Finding free, legal music for your online videos can be difficult. As an online video creator you want the perfect soundtrack for your video masterpieces, but you also want to make sure that you don't break any copyright laws. After all, there's nothing more frustrating then working hard on a video only to have YouTube take it down because of a music copyright violation. Luckily there are some great sources online where you can find the perfect music for your video project.
There's a difference between free music for YouTube videos and royalty free music. Free music is where you can just download the music for free, but it's not necessarily free to use. You might face copyright issues. Whereas copyright free music means it's just free of any royalty fees. You have to just once, to buy it, or get it free from other resources. Once you buy/get the track, you can use it for free in a video, without being charged for the music per a number of views.
Basically, free royalty free music online resources offer music that is:
- Completely free to download and use.
- No licenses to purchase.
- You can use for commercial purpose.
We have listed down sites that offer you:
- Free royalty free tracks
- A searchable music library
- Easy attribution process
- A plethora of-of tracks, genres, and moods to choose from.
Beatpick
Beatpick offers a great selection of licensed music and if you are using it in a non-commercial or non-profit production it's free. Once you've chosen a song that you want to use, click on "License Song" and choose "Non Commercial projects."
ccMixter
ccMixter is a community music site where you can find tons of music that falls under the Creative Commons license. The site lets you listen to music, sample music, create mashups and more. Just keep in mind that some creative commons licenses may require that you give credit to the source within your video.
DanoSongs
Dan-O is a composer that offers his original songs for free download at DanoSongs.com. You can use his songs for free in your project provided you link to his site or credit him in your video.
Free Soundtrack Music
FreeSoundtrackMusic.com provides exactly what it advertises – royalty-free tracks for use in films, YouTube videos, games or other multimedia productions. Some of the music on the site does cost money. However, a lot of it is labeled as "FREE" and can be easily downloaded and added to your video production.
Incompetech
Incompetech is one of go-to places for great royalty free music. The site was created by composer Kevin MacLeod and has tons of music, categorized by genre and feel. In the site's FAQ you'll see that the music on the site is free to use for your video soundtrack. Kevin just asks that you place a credit within the video.
Musopen
Musopen is another free site that, like Public Domain 4U, provides music that has the copyright expired. On the site's about page they say, "We provide recordings, sheet music, and textbooks to the public for free, without copyright restrictions." At Musopen you can browse music by composer, performer, instrument, period or form. Musopen is great, especially if you are looking for classical music for your video.
Moby Gratis
If you want to use music by a well-known artist without paying licensing fees then check out Moby Gratis. At MobyGratis.com, Moby provides doe of his music for free download and use. The music is free to use, provided your film is non-commercial or non-profit.
PacDV
PacDV offers free music and sound effects. The tracks are free to use in your video, film, audio and multimedia projects. All they ask is that if you use their tracks you link back to their site or list them in your credits.
Partners In Rhyme
Partners In Rhyme has got all sorts of great stuff, from free music loops to sound effects, midi files and more. Some of the royalty free music on Partners In Rhyme costs money, but they've got a selection of free music loops and full-length tracks for free download as well.
Public Domain 4U
When content falls into the public domain it means that there are no longer any intellectual property rights attached to them, either because the rights have expired or been forfeited. Public domain music, video and other content can be used in any way, including in your online videos. Public Domain 4U is a great site for finding public domain music downloads. A lot of the music is old (music from the early 1900s is now in the public domain if copyright was never renewed), but there is also more modern music that is free with artist permission.
YouTube Audio Library
Most popular source for getting audio files from YouTube’s free music library.Music, sound effects that can be added straight away to your videos on YouTube, or download them to work offline.
Hundreds of royalty-free music tracks and sound effects, searchable and can be filtered by genre, instrument, mood, duration, and attribution.
Make sure you check if attribution is required. If it is then credit the artist in your video description.
Photo by Michael Weibel on Unsplash
