If you are a filmmaker or a video editor, you know the struggle: finding the right music is one of the most challenging and time-consuming part of the video creation process.
On the other hand, having the perfect soundtrack for your footage is really a must, in order to create a great video that will make everyone satisfied, hitting the right note and hook the audience.
For that reason, it’s very important to know where to find the right licensed music, using the best websites available in 2021, that can save you time and deliver great quality.
How to choose the right one?
Which one is the best platform? Well, it depends mostly on your needs: are you a youtuber, who creates content mainly for yourself? Or are you a wedding videographer? Or maybe you mainly work with clients on corporate videos?
Each website has its pros and cons, and you can start finding the most suitable one for you, following two steps:
Filter the websites based on your budget. Some platforms are great resources for free music, but they can’t achieve the quantity and quality provided by the more professional paid options. Set your budget and use it as starting point.
Pretend that you are looking for a music track for your next project. Explore the selected platforms, browse all of them and select at least one music track for each website.
At the end, make a recap: which one has the best track? Which one has the wider option available? Which one was the easier to navigate, and let me find the right track faster?
Once you combine all these elements, you are ready to make your choice.
Before starting with the list, an important reminder:
Check each track license!!!
Every website and sometimes each track have different terms regarding the licensing agreement.
If you are creating content for yourself or especially if you are making a video for a client, it’s really necessary to spend time and double-check the agreement, to make sure that you are fully allowed to use that music track for the intended purposes, and avoid any kind of annoying issue, once the project is finalized.
Once you are aware of that, you are ready to get access to all the music you want!
PAID OPTIONS (PRO-ORIENTED)
Premiumbeat
Probably the place with the highest quality overall, covering a wide range of genres.
Quality doesn’t come for free, so the average price is higher than standard.
This is best choice if you’re looking for high-quality product of tv-based advertisements.
A great choice for film-makers, especially for its optimized integration with Adobe Premiere Pro.
The archive may not be as vary and high-quality as other websites, so it might take a little longer to find the perfect track, but the flexible and clear interface and the affordable price options are definitely a plus.
Artlist is a pretty recent platform, founded in 2016, and it’s becoming more and more popular among video editors, with its choice of affordable subscription plans (only annually though, no option for single-month subscription or single-buy ) and totally royalty free license without limitation.
Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com
A well-established platform, active since more than 11 years now, Epidemic Sound is a safe choice for video makers. Their library is very extensive, with a catchy and modern interface. Editors also love the easy integration with Adobe. They offer a 30-days trial, before eventually committing to a subscription. To be noted that it’s possible to access the content only during an active subscription. That means, if you purchased a track but your subscription is not valid anymore, you also lose access to that track.
Musicbed
Musicbed used to be a great choice for medium budget projects, with a wide choice and a friendly user interface. They recently changed their subscriptions plan structure, targeting more high-professional clients and, as the overall quality has definitely increased, on the other hand it’s not as affordable as it used to be.
Audio Jungle https://audiojungle.net
Part of Envato Market and founded in 2008, Audio Jungle offers an extensive library of more than 1.3 million tracks and sound effects.
The interface may look a bit outdated, and it does not offer any subscription plan.
Each track can be purchased individually, or using a bundle that lets you buy 2 or more tracks with a discount.
FREE MUSIC OPTIONS
Pixabay offers a great choice of totally free assets with a clear filter search available.
Definitely one of the best resources for free stock material, even for commercial use (Important to read the notes about what is allowed and what not with their licence: Pixabay License - What is allowed and what is not?)
Similar to Pixabay, Mixxit is a platform which offers different free assets for media projects (Photos, Videos, Templates,etc.) including stock music. The choice is not wide and high-quality as other website but it’s totally free. Perfect for non-commercial video projects or Youtube.
Bensound is a good option if you are looking for free music for a small project, and just need to give attribution to their website.
If you are looking for a professional solution, there are also 2 different license option available: standard (for YouTube, Online Videos, Facebook, social media, etc.) and Extended (Web advertising, Tv commercial, etc.).
It’s a good resource, but worth take a look at their license terms carefully before downloading the track.
YouTube Audio Library
If you are mainly a YouTube creator, then the YouTube Studio already offers you a great starting point with a wide choice of free tracks ready to use, and copyright-safe. Some music will require you to give attribution, and for more information it’s worth reading the note about the licensing terms: Terms of Service (youtube.com) - Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library - YouTube Help (google.com)
With projects produced by 2Big production, music and sound design are carefully selected depending on the size of the budget as well as the requirements of each project, with the ultimate aim of bringing the most perfect final video for client.