Lots of people ask this, and some will tell you that it's fine to get music without paying online
. It will depend somewhat on what you're trying to hear, of course, and so you should ask yourself the purpose of seeking these free music downloads.
You may want to get free music downloads for lots of reasons, such as being able to hear a CD prior to purchasing it. You can also check on a song and musician to make sure it's the one you want before you buy it. There's a vast array of services offering these downloads, but remember to consider whether you're doing something illegal if you use one of them.
You can download free music legally or illegally. Artists who are famous don't generally give away their music although they may periodically give away a particular song to promote an upcoming album they're releasing.
You have to take responsibility when downloading and realize that you are crossing a line when downloading free music illegally. You might be aware that some of the files will contain viruses and malicious software to damage your PC.
Relatively unknown musicians like to offer their music for free because it allows their material to be known and perhaps become popular within their genre. If they waited for folks to buy the music, it might never get out there. It's hard to tell if a song is copyrighted, so you have to check and make sure the site you're on is a reputable one.
If you come across a site that claims to have 100% free music downloads then I would have a look at that site before choosing to download music from it. There are also other services out there that will allow you to download the song legally for about $1 per song. This means that you can furthermore, listen to the artists legally without having to cost you an arm or a leg.