Thanks to YouTube, people have been able to step up their home movie game and independent filmmakers finally found a platform. However, very quickly problems began to arise when it came to using music in those videos.
Issues concerning copyright violations and license purchases were on the rise. Since the early days, however, adding music to personal videos created for social media is a much easier process.
Songs are broken up into two components, the musical composition, and the sound recording. This meant obtaining musical licenses involved asking permission from multiple copyright owners/holders.
Now, however, there are plenty of other options to include third-party audio libraries. These sites provide non-copyrighted music to be used for videos on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or a personal or professional website. Keep reading to learn about the 8 best sites for downloading non-copyrighted music for free.
1) YouTube Audio Library
For YouTube content creators, the video publishing platform has developed an in house audio library. The library is specifically designed to provide quality sounds effects and music for creator’s video without worrying about copyrights and licenses.
The audio library also has a music policies directory. This directory contains a list of popular songs that YouTube has already purchased the license for on behalf of its subscribers. These songs are allowed to be uploaded to YouTube videos without needing extra permissions.
2) Freesound.org
Freesound.org is a website that offers to download Creative Commons audio files. These files range from snippets, clips, recordings, and sound effects. While all sounds released under the website are Creative Commons licenses it is always a good idea to read the description of the file before using it.
3) Free Music Archive
This site offers an archive of over 100,000 free songs and music. The website offers the ability to search genres and charts. The service does not require a download fee and includes everything from popular songs to snippets and audio clips.
4) Jamendo Music
This is the biggest site offering music under Creative Commons. The site is different however from the others. Jamendo allows the listening of music on the site but will need to download the file in accordance with the license.
5) SoundStripe
SoundStripe markets itself towards creative, encouraging artists just starting out to use their service. They offer a low monthly or annual subscription. Subscribers will gain access to unlimited royalty-free music. The benefit of subscribing is being able to use the no copyright music download as many times as you want however you want.
6) DanoSongs
Dan-O is a singer/songwriter who makes royalty-free music for other creative. His website offers over 70 songs with downloading as easy as clicking the MP3 button. While the music on his site is free, before publishing your project it is encouraged to make a small donation to the site.
7) Bensound
Offering up a smooth and sleek interface allowing for easy navigation, Bensound offers a variety of options for a no copyright music download. While there are plenty of options with much larger libraries, for smaller projects and ease of use, it’s hard to pass up Bensound. Simply clicking a black download button on a well-organized and searchable site is tough to pass up when you need something simple and quick.
8) Audionautix
Like DanoSongs, Audionautix is run by a musician Jason Shaw who created all the music available on the site. Audionautix has a different method for allowing downloads. Instead of a donation like at DanoSongs, Audionautix requests a link and a credit with the website.
Choices, Choices, Choices…
When it comes to choosing music for your video you can’t go wrong with any of the above choices. The important thing is to know about musical licenses and copyrighted songs, so you don’t get into trouble.
Non-copyrighted music is the best option for anyone looking to enhance their film project or home video. Music and film are two of the most emotionally driven art forms. The two are great apart but so much better together. Wanting the perfect music for your video is a no brainer, but, finding the right music without getting in trouble can be tricky.
Hopefully, you’ve found all the information you need to get started bringing your projects to life and on to the next level.
