Pick a Day

Featured Category : Free Music

March 6, 2016 Diplo and his electronic dancehall project Major Lazer land a historic Havana gig, becoming the first US musical act to perform in Cuba in the new era of diplomatic relations between the island and the US, precipitating a visit from President Obama later in the month.More

September 9, 2014 Who doesn't like a free gift? Apparently, about 500 million iTunes users who create an uproar when U2's latest album, Songs of Innocence, shows up sans charge and sans permission in their personal libraries.More

February 18, 2006 A week before Carnival, the Rolling Stones play a free concert to an estimated 1.5 million people at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.More

May 6, 2005 Audioslave becomes the first US rock act to perform a free outdoor concert in Cuba when the group performs at La Tribuna in Havana.

July 11, 2000 The free Back 2 Basics Tour, sponsored by Napster, kicks off with a show in Detroit. The tour runs for 24 dates and features Limp Bizkit, Cypress Hill, and Cold. The bands take some heat within the industry for working with Napster, a file sharing service that allows users to download songs for free.

June 21, 1967 Must be the Summer of Love: There's a free concert in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park celebrating the Summer Solstice. The Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service all perform.

January 14, 1967 Upwards of 25,000 people turn up at Golden Gate Park for "A Gathering of the Tribes for a Human Be-In" - a prelude to the Summer of Love.More

May 3, 2025 Lady Gaga plays a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to an estimated 2.1 million people. Enormous free concerts are a thing on this particular beach: Madonna drew 1.6 million in 2024, and 3.5 million came to see Rod Stewart in 1994. Most of the funding for these shows comes from the city, which uses them to draw tourists during low season.

May 4, 2024 A crowd estimated at 1.6 million watch Madonna cap off her Celebration Tour at a free concert in Rio. The concertgoers fill up a 2.4-mile stretch of Copacabana Beach equipped with giant sound towers with huge video screens, a $12 million production.

May 5, 2008 To thank fans for years of support, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) posts the album The Slip for free on his website.

January 16, 2008 Radiohead is slated to perform a free gig at a small record store in London, but nearly 1,500 fans turn up, forcing the band to move the show to a nearby club.

March 6, 2006 Pearl Jam make their new single "World Wide Suicide" available as a free download after the track is leaked.

September 5, 2000 Smashing Pumpkins, who have announced their split, give their new album Machina II: The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music a very limited release, sending just 25 copies to fans and associates with instructions to rip them and post them online.

November 1, 1999 With getting music over the internet still a novel concept and technical challenge, Third Eye Blind offer their single "Anything" exclusively online. It's free, but can only be played for three weeks.

July 17, 1998 Smashing Pumpkins play a free outdoor show in downtown Minneapolis attended by about 125,000. They wanted to do an entire tour of free concerts to promote their album Adore, but couldn't cut through the red tape anywhere but Minneapolis.