Usenet for Music: Best Sites, Newsgroups, and Tips

Are you interested in using Usenet for music? Or maybe you’ve tried, but you can’t find the artists, genres, or quality you’re looking for on your current indexer?

This article will give you the lowdown on Usenet music, including how it compares to torrents and which NZB sites have the biggest selection.

Is Usenet Good for Music?

Usenet can be a decent to good source of music, especially if you already have a Usenet provider. 

However, big time audiophiles will usually recommend other options instead, either on their own or in combination with Usenet. 

Usenet vs. Torrents for Music

One of those options is torrents. Since torrenting is more popular overall than Usenet, there are simply more files and trackers to choose from. Private trackers that specialize in music, like REDacted and Orpheus, are particularly good. 

That being said, Usenet does have its advantages. For starters, it doesn’t require seeders. That makes it easier to download older or more obscure content, if you can find it.

Unlike the private trackers mentioned above, you don’t have to seed on Usenet either. Not only does this reduce your bandwidth usage, it’s a lot safer.

In fact, Usenet is safer than torrenting in general. 

So, let’s summarize.

Pros of Usenet for music:

• No seeders or seeding required
• Safer than torrenting (no VPN needed)
• Faster downloads
• Easier to automate

Pros of torrents for music:

• Free
• Better selection of music

As you can see, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For the best experience, it’s worth using Usenet and torrents.

Best Indexers for Music

The easiest way to find music on Usenet is with an “indexer”, also known as an NZB site or NZB search. These are some of the indexers with the best music selection:

• NZB.su – NZB.su is a paid public indexer with a huge library, including music.
• DrunkenSlug – DrunkenSlug is a private indexer, but you can join for free during their limited open registration periods. 
• Headphones VIP – Headphones VIP is one of the only music-focused indexers on the web. But you do have to pay to join.
• DogNZB – DogNZB is another private indexer which requires you to either join during open registration periods – or get an invite.
• NZBGeek – NZBGeek doesn’t have the biggest music selection, but it has open registration and a very low membership cost.

You can also check out our list of the Best NZB Sites for more options.

Best Newsgroups for Music

If can’t find what you’re looking for on one of the indexers above – or you don’t want to pay for one – you can try searching newsgroups manually. Unlike movies, a lot of the music posted to Usenet isn’t obfuscated. 

There are quite a few music newsgroups, but some of the best include:

• alt.binaries.lossless
• alt.binaries.music.lossless
• alt.binaries.music
• alt.binaries.music.mp3

You can also try using looking for newsgroups for specific genres or artists, like alt.binaries.music.classical or alt.binaries.music.springsteen.

Using Lidarr for Usenet Music

Digging through indexers or newsgroups for the latest music releases can be a chore. Fortunately, Usenet automation allows you to find and download files automatically, as soon as they’re posted.

For music automation, you’ll want to use Lidarr, which is just like Sonarr and Radarr, but for music. You can even set it up with torrents!

Check out our Lidarr review to find out more. Or just download Lidarr and get started. 

Usenet Music: Wrap-Up

So, we’ve filled you in on the pros and cons of downloading music from Usenet, plus shown you some of the best ways to do it.

That should be enough to get you started!

If you know any good indexers for music that we missed, make sure to let us know in the comments.