How to Source Free Music for Videos and Produce Great Video Content

Are you looking to use free music for videos you're producing but don't know where to find the best free songs?

There are many available options for finding great music to use in your videos, but you usually have to pay for it. To find high-quality free music to use for your videos, you need to know where to look, and what kind of music to look for.

This can be a challenging thing if you're in the process of editing your videos. Many people simply don't have the time to search for sources of free music. Thankfully, there are many options for finding the best free music for videos.

If you want to find out how to source free music for your videos, read on and we'll tell you what you need to know.

The Basics for How to License Music for Your Videos

If you're trying to license music to use in your videos, be aware that doing this is complex and can sometimes be difficult. This is why, before downloading music to use in your videos, you should know your rights. If you make a mistake, you may get into legal trouble.

Because of how difficult it is to license music for use in your videos, it's better to play it safe by making sure that it's okay to use a piece of music.

If you have any doubts about if it's legal for you to use a piece of music or not, make sure that you reach out to the artist to let them know about your plans to use their music. They'll usually get back to you and let you know if you have permission.

Choosing Free Music That Has a Creative Commons License

Another easy way to make sure that you can use a piece of music for your videos is to find out whether or not it is offered under a Creative Commons license. Under most conditions, music that falls under this kind of license is free to use. There are various types of Creative Commons licenses, each with its own rules.

If you are looking to use music that is completely free without strings attached, be sure to search for a completely free license type (CCO). It's also free to use a Creative Commons license for music with an attribution license (CC-BY), as long as you offer an attribution link to give credit to the artist. You are also free to use music with a non-commercial license (CC-BY-NC) as long as you don't use your videos for monetary gain.

The sheer variety of types of Creative Commons licenses can be confusing, so it's best to not use music that you're not certain that you have permission to use.

Finding Websites That Offer Royalty-Free Music for Free

As you can see, using music with Creative Commons licenses can get confusing unless you are well-informed about how this type of license works. Thankfully, there are other ways that you can get free music without needing to understand how licensing works.

One of the easiest options is to simply get your music from websites that dedicate themselves to sharing free music that can be used for making videos.

Once you find the right music for your videos, the next thing you need to do is use this music to add a professional touch to your videos. When you're producing your videos, be sure to do your research by reading through trustworthy video production blogs that offer guidance on how to produce the best possible videos.

The Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive collaborates with musicians, radio stations, and enthusiasts of the Creative Commons to provide a large selection of stock music that you can use for free. A non-commercial radio station called WFMU created the archive. The radio station continues to play a big role in offering music on the internet that people can use for free.

The archive has a huge collection of songs from many genres. For example, there are more than six hundred songs available that fall into the obscure genre of electropunk.

The archive is easily organized by genre (sixteen in all) and subgenre, meaning that it is easy to find what you are looking for by doing a simple search. The majority of the music on the site is licensed under Creative Commons of different kinds. Since some of these licenses use the FML license which only allows personal use, make sure that you take a look at the permissions that are offered for each song that you plan to use for your videos.

Dig.ccMixter

This is a great option if you're interested in creating your own mixes. The concept behind this site is simple yet unique: musicians share their music tracks, and vocalists share their acapella. As a user, you can make use of them however you would like.

One of the great benefits of going to Dig.ccMixter for finding your music is that all of the music falls under an attribution Creative Common license, meaning that all you need to do is give credit to the artist with an attribution link.

Even though there are many hundreds of songs available, the site is unfortunately difficult to navigate until you get used to it. If you're new to the site, consider using the tag search. This will give various tags that you can use to narrow your search.

This is a popular site for those who use music for creating videos. People often use music from this site in combination with videos that they find from high-quality stock video websites.

Hooksounds

Unlike other websites that only offer music for free, Hooksounds offers licenses for free as well as paid content. It's also worth noting that most of the music can only be used if you provide attribution and if you use it non-commercially.

If you're going to be making money from the videos that you need music for, Hooksounds is not for you.

Freesound

Even though the Freesound website is more difficult to navigate than other websites that offer free music, you can find tons of free music. You can also find things like sound effects, city noises, background sounds, and background noise of people talking.

If you're a skilled video creator who is looking to use free music along with audio recording software for voiceovers, Freesound is a great option for you. You can find pretty much any type of possible sound on this site.

The best way to navigate the website is by using the tag list. If you have something specific that you're looking for, you can also use the search bar. You can easily tell what kind of license each song has by the image that is beside each song.

Soundcloud

Soundcloud has been around since 2008 and has one of the biggest selections of music libraries that you can find online. The platform helps to unite musicians and to help them build connections with listeners from around the world.

There is a huge selection of songs on the platform that you can use in your videos for free. Unfortunately, Soundcloud doesn't have the best search feature, but once you figure out how to use it, you won't have a problem finding music that you want to use.

Musopen

This nonprofit has a mission to offer free music for people to use in educational materials, sheet music, and video editing. You'll notice that most of the songs are for orchestral pieces. You can find music from some of the world's most important classical musicians including Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert.

Incompetech

Even though Incompetech doesn't have a huge selection of music, it's easy to navigate and many people consider it to be the best place to go for finding royalty-free music. The platform was created by the composer Kevin MacLeod who is famous for is famous for creating thousands of songs and sound effects that he releases for free use.

Unlike many other websites that offer free music, Incompetech is easy to navigate. It has a great filtering tool that makes it simple to find exactly the types of music that you're looking for. After you find a song you're interested in, you can hear a sample, or download it with just one click.

The YouTube Audio Library

The YouTube Audio Library is of the most popular places to source free music for videos. It's a go-to option for those who also post their videos on the platform. The search function lets you filter their expansive list of free music clips by genre, instrument, mood, and license type. The YouTube Audio Library also has various sound effects that are free to use.

The YouTube Audio Library has a unique feature that allows you to put a star beside tracks that you want to return to. This makes it easy if you are working with a long list of music tracks that you struggle to keep track of.

Cctrax

Cctrax is the best place to find free music if you want to work with electronic music, though it does also have various jazz, rock, and classical songs. This easy-to-navigate website lets you filter your searches by the type of license that you're looking for.

If you're willing to spend the time searching through the site, you can find great music for producing your videos. It's also one of the few sites that offer music videos that are free to use.

When you're navigating the site, you need to make sure that you read clearly what kind of license each song has. The reason for this is that not all songs on the website have a Creative Commons license.

Jamendo

When you visit this website, you'll see that it is broken down into two different sections: the listening section, and the licensing section. When you visit the listening section, you can have peace of mind in knowing that all of these tracks have a Creative Commons license.

One of the downsides of this site is that you can't filter your searches by what kind of Creative Commons license they have. If you want to find out what kind of license a song has, click on the down arrow which is located on the right side of the screen.

Since the Jamendo website prioritizes listening, you'll find various unique features like communities, radio stations, and recommended playlists. These features make it easy for you to find out about new music. This is why it's a great site to visit if you're not yet sure what background songs you want to add to your videos.

On the other hand, if you know what you're looking for, try using the listings of genres to take a look at what songs or available. Like most other free music websites, you can also use the search feature to hunt for a specific song.

Get Started in Producing Great Videos Today

It is easier than it's ever been to find free music for adding to your videos. Since every video producer has different needs, there is no single place to find the best free music for videos. Thankfully, many great websites offer free music.

Once you're ready to upload your videos to your website, make sure that you have the right tools so that your videos look as professional as possible. Swarmify offers professional hosting for all your video content. Feel free to browse our plans and learn more about our effortless, affordable, professional video content hosting platform.