The Easiest Way to Find Free Music on the Google Play Music Store

Google Play Music Offers Hundreds of Free Songs and Albums

Woman listening to music lying on grass
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by
Mark Harris
Updated September 19, 2018

Although most of the music found on Google Play is not free, some artists make their music available at no cost, regardless of whether you've got a subscription for Google Play Music. You must have a Google account associated with a credit or debit card or PayPal information to download free music, even though there is no charge for the content. 

How to Find Free Music on Google Play

There aren't any complicated steps involved in finding the free music from Google Play Music:

  1. Go to the Google Play Music website. 

  2. Type Free Music in the search bar next to the Google Play logo.

  3. On the search-results screen, you'll see thumbnails for a selection of songs and albums that are available as free downloads. Each entry displays the song or album name, artist, a star rating and the word FREE. The music is categorized by artists, albums and songs.

  4. Click the See more tab in any of the categories to see more free options.

  5. Click a thumbnail to open the information screen about a specific song or album. If you choose an album, each song is listed separately and each shows a FREE button. You can download the entire album at once or just a few songs on the album, one at a time. Click the arrow next to any song to listen to a preview of it.

  6. Click FREE on the free song or album you want to download.

  7. If you haven't already entered a credit or debit card or your PayPal information, you are prompted to do so before you can proceed.

  8. To check that the free song has been added to your music library, look for it under My music in the left panel of Google Play.

Free Music and Subscriptions

Google Play Music is a subscription service no different than Spotify or Pandora. As such, as long as you're a subscriber, you can save and play any music you like, as long as your subscription is active. When your subscription deactivates, your access to the music also disappears. However, any music you've saved that's free to download and play will remain available, regardless of your subscription status.

Suggestions

  • Before downloading free songs from Google Play Music, stream them for 90 seconds to see if they're worth it to you. To play a song straight from your computer or mobile device, just click its title.
  • After you've added a free song to your music library, share it using Google+, Facebook or Twitter by clicking the Share button.

Google Play Podcasts

When you are looking for something different to listen to on your run, check out the huge selection of podcasts that is available on Google Play Music. Click the My Music section in the left panel of Google Play Music and hover your cursor over the three horizontal dots beneath Recents to expand the menu. Click on the Podcasts option to open a selection of podcasts, which can be filtered by category. Select a podcast to read a description of it and listen to an episode directly from the website or subscribe to the podcast to receive each new episode.

Radio Stations

Google allows some streaming of online radio stations. These stations reflect music choices, not terrestrial radio. Although these stations are free to stream, they're supported by occasional advertisements. A subscription to Google Play Music supports ad-free listening.