For your inspiration: Loads of Instrumental Audio Source in the free, attribution and premium sphere.
All singers and rappers need beats – some are able to make them themselves. If you are one of the rappers struggling with beats and beatmaking, here is a helping hand..
This list will give you access to millions of “free” hip hop and rap instrumentals. Combined with our very own archive, you’ll have enough beats, breaks, samples and effects for years.
- Rappers.in – This is a German website and everything is in German language. But, you don’t have to worry just yet. The interface of the website is very easy to maneuver so you don’t have to learn the language anymore. It is one of the largest rap communities in Europe and one of the best sources of free beats globally. Sampled beats are hard to find in this website but it has thousands of composed beats.
- EdBeatz – This is yet another German website with thousands of great free beats you can use for your projects. It doesn’t host all these free beats, though. This is a massive collection of beat tracks from SoundCloud.
- Freesound – Freesound is a usergenerated soundscape archive. Backed by Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Massive resource, especially if you are looking for sound-effects and background audio; tires breaking, explosions. You’ll find quite a bit of music (loops and samples), but Freesound has always been a soundscapers dream.
- Beat Brokerz – Beat Brokerz is one of the newest free beats source in the industry. Over 3000 beats available in 15 categories. You can download as much as you want and use these beats for non-profit purposes.
- SoundClick – The best and the leading website for rap and hip hop instrumentals is SoundClick. More than 4 million hosted instrumentals! Many producers allow you to download their beats just as long as you give them credit them. But remember, you can only use them for free if you will utilize the beats for non-commercial purposes.
- DatPiff – DatPiff is a website which offers tons of free mixtapes. Just search for instrumentals and hundreds of results will just show up. Download them and you’re done.
- Shadowville – This is one of the best when talking about where to find the highest quality of rap instrumentals. All their tracks came from carefully chosen producers which is an assurance that everything available are of good quality. This is the site where quality is more than quantity.
- Diract Beats – If you are in need of a lot of free hip hop beats but you think that clicking one by one just takes too much time? Try this website. Its beats are arranged in two download packs. Just download and enjoy 101 free high quality hip hop beats in just a few clicks. You are required to sign-up for the sites newsletter – and you’ll be offered a few up-sells ($7 bargain beats).
- YouTube – There are a lot of free hip hop beats even though the site doesn’t allow you to download mp3s from their website. You can find free software, browser-plugins and websites can do that for you. Great for inspiration, at least.
- AudioJungle – Part of the Envato eco-system. Loads of commercial audio; instrumentals, sound effects and loops for background music. They have freebies from across Envato Market every month.
- SampleSwap – We like SampleSwap and have mentioned them several times before. Loads of users generated content and curated audio. All available to preview and download. If you pop by and like what you find/hear, consider donating.
Now that we have listed SOME sources for free instrumental beats, remember to be alert in regard to licensing. Be sure to read terms and conditions, and if using CC type beats, be sure you understand the commercial workings of the license.
Many producers allow you to use their beats for non-profit purposes. No matter what, reach out and ask for their permission even if you have no intention of using it commercially. If you make a song and it actually breaks / goes viral, either on YouTube, SoundCloud, radio or other outlets, you could face a pretty hefty fine (infrigements and royalties).
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