The music is an often-overlooked part of a video’s success. You don’t want to skip this step because the right music will really enhance your video. It generates energy, sets the tone, and sets the mood. It makes a huge difference whether anyone likes the video or goes on to something else.
Many of the popular YouTubers are using royalty-free music in their videos, you will be able to find the details in the description.
In this article, we are discussing how can you get 100% free music, which means you don’t exchange money to use these tracks. Let’s take a look at some of the best places to find great music for your YouTube channel.
YouTube Audio Library
YouTube Audio Library is my first suggestion for discovering great FREE music that you can easily use in your videos.
You can access the YouTube Audio Library from the YouTube Creator’s Studio section of your profile.
If you logged in to your YouTube channel you can go inside of your creator studio, go down and on the lower left-hand side, click the audio library. Select Audio Library from the YouTube Creator Studio panel.
It has a large collection of high-quality free music that can be filtered by genre, mood, length, and other factors, and it can be used commercially.
You can sort them by mood based on what vibe you want on your videos, even by instrument and how long they are, etc. YouTube often uploads a new track which is very cool…
The best thing is that all of these different tracks that you can download to bring into your video editing software.
If you like a particular track, you can add it to your Favorites by clicking on the star sign.
Do you need to give credits?
Certain music needs attribution, YouTube suggests writing the artist and track’s name in the description. You can easily filter the music by attribution.
YouTube Audio Library is one of the best and safest ways to get music for content creators who intend to post videos on YouTube.
Both YouTube and video makers benefit from the YouTube Audio Library because YouTube has to spend less time dealing with copyright infringement.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a popular online marketplace to get royalty-free images but they also have music that is completely free to use.
You can find ROYALTY FREE Background Music , a NO COPYRIGHT Background Music For Videos from pixabay. You can check their license details here.
It has a large collection of high-quality music tracks that don’t need any credit. The music is neatly organized which helps to find the right music for your video easier. Simply filter the results by mood, genre etc.
These ROYALTY-FREE commercial music is suited for many projects such as promotion videos, food videos, and business presentations AND is 100% FREE.
You can use this music on all sites: FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter, Vimeo, Tumbler, Instagram, and more
You can monetize your videos on YouTube.
Soundcloud
Soundcloud is a Music hosting platform. It is like youtube but for just music.
SoundCloud has one of the biggest online music collections. SoundCloud was founded in 2008 with the aim of bringing musicians together and connecting them with listeners and creators all over the world.
There are a lot of talented musicians, and the majority of them are fine with sharing their music for free. They just ask for a credit attribution or a small donation in exchange.
It is around for so many years. you can use some of their music commercially. Here is how you can find them,
- Navigate to https://soundcloud.com/search
- Search for the type of music you like Jazz, Ambient, Calm, hip hop music etc
- Click on “Track” in the top left
- Then Click on Filter Result and select the option “To use commercially”
Bensound
Bensound – Some of the music on Bensound is available for free download.
You don’t need to sign up to download audio and free license allows you to use the audio. However you must attribute that you are using their music under a Creative Commons license.
The website features well-organized soundtracks, which are ideal if you’re working on a professional project and don’t want to sacrifice audio quality. Almost every genre is represented, including cinematic, folk, jazz, electronica, and more.
IncompeTech
Incompetech Music does an excellent job of providing royalty-free music for a long time.
Some of Kevin MacLeod’s songs are also available in YouTube audio library and you can search for it with his name.
They’ve created a large collection of background music over the years. It has a wide range of genres that you can use for commercial or non-commercial projects as long as you credit the owner.
The songs aren’t just for YouTube; they can be used in presentations, films, video games, or some other online or offline commercial projects. Make sure to give the proper credit to the owner. You can also purchase the license if you don’t want to give credit to the owner.
How to Search for Music on IncompeTech
It has a feature that allows you to choose a mood and then finds music that matches that mood. The site’s genres include the common ones, as well as African, polka, and even Silent Film score-style music.
You can find the most popular downloads in IncompeTech here
YouTube Search for FREE Music
There are a few YouTube channels where they offer royalty-free music. Yes, you can find YouTube video background music on YouTube channels.
However, one catch is that you need to make sure the upload is legitimate and that you are not sharing anyone else’s material. So, keep an eye out for signs such as linked social media accounts, upload comments, and so on.
It’s completely free of charge, and you can even make money off of it. All they ask is for the Attribution to be included in the video summary, which is completely fair.
Here are few examples:
Royalty Free Music (Ross Bugden)
You can find more free music by simply searching for the type of song you want, such as ‘Royalty-free Music‘, to get started. Listen to each search result and choose the one that appeals to you.
NoCopyrightSounds
It’s a popular YouTube channel that provides free high-quality instrumental music.
You can download audio and a free license allows you to use the audio. However, you must credit the Artist and the songs used in your video description.
Can you monetize your video if you use NCS music?
As long as you follow their user policy you can monetize your video with their music, but always make sure to read their policy and add proper attribution in your description. You can read more about their policy here.
CHOSIC
Can you monetize your video if you use CHOSIC music?
As long as you follow their user policy you can monetize your video with their music, but always make sure to read their policy and add proper attribution in your description. You can read more about their policy here.
What happens when you use copyright music?
If you did not check your license and posted a video with premium audio on YouTube, the YouTube algorithm (called contentID) will detect the video shortly after you upload it. If you receive a content ID claim, it means you are not the legal owner of the content you uploaded.
If you have a valid license, purchase ID, or consent letter, you can dispute the claim with all details, and YouTube will review your case and take appropriate action.
In case you don’t have permission to use the music, you are left with these options:
If it is just the music, you can replace the copyright music with any of the music from YouTube’s audio library and no impact on your monetization revenue
If you keep the video with copyright content claim, the revenue goes to the original music creator. There could be additional issues based on the type of copyright violation, for e.g.
- Loose Monetization
- Get copyright strike
- Not viewable in some countries/region
Your channel’s image could be tarnished, with videos being deleted or taken down. You really need to be careful about Copyright music on your YouTube channels.
How to check if your video has a Content ID claim?
- Sign in to YouTube Studio.
- From the left menu, click Content.
- If a video has a claim on it, in the Restrictions column, it will be labeled “Copyright claim”
- Hover over the Copyright claim in the Restrictions column and click “SEE DETAILS”.
- Click the Down arrow Minimize to expand the claim details.
- Under the Content found during section, click the timestamp to play the segment claimed by Content ID.
Get more details from Google support here.
What is a Content ID Claim?
If you upload a YouTube video with copyrighted content, your video might be subject to a Content ID claim.
YouTube has a way to validate whether the uploaded video matches with another video or part of another video in their Content ID system. When this match happens YouTube algorithm automatically marks your video with the label “Copyright claim“.
YouTube allows Copyright owners to easily manage and recognize their content on YouTube by using a method called “Content ID“
Videos that are uploaded to YouTube are always compared to a database of files that copyright owners have submitted to YouTube.
How to clear content ID claims?
If you purchased a license but still received a content ID claim, here are your options:
You can dispute the claim if you have the proper license and you know this was an error. Disputes are usually processed in 24-48 hours, so this may be a good option to get the claim released.
If the claim is still not cleared after 24-48 hours contact the vendor that you purchased the music and ask for their help to clear the copyright issues from your channel.
In one of our YouTube channels, we got a copyright content ID claim even though we had a valid music license. We disputed the claim and added the details with invoice ID and it was cleared within 2 days.
What is Creative Common License?
Creative Commons is a collection of licenses intended to provide some protection when using copyrighted works. Creative Commons – Attribution (CC-by for short) is the safest version of “you can use it if you credit me,” while CCO is the closest you can come to getting something truly copyright-free.
How to avoid content claims on YouTube?
A simple rule of thumb is that if you’re not sure whether something is copyrighted then do not use it until you find out. Do not assume that it is not copyrighted.
CCO and CC-by licenses are good choices for use on YouTube (and elsewhere) since they are well-known, the license cannot be withdrawn, and the attribution requirements are reasonably flexible. Attribution should include the title, author, source, and license.
To Summarize
You can find Royalty FREE music with CCO license in many of the sources that we mentioned above.
At the time of writing this article, the sources we listed here are offering FREE music but please remember that their user policy can change anytime without notice so make sure to read their policy and fine restrictions before using.
It’s preferable to use the YouTube audio library or, if you have the time, make your own songs.
Try to avoid free music websites as much as possible if you’re serious about your videos. It is hard to evaluate all the licensing requirements and to track when they change their policies in the long term.
The other option is to sign up for a monthly subscription (starting at $12) and can use any music from their catalog while you’re a subscriber. The best part is that you are not required to add credits to your video.
Great blog, thank you for the information, I have used Bensound in the past, but will try using the other sites listed. 😊