Download music from Usenet

This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)

Downloading music with Usenet is relatively simple and safe, as long as you utilise the right software. Of course, you will need a few specific things, which we have listed below.

Downloading music: what do I need?

In order to start downloading through Usenet, you will need the following:

• Account with a Usenet provider
• A newsreader to download the music from Usenet
• NZB file to identify and locate the music file on Usenet

1. Usenet provider: granting you access to newsgroups

The first step is to obtain an account with a Usenet provider. Good examples are Newshosting and Eweka. You pay a fixed amount per month, based on the type of account you want to be using.

Note: keep an eye on your data limit (for example, 50GB per month), the maximum number of connections and the download speed. Most providers support a secured SSL connection on the basis of a VPN. This ensures you can download safely and anonymously.

2. The newsreader: the download programme for Usenet

As soon as you have an account with a news provider, it’s important to choose a download programme. One of the best programmes for this is SABnzbd. You can however also choose for Spotnet, which provides an all-in-one solution and is very user-friendly. You will always need a download programme in order to be able to download music through Usenet.

3. The NZB file to determine where your newsreader can find your music file on Usenet

Finally, you need an NZB file with references to the parts of an album or other music. This has to do with the fact that Usenet works with a maximum file size. For this reason, files are fragmented in smaller pieces. High quality music is often divided in various files, spread over Usenet. An NZB file corresponding to the album you are looking for contains the links to these various parts.

You can find an NZB file in various ways: you can download software or visit NZBindex. If you want to download software, we recommend to choose for Spotlite. Spotlite will help you look for the right NZB files corresponding to the music you want to download through Usenet. The NZB file contains the links to download via the software. You will need the username and password to your news provider account, as well as the server and port, in order to be able to download.

Be safe on Usenet with a VPN and anti-malware software

Internet security experts generally advise to secure your internet traffic with a VPN connection. This stands for Virtual Private Network. Simply put, by connecting to a secure VPN server you accomplish two things:

• Your internet traffic is strongly secured and encrypted. The VPN software uses a strong encryption protocol for all your data, making it near impossible for hackers or other parties to intercept or monitor your data traffic. This way, your important personal information remains private, just like your online behaviour.
• Your internet traffic is anonymized.  By connecting to an external VPN server you will utilize the IP address of the VPN provider, instead of your own IP address. The websites you visit only register the IP address of the VPN provider, leaving them unable to trace it back to you. It is no longer possible to identify you based on your IP address and essentially you have become anonymous on the internet.

From a privacy perspective and to improve your online safety it is absolutely recommended to use a VPN if you use the internet or Usenet.


Excellent Dutch VPN. Fast, reliable and comes with a 30 day money-back guarantee.
Special deal: Get 30% off on the Unlimited subscriptions by using the discount code ‘Privacy‘.

A second tip is to always have a decent anti-malware program installed. Some files on Usenet will unfortunately contain malicious software. A good ant-virus program will intervene and safeguard you from digital harm in case you happen to download a corrupt file.

Is downloading music through Usenet illegal?

Downloading music is generally illegal if a breach of intellectual property enfolds. That is, if the music is copyrighted and you obtained it without consent of the copyright holder.

Copyright organisations worldwide are actively pursuing to prosecute individual users that download illegally. Of course, it’s recommended to take measures yourself and to stay out of legal trouble. The best advise we can give you is to steer away from downloading illegal material. Instead, Usenet can be used for obtaining loads of copyright free music files.