“Music is the universal language of mankind.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
For this blog post, we compiled great sources of music and soundtracks. Here’s a list of free and affordable royalty-free music sources you can use for your video content.
YOU WON’T SPEND A DIME WITH THESE FREE MUSIC SOURCES:
1. YOUTUBE AUDIO LIBRARY
Image Source: Youtube
One great source of free music and soundtracks is Youtube’s Audio Library. They offer an immense collection that you can filter by genre, mood, instrument used, license, and duration.
2. MUSOPEN
Image Source: Musopen
A nonprofit whose purpose is to “set music free”, Musopen offers free music that are all in public domains. This is the best place to get period music, be it Baroque, Romantic, or Renaissance. But they also offer 21st Century music licensed under Creative Commons (requires attribution). You can browse their collection by instrument, period, composer, or performer.
3. FMA – FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE
Image Source: FMA - Free Music Archive
FMA boasts of music that you can use for serious media production. They offer free downloads but you’ll need to read the licensing method on the right column of the music profile. Most of the music in the collection, if not all, are licensed under creative commons.
4. AUDIONAUTIX
Image Source: Audionautix
This site offers a straightforward way of searching for the music you need. You can search via category, tempo, genre, and mood. When you find your track you can download it and use it for commercial purposes. Just make sure you give proper attribution.
5. MOBY GRATIS
Image Source: Moby Gratis
Mobygratis offers a catalog of free music for indie filmmakers, film students, and nonprofits. They have a wide variety of music types you can use for your videos. Just register and fill out a form that includes a selection of music that you want to download. Wait for the 24-hr approval and you’re set!
6. FREE STOCK MUSIC
Image Source: Free Stock Music
In this website, you can download free stock music from a wide range of genres and formats. All the music they offer is free and there really isn’t any catch. You’re guaranteed not to spend a single peso.
7. TEKNOAXE
Image Source: TeknoAxe
Their collection of more than a thousand soundtracks and music grows every week. All their tracks are licensed under CC4.0 which means that they’re free for distribution and modification. You only have to give proper attribution to the site and owner of the track you’ll be using.
8. CCMIXTER
Image Source: ccMixter
If you’re into remixed soundtracks, then ccMixter is for you. It’s a music remixing community that offers soundtracks that are licensed under creative commons, which basically means it’s free for noncommercial use and only requires proper attribution.
9. PACDV
Image Source: PacDV
This music source offers a large collection of free music that’s neatly listed in their website. However, they ask to “not resell or re-license the sounds to anyone else, post on a website for download, or link directly to individual sound files.”
10. PUBLIC DOMAIN 4U
Image Source: Public Domain 4u
Publicdomain4u only offers free vintage music that’s so old they qualify for Public Domain licensing. Vintage music available here includes those from the early 1900s. The collection is free even for commercial use as it’s already in the public domain.
OPT FOR FREE OR SPEND ON THE FOLLOWING AFFORDABLE ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC SOURCES:
11. PARTNERS IN RHYME
Image Source: New Blue FX
Partners in Rhyme has been offering royalty-free music for more than two decades now. They have a huge collection of soundtracks, background music, and many other types of sound files for your videos. They also offer free and public domain music with certain usage restrictions.
12. BENSOUND
Image Source: Bensound
Bensound has a good collection of music and soundtracks that are licensed under creative commons. The collection is free for use even for commercial purpose but requires attribution depending on its CC license. If you don’t want to attribute, you can opt to purchase a license.
13. FREE SOUNDTRACK MUSIC
Image Source: Free Soundtrack Music
This website offers both free and royalty-free music. What’s interesting about this music source is that it categorizes music or sound tracks by color (e.g. green for refreshing music, wood brown for warm and hearty music, red for passionate and powerful music, yellow for cheerful, etc.) Just make sure you give due credit to the original producers or composers of the soundtrack you want to use.
14. DIGCCMIXTER
Image Source: digCCMixter
This site has a wonderful collection of soundtracks and music that are free for commercial or online content use (some require attribution). You can purchase a TuneTrack Commercial License which will allow you to use a soundtrack for specific purposes (e.g. modification, commercial use, etc.).
AFFORDABLE ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC AND SOUNDTRACK SOURCES:
15. MACHINIMA SOUND
Image Source: Machinima Sound
Machinima Sound is a websource where you can get soundtracks for your media production at a low cost. You can browse their catalog by genre and mood. Sound bites are also available in this site.
16. EPIDEMIC SOUND
Image Source: Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is a popular and trusted source for royalty-free music. They bundle all licensing fees into one so you can sit back and relax after paying. This source has a lot of music and soundtracks perfect for YouTubers and filmmakers.
17. BEATPICK
Image Source: Beatpick
Beatpick offers a large collection of royalty-free music and soundtracks for any kind of media production. They have everything from Italian opera to modern music. The rates range from 30 USD to 1000 USD depending on the type of project and use.
18. DANOSONGS.COM
Image Source: DANOSONGS.COM
Owned by singer and songwriter, Dan-O, this site offers a collection of his own affordable royalty-free music.
19. JAMENDO
Image Source: Jamendo
You can get free music and soundtracks from Jamendo for use on a personal project. Organizations or businesses will have to pay the license fee.
20. W.O.W Sound
Image Source: W.O.W Sound
W.O.W Sound has a library of over 1200 royalty free music tracks and sound effects that are geared towards games and videos. Their music and sound effects are uniquely categorized into game genre, mood/emotion, and also music genre. This makes it easy for game developers and content creators to sort and find the right music for their needs. They also provide flexible licensing rights to meet user requirements.
Now that you have sources for music, you can finally create exciting social media content! Check out this guide we made for making 360 videos!
