As a lifelong music fan, I\u2019ve been thinking a lot lately about what I miss from the \u201cgood ol\u2019 days\u201d of our pre-Spotify\/YouTube Music\/[insert your own preferred streaming service] listening experiences. And I\u2019ve realized, among other things, part of what I miss is the rich mishmash of live music and rare recordings that used to be a key part of my aural adventures.<\/p>\n
Today, I want to share a timeless tool with you that brings those splendid sorts of sounds back into your brain space\u2014and brings a much-needed injection of fresh variety (not only<\/em> limited to music) into your life.<\/p>\n This tip originally appeared in the free <\/em>Cool Tools newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a> from <\/em>The Intelligence<\/em><\/a>. Get the next issue <\/em>in your inbox<\/em><\/a> and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures!<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been around these here nets of inter for long, you’ve probably heard of the Internet Archive\u2014maybe better known by its web address, archive.org\u200b<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u279c The Internet Archive is a sprawling nonprofit library for all sorts of fascinating stuff. It\u2019s probably best known for its Wayback Machine\u200b<\/a>, which lets you zip back in time and \u200bsee snapshots of web pages\u200b<\/a> from specific points in the past.<\/p>\n \u261d\ufe0f But what\u2019s often forgotten\u2014included by yours truly!\u2014is that the Internet Archive also has a spectacular<\/em> selection of completely free audio files that you can stream or download on demand, anytime, from any device you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n And no matter what <\/em>you like listening to, you\u2019re sure to find something <\/em>worthwhile and refreshingly interesting within.<\/p>\n \u231a You can start listening in the Internet Archive Audio Archive in a matter of seconds<\/strong>, but\u2014fair warning\u2014it might take you a lifetime to fully explore everything<\/em> the site has to offer.<\/p>\n \u2705 To start, \u200bpull up the Audio Archive page\u200b<\/strong><\/a> in whatever browser you prefer and\u2014well, just take a moment to bask at the oodles of options in front of your shiny, happy face:<\/p>\n Yamma hamma! See what I mean?!<\/p>\n It\u2019s honestly overwhelming to even know where to begin, with all the diverse stuff that\u2019s available, but here are a few especially noteworthy sections worth exploring to get your journey going:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udca1 The best way to get going with the Audio Archive is really just to scroll around and see what tickles your listening engine. If you\u2019re anything like me, you\u2019ll probably end up lost deep in the stacks and forgetting where you even started.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd0e But if you ever find yourself looking for anything specific\u2014or even a particular category<\/em> of music or other audio\u2014you can always use the search bar at the top of the site or the filtering tools on its left side.<\/p>\n For a completely free, no-strings-attached resource, this is one heck of an supplement to any streaming setup\u2014and a site well worth remembering the next time you want something new and surprising in your playlist.<\/p>\n Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free <\/em>Cool Tools newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2014starting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app that\u2019ll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.<\/em><\/p>\nMeet the Internet Archive\u2019s Audio Archive<\/h2>\n
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