Are you an avid YouTube user or a budding content creator? If yes, you should take some time to read through this article as we will be covering all about royalty free music in YouTube videos as well as the copyright issues that entails with it. If you are someone who create videos on a regular basis, then you must have experience headaches from time to time when it comes to muted and deleted videos because of copyright issues. Copyright Infringement is serious. You might think you will just receive a cease-and-desist letter and be left alone. But that is not the case, sometimes the owner of the soundtrack will sue you, and you will have to pay a hefty sum.
If you want to stay on the safe side, not get sued or go to jail, then you can use free music for the video that is available on the internet. Audio is an essential part of video editing. You can record a fantastic video, but without audio might seem boring. So, if you want to spruce up your content, music is the way to go.
Mime may be an art form that was popular during the times of Dionysus in Athens, but we don’t live there anymore. Even mime actors like Charlie Chaplin had music to go along with their content. Now, when videos are the primary form of content, then you must realize that audio makes the video better. Below mentioned are some benefits of using music in your videos.
Your music selection will determine how your viewers react to your videos. Do you know about the power of music? According to the power of music, every musical instrument elicits an emotional response from the hearer. A study done by Nielsen proves that ads with music perform better than non-music ads. This shows that adding great soundtracks to your videos will improve your content. Your audience may even stay and watch the video if the sound in your video is well-curated.
When we open our channel on YouTube, the first thing we do is decide on a catchy channel name, a logo, and an intro. From the start of your video to the end, you need to add soundtracks that set the tone for the video. For the intro, you can use an attractive music piece that is relevant to your channel and brand. If you are editing a cooking tutorial, you need to add groovy sounds, but nothing loud. Music will set the tone for your video, it can make viewers stay on your channel, but if it is cringey, it may drive them away.
When it comes to establishing a brand, the power of association is requisite. What comes to your mind when you see the logo of Apple? What do you think about when you see the posh symbol of LV, Louis Vuitton, on someone’s glasses? We associated certain objects with certain brands. Your intro music, your outro, may set you apart from the rest. Your viewers will be reminded of you whenever they hear that piece of audio. Honestly, whenever I hear “I got a funny feeling,” I am reminded of Jaby Koay’s intro on his videos.
May it be on YouTube, Instagram, or any other platform, music will play a massive role in your video. There are tons of creators out there; you can stand out by using good audio. Some creators put immense thought into the music they use for their videos. You may use somebody else’s audio creation but giving them credits will keep you out of trouble. Music will make your video unique and out of the box. You just need to know what kind of audio to use to match your video.
While editing a video, you may add text, an intro, a CTA, and tweak it up. But when it comes to making transitions in a video, there is no better tool than music. As the scene or the mood of the video changes, so does the pace and type of audio. It helps you make a smoother and more natural transition. It says a lot, without you having to point it out. It is a subtle tool that can be used.
Now that we have talked about the benefits of music for video, you might be thinking about where to get the tracks from. Before you go ahead and use somebody’s soundtracks, you need to check whether it is free of royalties.
The concept of royalty-free music will make you scratch your eyes out. So, we will try to put it simply. When you see a product on the shelf labeled “sugar-free,” that means it has no sugar. But you still have to pay for the product. Similarly, when you talk about royalty-free music, it means the soundtrack is free of royalty. But it may not necessarily mean it is free.
You may think, what is royalty? Royalty is the amount of fees the purchaser pays according to the number of times the sound piece will be used as well as the size of the territory. It is labeled as “right manages licensing.” Right managed licensing is different from Royalty-free, because royalty-free means the purchaser only has to pay a one time fee for using the soundtrack. In the case of royalty-free, you pay one single price, whether you have ten visitors or 10K visitors and whether you use the music for one day or ten years. You have to pay once and use it as long as you want.
There are many wrong notions about royalty-free music, some think it is bad quality, some believe it is copyright free, and some think it is cheap. All of these assumptions are incorrect. You have to pay a certain fee for the track, it may start from $40 and go as high as $800, so it is not cheap. There is nothing wrong with free royalty tracks; it is not of bad quality. Thirdly, no music is copyright free, so even though you pay a fee, the owner still has the right to it.
Getting music for video is not a piece of cake. But now there are many sites out there which offer music’s free download. We have mentioned a few that can help you:
Youtube Audio library is one of the most popular places to download free music. If you are a YouTuber, you know about the “Creator Studio.” In this section, you will find an Audio LIbrary that has tons of soundtracks starting from country folk to serene. The great thing about using tracks from Youtube is it is a mix of public domain work and Creative Commons. Creative Commons license means the owner wants to give other public the right to use, share, recreate, and build upon the existing work. Creative commons copyright-licenses enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted “work.” That is why the music library of YouTube is a treasure house of tracks that are the property of all. If you want music for videos, just use it from the library, and attribute the owner of the track in the video.
Soundcloud, which is described as the Youtube for everything audio, became popular in the last decade. Upcoming musical artists and creators upload their tracks to Soundcloud. One can listen to excellent soundtracks here, but keep in mind not all audio is downloadable before you search for the audios, use filters that enable you to show tracks that are licensed for reuse. Finding music to free download on Soundcloud is easy, just type “background music,” or try something like “uplifting background music,” “ambient beat,” etc. and you will see results. The tracks available on this platform are from artists, and aspiring artists, not all of it is great. But you have great taste; then you have nothing to worry about.
BenSound is the one-stop solution for anyone’s soundtrack needs. The website offers royalty-free music as well as licensed music. It has great categories like cinematic, acoustic folk, groove, jazz, rock, etc. Filter it according to your needs, push the play button, and listen to it. If it goes with your video, then use it. BenSound is one of the few places you can find free music for videos. With its free license, you can use free music for videos, Online Videos (youtube, vimeo, social media, Twitch, live streaming), Animations, Slideshow, Website, Background Music, Educational Play, Film, Presentation.
FMA is a safe place for anyone who wants to download royalty-free. It is a platform that allows independent artists to upload their work. Most of the music archive of the site is creative commons music. That means whether you want to download music for a video or non-commercial purpose, you can do it here. FMA’s new project is to relaunch the brand; it is FMA NXT. The new goal of the site will be to make a free music archive. And Allow musicians to add more premium content, which will be available to visitors.
MixKit tried its hands in offering free videos, and after the brand became successful now, it provides free stock music. The company’s main motive is to make audio tracks available for video editing. All audio clips on the site are free of royalties. These tracks can be used with no attribution or sign up. Moreover, one can find the perfect audio clip for commercial purposes as well as non-commercial purposes. MixKit provides impressive tracks for background music for YouTube videos, podcasts, and online advertising. Even without registration, you will have access to unlimited downloads across genres, such as hip-hop, electronica, ambient, EDM, and so much more.
Audiojungle is a part of the initiative by Envato. Envato is a group of creative individuals who have come together to provide creative assets to their customers like-stock images, videos, and sounds. AudioJungle provides audio free of royalties starting from genres like pop to heavy metal and vocals. On top of some fantastic soundtracks, the site also offers music kits and sound effects. If you are a beginner and do not know how to add background music to your video project, then you can take the help of Tuts+, Envato’s free education hub for music. There you can learn how to add background music or mix and match the soundtracks.
Artlist is for people who want nuanced music for videos. The site is specially designed to help out creators who wish to music for videos. But the site offers only a free trial, after which you have to subscribe to avail the benefits. The best value plan has benefits like Music + SFX license, Unlimited music, Unlimited SFX, Universal license, Unlimited downloads, Lifetime use, Unlimited project. Moreover, the tracks are Pre-checked for YouTube, so if you are video editing for YouTube, then you can be assured that the soundtracks will face no copyright infringement.
FSM is a totally free site to get your music from. While there are some which charge a small fee, and that charge a ridiculous amount of money for the music, this site is absolutely free. Anyone can add their soundtrack to the site. If you are looking for background music, free music for videos on YT, and even video editing, you can download and use it from Free-stock-music. All the site asks is attribution in the credits. After all, if you use it for free, then why not give a little credit to the artist? It won’t do any harm, right?
Audiovisuals has become an essential part of today’s world, may it be marketing or entertainment; no other content appeals to the audience as much as audiovisuals. Finding the right audio for your video is crucial. Whether you need it as background audio, or for transitional purposes, the right audio track makes all the difference. There are tons of sites, as we mentioned above, which provide free music for videos. But if you want to create your videos and add background music in the same place, Offeo is your answer. Offeo’s music library has over 1000+ cinema-quality music, that is commercial and royalty-free. Moreover, Offeo’s platform is constantly adding and updating new curated sounds to the library every week. So, why not try using OFFEO Free Online Video Maker? It is the one-stop solution for your video-making needs that will provide free music for video.
Test out any one of our templates below to preview the soundtracks we have in store for you!