Tens of thousands of MP3 songs free and legally.

This page describes how music can be downloaded easily, legally* and free of charge and can even be streamed to mobile devices everywhere:

  • individual music collections,
  • as MP3 files without DRM restrictions,
  • saved locally and - optionally - in the cloud.

Summary of the trick: free Windows software allows to cut and save compatible internet radio stations of all kinds of music genres in a way that leads to MP3 files with suitable file names (artist and song name). By means of parallel background downloads from several channels, running the software for a few weeks can provide many thousands of MP3 songs, for which private use is not restricted by (German) copyright law.* The MP3 music collection can be used free of charges for private purposes - and can even be uploaded to cloud music services. This eventually allows to listen to this personal music collection for free on any mobile device. The following sections briefly explain how to achieve this.

Software:  streamWriter

One of the most sophisticated free Windows programs for internet radio cutting is streamWriter, allowing a parallel recording of music from many radio stations with lots of program setting details.

To save the complete new music collection to one distinct folder, the respective path should be entered in the settings for "Streams" and "Filenames" instead of creating subfolders. File names can be created in the form "artist - song.mp3", and plug-ins also allow optional MP3 tags.

In the "Streams" settings, saved music tracks should be added to an "ignorelist" to avoid multiple downloads. Further changes of setting details, especially regarding the cutting of tracks, turns out unnecessary if the choice of internet radio stations is restricted to a suitable radio platform (see next section).

Further information:
streamWriter Settings (Wiki)

Radio:  laut.fm

With many internet radio stations, the automatic detection of music track transitions is a permanent cause of problems when recording MP3 files.

The simple solution are compatible radio stations: one of the best broadcasting platforms for the correct recording and cutting of music files in full length is the German DJ platform "laut.fm".

In streamWriter, the stream URL needs to be provided in this way: laut.fm/station-name - and the recording of the music starts. There are around 500 channels to choose from, offering very different amounts of music tracks in their rotation (below 50 or up to several thousands). To create an extensive pop music collection, recommendable stations include "hitradio-germany", "clubsoundfm", or "1000discohits".

Radio stations (German):
List of genres on laut.fm

Cloud:  Google Play Music

Depending on the country, Google's music cloud service "Google Play Music" offers music streaming plans and to purchase single tracks. However, without the need to purchase anything, the service includes a personal free cloud storage for up to 50,000 music files.

To upload a personal music collection, Google's "Music Manager" software should be installed with a Google account, and the local folder of the music downloads should be provided. New music files from streamWriter are then detected by Music Manager and uploaded to the cloud.

When streaming the music to a web browser, tablet PC, or smartphone, the bitrate can be adapted to the connection.

Similar streaming offers with free storage for music files are available from iTunes and Amazon.

About Music Manager:
Google Play Support

* No responsibility can be taken for the correctness of this information, especially regarding the legal situation. In Germany, experts have been confirming that music files recorded from internet radios are regarded as private copies. They are therefore not considered subject to copyright law restrictions, as long as these music files are not sold or published. Cloud services like Google Play Music are also offered for private use only and - as opposed to illegal file sharing platforms - do not offer the public distribution of music collections.