Got Music?

One of the most frequent questions I get asked when working with classes doing some type of a multi-media project is "Do you have any good sites for songs and sound effects?". Music is something that can really add to a project to show expression, concept understanding, or as a simple tool to keep your audience's attention. However, finding royalty-free music can sometimes be a challenge. Another hurdle, is finding media files that can be downloaded and in a format that the application you are using can read. It seems that MP3 files are the most commonly read file format for most applications.

Three of my favorite sites for royalty free music and sound files are PurplePlanet, Jamendo, and SoundBoard. All sites are free, easy to use, and provide direct downloads in MP3 format.

Purple-Planet is a donation funded website whose music can be used for any type of media production (movies, podcasts, blogs, etc.). No account is needed to use and download from the site.

The songs are grouped by moods (such as dramatic, horror, mystery, etc.) making it easy to find music to fit all your project needs. Click on the mood of your choice to display a list of tracks that you can preview and download. Quick and easy!!

Jamendo is the world's #1 platform for free and legal music downloads. Available in seven languages, it offers the largest catalog of music under Creative Commons licenses. Songs and playlists are uploaded from artists from around the globe! Downloading from Jamendo is quick and easy. Once you create your user account, you can download from an artist, album or playlist page, or even straight from their player.

SoundBoard is awesome!! The web's largest catalog of free sounds and soundboards - in over 20 categories. Some of the categories include Politics, Celebrities, Movies, Science/Nature, Historical and many, many more! What are soundboards? SoundBoards are like an audio album or soundtrack/jukebox for all your favorite Mp3 soundbytes and audio clips. You can build a soundboard for your own listening pleasure or upload your sound and share it with the world.

Enjoy!!