We all know that video is the most consumed form of entertainment today thanks to high-speed internet and some of the best displays we have ever seen. Video consumption has skyrocketed and apart from quality content, if there is one other thing that is an indispensable part of any video it’s music. Music plays a vital role in determining a content’s engagement and success. Content creators no matter where they are streaming content use some form of music to boost engagement but not everyone is a music producer, nor does everyone have big budgets to acquire music. So what to do now? Well, the internet is a mine of free music that you can use for your video editing, and in this blog, we are going to show you the 8 best places where you can find free music for your video editing needs.
Music just like any other intellectual property has its own licensing rules and regulations that have to be followed. So before we talk about places that can give you amazing backing tracks for your content, it’s important to understand the various types of music licensing.
Types of Music Licensing
Here are a few types of music licenses that are widely accepted in the industry. Care must be taken to ensure that we always have the right licenses before we use a piece of music for any commercial purpose.
Sync License
Sync licenses are specific licenses that are given by music allocation websites such as Musicbed that determine their synchronization with websites, social media platforms, or digital media. Its broad use cases include commercials, studio films, social media videos, and more. The aggregator websites manage these licenses and give payouts to artists and creators.
Public Performance License
Websites, streaming platforms, and radio channels need this license to legally stream music to their users. Performance rights organizations such as ASCAP handle and manage these licenses and collect royalties. It applies to the broadcast of any artist’s work in the public domain in its true form.
User-Generated Content License
Platforms such as Instagram allow users to embed music to their content such as short-form videos and legally incorporate copyrighted music into their content. This is a rather complex form of agreement where the revenue generated is distributed among the creator of the song, the platform as well as the UGC creator. YouTube content ID is another reliable UGC content license management tool.
Creative Common’s Licenses
Creative Commons (CC) licenses provide a range of options for creators to specify how their work can be used by others. Some CC licenses allow for free use, distribution, and modification of music, often with certain conditions such as attribution or non-commercial use.
Royalty-Free Music
Royalty-free music licenses are those licenses that give you complete control over the acquired music for an upfront fee. This one type of payment grants access to the user and the user can use that content wherever they want in any commercial capacity without paying anything extra. Many websites offer royalty-free music and we are going to share some in the later section of this blog.
Free Music Libraries & Promotional Use Music
There are 100s of free music libraries available on the internet where musicians offer free music that can be used for commercial and creative requirements subject to terms and conditions that vary from platform to platform. Sometimes even artists offer some of their music for free as part of promotion and may allow the creator to use the tracks with proper credits or as decided upon acquisition.
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8 Best Places to Find Free Music for Video Editing
Now is the time to get to know the best places where you can find free music for online video editing. All these websites come with their own set of terms and conditions that we advise you to go through before using anything.
Free Music Archive
Free music archive is one of the best places to find royalty-free music for your content as well as free-to-use content. Remember, royalty-free music does not imply that you do not pay for the content, it means that you do not pay any recurring royalties and just a single one-time amount. They have various plans for their customers and they also offer discounts for students and not-for-profit organizations for their paid content and also offer a wide range of free tracks to use.
FMA boasts of an incredible and massive artist collaboration and you can find great music if you search properly.
YouTube Audio Library
There are several free-to-use audio tracks available on YouTube that can be used for your videos. These channels regularly broadcast new tracks and more often than not they are completely free to use. However, we recommend you do a good search of the permissions required before publishing it in the public domain.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is one of the biggest music libraries in the world and apart from providing music for entertainment, SoundCloud also has a section dedicated to free music that the artists can use as part of their video editing. Various artists contribute to SoundCloud and you can find some great music libraries for free usage under the fair use policy.
Bensound
Bensound boasts of an extensive client base comprising companies such as Discovery Channel, Google, Netflix, Microsoft, and more. It is a royalty-free platform which means if you make a purchase here, you will not have to pay anything later to the artist or the platform as you will legally own the rights of the song to use as per terms of agreement. Bensound also boasts an incredible collection of music fit for any video editing requirements.
Artlist
Artlist, as the name suggests, is a global assets allocation website that gives you access to the highest quality music created by top industry artists. Their base plan starts at US$ 8.88 per month and grants on-channel access to unlimited music and sound effects that can be used on all social media platforms, podcasts, and more. As you go higher, they also provide broadcast rights to tracks at great prices.
Epidemic Sound
With just US$ 6 per month, Epidemic Sound gives you access to one of the largest music and sound effects catalogs in the world that you can use to publish and monetize on 1 channel royalty-free. Boasting big clients such as XBOX, Go-Pro, and Wasa, Epidemic Music is a cost-effective way to access some of the most amazing music and use it to monetize your video content worry-free.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a large collection of free-to-use curated royalty-free playlists that you can search and find what you desire. All content is released by Pixabay under the Content License, which makes it safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist – even for certain commercial purposes. Read the terms and conditions carefully before deploying for commercial use cases.
Soundstripe
Soundstripe is the last on our list of some of the best free music platforms. Again, it also boasts of a vast collection of audio and sound effects that can be used for personal and organic social use including monetization of 1 channel at just US $9.99 a month. They even offer freelance commercial and custom enterprise projects.
Tips To Avoid Any Copyright Claims While Using Free Music
The Internet is a very complex and complicated web of information and even when you use free music, it is still a part of licensing agreements such as fair-use or non-commercial use policy. It is therefore advised to subscribe to royalty-free platforms such as the ones shared above and ensure that the legality of your content acquisition is not compromised. Here are a few tips to avoid any copyright infringement and claims that might hamper your platform’s credibility and business.
- Always check the license properly and read all the terms and conditions of usage.
- Use royalty-free music acquisition platforms for license management.
- Avoid sampling a part of a track without permission. Remember, it can always be traced on the internet.
- Give due credit to the artist as it shows respect toward their work and is a good practice.
- Stick to reputable sources for free music, such as platforms that specialize in royalty-free or Creative Commons-licensed music.
- Keep records of where you obtained the music, the license terms, and any permissions granted. This can help you resolve any disputes that may arise regarding the use of the music.
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