The music streaming sector is dominated by some big international players, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, however there are also some alternative realities such as Jamendo Music. This is a project similar in some ways to SoundCloud, in fact it allows emerging artists and independent musicians to make themselves known on the web, providing a dedicated platform and a free basic access. Here's how Jamendo works, how much it costs and what are the most important features of the music application.
What is Jamendo Music
Jamendo Music is a platform born in 2004 in Luxembourg with the aim of supporting independent artists, in fact its slogan is "Open your ears", or literally "Open your ears". This is a nice way to indicate the need to not just use traditional channels, but to remain open to new possibilities in the music industry. In detail, according to the managers of the project it is important to value lesser known authors and performers, small production houses and underground projects that escape the logic of big labels or technological multinationals.
The main purpose of Jamendo is to share music for free, through Creative Commons licenses that do not require the payment of royalties. Over the years, Jamendo Free has been joined by a series of paid services, with which artists and users can enjoy more features and a better service. The community counts thousands of musicians from all over the world, with the possibility to interact with the artists directly, or use Jamendo to discover new talents through the Search function of the platform.
Today, Jamendo counts more than 40 thousand artists who make their music available in the application, with a catalog of more than 150 thousand tracks and a presence in more than 150 countries. The Jamendo team is composed of about twenty people, based in Luxembourg, Paris and Brussels, within which there are several open positions for those who want to collaborate with the project. The platform's mission is to offer a different way to listen to music on the internet, an alternative to the classic paid download sites or illegal portals, to enhance the artistic work and promote the sharing economy.
Jamendo: how it works
The independent music streaming application offers two different services, Jamendo Music for online and offline listening with downloads, while Jamendo Licensing is a paid service that allows you to find copyright-free music, to be used for commercial purposes for videos, advertising and other similar uses. Jamendo Music presents an online platform accessible from any web browser, otherwise you can download the Jamendo app on Google Play Store for Android devices or on the App Store for iOS devices.
In the app there is immediately a modern and quite intuitive screen, obviously not optimized as that of Apple Music or YouTube Music, however it is pleasant and easy to use. In the first section there are immediately some suggestions for free streaming and free download, also you can leave a Like, share the track with other users or add it to your playlist. With the filters you can search for music tracks by genre, the most recent songs or the most popular ones.
In the lower part of the screen there are a series of highlighted contents, including many thematic playlists, a section dedicated to the discovery of new music and emerging artists, with the official Tunebox radios. The Jamendo staff also always indicates some musical recommendations, for example proposing artists who have just joined the community, or the most listened to tracks in the application. In any case, the best way to discover the platform is by navigating through the various internal features, using the Search option or the Spotlight section to find information and new interesting content.
Of course, when you meet an artist whose music suits your tastes you can interact, for example by sending a message via the application's internal chat, or by visiting their Facebook or Instagram social profiles. Alternatively, you can write a review of the track, album or artist, entering a maximum of 250 characters. For some music tracks on Jamendo you can also view the lyrics, a useful way to sing along with the interpreter, or to read the words of the music in English, with a tag that shows the tracks similar to the one you have just listened to.
How to register on Jamendo
To access the music content of Jamendo for free, just register, a very simple operation that takes just a few moments. From the desktop platform or from the app, you only have to indicate your email address and choose a password, then define the name to be displayed in the community, the date of birth and the country of residence. After that, from the My Profile section you can make some account settings, such as adding a photo or configuring your musical tastes.
From the My Playlists section you can create custom lists of songs and genres, while to remember a favorite track just go to My Favorites, where you can find any saved song, artist followed or playlists highlighted while browsing. In the Messages item under Spotlight, on the other hand, you can discover interesting information about the various Jamendo Music services, such as radio stations and thematic channels, or detailed artist cards with biography, shared tracks and listening data.
How to download music on Jamendo
All users registered for free on Jamendo can download music without paying, as long as it is for personal use. In order to download songs, all you need to do is to enter the platform with your login, choose a music track and click on Free Download, after which the audio file will be saved on your device in MP3 format. Some tracks can also be licensed, otherwise through the Jamendo Licensing service you can download tracks similar to the one you chose but with the right license.
How Jamendo Licensing works
Jamendo Licensing is the additional service offered by the music streaming platform, through which you can pay a monthly subscription to download tracks for commercial use. The most popular plan costs $49 per month, with unlimited access to over 240 thousand music tracks from Jamendo's exclusive catalog. This is an optimal solution for various professionals and companies, for example for youtubers who need to include background music in their videos, or for social media managers who need to produce promotional campaigns.
In the same way, the music downloaded from Jamendo Licensing can be used for podcasts, online productions, advertisements and many other activities, with the possibility of finding traditional songs, themes, atmospheres and instrumental tracks. To facilitate the search, there are a series of filters, for example, to display at a glance cheerful music, epic music, music with a jazzy sound or music suitable for an action video, such as the shooting of a mountain hike with the GoPro to be published on your YouTube channel.
With the Jamendo Licensing subscription, all the licenses for the use of music tracks are included, in order to obtain the rights of use and to be always in full compliance with the copyright laws. For occasional or personal use there is also a single license starting at $9.99, with which you can use the music for non-commercial projects, such as a school video or a family movie, however the license is only valid for a single project.
Jamendo Licensing also offers licenses for specific sectors, including rights of use for cinema, the possibility to make copies of the music, or to use it in events open to the public for commercial purposes. The same applies to the inclusion of songs in television content, with local, national or global coverage depending on the type of subscription, with Standard, Extended, Extended or Full License plans. Costs go up to $299 per month for the extended license, otherwise you can request a quote for the full package with no limitations.
How to earn with Jamendo
The purpose of Jamendo Music is not just to provide an application for free music streaming and downloading, in fact it allows independent artists to earn from shared tracks. With the platform it is possible to be remunerated in various forms, for example for the insertion of the music in commercial radio stations, for the download from licenses for commercial use, otherwise it is possible to propose the music of Jamendo becoming in fact a reseller.
One of the services offered by Jamendo is the Content ID, a code with which to monitor the use of one's own music shared on the platform, in order to request the payment of royalties should it be used without permission, for example for a video on YouTube. For music requested through Jamendo Licensing, instead, the app recognizes a percentage of 65% to the artist for each sale made. Moreover, it is possible to increase your visibility, with the possibility of finding new followers and alternative channels to broadcast your music.