Index
Did you know that 81% of marketers say that their videos work better with music?
According to Biteable‘s Video marketing statistics 2021, music is one of the essential elements to generate conversions and sales in video marketing strategies.
And as you probably already know, the platform on which the vast majority of video marketing takes place is YouTube.
Not only because it is the most popular website in the world after Google.
But because, according to the same Biteable study, it is the platform that offers the best return on investment for video content.
Far above others such as Facebook or YouTube.
If you take the above data into account, you can understand an important part of the formula for success in marketing: YouTube videos with music in the background. 
However, in order for the music to have the desired effect on your videos, you need to take several factors into account.
The first of these is copyright, also known as authors’ rights.
In short, copyright gives the owner of a music track the exclusive right to use the work.
In order to be able to use this song legally, you will have to acquire the relevant licences, but you will have to pay a large amount of money for them.
In addition, YouTube has a sophisticated algorithm that detects when you are illegally using a copyrighted song in your videos.
We will show you in more detail later on what this algorithm is and how you can avoid getting into trouble with it.
But the best way we know at LegisMusic is to use copyright-free music, like the one you can get from these platforms:
Rotate your phone or swipe in order to view properly this table.
| Service | Type | Price | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPIDEMIC SOUND | Subscription | From 9,00€/month | |
| ENVATO ELEMENTS | Subscription | From 14,50€/month | |
| ARTLIST | Subscription | From 9,99€/month |
Below we’ll introduce you to each of them so you’ll understand why they’re your best choice when it comes to adding royalty-free music to YouTube videos.
Royalty-free music for YouTube: The best platforms
On the Internet there are a variety of platforms with copyright-free music for YouTube, Facebook and other social platforms.
Each of them has its own features, licenses and even unique songs. However, after having tested most of them, we have decided to show you what we consider to be the three best ones.
And we will start this presentation with the well-known Epidemic Sound.
Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is 
Epidemic Sound is a leading copyright-free music platform with more than 13 years of experience in the music industry.
Since its inception in 2009, the Swedish company has been able to provide what content creators need to solve music copyright issues.
They currently have a music library of over 100,000 music tracks and sound effects, making it one of the largest on the internet.
But beyond the quantity and quality of their songs, by subscribing to the platform you will have at your disposal tools that will make things much easier.
One of them is ‘Stems’, with which you can remove any sound element or instrument from a song.
For example, imagine you find a song with a catchy beat that you love for your YouTube video, but that song is vocal, something that you would prefer to avoid.
With ‘Stems’ you could remove the vocals with a couple of clicks, leaving the music track as an instrumental and making it the perfect background sound for your video.
The other feature we like most about Epidemic Sound is ‘Find Similar’.
As soon as you find a soundtrack you like, ‘Find Similar’ will do the rest of the work by ginving you similar songs.
With a single click, you will have at your disposal a whole collection of tracks similar to the one you liked.
Finally, Epidemic Sound has recently added a new tool, called ‘EAR’ -Epidemic Audio Referece-.
With this you will be able to find songs that are very similar to each other from their extensive music catalogue.
Unlike ‘Stems’, with EAR you can choose a specific fragment of the song you like to find others that have the same rhythm, tone, vibes…
In addition, when you subscribe to the platform, you will have a number of other added benefits, such as:
- Unlimited downloads during the subscription period
- New music tracks and sound effects every week
- Legal monetisation of your YouTube videos
- Use on any device, anywhere
- Ability to cancel at any time
Envato Elements
Another major player in the market when it comes to copyright-free songs for YouTube is
Envato Elements.
Created in 2016 in Melbourne (Australia) and owned by the creative giant Envato Market, this platform manages to make available to its community one of the largest music libraries on the Internet.
There are more than 120.000 files between songs and sound effects, a number that grows month after month with new contributions.
However, Envato Elements is more than just a premium music library.
On this platform you can also find a multitude of creative solutions such as:
- Stock videos for YouTube.
- Stock images.
- Video templates.
- Lyrics typologies.
- Graphic templates for social networks.
That’s why many content creators looking for copyright-free music for their YouTube videos choose Envato Elements because, in addition to music, they will have many other digital assets at their fingertips to enhance the quality of their videos.
Artlist
Artlist is an Israeli company that since 2016 has carved a niche for itself in the copyright-free music industry.
It has left behind the label of a young up-and-comer to become a reality.
In fact, top brands such as Google, Nike, Cocacola, Netflix or Ikea are part of its long-standing customer base.
But in reality, thousands of people have also migrated from other similar services to Artlist.
One of the reasons for this is the high quality of the music they offer, with a commitment to the best independent musicians and artists from all over the world.
This is something that balances the balance with respect to the number of tracks in its music library, which is smaller in number compared to its competitors.
Another reason why Artlist has won the hearts of its customers is its intuitive menu-driven interface, making it easy to search and re-translate content on a single page.
And the third – but not the last – reason is its revolutionary ‘Universal License’, through which you can download and use its content in virtually any audiovisual production.
All this regardless of whether it is a personal or commercial work, something that has made it one of the best platforms with music to monetise your YouTube videos.
Now that we’ve introduced you to the three best platforms in the industry, you may be asking yourself the following question.
What is the price of copyright-free songs for YouTube?
The truth is that each platform has a range of subscription plans for different groups of professionals, with different objectives, and therefore different prices.
| Platform | Plan | Monthly cost | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPIDEMIC SOUND | Personal | 13,00€/month | *108,00€/year |
| “ | Comercial | 49,00€/month | *228,00€/year |
| “ | Enterprise | Request needed | Request needed |
| ENVATO ELEMENTS | Subscription | 14,50€/month | – |
| ARTLIST | Personal | 14,99€/month | 119,00€/year |
| “ | Unlimited | – | 160,00€/year |
| “ | Interprise | Customised | Customised |
* These plans have some kind of promotion or discount.
Epidemic Sound plans.
In the case of Epidemic Sound, you have three subscription plans.
- Personal Plan (13€ /month or 108€ /year). Designed for small content creators on YouTube or other social networks, as well as video creators for their own use.
- Commercial Plan (49€ /month or 228€ /year). The perfect plan for freelancers and companies who want to create videos for their clients or create ads on any online platform.
- Enterprise Plan (Price on request). The solution for large companies and media outlets that need copyright-free music on a large scale.
If you want to know more about Epidemic Sound, we recommend you click on the link above to our how-to guide, as well as our article on music for advertising agencies and freelancers.
However, if you are sure and want to count on Epidemic Sound, you can try the platform without obligation and at zero cost.
To do so, click on the following link and get the 30-day free trial that they are giving away to their new customers.
Envato Elements subscription
Of the three platforms mentioned, Envato has the easiest subscription system.
A single monthly fee of €14.50 will provide you with benefits such as these:
- Access to all creative assets (music, videos, images, etc).
- Weekly updates, both in music tracks and in the rest of the sections.
- Unlimited downloads for as long as your subscription remains active.
- Unlimited use of music in all your YouTube videos, as well as in other social networks.
- No permanence and the possibility of cancelling the subscription at any time.
Unlike Epidemic Sound, Envato Elements does not have a free trial.
However, you can invest the small monthly subscription fee to discover the full potential of the platform.
It will undoubtedly revolutionise the quality of your YouTube videos.
Artlist Universal License
The Artlist Universal License is simple to understand for everything it covers.
It covers absolutely any use: from film productions to commercials, and of course YouTube videos.
Regardless of the number of subscribers you have on your channel or the number of views of your videos.
Artlist offers this Universal License through three different plans:
- Personal Plan: 9.99€ billed annually (119€) or 14.99€ billed monthly at the discretion of social creators.
- Unlimited Plan: 16.60€, billed annually.
- Enterprise Plan: customised licence for organisations.
All include:
- Unlimited downloads.
- Unlimited project usage.
- Lifetime use.
The only difference between the three is that the music plan only allows you to access and download music tracks, the SFX plan does the same for sound effects, and the joint plan gives you full access to the entire Artlist library.
You can take a closer look at what the platform has to offer in our comparison between Artlist and Epidemic Sound.
And if you finally decide to go for what this platform offers, you can get an additional 2 months free by clicking on the link above.
At this point of the article we can say that you already know the three best paid platforms to get royalty-free music for YouTube.
However, many users have asked us the following question.
Is it possible to use free music for YouTube without copyright?
Yes, of course you can use free music on YouTube.
In fact, the platform does not know whether or not you have paid for the music you use in your videos.
However, in order to use this type of music consciously in your productions, you need to be aware of its advantages and disadvantages.
Pros and cons of free music for YouTube
Advantages
- It’s free. You don’t have to spend any money to use it.
- It is easy to find. There are many websites where you can download free music.
Disadvantages
- Normally they cannot be used in commercial projects. Free music is usually licensed under Creative Commons licences, and is rarely allowed to be used for monetisable projects. They can only be used in commercial videos if they are not labelled “NC” (Non Commercial)
- They require attribution to the author for their work. All songs licensed under Creative Commons have the BY label, which means Attribution. This means that, if you use a song with this label, you must mention both the author and his or her work.
- The author can change the licence in the future. There have been cases where the author has chosen to stop sharing their work for free and instead share it through a paid platform. If that happens and you have used their work in one of your videos, you could get into legal trouble.
- Youtube’s algorithm can identify the song as illegal. The so-called ‘Content ID’ – which we’ll talk about below – could identify that you don’t have the rights to use the song, in which case you could be muted or have the video removed on the grounds of copyright infringement.
- They are an unprofessional option. By needing to mention the author in your video, it will be known that you have used free music for your video. This is something that can significantly damage your brand image, your credibility, and subsequently your conversions and revenue.
- They detract from the originality of your video. The fact that these types of songs are free makes them more accessible to the public, and therefore more used in more projects.
- Therefore it is quite possible that your video will have the same background sound as many other videos, taking away originality from your production.
If, despite knowing the pros and cons of free music for YouTube, you want to know where to download it, read on.
Platforms where you can get free music for YouTube
There are many sites on the Internet where you can find free songs or sound effects to add to your videos.
But possibly the best known and most readily available is YouTube’s own library.
YouTube Studio Audio Library
When you create a YouTube channel, one of the menus at your disposal is called YouTube Studio.
This is where you can manage things like content, playlists, statistics, comments, captions and more.
But one of the tools that will also be available is the Audio Library. 
As you can see, it has two menus available: a free music menu and a sound effects menu, each with hundreds of tracks that you can use in your YouTube videos at zero cost.
You can also filter them according to:
- Song title
- Genre
- Mood
- Artist
- Duration
- Date
- Type of licence
The latter refers to one of the drawbacks mentioned above.
The vast majority of songs have the YouTube symbol in the Licence Type column, which you can use for free without mentioning the author.
However, there are others that have the Creative Commons licences symbol, with the following warning:
If you want to use this song in your YouTube video, you must follow the instructions in See details. 
This process would have to be done for each of the songs you use in your video that have a Creative Commons designation.
And this is the same process that would have to be carried out even if you want to download free royalty-free music from other platforms.
This is why the vast majority of content creators prefer to opt for paid solutions such as Epidemic Sound, Envato Elements or Artlist.
This avoids problems with the well-known YouTube Content ID.
What is Content ID on YouTube and why should I care?
Content ID is an algorithm that automatically scans all videos uploaded to YouTube to verify whether the uploaded material – both the music and the visual section of the video itself – is copyrighted.
If the algorithm identifies that the material used is copyrighted and the user does not have permission to do so, it will automatically notify both the user and the institution that holds the copyright.
For example, if we upload a video and play Coldplay’s “Viva la vida” in the background, YouTube’s algorithm will scan it.
It will then notify Coldplay or their record label that we are using their music, as well as ourselves, as a warning. From this point on, and depending on a multitude of factors, several situations can arise:
- The sound of the video was blocked in several or all countries.
- The video would be completely removed from the platform.
- If we had monetised the video, that we were obliged to share half of the revenue generated with Coldplay or its record label.
To understand how it works and what it actually does, take a look at the video below.
However, while Content ID is a fairly reliable algorithm, it is not perfect.
There have been hundreds of cases where it has failed, even if people have used the music legally. So…
How can we avoid this situation and prevent Youtube from blocking any videos?
In this article you will find out how to remove Content ID warnings in 4 easy steps.
Conclusion
Marketers have no doubt about it: YouTube videos are the cornerstone of their strategy.
And videos cannot be without voice-overs and subtitles, for example.
But what is 100% essential to improve your brand image, increase engagement with your audience and generate more revenue is music. 
To do without this element is to detract from your video’s potential and give your competitors the competitive edge to outdo you.
Something you can’t afford in the competitive world of YouTube.
At this point it goes without saying that the source of the music you use matters a lot.
Using free music of dubious quality is not the same as using premium music from paid portals.
Opting for the first option will considerably limit your chances of success with your videos.
Mainly because you will have to mention the author of the song in your work, something that detracts from the professionalism of your brand.
But also because you risk using the same music as many other videos on YouTube.
That’s why most professionals who succeed with their YouTube videos opt for the second option: royalty-free music platforms, such as Epidemic Sound, Envato Elements y Artlist. With them you are assured of several things:
- The highest quality music you can find.
- A huge variety of music tracks to choose from peace of mind against potential copyright claims.
- The guarantee of monetising your videos in a 100% legal way.
- No worries about uncomfortable Content ID messages.
Hundreds of our subscribers have already used them with excellent results, and we want you to benefit from their full potential.
However, to be sure of this, it is best to try them out from the inside.
Therefore, we recommend that you choose the one that best suits your needs and give it a try.
You won’t regret it!
