22 Royalty Free Music Sites
YouTube Audio Library
Of Course one of the best places to get music for your YouTube video has got to be the YouTube audio library where you can find thousands of high quality music tracks in every genre you can think off for free. Of course the benefit of using the YouTube audio library as your source for music in your next YouTube video is you can say with 100% certainty that you will not get a copyright strike since all tracks have been licensed by YouTube themselves.
The YouTube free audio library offers royalty-free music for videos
BEST STOCK MUSIC
Pond5
While primarily known as one of the top stock video sites, Pond5 also boasts quite the collection of stock music and sound effects.
Their music library is among the best royalty free music sites
They don’t offer any free stock music, but their library’s quality is so high it’s worth shelling out part of your budget.
Additionally, like the other best stock music sites, Pond5 offers a membership pricing plan, where you can download audio tracks from a pre-curated stock music library.
If you’re working on a short inspirational video or commercial, Pond5 has some of the best stock music video for projects under thirty seconds.
ROYALTY FREE STOCK MUSIC
Musicbed
If you can think of a music genre, Musicbed has dozens of stock music ready for you. Featuring mostly indie composers, musicians, and bands, MusicBed is affordable on most every budget.
Musicbed brings a voice to indie musicians, making their music accessible (and affordable) to filmmakers, agencies, non-profits, and more. Their stock music site makes it easier than ever to find the perfect track for any type of project.
STOCK MUSIC SITES
Artlist
Artlist takes a different approach to the stock music site pricing. Instead of paying per music license, the stock music site sells yearly subscriptions for $200. Then, for that one time fee, you get unlimited access to their vast stock music library.
Most of their stock audio has an upbeat vibe to it, making it perfect for commercial and explainer video creators.
With their pay once pricing model, Artlist is perfect for in demand video agencies, looking for ways to cut back on production headaches.
STOCK MUSIC WEBSITES
Music Vine
Music Vine may be new, but they are quickly rising to be one of the best stock music sites.
Music Vine’s diverse stock music library
With a mission to connect modern content makers to the best royalty free stock music, they offer the same quality stock audio competitors are putting out at lower prices.
Since they are a newer stock music site, Music Vine does offer a smaller music library than the others on this list.
You can use promo code STUDIOBINDER to receive 20% off any license on Music Vine.
ROYALTY FREE SITES
PremiumBeat
Think of PremiumBeat as connoisseurs of the best royalty free music clips.
Housing a selection of both classical and modern audio tracks, PremiumBeat carefully vets each new addition to their stock music library.
With quality placed high above quantity, this stock music site has music you can’t find anywhere else on the internet. It’s their promise.
DIFFERENT STOCK MUSIC SITES
Marmoset
Are you making a feature film? Right in the thick of pre production?
Then, you should check out Marmoset. With perhaps some of the best stock music on this list, Marmoset lets you search its library by storyand character filters.
While their stock music runs on the pricier side, their website’s interface allows you to easily create custom playlists you can return to and listen to as you create your project.
AFFORDABLE STOCK MUSIC
AudioJungle
AudioJungle is one of the cheapest premium stock music sites, making it perfect for just about any project. Its offers range from feature films requiring lots of tracks, to company culture videos that just need one.
Their stock music is very affordable
Functioning like a marketplace, AudioJungle ranks hot audio tracks and charts rising contributors. With an ever growing stock music library (currently at over half a million), they also offer music kits, sound effects, and codes for music producers.
If you have any interest in how to sell stock music, this website should be your first stop.
With quality placed high above quantity, this stock music site has music you can’t find anywhere else on the internet. It’s their promise.
STOCK MUSIC SITES
Soundstripe
As you push through your production calendar, Soundstripe may save you time looking for your next film’s score.
Branding itself as “unlimited music for filmmakers,” Soundstripe offers you full access to their entire stock music library for just 10 dollars a month.
While their scope is limited to filmmakers, what makes Soundstripe one of the best stock music sites is that they continually update their stock music library every Friday.
MORE STOCK MUSIC WEBSITES
SongFreedom
Are you looking for a name brand artist? Well SongFreedom is the best royalty free music library to check out.
Featuring artists like Christina Perri and Jason Mraz, SongFreedom connects you through a membership pricing model.
However, you do have to read the fine print. While you can’t license their songs to make a music video, additional surcharges do apply for making commercials and other video projects out of the properties.
FREE STOCK MUSIC
Jamendo
Jamendo is one of the best free stock music sites. Featuring actual songs instead of vamping temp music and corporate jingles, Jamendo may have a song perfect for your next explainer video.
Featuring free stock music, Jamendo earns its spot as one the best stock music websites through its vast stylings. Looking for a calypso disco techno remix? Bets are, it’s probably on Jamendo.
BEST STOCK MUSIC SITES
909 Music
Making stock music free is 909 Music’s goal. Hosted on SoundCloud (one of the best royalty free music sites) 909 Music neatly organizes some of the top indie stock music into easy-to-download playlists.
In short, its unique beats and totally free offer make it one of the best stock music sites.
MORE ROYALTY FREE STOCK MUSIC
Bensound
Bensound features some of the best royalty free music clips on the internet. Its library is also produced entirely by one man.
Royalty-free
An artist based out of London, Bensound updates his stock music site with everything from tiny jingles to fully fleshed out original songs you’d probably hear in a bar.
While his entire library is creative commons music, it is worth noting that you’ll have to buy a license if you don’t want to credit him or want high quality music files.
ROYALTY FREE STOCK MUSIC
Audio Network
Vice. MTV. HBO.
These are a few of the many high profile clients Audio Network has provided stock audio and stock music for.
Filling out their stock library from work from actual artists instead of computer-generated beats, Audio Network is one of the best stock music websites. If you’re looking for creative commons music, Audio Network may not be for you.
BEST STOCK MUSIC ROYALTY FREE
Ricall Express. – as of September 2020 the website is down so we are waiting to see what is happening with this site and have unlinked from the domain for the time being.
Along with SongFreedom, Ricall Express hosts music you’ve definitely heard before. Dealing with brand name artists, you’d have a hard time believing some of their audio tracks are available for license.
Stock music library where many high-caliber brands find quality music
Since they market themselves primarily to filmmakers, you can probably find the perfect stock audio to run under your trailer here.
What makes Ricall Express one of the best stock music websites is their interface. Consistently updated and improved, their website’s interface makes browsing and finding the stock audio you need extremely easy, which can often eat up hours of time.
BEST STOCK MUSIC
Tunefruit
Tunefruit is a modern music marketplace where musicians can upload and content creators can download. Pricing is scaled based on different licenses that dictate usage but there is something for everyone here.
Once you purchase a track, you can use it for the lifetime of your project. And they actually curate the content so you know you’ll find quality tracks. Right now, it’s a “track-to-track” situation but they plan on having a subscription service in the future.
STOCK MUSIC LIBRARIES
Addictive Tracks
Most stock music sites offer music that sounds like humans had no input at all.
Helps the user put a face to the music they find
That’s not the case with Addictive Tracks. From the second you open their website, you immediately see videos highlighting the real voices, real instruments, and real composers behind the work on this site.
They usually have a promotion running, if you’re looking to save some money on a first time stock music purchase.
STOCK MUSIC LIBRARIES
The Music Case
The Music Case offers affordable, royalty-free stock music. Their site is very straightforward and offers a wide array of moods to browse.
The licensing component is easy, and lifelong. Basically you select between two license types depending on your project.
The Silver License ($29 per song) gets you on services like YouTube and Vimeo. The Platinum License ($99) is reserved commercial films, audiobooks, paid mobile apps, etc).
The site is a little buggy as of this writing, but the tracks are quality.
BEST STOCK MUSIC SITES
Moby Gratis
If you have a project in the non-commercial or non-profit sector, that means you have access to music by Grammy nominee Moby!
Naturally, he offers some of the highest quality music you can find on a free music library. And he also give you very specific filtering tools to get exactly the track that’s right for your video.
If your film qualifies, you’ll just need to register, browse the library, and fill out an application.
Best royalty free music site Subscriptions
Epidemic Sound
Here is a video that explains Epidemic sound really well
How To Use EPIDEMIC SOUND To Get COPYRIGHT FREE MUSIC For YouTube Videos | Cathrin Manning
Artlist
Artlist is a growing Paid Subscription service that provides Royalty free Music that is really hammering out a lot of advertising on YouTube and google at the moment. Artist is a little more expensive than Epidemic sound and other services and downloading your purchased music seems to be a little bit convoluted compared to other services.
here is their description in their own words:
Let Artlist Inspire Your Project, Find The Perfect Music For You. Start Now! Quickly Find Your Song. 2020’s Talented Composers. High End Music For Videos. Uncompromised Quality. Find Your Relevant Music. 1000s of New Songs. Inspiring Indie Artists. Types: Drums, Bells.
and here is a video of genuine review of the Artlist service from a Youtuber who gave it a test run.
SHOULD I USE STOCK MUSIC?
The pros and cons of stock music
Using stock music is an affordable option for anyone with a budget too low for a dedicated composer.
And there’s a wealth of music choices available across several hosting sites. Sure, you may not find John Williams quality.
But if your content demands are flexible, there are many high-quality options out there to choose from.
However, if your demands are super-specific, this can be a daunting task. You might need to spend more time searching through hundreds of songs.
And, depending on how thoroughly each site vets incoming music, the standards for each recording may not be high enough for your production’s use.
Some final thoughts on stock audio….
I think this video says it best…
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