Most of record hire for free (9)
I believe the answer is:
disengage
'free' is the definition.
('disengage' can be a synonym of 'free')
'most of record hire' is the wordplay.
'most of' means to remove the last letter.
'record' becomes 'disk' ('disk' can be a synonym of 'record').
'hire' becomes 'engage' (engaging is a kind of hiring**).
'disk' with its final letter taken away is 'dis'.
'dis'+'engage'='DISENGAGE'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for disengage that I've seen before include "Withdraw" , "Remove (troops) from a conflict" , "free" , "Separate, release, detach" .)