- This is our 2022 Roundup of the best royalty-free
stock music sites for YouTube videos.
We're gonna cover the top free stock music sites right
through to the pro level paid subscriptions
and make sure to stick around to the end
to hear which tools we use here at Primal Video.
As we're going through, scroll down and let me know
in the comments, what's your favorite stock music site
right now and why.
Now there's so many different places that you can get music
to use in your videos but you really wanna make sure
that you're using legitimate music.
Music that you have the correct license to be able to use
in your video so that you're not having any copyright claims
or copyright strikes, either immediately
or into the future, as well.
So, this is something
that you really want to be careful with.
You'd hate to have a video blow up, go viral,
and then find out later that you're in breach of copyright
and that you don't make any money
or that video gets suppressed
and that people can't then see it.
So, I'm gonna share with you a couple of free options
and then move into the paid options, which I'd recommend
which make the whole licensing thing much easier.
So, the first option is YouTube itself.
YouTube does give you access to a free audio library
where you can download and use those audio tracks
and sound effects in your YouTube videos.
You can access it in your YouTube studio dashboard area
by scrolling down to audio library.
And in there up at the top,
you can switch between music and sound effects.
You can also search through and filter that library
to really help you find the tracks that you're after.
And you can easily see the length of the track
or sound effect written there as well.
Now with the YouTube audio library, it is important to note
that there are different licenses for different tracks.
Some of them will require you to give attribution
or to credit the music or sound effect creator.
I mean, that's not a bad thing to do anyway
but some of them will actually require you to have it
in the video itself.
So, you definitely need to be aware
of what your licensing requirements are,
so that you are compliant and not in any breach
but you can easily see what's required
on an individual track by track basis
before you download it.
The other thing to be aware of is that these tracks
are licensed for YouTube only.
So, if you are gonna be creating a video
or a piece of content that's going to be
on multiple platforms then this might not be
the best pick for you.
Two other options to check out for free music
is Free Music Archive and Tune Tank.
Both of those have a really decent music library.
Again, make it easy for the whole licensing
and being compliant thing, telling you if
and how you need to credit the artist
but also that they make it easier for you to find the tracks
that you're looking for.
The search and the categorization is more refined.
Now, one really quick tip before we get to the paid stuff.
I would strongly recommend that you are making note
or saving on your computer
where you are getting these files from,
so that if there is any issue down the track
that at least you know this particular music track came
from this platform.
So at least you've got a record of it
so that you're not trying to find everything later,
or if you're looking for similar music,
then maybe you can check out more tracks
from that artist as well.
So, future you will thank you.
So, now with the free options outta the way,
we're gonna take a look at the paid,
the more professional options.
Now, generally, what you'll find with the paid options
versus free is that you've got a far more
refined search experience.
You'll also find that the licensing is next level.
It's so much easier to track and to manage everything
and to make sure that you are compliant
and using the right tracks or the right attribution
for the videos you're creating.
Now, in terms of the pricing model, some of them out there
will give you a track by track basis.
Others are a monthly or an annual subscription
and some of them are a monthly, annual subscription
for unlimited access to their entire library,
which make it all really, really easy.
Now, personally, that's something that I am a big fan of.
I love the idea that I can just pay once per year
and I've got unlimited access to a library of music
and sound effects that I don't need to keep coming back in
and checking the price of everything
or worrying if I'm using too many or not enough.
So, with all of that said, there's a lot
of options out there when it comes to paid music sites.
I've spent so much time researching,
trying and testing all the top options,
and I've narrowed it down this year to three top options
for paid music sites.
And one of them even lets you use legally commercial music,
like the stuff that you hear on the radio.
So make sure you stick around for that one.
So option number one is Artlist.
This is one that we've spoken about a lot on this channel.
I'm a big fan of Artlist.
I just love how easy they make everything.
They've got a decent size library of over 18,000 songs,
the search functionality and the categories
to navigate through and find the tracks that you're looking
for is really, really refined and super simple.
And that's something that I think is so important
because if you've ever tried to actually go
and find a perfect song, you could literally spend hours
or days in some cases looking for it.
So, I love the search functionality.
I love how everything is categorized up in Artlist.
It does make that whole process of finding music
really, really simple, but also in terms of the licensing,
they also make that super simple.
You can pretty much use your Artlist tracks almost anywhere.
And when you combine that with their unlimited access plans,
it makes it a really, really great option,
again, for simplicity.
So, in terms of the pricing,
they say they have the best license in the world.
You have access to unlimited music and sound effects,
unlimited downloads, and a lifetime license.
They've got two different plans to choose from.
You can jump on a personal plan,
which says it covers all of your social channels
and you can see those listed out here.
You've got all the main ones
and that starts at $9.99 per month if you're paying annually
or 14.99, if you're paying month to month
or you can choose the unlimited plan,
which is the one that we are on,
giving you again, that flexibility
that you can use these tracks pretty much anywhere,
even in commercial projects or client work as well.
And that one costs $16.60 per month billed annually.
And if you wanna try it out,
there is a free sign up as well
and we'll have a link down in the description.
Option number two is Epidemic Sound.
Now this is another one that we've been talking
about a lot on this channel.
Another one we're big fans of.
Just like Artless, they make it very simple
for the licensing, the search and the categorization
on all of the files is really, really simple.
I say probably the interface on Artless platform
is a little more refined and a little simpler,
but Epidemic Sound does have some cool extra features
in there as well, again, to help you find the perfect track.
One of those is EAR or Epidemic Audio Reference.
And basically it lets you search and find similar music
to other music tracks.
So, if you've already found some music
that you've used before or music that you like,
then you can use this EAR tool to help you find more.
There's also a mobile app,
which I think is absolutely awesome
if you're gonna be creating videos on the go as well
or even just for finding music to use
in your Instagram stories or reels
or something not YouTube related.
It's so awesome to have the app on your phone
and to be able to easily find and download tracks
to use in your videos and social media posts.
Now, Epidemic Sound does have a larger music library,
as well, currently of over 35,000 tracks
and 90,000 sound effects too.
And you can access not just the music tracks
in their entirety, you can also access stems
and different versions of the music tracks too.
So, if you're someone who wants more control
over the music that you're adding to your videos
and you'd like to be able to change things up a bit,
then that can be really powerful for you.
Now, in terms of pricing, you've got two options.
The first is to jump on their personal plan
for $9 a month, billed annually,
which again will give you the unlimited downloads,
use on the popular social media platforms,
and the ability to monetize that content using those videos
for one channel per platform.
The other option is their commercial plan
for $19 per month, billed annually.
This is where you're covered for they say your social media,
your online platforms and websites.
You can publish content for your clients and businesses.
So, if you are doing this as a profession,
this makes that really, really easy.
And you can also use these tracks and sound effects
in digital ads as well.
Now, if you do wanna use these in TV shows
or TV ads or commercial streaming,
then that's where you have to request a quote
to find out more about their enterprise plan.
So not quite the flexibility that you get
with Artlist and it's use it anywhere policy
but depending on the videos you're making,
it may not make a difference to you.
And option number three is Lickd.
The only place that you can access
1 million chart topping tracks and high quality stock music.
So Lickd actually let you use legally, commercial music,
the stuff you hear on the radio in your video content.
Now this is something that I was pretty skeptical
when I first heard about it because I've actually gone
through the process of trying to license commercial music
to use in corporate projects and documentaries and things
and it's an absolute nightmare.
So I love that this service is legitimately making
this whole process of you wanting to use the music
that you want to use and that your viewers know
and will recognize in your videos and making
that whole process super simple.
So, to give you an idea of these tracks,
you can see we've got things like Glass Animals.
♪ Times that I think about you ♪
Sean Paul, Dua Lipa.
♪ Feel your eyes, they all over me ♪
David Guetta
♪ Titanium ♪
But there's also artists like Offspring.
♪ Give it to me baby ♪
Oasis.
♪ The dreams had as children fade away ♪
And even Roxette.
But it's also not just commercial music.
They also have a library of royalty free music in there too.
Now how Lickd is able to license out copyright music to you
is that they're working directly with the record labels
themselves and with YouTube.
So, when you create an account with Lickd,
you actually link it to your YouTube channel as well,
so they can manage the licensing piece on your behalf.
So the process is fully automated for most of the tracks
on there.
There are some tracks
and they are marked before you download,
they say that you will actually show up
as a copyright infringement but you just need
to manually get that rectified which they do have team
all around the world to help you with this,
so the turnaround time is really, really quick.
Now, it does say to allow around four hours for that
to happen, but it can be as quick as less than an hour
to have it turned around as well.
It's really not a problem.
If you're uploading your video as unlisted first,
giving it some time just in case there is a copyright issue
that needs to be rectified manually.
And then by the time you're ready to release it,
all of that will be sorted.
And yes, the other big question is yes,
you can still monetize your content
and be in the YouTube Partner program,
make money from ad revenue with this copyright music too
if you're buying it through Lickd.
Now in terms of pricing,
there is a couple of different options,
depending on if you're looking to go for the stock music
on the platform or the commercial music licensing.
So access to the unlimited stock music on there
is $15 per month.
Whereas the chart or the commercial music starts
at $8 per track ranging up to $330 per song.
And it says here, our pricing structure is based
on the average views your recent video uploads
have received.
So when you sign up and create an account
and it's linked to your YouTube channel
Lickd is looking at the data from your last 50 videos.
And it takes an average of the video views
that your videos are getting in that time period.
So from there they take an estimate
and that dictates how much an individual track
is going to cost you.
So, if your average views per video from your last 50 videos
is around 50,000, then you'll be paying $8 for that track.
Now that track you can download and use once,
one time in that specific video.
So this isn't a subscription model.
You will be paying each time you want to use that track
in a separate video but you can still make edits to that.
You can trim it down.
You can repeat sections of that track in your video
but it is only to be used once in that video.
And probably the only real restriction you have with that
is that you can't remix that track into something else.
Now, if you are doing branded or sponsored content,
the pricing does go up quite a bit.
So, you'll also want to take that into consideration.
So, I love that Lickd
are making this whole process super simple
and also ridiculously cheap as far as I'm concerned.
So, those are my top three options right now.
Artlist, Epidemic Sound, and Lickd.
Strongly recommend you jump to their websites,
check them out, have a listen and see what music
is going to fit for your types of videos
and even jump on a trial version and give them a go.
So for us at Primal Video and what we use in our videos,
we actually use a mix of both Artlist and Epidemic Sound
for our YouTube content.
Now that doesn't mean that you need to go and sign up
for multiple platforms, but personally,
because these two make the licensing super simple,
it makes sense for us to have access to more music.
So, if one of them doesn't quite have the music
that we're after, then we've got access
to an entire extra library there, as well,
which probably will.
Now at the time of filming this,
we haven't used any commercial music from Lickd yet
on our YouTube channel.
I think it's an amazing offering.
I think it is something that we'll be experimenting with
in the near future, but yeah, I can't believe how simple
and straightforward they've made
the whole commercial licensing thing.
It's well done.
And again, let me know your thoughts
and what you're currently using down in the comments.
So, now that you've got your stock music sorted,
check out the video linked on screen
where we take you through the best websites
for royalty free stock footage to help you level up
your videos even further.
I'll see you in there.