Now, you can always look for awesome music, rip it off, and face litigation. Or you can pay an exorbitant amount of money to license a song. But for a home movie, that doesn’t really make sense. So it’s better to stick with one of many awesome royalty-free music sources available on the internet (really, you’re flooded with choices here). If you’re starting out with YouTube videos, this list will help you out as well.
1. YouTube Audio Library
Probably the best place to get royalty-free music for your YouTube video is… YouTube. YouTube Audio Library has a really great collection of free music, and their web interface for sampling the music is way better than any other site on this list. The music is broken down by categories and downloading takes one click. All songs are available in 320 Kbps MP3 files.
2. Incompetech
Incompetech is a one-man royalty-free music shop run by Kevin MacLeod. Here you’ll find an extensive collection of free-to-use music spread across various categories – from hard rock to electronic. If you want all of it, there’s a single click download option for $49.
3. Musopen
Musopen is a music library that hosts all sorts of out-of-copyright music. Music that’s older than around half a century is usually in the public domain. So you’ll find music from the likes of Beethoven and Mozart for free. Forget adding them to a video, these are great pieces of music that belong in your music library anyway.
4. Archive.org Music
Archive.org is the best place to find things from our history, and not just the internet. On Archive.org you’ll find old documents, and even console games you can play right in the browser. Their music collection is as you’d expect, extensive. You’ll find the site broken down by categories, genres, and artists.
5. Opsound
Opsound is an alt music website where artists can upload their song to be distributed for free. Because it’s user-curated, you won’t find a uniform music pattern here. Instead, the music collection is all over the place but if you spend enough time here, you’re sure to uncover a gem or two.
6. Open Music Archive
Open Music Archive is another great place where you’ll find out-of-copyright music that you’re free to use commercially.
More Sites
Here are a couple more royalty-free music websites worth checking out.
SoundclickDerek AudetteNew Royalty Free Production Music
What Will You Make?
What are you going to make using all of this royalty-free music? Share with us in the comments below.
