According to research conducted by Texas A&M University, background music in marketing materials arouses more attention and excitement amongst consumers, magnifying their intention to buy in the long run. It is no secret that hiring an artist to produce content for your commercial campaign can be extremely costly. In that case, you might wonder which site offers high-quality, royalty-free music to make your marketing video more attractive.
For clarity purposes, royalty-free music doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t pay for them, but you can use them as much as you like after paying a one-time licensing fee. These fees vary from site to site but typically range from $25 to $500 per year.
In this article, I will walk you through the top sites that offer royalty-free music to help you create jaw-dropping marketing videos for your business. Keep reading!
List of the 10 best places to find royalty-free music:
- Soundcloud
- YouTube Audio Library
- Jamendo
- Premium Beat
- Bensound
- Artlist
- Storyblocks Audio
- Filmstro
- Free Music Archive
- Epidemic Sound
SoundCloud
With a library of more than 265 million songs to boast, SoundCloud has all the reasons to top this list. Besides smoking the competition with a high music volume, they have a social element that displays how many “likes” a particular song has. This can help you decide whether a specific song can attract viewership.
The songs on SoundCloud, however, aren’t entirely duty-free. They have a wide selection of terms. Some songs have copyrights that are fully reserved, others songs have some rights reserved while others are licensed under Creative Commons.
Songs that are under Creative Commons license can be used by the members of the public but under specific conditions as stated by the creator. You will, therefore, need to filter your search results by the Creative Commons license category to find royalty-free songs.
It’s also worthy to note that not all songs under this license are royalty-free, hence, ensure that the song in question is free of charge before using it.
YouTube Audio Library
You can easily access over 200,000 free tracks in the YouTube Audio Library if you have a YouTube channel. Most of these songs are licensed under the public domain or Creative Commons, meaning you can use them for your marketing projects after choosing a pricing plan.
What’s more, YouTube Audio Library lets you filter your search results by the mood, license type, and the number of times a song has been downloaded. This not only eases the search process but also provides insight into the highest performing type of music that would positively impact your marketing.
Whereas all music listed on the platform is categorized as “copyright safe” by YouTube, you should check to ascertain before using them for commercial purposes.
Jamendo
Unlike other sites on this list, Jamendo was created with a primary focus on helping marketers, and advertisers access music for their commercials. This licensing firm boasts over 200,000 license-free tracks listed on its website for you to use.
What makes Jamendo more appealing is the ease of searching for a song in its catalog. They have drop-down boxes that let you choose the type of project you want (for instance, “software” or “advertising”). They also ask you to select a platform on which you will post the content. For instance, selecting “Twitter” will give you a list of some excellent music that’s more common with Twitter Ads.
You can also refine your selection by filtering the search results by theme, genre, duration, or instrument. While it may cost more than other sites to license a track, it remains one of the best options.
Besides single tracks, Jamendo also has an in-house radio background music bouquet designed for various businesses such as airports, hospitals, amusement parks, etc. This music bundle contains up to 27 different playlists that are ad-free. Be sure to check that out too.
Premium Beat
Premium Beat is another royalty-free site with an exquisitely curated music library. The Shutterstock subsidiary site has a vast array of carefully selected music that is top quality and unique. This means you might find well-polished songs on Premium Beat that aren’t available on other commercial music sites.
What I liked the most about Premium Beat is that all its music is cleared for copyright. The site is also very easy to manoeuvre. It is signposted with as little information as possible, with an option of grouping songs in playlists or marking as favorites.
To access content on the site, you’ll need to pay a one-time fee for a copyright license, and you are free to use it whenever and however you like. With the backing of Shutterstock, you need no other assurance that Premium Beat is reputable and reliable.
Bensound
What’s fascinating about Bensound is that all the available music is created and produced by a single person - Benjamin Tissot. When Benjamin Tissot founded Bensound, he aimed to promote his songs by selling them as royalty-free commercial music.
The site has since grown and features a wide selection of music across genres such as pop, acoustic, cinematic, and electronica, among others.
There are several perks to using Bensound. It has a friendly interface that makes it easy to search for music. Moreover, each song is clearly described with details in terms of genre, theme, mood, and duration. And if you encounter trouble browsing their music library, there’s an insightful FAQ document that explains everything you need to know.
That’s not all. You can use any of their music under the CC license for free on the condition that;
- The music will be used for non-commercial purposes
- You’ll credit the content to Bensound.com.
To use Bensound content commercially, you’ll be required to pay an annual subscription which gives you access to unlimited downloads of mp3, WAV files, and a license certificate.
The downside of using Bensound is that it has less variety of music compared to the majority on this list. The website is also updated less often since all content is produced by a single musician.
Artlist
Artlist is one of the most extensive music libraries, feeding the world’s biggest brands, such as Netflix, Nike, and Coca-Cola, with lots of royalty-free content. If this fact doesn’t win your heart, perhaps their vast music library will.
Artlist updates its website daily with over 25,000 high-quality songs and 30,000 sound effects. What’s more enthralling is the ease of finding the ideal music for use:
First of all, the site is delightful to use. It is super straightforward to navigate. All songs are categorized and curated according to themes, genres, instrumentals, and modes. You can easily filter by such categories to find the ideal track for your commercial needs.
Moreover, there’s a “For You” interphase where you can get customized suggestions and a “Spotlight” page for trending content.
Their music licensing is also not as complex as you’d might think. They have a universal license with which you can make use of their entire music catalog without stress. This subscription requires an annual one-time fee.
Besides the annual fee, Artlist has different other pricing plans. Depending on your creative needs, you can select a “Social Creator” plan to produce content for social media or the “Creator Plan” to cover commercial projects.
StoryBlocks Audio
With over 10,000 royalty-free tracks to choose from, StoryBlocks lets you access and download unlimited content and use them for either personal or commercial purposes. They also update their music library regularly so you can be assured of fresh music daily.
StoryBlocks works almost like most of the sites covered in this article. For example, they allow you to filter music by genres, moods, and instruments before suggesting relevant songs. You can see a list of songs categorized according to their duration or by entering a keyword on their search bar, such as “Caribbean Background Music.”
Their pricing is also very reasonable. They offer cost-effective deals that are as low as $10 a month, giving you value for your money.
Filmstro
While Fimstro’s music library is typically curated for filmmakers, marketers can also find ideal royalty-free music to use in their commercial marketing. In fact, the feature of filtering searches by category works tremendously since you can input keywords such as “Excercise and Workouts” to find songs listed under that category.
As a marketer, Filmstro also comes in handy when creating creative commercial projects, thanks to its “adaptive music” feature that lets you adjust the power, tempo, and depth sliders of any song to match your preference.
Filmstro’s pricing plans vary depending on what you want to use the music for. Whether you are a personal customer, freelancer, or company and want to access their royalty-free music, Fimstro has got you covered.
Free Music Archive
If you are looking for a variety of music styles done by independent musicians, then Free Music Archive is the right place to go. It is a music library that boasts more than 150,000 tracks from various genres that range from RnB, classical music, pop, folk, and numerous others.
The site has a simple user interface that seamlessly lets you search for music. You can filter searches by genres, names, instrumentals, and duration while checking whether they are popular (they have a popularity index feature).
Also worth noting is their FAQ guide that highlights all the requirements for accessing music copyrighted under a Creative Commons license. As the name indicates, all tracks are free on Free Music Archive, but you must attribute Creative Commons licenses.
Epidemic Sound
The music library that closes our list of the best places to find royalty-free music is the Epidemic Sound. It is a favorite for most marketers because of its high-quality content and massive track list of over 35,000 updated every other week.
Outstandingly, its search feature goes beyond what other sites offer. You can filter search results by genres, moods, vocals, tempos, and lengths to find the best match for your type of project.
Moreover, Epidemic Sound lets you bundle all the legal rights bound to a song so you can use one license across multiple social media sites. In other words, it tackles all the complexities of music licensing for you.
Final Thoughts
Besides influencing a customer’s buying decision, Wikipedia notes that background music affects an advertising company's credibility. But you don’t want to spend hours creating a commercial advert only for it to be deleted for music copyright infringement. That’s why it's worth subscribing to a legitimate royalty-free music library platform.
There are so many options available that it may present you with a dilemma over which one to look at (or rather listen to!).
Nonetheless, you should research all options carefully to determine the best one that suits your budget plans, genres, and other preferences. Good luck!
About Author
Arielle P
Songwriter | Music Producer | Engineer.
With a background in music production and a strong passion for education, Arielle is dedicated to helping emerging artists navigate the music industry. She has worked with a diverse range of artists, from indie rock bands to well-known hip-hop and grime artists. Arielle's unique approach to teaching focuses on empowering artists to take control of their brand, ensuring they retain creative ownership throughout their journey. In her free time, she enjoys experimenting with new sounds in her home studio and sharing her insights through music production tutorials and workshops.
