It’s critical to pick the right stock music library if you want the best music tracks for your creative projects. To reach your goals, the best royalty-free music libraries must feature a wide range of musical genres, flexible licenses, and excellent customer service.
In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the best royalty-free and stock music sites, along with my top 3 choices, so you can pick the best one for your needs.
TuneReel
Download unlimited tracks for an affordable yearly subscription and monetize all your media projects.
Audiojungle
Royalty-free music tracks starting at $1 from the best online community of musicians.
Pond5
Find all the assets you need for your project in one single place with flexible prices for every budget.
When you’re sourcing the perfect background music for your video project, it’s good to know some of the best stock music sites on the market. Knowing which stock music websites will best suit your needs is also essential.
It can be tricky to find the right one with all the available options. That’s why I’m so excited to share this extensive list of the best stock music websites today.
Stock music is becoming more and more popular these days, with its seamless integration into websites, commercials, films, etc. Each stock music library comes with different pricing structures, yet offering quality music at their given price points.
I scoured every corner of the Internet to find royalty-free music libraries (free & paid) to add to this list. I went through each of them to give you a brief but detailed overview.
What Are the Best Royalty-Free Stock Music Sites?
So, for those who need royalty-free music for their content creations, here is my pick for the best stock music sites.
1. TuneReel
Founded by musicians based in Los Angeles, TuneReel offers a rich repertoire of exciting music from independent music creators. With thousands of music tracks on their catalog, you can filter your search by mood, type, platform, genre, and more.
Moreover, TuneReel is one of the most affordable music libraries you can find.
- Basic Plan ($69/yr) – You can download unlimited tracks with forever-free licenses for personal projects.
- Pro Plan ($99/yr) – It includes everyting from the Basic Plan, plus you can use all tracks in your clients’ projects.
- Enterprise (custom quote) – If you need licenses for broadcast use, you must contact their support team.
If you don’t want to commit to an annual subscription, TuneReel also provides Standard and Extended licenses per track.
What’s more, you can get a lifetime license for a one-time fee of $249 that gives you lifetime access to all existing and future tracks.
2. Audiojungle
Audiojungle was the first stock music site where I started selling my music.
Part of Envato Market, Audiojungle is best known for its low prices, letting composers price their music tracks. If you’re lucky to browse their catalog during a promotional period, you might find tracks priced at $5 or even less. Usually, sound effects fall into $1-$3.
With almost 2M royalty-free tracks, you find about anything you can think of. From classical to pop, to futuristic Celtic, you name it.
Their homepage features weekly best-selling tracks, so you can understand what’s trending.
Besides logos and idents for audio branding, Audiojungle also offers music packs and music kits with individual drag-and-drop song sections.
Music tracks are covered by five different types of licenses, each with its own price. While a Standard license can cost you, for example, about $19, a Broadcast & Film license can rise up to $499 or even more, depending on the composer’s mood when he priced the track.
Although all tracks are approved by a community of composers, some may sound a bit “cheap.” However, you can also find some amazing music tracks and great gems buried amid almost 2M tracks.
3. Pond5
Although Pond5 is one of the best stock video sites on the market, it also incorporated royalty-free stock music to diversify its audience in the last few years.
Like many other stock music websites, you can search their catalog by mood, instrument, genre, or keyword to find the perfect track for your creative projects.
While Pond5 has a pay-per-item type of pricing, you can take advantage of their credit packs to save money if you intend to purchase several tracks.
Apart from that, they also have a membership plan for $199/mo. You can download 10 items per month, including more than 13 million stock videos, photos, music, sound effects, After Effects templates, and more.
Additionally, they have a collection of complimentary free music tracks available for promotional and commercial use.
4. Envato Elements
Also part of Envato Market, Envato Elements has 57+ Million creative assets including 100,000+ royalty-free music ready to download. Unlike Audiojungle, you can access all their portfolio through a monthly subscription.
While Audiojungle has different licenses according to the scope of your project, Envato Elements offers one simple commercial license from $16.50/mo.
If you’re not ready to start a subscription yet, you can create a free account and receive 12 free files each month, including stock music, videos, and other assets.
5. PremiumBeat
As one of the best exclusive royalty-free music sites, PremiumBeat, owned by Shutterstock, is one of content creators’ most favorite production music libraries. Their curated high-quality tracks give you the gleaming atmosphere of the leading production houses.
While many other libraries don’t offer stems, every track on PremiumBeat comes with the main track, stems, loops, and shorts.
With a monthly subscription of $64.95, you can download five tracks, saving you 70%. Not interested in that? You can get a Standard License for $49 (non-commercial) or a Premium License for $199 (commercials and advertising).
6. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the biggest and oldest online marketplaces offering stock photos, stock videos, templates, editorials, music tracks, and much more.
While acquiring PremiumBeat, Shutterstock also provides its own exclusive music catalog, hand-picked by industry experts.
One of the upsides of their tracks is that they include shorts and loops to fit in every project.
Shutterstock offers different pricing plans:
- $49/mo. You can download 6 tracks, up to 25 images, or 3 video clips.
- $16.60/mo. Unlimited music plan.
Besides these subscription models, you can also get an individual license for $49 (non-commercial use) or $399 (commercial use).
7. audiocrowd
audiocrowd is a relatively new stock music library based in Germany. Although a recent library, all the music is hand-picked, securing quality over quantity.
Each music track has a royalty-free license associated with it, relying on a fair pricing model, whether you need music for a commercial, a podcast, or others.
One of the highlights of audiocrowd is the ability for the customer to commission personalized music directly with the composers. Be it openers, audio branding, or plain background music, their roster of composers is available for the assignment.
audiocrowd has several pricing options (including subscriptions), whether you need music for small media projects, agencies and media professionals, or retail and live venues.
8. Depositphotos
Founded in 2009, Depositphotos enjoys 200+ million files, including royalty-free music and sound effects, stock footage, stock photos, and royalty-free stock editorial images.
From their 970,000+ music tracks and sound effects, you can find almost any background music genre you can think of, making it easy to find the right music for your project.
You can download their entire catalog with an unlimited subscription from $19/mo or $199/yr (12% off). If unlimited is too much for you, they offer standard downloads from $39 per track.
9. MotionElements
MotionElements is a royalty-free marketplace in Asia with a portfolio ranging worldwide.
With more than 500,000 background music tracks and sound effects, you can filter their catalog for PRO or Non-Pro registered tracks.
A cool thing about this production music library is their AI audio search to find similar tunes. You can use a YouTube video or SoundCloud link as a reference, drag and drop an MP3 file, or just click the AudioSearch button when you find a music track in their catalog.
Each track has its own pricing, according to the composer’s choice. However, if you need to download music tracks regularly, you can purchase a MotionElements unlimited subscription for $16.50/mo.
10. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is a giant marketplace offering many creative media assets, including royalty-free music.
Unlike the majority of royalty-free music sites, their portfolio is curated from their partners, namely Epidemic Sound, Jamendo, Finetune Music, MusicRevolution, and Keyframe Audio.
Adobe Stock’s subscription plans go from 10 standard assets a month ($29.99) to 750 standard assets a month ($199.99). All plans include a 30-day free trial.
11. Stockmusic.net
With more than 1M royalty-free licenses sold, Stockmusic.net claims to be the first stock music library on the internet.
Trusted by some of the top brands in the world, the production music on their catalog is hand-picked by their team, so quality isn’t an issue.
All their tracks are cleared for monetization on all social platforms. You can use the same tracks on an unlimited number of projects. And to make things easier, you can transfer the licenses to your clients.
Stockmusic.net offers two types of pricing:
- Subscription Plan from $16.67/mo.
- Individual License for $39.95 per track.
12. HookSounds
Trusted by respected worldwide brands like Disney, Google, Amazon, and others, HookSounds offers exclusive, curated, and original royalty-free stock music.
Since 2016 this company has been striving to grow its portfolio with modern, stylish, and distinctive music. Besides music tracks, they also offer sound effects, intros, and outros for audio branding.
HookSounds claims their music is YouTube safe, meaning the customer doesn’t have to worry about copyright strikes, PRO payments, or other royalties.
Their unlimited subscription starts at $29/mo for the most affordable plan. However, you have the option to purchase individual licenses that vary in price according to the scope of the license.
13. Shockwave Sound
Shockwave Sound started back in 2000 in Norway as one of the premier online stock music websites offering royalty-free music.
Their immense catalog embraces many music genres, including World Music, Bollywood, Holistic, Sci-Fi, among others that you can use for games, TV, podcasts, and many more. Not to mention that they add exclusive new music every week.
When you purchase a music license, you have three options: Standard, Extended, and Widest.
14. Universal Production Music
For over 30 years, Universal Production Music has been producing music in top international studios, offering flexible licenses and custom music solutions.
With offices in dozens of countries, they are one of the top production music libraries chosen by small and big advertising agencies and studios. Because of that, they have one of the highest pricing options for stock music.
That’s the price for the reliable and high-quality music sync licensing solutions they offer.
15. Artlist
As one of the best stock music sites in recent years, Artlist gained ground among video creators. Trusted by Netflix, Google, and others, its expanding catalog is eligible for YouTube monetization and cleared for worldwide commercial use.
Artlist pricing options include:
- Personal License for $9.99/mo. Covers only your social channels.
- Unlimited License starting at $16.6/mo. Covers everything from personal to commercial projects.
Both licenses include unlimited downloads of unlimited music tracks and sound effects.
16. Musicbed
Built for filmmakers and creatives, Musicbed curates and hand-picks all their music. If you need help finding the right tune for your project, their music specialists will offer suggestions at no cost.
One of their services, SyncID™, clears YouTube’s copyright claims automatically, so you don’t have to worry about the manual process of removing such claims.
Musicbed offers three types of unlimited subscription licenses:
- Personal for $249.99/yr. Only for personal projects.
- Business for $1,079.88/yr. For client work.
- Large Business for large brands. You need to contact them to get a quote.
They also offer a pricing plan for non-profits and wedding films. However, suppose you’re not ready for a subscription. In that case, Musicbed provides a single track licensing that varies according to the project’s scope.
17. Soundstripe
Soundstripe offers radio-quality music composed by Grammy-winning composers. Over 50% of their catalog is exclusive, and they’re in the process of transitioning to a 100% exclusive music library.
With a worry-free license, Soundstripe makes the life easier for content creators. Every track they purchase comes with a one-encompassing license. This means there are no channel or medium-specific fees. It’s a one-license-fits-all.
Their simple pricing plans allow you to download unlimited music from their portfolio:
- Music. $19/mo or $149/yr.
- Music + SFX. $27/mo or $245/yr.
18. Music Vine
Trusted by brands like Google, Amazon, and Tesla, Music Vine focuses on delivering music for video and film. Their royalty-free library is highly selective, as not all composers are endorsed by the site.
Their intuitive industry-leading search tool and thematic playlists make finding the right track fast and easy.
Music Vine has two simple plans:
- Pro Lite. $19.99/mo. For small productions like corporate videos, weddings, and indie films.
- Pro Standard. Starting at $35.99. For advertising and commercial projects.
19. Marmoset
Marmoset is a full-service music agency based in Portland, Oregon, representing rare, vintage, indie artists, emerging artists, and record labels for music licensing. They also create original tracks for brands, TV shows, and films.
Being one of the top stock music websites preferred by filmmakers, Marmoset covers music from all genres, including obscured psychedelic cumbia to folk and rare finds.
Their pricing varies according to the license you desire. You can choose from Independent Film licenses to Non-Profit licenses, Podcast licenses, Wedding licenses, Event licenses, and more, each with its own price. If none of those licenses fits your project, they tailor a specific license just for your needs.
20. Audiio
Audiio is one of the most recent production music libraries in the scene, but they’ve come to revolutionize the market. How’s that? Well, they offer a lifetime plan where you pay only once and get music for life.
With a license covering any video platform globally, they have been powering content from Netflix, Nike, Toyota, and many more brands.
As one of the best royalty-free music libraries, Audiio offers three types of licenses:
- Audiio Pro. $199/yr for unlimited downloads of music and SFX.
- Lifetime Music. $299 one-time fee. Unlimited downloads of their music catalog. However, you need to upgrade your project for television broadcast, OTT streaming, or theatrical distribution.
- Lifetime SFX. $199 one-time fee. Unlimited downloads of their sound effects catalog.
21. Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is a subscription-based audio library, although they also have individual licenses for different uses.
Their subscriptions allow you unlimited downloads of their 35,000+ tracks catalog. That’s great if you publish videos regularly. Their licensing model guarantees all rights included, so you don’t have to worry further ahead about paying additional fees.
When signing up for their subscriptions, you can choose to link your social media channels to be automatically cleared from copyright claims.
Epidemic Sound includes a 30-day free trial where you can download music without paying any fees. However, you need to get a subscription to publish your project with your downloaded music.
You can get a personal subscription for your own use for $10/mo. You can also get a commercial subscription for $25/mo that allows you to create commercial projects as a freelancer or business.
22. The Music Case
The Music Case is a royalty-free music library that started back in 2005. You can use their 140,000+ royalty-free music tracks for video tutorials, podcasts, films, commercials, apps, and more.
They select every track they sell to deliver maximum quality to their clients.
The Music Case offers two simple licenses:
- Silver License. $29 per track. Personal use only and non-broadcast presentations.
- Platinum License. $99 per track. Allows for commercial use, including theatrical performances, TV shows, radio programs, films, and more.
Their licenses are valid for unlimited time and concede unlimited use on unlimited projects.
23. Motion Array
Motion Array is a marketplace that offers a ton of creative assets, including stock footage, stock photography, video templates, presets and plugins, sound effects, and royalty-free music.
With a monthly subscription of $29.99 or an annual subscription of $20.83/mo, you get to download unlimited music tracks and other creative assets.
If you’re not ready for a subscription, you can also sign up for a free account, browse their free catalog, and download what you want.
24. Storyblocks Audio
As another online marketplace and the world’s first stock media subscription service, Storyblocks offers creators video, audio, and images.
You can download their entire stock music library and sound effects in their audio department for a low-cost subscription of $12.42/mo. And you can use their royalty-free audio content unlimited times for personal and commercial projects.
25. Audio Network
Founded in 2001, Audio Network has worked with the BBC, NBC, and many other renowned brands worldwide.
Their clear and straightforward licensing services are tailored to the client’s needs instead of being a one-size-fits-all type of license. By licensing through Audio Network, you get worldwide clearance and permission to use on multiple platforms.
You can license single tracks from $9.99 to $99, depending on whether you’re a single creator or a corporate agency. For commercial use, the price tag rises obviously.
Audio Network also offers three types of subscriptions: Corporate, Advertising, and TV Programming, each with its own account management support to help you with your music needs.
26. Jamendo
Founded in 2004, Jamendo is a European community of independent artists, being the first platform to legally provide music for free under Creative Commons licenses.
If you’re only a music lover, you can enjoy their portfolio of more than 500,000 tracks for free, stream them, and download them. However, you need to purchase a license from their Jamendo Licensing program for commercial use, all rights included.
Single track licenses start from $9.99, depending on where you intend to use the music. On the other hand, you can purchase a monthly subscription for unlimited downloads for $49/mo.
27. Videvo
Best known as a stock footage depository, Videvo also hosts thousands of royalty-free music tracks. From rock, new age, and classical to country, jazz, and retro, you can find almost anything you need.
Videvo offers many audio tracks for free for both personal and commercial use. However, be aware of the licensing and usage stated in each track, as you may not have the allowance to use it commercially.
If you don’t want to worry about those issues, you can sign up for their monthly subscription of $24.99/mo (with a money-back guarantee).
28. Addictive Tracks
Based in the UK, Addictive Tracks is a high-end music library with tracks created by world-class composers.
Every track in their catalog has stems, so you can tweak it to your liking and even remove those heavy drums!
You need to check if they have an agent in your territory for licensing inquiries. If not, contact them directly.
29. TunePocket
TunePocket is one of the cheapest royalty-free stock music libraries focusing on delivering thousands of music tracks through a subscription-based business model.
For $8.25/mo, you have unlimited access to download their entire catalog for personal use only. If you need music for corporate or business commercial media, the price rises to $14.50/mo. For small projects, you can download five tracks for $39.
To make things even easier, TunePocket offers only one license that covers personal and commercial use.
30. Foximusic
Foximusic offers royalty-free background music for media projects. Unlike many other libraries, they do not provide a subscription for customers. Instead, they have pay-per-track license types.
By purchasing one of their tracks, you get to keep the license for a lifetime. They also claim that all their music is cleared for YouTube monetization. This means no copyright claims.
Their pricing varies according to the number of tracks you intend to buy. Still, the most affordable option is to get ten tracks for $99 with a basic license.
31. Filmstro
Filmstro is another library offering unlimited downloads for a monthly subscription. Their license covers the entire globe, and the tracks are YouTube cleared, as they claim.
Creative filmmakers can enjoy unlimited royalty-free music with simple licensing and full access to the entire portfolio with no restrictions.
One of the cool features of Filmstro is the Filmstro app, where you can edit and customize your track with three dynamic sliders: momentum, depth, and power.
The Filmstro app allows you to keyframe the music, letting you decide your edit points according to your video. I’ve seen that this is basically a manipulation of the music track stems. It’s like having a mixing desk at your fingertips.
Their monthly subscriptions are as follows:
- YouTuber. $14.99/mo. Personal use.
- Pro. $37.99. Includes wedding films, corporate videos, and online ads.
- Pro Plus. $74.99. Includes broadcast commercials, TV, and film.
32. MusicRevolution
MusicRevolution has been providing video producers, game developers, businesses, and other music buyers with production music or stock music since 2010.
Although their website looks outdated, their catalog keeps increasing every week.
They offer four purchase options, including single tracks, CDs (collections of 10 tracks), subscriptions, and music streams (background and ambient music for in-store, restaurants, and retail establishments).
33. Keyframe Audio
Built by top film composers in Hollywood and Europe, Keyframe Audio is a music licensing platform that provides premium-quality exclusive royalty-free music and copyright protection for your videos.
With over 50,000 music tracks and sound effects, you can find almost any genre you’d like. And because they have access to the YouTube Content ID system, they can whitelist your channel so you never get a copyright claim from them.
You can access all their tracks at $16/mo for music or $25/mo for music plus sound effects. However, if you’re ready for a subscription, you can get one for $199 per year.
34. FineTune Music
FineTune Music is a company providing a unique, high-quality private music catalog, as well as custom scoring, music editing and production by professional musicians.
Their exclusive music library was created by award-winning composers and artists. It is available through their user-friendly search tools.
Like many other libraries, Finetune Music licenses vary according to the scope of your project. From personal websites ($29.99) and corporate videos ($199.99) to social media ads ($299.99), they’ve got you covered.
35. EnovoMusic
Founded in 2017, EnovoMusic offers royalty-free music licensing at affordable prices, including unlimited online use in perpetuity.
EnovoMusic licensing options are as follows:
- Unlimited Online. $19 per track. Personal and commercial projects.
- Local Broadcast. $39 per track. TV/Radio single broadcast end product.
- International Broadcast. $79 per track. TV/Radio single international broadcast end product.
36. Melody Loops
Founded in Ukraine, Melody Loops offers quality music for apps, presentations, guided meditations, ads, games, and others without worrying about copyright infringement.
With different licensing options, Melody Loops clients can opt for unlimited music downloads for $119 (Individual) or $199 (Business). On the other hand, they can purchase packs of three or more melodies starting at $29.
One nice feature of every track on their catalog is that composers must submit a loopable version of their music (hence the library’s name).
37. 123RF
As one of the largest digital stock agencies founded in 2005, 123RF offers stock photography, vectors, stock footage, and royalty-free music tracks.
From ambient, corporate, techno to cinematic, chillout, and game sounds, you can find almost any genre you can think of.
123RF customers pay using on-demand credits: $1.18 equals one credit. Music tracks are priced from 6 credits to 120 credits for standard licenses. The price increases for the extended licenses.
You can also decide if you want to download the track as MP3 or WAV files.
38. Dreamstime
For over 20 years, Dreamstime has been one of the top stock media licensing websites, offering high-quality stock photography at affordable prices since its inception. However, they’ve been opening doors to other types of stock media, including music and sound effects, that started rolling in 2016.
Although most of Dreamstime’s clients search for photography, there’s also a demand for stock audio. Their thousands of stock music tracks with broadcast quality are available through credits, just like 123RF.
One of Dreamstime’s unique features is the ability for the customer to buy the media exclusivity. Meaning Dreamstime will disable the track immediately after the buyer acquires that license for the duration of the exclusivity period.
39. Fyrfly
Fyrfly, formerly SongFreedom, offers more than 10,000 tracks for creative filmmakers. Unlike other stock libraries, Fyrfly grants access to Top 40 artists like Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran and soundtrack composers like Hans Zimmer (courtesy of Tracks – see next library).
For $299 per year, you get access to the entire library. Their standard license allows you to use music for wedding videos, corporate and real estate videos, or independent films. For other uses, you need a commercial license.
40. Tracks
Tracks is the only source of mainstream popular music and top hits for videos. Supported by the music industry, you don’t have to worry about licensing those super famous tracks, as they come fully licensed.
Artists included are Bruno Mars, James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, Natalie Cole, and much more.
At the moment of this writing, their current agreement only allows for residents of the US to use their tracks.
Tracks clearly state in their FAQs that their catalog is to be used only in personal, non-commercial video projects. Furthermore, they cannot be monetized on YouTube.
Their simple pricing includes $79 per song.
41. Premium Loops
Founded in 2017, Premium Loops offers you the chance to license high-quality, royalty-free music loops for your creative projects.
Their loops are perfect for adding flavor to your videos and presentations. Not only are they extremely simple to use, but they also come in multiple genres so you can pick the perfect loop for any situation.
With Premium Loops, you don’t have to worry about YouTube copyright claims, as they guarantee their music is 100% copyright clear.
Starting at €9 per track, you can choose from nine different licenses, including personal and commercial projects.
42. 100Audio
100Audio is one of China’s top royalty-free stock music licensing libraries, having served more than 250,000 projects for many brands worldwide.
As one of the top marketplaces in Asia, 100Audio covers musicians from all over the world, not just China.
100Audio offers tiered licenses for single tracks that can go from $60 to $540, depending on the scope of the license, which includes authorized time and use.
43. VFine Music
Founded in 2015, VFine Music is another outstanding music licensing platform from China. Like 100Audio, it cooperates with musicians worldwide, selling non-exclusive licenses for single project use to its customers.
Pricing depends on the project use, the period, and the license region that the customer chooses.
44. MusicGrid
MusicGrid is the first stock music library in the Middle East, offering royalty-free music for YouTubers, filmmakers, and brands.
Not only that, but they also offer custom audio branding, or sound branding, using audio to evoke brand recognition.
MusicGrid’s stock music tracks have a tiered licensing per track from $29 (Standard) to $599 (Advertising).
45. Songtradr
As one of the largest B2B music licensing platforms globally, Songtradr connects indie musicians with brands, unearthing meaningful media placements for their artists.
Their pricing varies according to the business type of your video, the kind of project (TV show, independent film, video game, etc.), and the category (all media, online only, festival, trailer, etc.)
46. Soundscape
Trusted by National Geographic, NBC, HBO, and other renowned brands, Soundscape offers music licensing for film and video. Their royalty-free catalog is cleared from Content ID to ensure their clients don’t get copyright claims.
They offer a three-tiered subscription-based unlimited music licensing solution:
- Content Creator. $8.25/mo. Single YouTube channel and non-commercial use.
- Small Business. $12/mo. Multiple YouTube channels and commercial use.
- Enterprise. $1,000+ per year. Everything from other licenses plus broadcast TV and film.
47. Bensound
Bensound started as a music library with music created by Benjamin Tissot. However, he’s now also accepting submissions.
Although much of his music is free to download, you need to credit the author. If you don’t want to credit him, you may purchase one of his licenses:
- Standard License. €34 per track (€139 for a subscription that includes all tracks).
- Extended License. €65 per track.
- National & International TV/Radio Advertising. €580 per track.
48. MorningLightMusic
MorningLightMusic is the creation of Matt Torres, a music producer that composes background music for content creators.
While this library doesn’t have the magnitude of other libraries’ music tracks, all tracks are excellent.
Because this is a one-man show, the price is genuinely appealing. For $5/mo (billed yearly), you get unlimited access to the entire library, with use for social media, websites, podcasts, digital ads, and more. And for $199, you get a lifetime license.
However, if you need music for broadcasting projects, things look a bit different. MorningLightMusic’s single track licenses are as follows:
- Standard. $49. Online use.
- Extended. $99. Indie films and broadcasts (under 1 million audiences).
- Premium. $499. Theatrical films and broadcasts (unlimited audience).
49. Music Screen
Music Screen is the home of royalty-free music composed by Hicham Chahidi. All its license contracts are governed by Belgium law.
Hicham provides high-quality music for YouTube videos, podcasts, video marketing, multimedia, and more. He also offers his music for free for non-commercial projects and non-profit organizations. But for that, you must request authorization.
One of the extraordinary services he offers is the ability for the customer to request personalized music, including music that’s already recorded. Since Hicham owns all the masters, he can change instruments and the length of the audio track (for a fee).
Music Screen licenses vary according to the project’s scope, which can go from €50 to €500 or more. There’s also an unlimited subscription for non-commercial use that goes for €500 per year.
50. 909 Music
909 Music is a website created by Arnav Srivastav, a composer on a mission to offer a license to his music for an affordable price.
Right now, he’s offering an entire catalog of 100+ high-quality royalty-free music tracks for $47, including an unlimited license. This license grants you the right to use the music on unlimited projects and unlimited platforms for life.
Best Free Stock Music Sites
While some of the above music libraries offer free trials or free tracks, in this section, I chose to select only those that offer their entire catalog for free. Despite being free and many requiring attribution, some also charge if the track is used commercially.
If you want some free downloads for your next project, keep reading. Here’s my pick for the best free royalty-free and stock music libraries.
1.
This is my branded for my stock music compositions. All the music you find on this channel is free to use for personal use. While the portfolio is not as extensive as others, it’s growing every week.
You can download my YouTube videos as MP3 files with 4K Download, the best YouTube downloader. You are free to use my music on your videos with attribution.
However, you can’t monetize them on YouTube as they’re protected with Content ID. To release the claims and monetize your videos, you need to purchase a license through the link you find in the video description. That also gives you access to high-quality WAV files.
If you like the music, please feel free to to my channel, as it helps me in the long run.
2. Incompetech
If you’ve been making YouTube videos with the YouTube Audio Library, you’ve probably already heard tunes by Kevin MacLeod.
Kevin writes music free of copyright claims and offers it free under Creative Commons license (CC BY 3.0) requiring attribution. You have access to free downloads on his website. You can use it on YouTube videos, streaming, live productions, stores, on-hold music, and other outlets, always with the condition that you credit him appropriately.
If you need his music for TV or radio commercials where it’s impossible to give credit, you can purchase a Standard License.
3. Filmmusic.io
Filmmusic.io is a website offering royalty-free music under the Filmmusic.io Standard License, which is basically the Creative Commons License by Attribution (CC BY 3.0).
You can use their music for personal and commercial projects, including TV, radio, video games, podcasts, sound reinforcement for events, video soundtracks, videos, cinema, documentaries, and more.
They also guarantee that their composers are not part of any PRO (Performance Rights Organization). The broadcasting companies don’t need to pay any royalties for airing the music.
However, like Incompetech, if you don’t want to attribute the artist, you can pay for an Extended License that gives you the option to download in WAV instead of just MP3.
4. FreePD.com
FreePD comes from free public domain music. All their music is licensed under Creative Commons 0. It is free for commercial use, free of royalties, and free of attribution. This means you can use it as you like, even selling it on your website!
You can also pay $10 if you want to download their entire catalog in bulk in MP3, or $25 in WAV plus MP3.
5. Silverman Sound Studios
Silverman Sound Studios is the home of Shane Ivers’ free musical creations. All the music you find on this website is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. You are free to use it on personal and commercial projects with attribution.
However, he charges $20 per song if you don’t want to credit him.
6. Audionautix
Audionautix provides free production music for personal and commercial use licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. The use of his music requires that you credit the author, Jason Shaw.
You can find many genres inside, including reggae, ethnic, country, jazz, and much more.
7. Purple Planet Music
Purple Planet Music is a free collection of royalty-free music ideal for YouTube and other online media projects. All music is composed by Chris Martyn and Geoff Harvey.
With the free license, you can use the music (only MP3) on online videos and film festivals, always with attribution. For broadcasting and commercial projects, you need to purchase a Standard License ($8) or Broadcast License ($40).
8. Mobygratis
Mobygratis is the home of more than 200 music tracks composed by Moby. He makes music accessible for independent and non-profit filmmakers and film students.
If you want to use any of his music, you need to request an application describing your project, a bit about yourself, and how you intend to use his music. You’ll then receive a high-quality AIFF file with the mobygratis Non-Commercial License Agreement.
9. Mixkit
Mixkit is a free library of stock video clips, royalty-free music, sound effects, and video templates. Created by Envato, one of the biggest marketplaces for stock media, Mixkit requires no attribution to the authors.
You can use Mixkit’s free background music on YouTube videos, music videos, blogs, podcasts, websites, social media, and online video marketing. However, you cannot use this music on TV and radio broadcasts or video games.
10. Josh Woodward
Josh Woodward offers more than 200 tracks for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. You can use his tracks for personal and commercial use, but you must credit him.
Josh writes more in folk-rock, Americana, pop-rock, and acoustic.
You can download the individual MP3 of each track, or you can pay $40 for the complete bundle. You can also purchase a non-exclusive royalty-free license for $30 per song when attribution is impossible.
11. Tim Beek
Tim Beek is the man behind this free music site. All his compositions are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. This means you can use the music on personal and commercial projects, provided that you credit him appropriately.
Like many other free stock music libraries, you can purchase a premium license to access high-quality soundtracks, including alternate and loopable versions.
12. YouTube Audio Library
This is probably the most popular free stock music library amongst YouTubers since YouTube itself created it. There you can find free stock music and sound effects to use in your videos.
To access this free stock library, you need to have a Google account and be signed up on YouTube.
Google guarantees that all the tracks found in the YouTube Audio Library are copyright-safe, meaning you don’t have to deal with copyright claims or strikes. You can even monetize your videos.
However, YouTube states that you may only use this music on videos and other content that you create. You cannot perform the music separately from the videos where you incorporated it.
13. Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a website where you can find free royalty-free music to download for YouTube, social media, podcasts, and other media creations.
You can download audio tracks as MP3 files for free, but you can also license the same tracks for commercial use via Tribe of Noise PRO.
All original music is created by independent artists and is licensed under Creative Commons. When browsing through their portfolio, check the license well as not all Creative Commons licenses are equal.
14. Free Stock Music
Most of the music on free-stock-music.com is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution licenses (CC BY). It is also free for commercial purposes, provided you credit the authors.
Each track has its own specifications, so be sure to check them well. As with most free royalty-free music sites, you can download the tracks in MP3 format, and to get access to high-quality files, you need to purchase a license.
Wrapping It Up!
As you can see, there are many different things to consider when choosing the best stock music sites. Some have more tracks in specific genres, some have subscriptions, others pay higher royalties.
All these websites have offerings for various media types and multiple budgets — so it won’t hurt to check them out. And if you decide to purchase something, be sure to come back here and tell me how it went!
Narrowing your options down to just a few good candidates can be a daunting task, but hopefully, this article has helped you along your journey.
Ultimately, only you can decide which library suits your needs. But take the time to look over all those options and choose what will work best for you on your next project.
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