- Now there are some awesome options right now
for sourcing great video background music.
So in this video, we're going to look at the leading sites
as well as my picks for the best royalty-free music sites
for your videos in 2020.
Hey, it's Justin Brown from Primal Video
where we help you grow an audience and scale
your revenue with online video.
If you're new here, make sure you click
that subscribe button and all the links
to everything we mentioned in this video
you can find linked in the description box below.
So let's jump into it.
Music is a key element of every video, which is why
it's so great to see some amazing sites popping up
offering a huge range of music for creators.
Now there are some great free options for anyone
that's just starting out and some incredible,
or you can eat subscriptions for those people
who are looking for more options.
So we're going to run through both my picks
for free options and paid options right now.
And while we're running through,
make sure to share your favorite music site down
in the comments below.
There's new ones popping up all the time,
so let us know what you've found
and what you're currently using
and you can also check out what everyone else
is using down there as well.
Now the first thing to remember when you're looking at
any royalty-free licensing,
is that you need to check
what license you're actually purchasing
or what license you're actually agreeing to
when you're downloading free music as well.
You want to make sure that you can legally use
the music in your videos
so that you reduce the chance of getting one of
those painful copyright strikes on your channel
at a later date.
So I'll mention some of the key considerations
for each of the options as we go,
but make sure that you do your own research
for your own specific use case to make sure
that you don't get into trouble.
Okay, so starting off with the free options.
The first one is YouTube itself.
YouTube actually offers some free music in
their music library for you to use in your YouTube videos.
You can find this under the YouTube Studio
and then down under Audio library.
So while it is pretty cool that YouTube does give
you access to some free music that you can use
when you're creating your videos,
the library that they offer is pretty limited
and given that this is YouTube's own free music,
you're going to find that a lot of people are going
to jump straight in here and use this in their videos.
So you'll find that a lot of people are using
the same music tracks if you're going to be using these
in your videos too.
It's also worth noting that these music tracks
you can only use in your YouTube videos.
So if you are going to be repurposing your content
or using your video somewhere else outside of YouTube,
then the license for you to use these doesn't cover that.
The next free option I've got for you
is Free Music Archive.
Now this is a big step up when it comes to free music
than what you're going to get on YouTube.
There is so many more options,
so many more music tracks and it even makes
it pretty easy for you to find things with
these simple categories and even
the search functionality that they have in there.
The biggest thing you need to be aware of
with Free Music Archive is again the licensing stuff.
You really want to dive in and make sure that you
are compliant when you're using their tracks.
As a general rule with Free Music Archive,
you're going to need to add credits
either into your video itself or into the description
or any texts that's accompanying your video.
You're going to need a credit
where you got the music from.
So Free Music Archive,
but likely also the artists that created it
and any required information from Free Music Archive.
So not a deal breaker,
but definitely something you're going to want to know
to make sure that you're including everything
that you need to be compliant to use those free tracks.
Now just before we jump into the paid options,
which is where I'd strongly recommend you're considering
going for finding your music for your videos,
here's one more place that I want to mention
and that is back on YouTube.
There are lots of YouTube channels out there
that are offering free or copyright free
or royalty-free music for you to use in your videos.
Just doing a quick YouTube search,
you'll find a heap of channels there
that are offering just that.
Now once again you will need to look
at each individual channel,
read the terms and conditions and how and
where you can use the music
and for the most part again,
you're going to need to add the credits
or the attribution to the artist
or whoever produced the audio
and each individual channel that you go to
might have totally different requirements.
Now while this might sound like a really good option,
I think this is something that could take up a heap
of your time finding music.
You might find one channel that has a couple
of songs that you like,
but then to go and find more,
you literally could be spending hours
searching through channels,
listening to the different tracks that they have,
the different types of music that they have
is not all in one area,
which means it's going to take you
a lot longer to find the music for your videos.
And with that as well,
that comes back to the individual channel requirements
as to what you're required to do to use each
of those individual tracks.
So over time that could be an absolute nightmare
to monitor and to track which songs you're using
and where and how often you can use them
and where they can go
instead of just having all your music from one place
with one consistent license.
So if you are looking for something a little simpler,
a little cleaner
and obviously suitable for any video project,
then there are some great paid options out there.
And it really wasn't that long ago that the only options
you had when you were purchasing music like this,
was on an individual track by track basis
from things like Premium Beat,
AudioJungle,
MusicBed,
Audio Network,
and that process could definitely get expensive fast.
B~~~ut these days things are so much simpler
and so much easier with some awesome
subscription music services out there.
So for the most part with these services,
you'll pay either a monthly fee or an annual fee
to access their massive library of music tracks
and the licensing is so much simpler depending on
which plan you're on and which accounts you have,
you'll know what licensing requirements you have,
what you need to do,
when you can use your tracks,
and it's going to be consistent for all
of your music tracks,
which is going to save you so much time
and potential headaches.
Now there's actually quite a few subscription platforms
out there now offering a monthly or annual fee
to access their music libraries.
My top three recommendations are the ones
that we're going to jump into now.
These three are in no particular order.
I also want to say that this is not a sponsored video,
but I will be sharing my thoughts and recommendations
and also what we use
and the order in which we use the different sites
towards the end of this video.
So the first one then is Epidemic Sound,
now this is a really popular option out there
for YouTube is,
for content creators
but also for businesses looking for music
for their videos as well.
Just like the next two options
Epidemic makes it really easy for you
to quickly jump in and find the right music for your videos.
They'll let you narrow it down by the genre
and even the mood that you're looking to create
in your videos to really help you dial and filter down
that massive library to something that
is going to be related relatively quickly.
One of the key differences with Epidemic though
is that it's not just a music library.
There's also a huge amount of sound effects in there as well
that you can access to use in your videos.
And in regards to pricing and licensing,
there's really two main options
that you've got with Epidemic.
The first one is their personal plan,
which they say is perfect for individuals
sound tracking content on their personal channels.
To include it in that you get full access to their library
of 30,000 tracks and 60,000 sound effects
with unlimited downloads of any of those.
All of the music and sound effects are cleared for use
on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch,
and also podcasts as well.
And there's also no limitation or restriction around
the size of your YouTube channel,
which they used to have in a previous pricing model.
If you had a smaller channel, the price would be different
to if you had a much larger following.
So the personal plan is US $15 per month
or $144 for the year.
Now the Commercial Planner up from that gives you
everything included in the Personal,
and you're also covered here to use these music tracks
in any sort of digital advertising as well.
So if you want to repurpose your videos,
you want to create maybe a Facebook ad
or a Google ad, YouTube ad,
then you're able to do this with this plan.
Now the last option that's mentioned there,
probably isn't going to apply to most people,
but you'll need to look at that
if you are going to be creating something for broadcast,
something for TV, even a TV ad,
then those aren't covered under the previous subscriptions.
But they do still offer as a different option
the ability to purchase a license for an individual track
starting at $99 per individual track
and going up to nearly $2,000 per track.
So when you start to look then $99 for one track
or jumping on one of their subscription plans,
of $15 per month or $49 per month
kind of makes the subscriptions a no brainer.
The next option on the list is Artlist.
Now this is one that we've been using and recommending
for a long time and I really think
that they have an amazing offer.
Just like Epidemic, they've got a great catalog of music
and once again they make it easy to search through
and find those music tracks.
Now, I don't know about you, but if you've ever sat down
to try and find music, you sit there listening,
no, that's not a fit by the next one,
no, that's not a fit.
That's a mind numbing process personally,
so I like it that these three options that I'm giving you
actually make that much much easier for you
to find your music.
But what I really like about Artlist, is I think they make
it the easiest out of the three options
that I'm covering here to find music
and that comes down to the categories that they have.
They seem to go a level deeper when it comes
to sorting through the music,
which makes it so much easier for you
to quickly find music tracks for your videos.
Probably the biggest thing that I love about Artlist
is how simple they've made their subscription model.
You literally have one plan to choose from
and that plan gives you access to everything
and you can download and use your music tracks
pretty much everywhere without any set requirements
or needing to upgrade to the next plan.
It is a one fee for everything.
I think they even say something on their website like
One Price - Unlimited Possibilities
and this is why I love Artlist.
You can literally use your music on YouTube,
on Facebook,
in client work, as well.
And if you want to repurpose your content
or you want to turn your video into an ad
or if you're going to create something for broadcast
or a TV commercial,
you're covered with this one fee.
And that one fee, $199,
that's ridiculously cheap for what you're getting access to.
So this makes all the licensing stuff really really simple.
There's no needing to upgrade plans if you decide to change
or want to do something else with your video
at a later date,
you pay once and you can use the music
in your videos pretty much any way.
And the third option then is Musicbed.
Now this is another one that's fairly recently upgraded
their pricing plans to now have a
all you can eat subscription model as well,
which I think is fantastic.
That's not to say that the other two are bad,
but consistently Musicbed, I would say
has higher quality music than both Epidemic and Artlist.
Now once again, Musicbed has a phenomenal library of music
for you to choose from
and they also make it really easy for you to navigate
through all the different categories and everything
to find the tracks that you're looking for.
But what I really like about this search functionality
in Musicbed,
is when you actually perform a search,
it doesn't just search the categories,
it doesn't just search the title of the track,
it also searches the lyrics.
So if you're looking for a music track that is themed
or mentions a certain word,
then this is an awesome addition to having that.
Another thing that really stood out to me on Musicbed
was the level of the quality of the music tracks on there
that had vocals on them.
They sounded like music tracks that you would expect
to hear on the radio
or just like the tracks that you do hear on the radio.
That's not to say that Epidemic and artlist don't
have tracks like that too,
but I found consistently on Musicbed I was blown away
with the quality of the music tracks on there.
So in regards to pricing then
there's actually quite a few options.
They've got a Personal plan which they've got marked
as YouTube or social starting at $9 per month.
So this will cover you for your YouTube channel
or any social media content that you're not running as an ad
or you're not boosting.
If you're creating wedding videos,
they have a specific plan there for you at $59 per month
or if you want to use your music tracks for business use,
then this is where you want the Business plan
which is $89 per month.
But that will let you use your music tracks
in any sort of digital advertising
or for boosting your social media posts too.
So while the $9 per month plan is going
to work out pretty cheap,
if you're more on the business side of things
and that is a decent step up in price.
And just like Epidemic,
you can also purchase a one off track license as well
without going to the subscription model starting
at $49 per track or $199 for Business.
So those are my top three recommendations right now
Artlist,
Epidemic sound
and Musicbed.
Now I'll recommend Artlist to anyone looking for
the simplest solution when it comes to music licensing.
They've got an awesome catalog of music
it's really really easy to find stuff
and the licensing is so straightforward.
You pay the annual fee, 199,
you can download as much as you want
and you can use it wherever you want.
If you're only interested in creating videos for YouTube
with no interest in converting it into a boosted post
or a digital ad down the track,
then that's where the $9 plan from Musicbed
or the $15 plan from Epidemic Sound could be
the best one for you.
So as for where I go or our team goes when we're looking
for music for our videos,
it is to either Artlist or to Epidemic Sound.
All of the videos on our YouTube channel really have music
from one of these two places.
And it's really cool to see that Musicbed now's got a
really compelling offer out there as well.
And again!
All of these services have some sort of free trial
so you can jump in and test and see which one is going
to be the best one for you.
And again, links are in the description.
Now, music is just one part of the video creation process.
So if you're keen to edit your videos faster
and eliminate unnecessary rework,
then check out the link onscreen now
to download our free guide running through
the most efficient video editing process,
the Primal Video method.
And I'll see you in the next one.