beats here are cheap, there are also lots of free downloads to be had. There are a lot of choices out there so be sure to do your research before committing.

It can also be an expensive option for a beginner. Offering a huge range of music both old and new. You can also get high-quality files to use in your DJ sets. If you do buy a DJ controller for iPad you can integrate your playlists quickly and easily. Be aware that sometimes you may find it difficult to find extended versions of tracks that you want to buy.

One of the biggest and most popular sources for where do DJs get their music is Beatport. They have a deep back catalogue and have a large selection of new releases from all the major labels. Beatport allows you to download higher quality file formats if you want uncompressed files. The top charts highlight what is currently trending in a variety of genres. Beatport also offers suggestions on similar tracks. Offering a similar service to Beatport it also has a huge selection and uncompressed file formats.

If your taste skews a little more underground and you have an affinity for house music Traxsource is a good resource. They offer a large selection of the freshest cuts. They also offer an impressive selection of music from more unknown and emerging genres that you may not find elsewhere. Sticking to the underground theme Bleep is another good choice for aficionados of more eclectic styles of music.

They have an expansive and well-curated list of genres. Depending on your location you may be lucky enough to still have a dedicated record shop nearby. This can be a great source for vinyl without having to pay shipping fees.

You can also build a close relationship with the people working there. They can introduce you to music and artists you may not know about. Luckily there is a little bit of a boom in the vinyl store space so hopefully more of these awesome stores open up. Record stores are still around and offer a personalised experience for vinyl DJs. You may also find songs that have never been released digitally. Also, keep an eye out on your local classifieds whether online or in your local newspaper.

Sometimes people are looking to offload their collections of vinyl or CDs. You may come across some great deals and discover some classics you can incorporate into your sets. Independent and undiscovered artists will often offer their music for free. Sometimes even established artists and labels will give out some freebies.

As mentioned earlier Soundcloud can be a good place to get free music and remixes. There are a lot of talented unsigned artists out there as well so I encourage you to dig around Soundcloud to find free music to add to your collection.

Likewise, social media can be a good source for the occasional freebie. Some high profile artists will commemorate milestones by offering a free track for a limited time.

There are a few well known independent artist hubs. They have established a reputation as the go-to place for releases from unsigned creators. It may also involve signing up to the newsletter of the artist. In a similar way, Noisetrade allows you to use your email address and postcode as currency to get free tracks. You can purchase tracks individually, typically paying less than one US dollar per track or 0. Alternatively, you can get a monthly subscription where you pay as little as 30 cents a track.

The site might appeal to the kind of music lover or DJ that likes a wide variety of genres, or perhaps somebody looking for a cheaper alternative to iTunes. The site might appeal to the music lover with a broader eclectic taste, or perhaps someone looking for more than just a digital offering.

From there, you can interact with artists, make your own playlists, build your own personal music library and even post content. They also offer music for commercial use, which you have to pay for. With 16 different categories, they have a massive catalogue of tracks to choose from. Every MP3 you discover on FMA has been pre-cleared for certain types of uses that would otherwise be prohibited by copyright laws, and you can legally use them for DJ gigs. Download iTunes here.

Apple also has a streaming service called Apple Music that competes with the likes of Spotify and Amazon Music, etc. CC Trax is a website where you can download electronic music for free. This basically covers your DJ sets, although not necessarily YouTube videos or other specified commercial uses. There is no better way to learn about music and the scene than actually experiencing it yourself. Find gigs, festivals, conferences, meet-ups and real-life situations where you can be inspired, learn and grow as an artist.

You can also attend music conferences like Brighton Music Confernence! Find a multitude of sources for your music but be aware of the different formats available and how they may affect the sound quality of your performance. Sound can be recorded, stored and played using either digital or analogue methods.

Neither method is truly flawless and there is great debate about the differences between them. The best way to understand analogue vs digital is to think of a single sound wave and how it is reproduced. When reproduced in an analogue way it becomes a smooth line, much like the original. When the wave is reproduced in a digital way it only becomes smooth with more data measured in kbps. More data equals higher file sizes and more computing power needed.

Another way of thinking about the difference between analogue and digital sound is by comparing it to the difference between analogue and digital photography. Everyone knows the bigger the megapixels capability of your camera the better the image. Now think about when you zoom in on a digital image; the further you zoom in the more you see distortion and pixelation. Now you can see that analogue formats have a different type of definition, one that does not lose detail when you look closer.

FLAC - A high-resolution lossless format that supports meta-data but is not compatible with every player. WAV - The industry-standard high-resolution lossless format. Limited meta-data options. MP3 - A compressed format with a lower file size that is normally cheaper to buy.

Meta-data is the information saved alongside a file. For example, when you download an MP3 you often get the cover art image along with the music file itself. In addition, you sometimes get other information like who the singer was and which release it is from.

Record shops or rather music retail shops are not only a great place to source music for your collection but also good places to network and absorb the culture. Create a list of record stores in your neighbourhood and visit them regularly to discover the latest releases. Charity shops are often treasure troves waiting to be plundered! Many charity shops sell CDs and records at seriously cheap prices.

Some DJs even make a business from buying and selling on rare records found in charity shops or car-boot sales. They are especially useful for building up a back-catalogue of older hits and music from different decades.

Any kind of market where people sell second-hand music is a great place to uncover hidden and long-forgotten gems for bargain prices! Although the popularity of eBay has waned since its heyday it still provides a great international platform for collections to buy and sell music.

Wedding DJs use this for building up a music collection of past hits. Discogs is like eBay but for music only. Many record collectors will use Discogs to buy and sell music and keep an eye out for rare records on their watchlist. Other than the traditional brands HMV and Tower Record there is a plethora of online music retailers just selling digital downloads.