Looking for a way to share your music creations online? Here I’ve gathered a collection of free services and tools that can help you out.
The post is divided in two sections – the first one lists services that offer users free music hosting, and the second list is about open-source packages which users can use to upload and share music via an embedded music player on their own site.
Host Music Elsewhere
If you don’t want to mess with server side operations and want a simple, quick setup to share your music, below listed sites would be handy. It’s also useful, if you are on a limited hosting plan or if you are on a blogging platform such as blogger.
SoundCloud
Let’s start with the most popular service out there – Soundcloud.
Soundcloud is a music social network that lets you upload your tracks on the site and share it with the world. It offers you a nice looking widget which allows to comment tracks in a definite position of the song. Listeners can also share and download music right from the widget, if you allow them.
Account is required to upload music.
Visit: SoundCloud
YourListen
YourListen is similar to the earlier site. You can upload any audio file on the site, and give your listeners ability to listen, download, share, and discuss your music wherever you embed the player.
A free account is required for uploading music.
Visit: YourListen
Picosong
Picosong is a free music hosting site that lets you upload music on their servers. However, unlike the previous two sites, Picosong doesn’t give you an embed code; it gives you a short URL which takes you to its site from where users can listen and download your music.
No need to create account here. To edit track information and delete the upload file, Picosong gives you a unique URL.
Visit: Picosong
Host Music on Your Server
Below you will find audio player packages that you can use to upload music on your own server and embed an audio player on your site. You have full control over the appearance and behavior of the player. This is useful if you are on an unrestricted blogging platform.
Opentape
Opentape is an open-source package that you can use to stream audio files uploaded on your website. You can embed a single audio file or create a whole playlist with your favorite songs. The player is fully customizable and you can even embed the player on other sites. Users can also be allowed to download music right from the widget after previewing it.
Visit: Opentape
SoundManager 2
SoundManager 2 is a JavaScript-based audio player. It has support for both HTML5 and Flash, allowing playback of a wide range of formats such as MP3, MP4, OGG, WAV, and many others. Visit the below link to see demos and know more about the package.
Visit: SoundManager 2
Two more options are Google Audio Player and Yahoo Web Player.
Know of any other free service? Drop it in the comments!