Everyone nowadays uses the camera from their smartphone, GoPro or even the camera of a Drone to capture special moments that we spend with our family, friends and loved ones.
Later on, we edit the video, adding effects and music and uploading to social platforms like Youtube, Facebook or Instagram and be able to share it with other people.
If we use background music on it -any famous song- and we do not own the copyrights, we can face some issues:
- Our video will be muted or blocked.
- The copyrights owner can claim economic compensation.
Youtube, for example, has an algorithm called Content ID that compares every one of the videos that are uploaded to their platform and detect if the songs are under copyrights or not.
Therefore, it’s essential to use Royalty-Free music for the composition of your videos.
Since it’s the only way by which we can avoid the violation of copyrights and subsequent fines, blockings or complaints from the artist or label.
Where can we find royalty-free music to edit our videos?
There are several online marketplaces that offer non-copyrighted individual songs, both free and paid and there are also royalty-free music subscription services.
The main difference is that if we choose the free ones we will have to mention the artist in our video or project and if we purchase a license then not.
Usually, licensed songs also tend to have a higher quality.
These are the best marketplaces:
- Epidemic Sound: This site is perfect for you if you publish your videos on Youtube or other social networks. We have the option of paying a personal monthly subscription ($12/month) to access its entire musical catalog and have unlimited downloads.
- Envato Elements: For 14.50€/month we are entitled to unlimited downloads of songs and sound effects. Its musical catalog is made up of more than 90,000 songs of all kinds of genres and of the highest quality.
- Artlist: Another webpage from which we can download tons of music with a subscription. Subscribers can get monthly subscriptions and also add the Personal Plan tailored for Social creator for $9.99.
- Audiojungle: Do a quick search inside, choose your license (usually the “Standard” one will fit your project) purchase the song and it will be ready to use. Prices go from $1 for sound effects to $29 to full songs.
- Premium Beat: This platform offers individual licenses for each song or sound effect, following the same pattern as Audiojungle. Your licenses range from $49 for your standard license to $199 for your premium license.
- Shutterstock Music: Shutterstock Music is a simple and intuitive platform to obtain copyright-free music licenses. You will have access to a library with more than 60,000 musical tracks that you can filter by genre, tempo, and ambient.
- Incompetech: Another website from which can download stock music. We will have to mention the artist in exchange for using their songs.
As you can see, on the Internet is possible to find a lot of Royalty-Free music.
To choose the best option, the best thing is to look at the characteristics below:
- Music Library: How many songs and sound effects have? Is the average quality good? Are there any new songs every week?
- Licenses: Are the licenses clear and easy to find? How many people can I reach with a standard license?
- Price: The licenses have an affordable price?
Music for time-lapses, family videos, Drone videos…
Envato Elements is from our point of view the most complete of all the marketplaces mentioned above to get the legal background music for a homemade video (such as a wedding for example) or a timelapse.
There are more than 10,000 authors registered there, which have already uploaded thousands of songs and sound effects, and it is possible to find your ideal songs in a few minutes thanks to its integrated search engine.
…and Background music for travel videos
As you can see, Royalty-Free music can fit really well with a homemade travel video, a typical one before a nice holiday.
This one below uses the song A Beautiful Life from author Tim McMorris:
Conclusion
Thanks to marketplaces such as those we have seen have we have seen prices for background music fall drastically in the last few years.
