Where to listen to historic folk recordings
The old efolkMusic site offered folk music downloads. Today the best places to hear traditional music online are the great public archives, which have digitised field recordings and old 78s and put them online. Here is where to start.
Free archives
| Archive | Run by | What you'll find |
|---|---|---|
| American Folklife Center | Library of Congress | The US national folklife archive, with online collections and recorded concerts |
| The Great 78 Project | Internet Archive | Over 180,000 digitised 78rpm records from about 1898 to the 1950s, a general collection that includes many early folk, country and blues records |
| Vaughan Williams Memorial Library | English Folk Dance and Song Society | England's folk music and dance library, free for everyone, with catalogues, indexes and digitised collections such as Cecil Sharp's diaries |
Archive collections are free to explore, but rights vary from item to item. Check each archive's terms before reusing a recording.
Labels for traditional music
Smithsonian Folkways is the non-profit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. Its catalogue of traditional music from around the world is available to buy and stream.
Live folk radio
For music that is playing right now, our folk radio page lets you listen in the browser to folk, bluegrass and Celtic stations such as Folk Alley, Bluegrass Country and WUMB.
Learn the songs
Hearing an old recording is the best way to learn a traditional song. Pair it with our song pages, from sea shanties to Soldier's Joy, and our instrument guides.