Freesound API

⭐ Beginner's Pick Music / API Key Intermediate HTTPS
Varies by plan (check documentation)

Overview

Freesound is a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed audio samples and field recordings. You can search for sounds by text, tag, or acoustic properties and download them for use in your projects. It is a great starting point for developers building apps that need ambient sounds, music loops, or sound effects.

💡

Beginner Tip

Start with the /search/text/ endpoint to find sounds by keyword—no OAuth needed for basic search with an API key. Always check the license field in the response before using a sound in your project.

Available Data

track name and artist
album metadata
audio preview URLs
popularity score
genre classification
Use case: Integrate music samples data into web and mobile applications

Example Response

JSON Response
{
  "name": "Bohemian Rhapsody",
  "artist": "Queen",
  "album": "A Night at the Opera",
  "duration_ms": 354000,
  "popularity": 92,
  "preview_url": "https://p.scdn.co/mp3-preview/..."
}

Field Reference

count Total number of sounds matching the search query.
results Array of sound objects matching the query.
results[].id Unique identifier for the sound, used to fetch details or download.
results[].name Human-readable name of the sound file.
results[].license Creative Commons license URL that governs how the sound can be used.
results[].previews URLs for low-quality (mp3) and high-quality (ogg) preview audio streams.

Implementation Example

// ⚠️ Note: This URL may be a documentation page. Check official docs for actual API endpoint.
const url = "https://freesound.org/docs/api/";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
  "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized Missing or invalid API key in the token parameter.
Register at freesound.org, create an application, and pass your key as ?token=YOUR_API_KEY.
400 Bad Request Unsupported query parameter or malformed URL.
Check the parameter names in the docs—use query= not q= for text search.
Empty results array Your search query returned no matching sounds.
Try broader keywords or remove filters like duration or tag constraints.

Matrix Score Breakdown

🌐 Reachability 30/30
⚡ Speed 5/20
🔒 Security 15/15
🛠 Developer XP 12/20
✓ Reliability 10/15

Partially tested on Apr 5, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth API Key
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Music
Difficulty Intermediate
Verified: 2026-04-04

Alternatives to Freesound

Technical alternatives for different use cases.

Free music streaming and discovery platform API

Better For

Discovering independent music and artists

Trade-off

Sound effects and audio samples for production

Independent music platform with direct artist support

Better For

Supporting independent artists directly

Trade-off

CC-licensed samples and sound effects

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