Are you ready to take the next step and share your music with the world?

Luckily, with a variety of digital platforms and streaming services out there, distributing and promoting music has never been easier. 

And you can even do it without spending a dime. 

In today’s article, we will show you the best places to upload your music for free.

All of these platforms are popular and trustworthy, so you just need to find a service that meets your needs. 

1. Spotify

Spotify made a huge impact on the music industry since its launch in 2008. 

And with over 515 million active users, Spotify is currently the largest music streaming service, providing millions of songs by artists from all over the world.

That said, Spotify is arguably the best place to upload music, both for famous and emerging artists.

It’s a great place to get discovered, especially if you learn how to promote your music effectively.

You can reach out to playlist curators, for example, as they might include your tracks in their playlists and help you reach millions of listeners.

Many Spotify users search for new music by genre or mood, so including your music on popular Spotify playlists is important.

2. SoundCloud 

SoundCloud is another giant among music streaming services.

It’s a platform where anyone can upload music for free, so it’s a perfect platform for emerging artists and podcast creators. 

SoundCloud also offers a good way to connect with your fans, and it’s generally very easy to use. 

Plus, it has a catalog of over 200 million tracks, so music lovers from around the world use the service to discover new songs and artists.

All in all, SoundCloud is one of the best websites for sharing music audio content and releasing your music there might be a life-changing career move.

3. Bandcamp

Bandcamp is another excellent option for aspiring artists and bands who want to release music online. 

Bandcamp accounts are completely free, and users can easily find your music and stream it.

And the more your music gets streamed, the more signals Bandcamp receives that they should feature you on the platform.

This is a great chance to find fans and get noticed, so if you’re looking for a free way to distribute your music online, Bandcamp is definitely worthy of consideration. 

4. Pandora

Pandora is a subscription-based streaming service owned by Sirius XM.

The platform is focused on the so-called “Music Genome Project”, a means of classifying individual songs by musical traits.

So, the platform strives to provide its users with a personalized listening experience.

This is also a good place to upload music for free.

However, Pandora is not available in all countries, so whether you’ll find this site useful or not depends on your location. 

5. Jamendo

Jamendo is another reliable music platform for up-and-coming music artists.

Although it’s not as popular as Spotify or SoundCloud, it offers a great way to discover new independent artists.

It offers free streaming and free downloads as well as an easy way to upload your own music.

Jamendo can help you reach hundreds of thousands of people, and you’ll stay completely in control.

You just need to sign up, upload your music, and follow the progress of your tracks.

Jamendo also provides licensing services in case you want to get your music placed in movies, video games, TV, and online commercials.

6. SoundClick 

SoundClick is widely known as an independent music-based social community.

The platform offers a huge song library and a very simple way to search for music that fits your taste. 

Songs can be streamed, downloaded in MP3 format, and sold through the store.

And there’s a possibility to buy and sell beats.

That said, whether you’re making beats or songs of any genre, SoundClick might be a good place to sell your material and find fans. 

7. Free Music Archive

Free Music Archive is a website that offers royalty-free music and free music to stream and download.

This is a curated platform though, so if you want to upload music, you’ll have to submit a track and request to join.

And if your track gets accepted, it will be added to their catalog.

This is a good way to get your music heard because many people visit FMA to find tunes they can legally download. 

8. Your Website 

If none of our suggestions have caught your attention so far, you can consider taking a different approach to releasing your music online.

For instance, you can create a website for your music – a place that reflects your musical identity and showcases your music in the best way possible.

If you want to build an attractive website in a quick and easy way, you can check out popular web-building platforms such as Bandzoogle.

Bandzoogle is a site-builder made for musicians and artists, so it’s ideal for uploading music, selling merch and tickets (they don’t charge any commissions on sales), and sharing important news and updates.

Either way, if you want people to hear your music, you’ll have to promote your website, so make sure you include the link in your social media accounts and posts and mention it in your YouTube videos.

9. YouTube 

Speaking of YouTube, this is another great option for free music distribution. 

After all, if you want to promote your music and build a fan base, creating a YouTube channel is a must.

So, pick your best tracks, and start uploading! 

You’ll also need to upload visuals (album artwork, for instance) and it might be a good idea to shoot a music video as well at some point.

Needless to say, this is a very competitive field, so you’ll need to find a way to promote your channel and stand out from the crowd.

Becoming popular on YouTube is not easy, so you’ll probably have to find additional ways to distribute and promote your music.

But it’s definitely worth the effort – many famous musicians got discovered this way. 

How to Release Music Online? 

If you want to enter the music industry, finding a good place to upload music is one of the best things you can do.

However, that’s not the only thing that will bring you closer to achieving your goals.

Music has a reputation for being one of the most difficult industries to break into.

That said, you need to invest a lot of time and effort into promoting your music.

Thankfully, there are many ways you can release music nowadays. 

First and foremost, you need to build a strong online presence, and you should consider reaching out to music bloggers, playlist curators, and promoters.

Some artists also run paid promotions, which is a good way to get more attention on social media and YouTube.

And if you plan to release your music on large streaming platforms like Spotify, you can contact a music promotion service that can help you get more organic streams.

Releasing music online isn’t difficult, but it does come with other responsibilities.

Artists who are getting hundreds of thousands of plays on a track didn’t get there overnight.

You need to find effective ways to get your music heard, and you need to stay consistent. 

But more importantly, you need to keep making good music. 

Paid promotions and marketing strategies won’t help you unless people start to be genuinely interested in your songs.

Therefore, keep honing your skills, improving your music, and developing your own unique sound.

And make sure your tracks are perfectly mixed and mastered, especially if you want to submit them to online music distribution platforms and digital streaming websites. 

How to Release a Single? 

Uploading music online for free and releasing a single can be two completely different things.

As we mentioned earlier, if you want to reach a wider audience, you can’t just upload a track and leave it there – you need to promote your music, build an online presence, and reach out to your listeners.

So if you want to step up your game, you should think about the best way to release a single.

Releasing a single usually entails:

• Creating a visual identity
• Developing a marketing strategy
• Creating a Pre-Save campaign (on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal,  etc)
• Submitting your single for playlisting
• Sending out a music press release

See also: How to Release a Single

However, you need to find a good distributor before doing anything else.

The platforms we mentioned today offer an affordable way of releasing music, but there are also some other options to explore in case you want to invest some money.

And if things go well, you will earn some money as well.

Most music distribution companies for new artists provide two options: uploading your music for an upfront fee and sharing your royalties.

Nevertheless, if you get a lot of streams, you can earn a nice amount of money from streaming royalties.

But if you want to succeed, you need to create hype around your music and the release of your single. 

And once you release your single, try to keep the momentum – book gigs, be active online, and seek more press coverage. 

In the music industry, there is something called the waterfall strategy – this is when artists release a new single every 3 – 4 weeks, with the goal to keep the fans interested.

So, think carefully about the strategies that suit you best, and promote your single both before and after its release.

Best Places to Upload Your Music – Final Thoughts 

Distributing music online is fairly easy – the best way to get things started is to find a platform that meets your needs.

And we hope this article helped you figure out what is the best place to upload music for you. 

Once you put your music out there for the world to hear, don’t forget to find effective ways to promote it. 

If you stay persistent, you’ll undoubtedly grow your audience and come closer to achieving your goals. 

You may also like: Best Music Promotion Services