There's No Such Thing as "FREE" Music for Your Podcast or Videos
There's No Such Thing as "FREE" Music for Your Podcast or Videos
If I saved a quarter for every time I heard a client, friend or fellow creator say: "I'm looking for free music I can use for my..." I would have saved enough money to buy a really nice new microphone.
I honestly though that this question was a thing of the Napster times, not this new-age internet where it's possible to track almost everything and artists don't play when it comes to their licensing rights.
But in this booming era for podcasting and social media content, it seems we need to revisit why there's no such thing as "free" music for your podcast or videos.
First, let me clarify that I'm a producer, not a lawyer, so what I say comes from almost two decades of work experience and should not be taken as legal advice. Second, let's break down the different lingo that you probably hear people throw around and has most folks confusing the words "free music" with "royalty-free music".
NOTHING IS FREE. Music is never really free to use for your work, unless you made it yourself, or have a friend who said: "hey you can use my track if you want", and you have this in writing somewhere.
FAIR USE. Ok, sometimes it is kind of free, like when you can claim "Fair Use", but I caution most clients and creators to avoid this route because claiming fair use involves a lot of requirements that are not as transparent or easy to prove as one might think. Also most people don't understand what it means, they think that fair use is the same as using someone's work in a project that won't be generating any revenue, like a free tutorial or a wedding video. And they're wrong... most of the time.
ROYALTY-FREE FOR FREE. There are some music libraries out there that allow you to use their music "free of charge" on certain types of content and in exchange for proper attribution (giving credit to the owner). It's hard to trust these libraries because you never know where the music came from. You have no guarantees that the person who built the library actually owns the rights to this music. Unless you go with a reputable library like the one inside the YouTube Creator Studio. When reading their terms, it seems to me that YouTube can be trusted, but they have caveats. You can't just use their music tracks however you please, specifically they state that "music from this (YouTube) library is intended solely for use by you in videos and other content that you create." But they do let you use the tracks in videos that you monetize, so that's kind of nice!
ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC. What most people mean when they say "free music" is "royalty-free music". This is music that is free from the burdens of royalties, we'll just call this "future payments" or "every time someone plays your video and hears that song in it" payments. When you use royalty-free music in your videos or podcast, you will likely pay a one time fee for this license, and then never have to pay again. The website hooksounds.com explains it better: "In many cases a one-time fee allows the buyer to purchase a license that nullifies subsequent royalty payments... this means that all levels of producers have access to a range of musical content that can be acquired legally instead of using copyrighted music illegally."
FREE FROM COPYRIGHT. Music is never truly copyright-free. Technically, when someone creates a song, they own the copyright and there's no arguing with that. Where people get confused is in the way that some companies advertise their music libraries. A music library company might post a song on YouTube that says "Copyright-free music for your videos", and then an innocent creator might download it and uses it for their video, without realizing that they're violating Copyright laws by not getting a license (permission in writing from the owner). If this is confusing, please go back to point number one.
Now that we've cleared the terminology up a bit, I want to share with you some options that I have used to purchase affordable "royalty-free" music for client videos, podcasts, and social media content. The best thing about taking this approach is that you're legally covered in case the owner ever makes a claim on your work, and if you produce content for a living then you're covered as the creative and so is your client, as long as you purchase the correct license. Make sure you read through the plans offered by each of these companies so you can select the right type of music license for your work.
Uppbeat - For a low monthly charge that starts at $6.99 you can have access to hundreds of royalty-free music tracks. They have specific limitations, for example: "If you're a solo creator or producing content for an organization with up to 10 employees, you can use (their) music on any open-distribution platform." And if you sign up I get credit, so... thank you very much!
Adobe Stock - I'm a huge Adobe fan, though I don't believe they are the most affordable option for independent creators. But what they charge in cost usually makes up for in quality. If you have a little extra cash I would encourage you to give Adobe Stock a try. You get royalty-free 10 standard assets a month for $29.99.
PremiumBeat - They boast super-flexible, unlimited use licenses and start pricing around $12.99 per track.
YouTube Creator Studio - You can access the audio library inside of your channel's creator studio. The option will be on the bottom left side of the screen, underneath your channel logo. Inside the audio library you will find royalty-free music and sound effects at no extra cost.
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