Music is the key element in building your brand or growing your audience. Be it social media, Youtube videos, skits, presentations, or short films, music helps in conveying the right mood, tone, and emotion.
However, finding the right music tracks that hook your audience is a challenging task. After all, hiring a band of musicians to create customized tracks is not always a viable option. This is where copyright-free music platforms come into play!
Today, we are going to talk about the Best Copyright Free Music Resources. In this article, I’m going to share some of my favorite free resources to find free free music tracks.
We will begin with understanding what copyright free music is, along with its advantages, and some helpful tips on choosing the right tracks for your videos. Finally, I will reveal 19 of my favorite free resources for finding music for YouTube videos, vlogs, and other creative projects!
So, with no more delay, let’s begin!
What is Copyright-Free Music?
Copyright Free Music simply refers to the music free of copyrights. Nobody owns the copyrights for such music. This means that these tracks are available to be downloaded and used on any types of personal and commercial projects by the public for free.
Royalty Free Music vs Copyright Free Music
You might’ve seen both these terms used interchangeably these days. However, they don’t refer to the same thing!
Royalty-Free is a type of licensing where you purchase a digital asset once, and keep using it on as many projects as you want. You don’t have to pay a royalty fee every time you use the track on a new project.
Whereas, Copyright Free Music comprises music clips free of copyright. They have either been purchased by a third party or their license has expired. Either way, they are completely free to be downloaded and used by anyone. However, copyright free tracks are quite rare.
Pros of Copyright Free Music
If you are a creator, you probably realize the importance of sound and music in creating an impactful video. Using copyright-free music tracks in your projects can be beneficial in a lot of ways. I have highlighted the significant ones below.
Appear Professional
Copyright free music tracks are composed by musicians and sound artists. With a range of instruments and a good quality of sound, you can add an edge to your creative projects and appear more professional!
Grow your Audience
With an attractive and diverse collection of music tracks, you can leave a lasting impression on your audiences and thus grow your viewer base.
Save Time and Money
Copyright free music can be downloaded for free from various online resources, including websites and YouTube channels. This will help you save a chunk of time, effort, and money spent on hiring musicians to compose music for you!
Convey the Right Message
Music evokes emotions in the listener. If you want to convey an impactful message to your audience, copyright free music websites offer thousands of free tracks to choose from.
Re-use Tracks
Once you download a free music track, you can use it on any number of personal and commercial projects. You don’t need to pay any fee for using it.
Tips for Finding Best Copyright Free Music Tracks
Well, before you head out searching for the perfect track to complement your video, make sure to consider the following things.
Decide The Mood
Define the mood of your music track to go along with the video. Do you want it to be happy, sad, angry, excited, relaxing, or something else? For example, if you are looking for background music for your travel vlog, you can go with a happy and energetic mood!
Identify Music Style
Music tracks are found in hundreds of styles, including the popular ones like rock, pop, jazz, hip-hop, etc. The style you choose will depend on the type of video you are producing. For example, if it’s a dance video, you can go with rock or hip hop music!
Instrumental vs Vocals
Copyright free music websites feature both vocal tracks and instrumental tracks. The one you pick depends on the type of videos you create.
For example, if you are creating a cooking tutorial or an explainer video that already has vocals, you can go with an instrumental background music!
Define a Tempo
Tempo refers to the speed at which your song progresses. According to the emotion that your video conveys, you can decide the tempo to be slow or fast.
For example, with sad or thoughtful videos, you can opt for a slow tempo. Whereas, with fun and entertaining videos, a medium or fast tempo works best!
After researching and testing out a range of resources in the past week, I finally shortlisted the following 19 Best Resources for Finding Copyright Free Music Tracks.
I have ranked them according to their collection size and diversity of music. We will begin with websites and then check out some YouTube channels as well. Let’s go!
Best Websites for Finding Copyright Free Music
1. MixKit
Mixkit offers a diverse collection of free stock assets for your creative projects. Along with music tracks, you can also find free videos, sound effects, and templates for various video editing softwares.
Attribution: Not Required
Music Collection: 54k tracks
Their collection is carefully assorted into 18 music genres including Ambient, Cinematic, Jazz, Hip Hop, Corporate, Funk, Drum and Bass, etc, and 12 moods including Happy, Mysterious, Aggressive, Sad, Upbeat, and more. Thus, you can find the perfect song that matches the tone and mood of your video!
It also features an impressive gallery of sound effects that might be helpful for animators and comic artists. All the music tracks available on Mixkit can safely be used for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Overall, Mixkit is a powerful platform if you are looking for unique and impactful background music for your short films, skits, vlogs, and similar creative projects.
2. Free Stock Music
As the name suggests, Free Stock Music offers free stock music tracks to use on your personal and commercial projects.
Its wide library of over 3.4k music tracks spans 28 categories, ranging from Classical, Comedy, Piano, Dubstep, and even music from different countries around the world!
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 3.4k tracks
The interface of their website is simple. You can specify a category, mood, license, tempo, duration, and a keyword and find precisely the music you need. The music tracks can be downloaded in MP3 and WAV formats.
Overall, Free Stock Music has something for all kinds of creators, be it vlogs, films, documentaries, podcasts, or YouTube videos.
3. Pixabay
Pixabay is a popular stock media platform owned by Canva. It features thousands of free music tracks, video clips, images, sound effects, illustrations, and vector graphics along with a modern and attractive interface!
Attribution: Not Required
If you want free music for specific use cases like YouTube, Podcasts, or Vlogs, they also offer handy categories on the top panel. If you are an animator, or a cinematographer, you will love their collection of sound effects!
All the music tracks available on Pixabay are free to be used on personal and commercial projects without attributing the artist. Overall, I loved the diverse range of genres and moods available on this platform.
4. Bensound
Bensound is a royalty-free music platform owned by Benjamin Tissot, a French musician and composer. All the tracks available on Bensound are created by Benjamin himself.
The audio library of Bensound is decent with 600+ unique music tracks spanning genres like Acoustic, Folk, Cinematic, Corporate, Pop, Electronica, Urban, Groove, Jazz, Rock, etc.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 600+ tracks
This website also features a lot of copyright free tracks under a Creative Commons License. Thus, you can use them on your multimedia projects like blogs, websites, slide shows, short films, animations, etc, and on non-profit projects like video games, online courses, etc in exchange for a credit.
Overall, their free music library might be limited, but the variety of music is really impressive! I personally liked the tracks from Electronica and Cinematic category for creating YouTube intros, outros, and short films!
5. YouTube Audio Library
If you are a YouTube creator, you probably have used this one already! The YouTube Audio Library is a gallery of 1.1k+ free stock music tracks and 700+ sound effects specifically for YouTube creators. To access it, you need to log in to YouTube Studio with your YouTube channel.
Attribution: Not required on most tracks
Music Collection: 1.1k+ tracks
You get 14 genres of music, including Ambient, Pop, Rock, etc, and 10 moods, including Romantic, Bright, Dark, Angry, etc, to find the perfect tracks for your video content!
These tracks can be used on monetized and non-monetized YouTube channels without attributing the artist. However, if you use the CC licensed tracks from their library, you need to provide proper attribution to the artist.
Overall, I was quite impressed with their audio library. But the only problem is that millions of YouTubers use the same tracks on their videos, which might not help you stand out from the crowd!
6. Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a repository of copyright-free and royalty-free audio tracks powered by Tribe of Noise. It features an enormous library of 150k+ Creative Commons 4.0 licensed music tracks composed by over 50 thousand artists!
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 150k+ tracks
Its diverse collection compensates for its outdated user interface. You can browse their 16 music genres that include categories like Pop, Electronic, Blue, Folk, Country, and more.
Each genre is further divided into dozens of sub-categories. You can also find a collection of 100+ versions of the Happy Birthday song on their website.
However, the most important thing to note is that free music downloaded from this website cannot be used on your monetized YouTube channel, Instagram stories, podcasts, etc. Overall, this platform is good for finding unique music tracks for all kinds of creative projects!
7. CCHound
CCHound presents a curated collection of free CC Licensed music tracks from several artists and genres. Their modern and alluring interface makes browsing their platform a delightful experience.
Attribution: Required
Their music library is segmented into:
- 35+ Genres like Disco, Pop, Classical, Electronic, Glitch, etc.
- 17 Moods including creepy, dramatic, motivational, etc.
- 13 Types including Background Music, Bass, Instrumental, etc.
- 4 Instruments including Contrabass, Synth, Guitar, and Saxophone.
Overall, I loved these advanced filter options that help in sorting through their library!
8. Audionautix
Audionautix features a remarkable collection of copyright free and royalty free music tracks composed by artist Jason Shaw.
Attribution: Required
To search for music tracks, you can select one from their 30 genres, 47 moods, specify a fast or slow tempo, or even enter keywords in their search bar.
All the tracks available on Audionautix are CC 4.0 licensed. They can be used on personal and commercial projects along with attribution to the creator.
In my experience, this platform is good for filmmakers and cinematographers. You can find some really impactful and engaging free background music to fit specific scenes!
9. Josh Woodward
Josh Woodward is a Michigan based singer and songwriter. His music website features a decent collection of 200+ songs composed by him that can be downloaded for free by the users. These include vocal songs and instrumentals.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 200+ tracks
He has sorted his music library into 9 playlists and 13 albums covering a variety of genres, themes, and moods. These are ideal for being used as background music for your vlogs and YouTube videos.
All the tracks on this website are Creative Commons 4.0 licensed. This means you can use them for free on your personal and commercial projects in exchange for an attribution. However, for downloading a music track, you need to enter your email address.
10. Purple Planet
Purple Planet is a free stock music platform where all the audio tracks are all written and performed by two artists – Geoff Harvey and Chris Martin.
All the tracks available on Purple Planet can be used for free on social media sites, websites, vlogs, podcasts, educational projects, monetized and non-monetized YouTube, and other video sites.
Attribution: Required
Purple Planet justifies its name with its classy purple interface. You can find 15+ music genres and moods laid out in a clean and organized manner on their website. It also features the newest and the most popular tracks.
With the free license, you can use their audio tracks provided that you attribute their website. Overall, their collection is not that vast. But I loved the music tracks under the Cute and Kids categories. These are quite unique and can be used in cartoon animations and kids’ entertainment videos!
Best YouTube Channels for Finding Copyright Free Music
1. Free Music Wave
Free Music Wave is a YouTube channel with a collection of free electronic music. It features a sizable collection of over 1.8k music tracks spanning the following genres- EDM, Dubstep, Electro, Melodic, Glitch Hop, Trap, Progressive, and many more.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 1.8k+ tracks
These tracks can be used on your YouTube videos. However, you need to attribute the artist. Overall, their library is pretty cool, and if your videos revolve around tech, gaming, dance, or music videos, you must give it a try!
2. TeknoAxe’s Royalty Free Music
TeknoAxe is a YouTube channel with a solid collection of over 1.7k free music tracks. These tracks are arranged into playlists representing various genres like Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Trap, House and Electro, Synth wave, and more.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 1.7k+ tracks
All the soundtracks on TeknoAxe are CC 4.0 licensed. This means they are free for personal and commercial use, on monetized and non monetized videos, skits, vlogs, intros, etc. You are required to provide proper attribution while using their music.
Their collection is pretty good. If you want some cool tracks for using as background music, vlog intros, and dance tracks, TeknoAxe is the right platform for you!
3. Breaking Copyright
Breaking Copyright is a YouTube channel that began back in 2013. It has a vast collection of 800+ royalty free and copyright free tracks. You can search for your favorite genre through 20+ playlists comprising Epic, Sad, Scary, Rap, Lofi, Classical, Chill, Relaxing, Indian, Trap Music, and more.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 800+ tracks
They also have playlists sorted by country, genre, mood, instrument, and type of video. All the tracks falling under ‘No Copyright’ playlists can be used for free on social networks, provided that you credit them. If you wish to use their music for commercial purposes, you can buy their license!
I loved their Intro Music playlist and Indian Music playlist. You can definitely use them for Indian travel vlogs!
4. Vlog No Copyright Music
Vlog No Copyright Music is a YouTube channel that provides free music tracks that you can use as backgrounds for your vlogs. It has an extensive library of 1.1k+ free stock music tracks divided into 4 playlists – Happy, Relaxing, Dance and Electronic, and Best Music.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 1.1k+ tracks
All the soundtracks are free to be used on your YouTube videos as long as you attribute their channel. Overall, their music collection is really unique and is sure to impress travel and fashion vloggers!
5. No Copyright Sounds
No Copyright Sounds is another popular YouTube channel focused on providing good quality electronic music. You can find an impressive selection of 580+ songs in its ‘Copyright Free Music for YouTube’ playlist.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 580+ tracks
Their music library revolves around genres like Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Electro Pop, etc. You can also find music tracks with vocals in their library. All the tracks available on their channel are free to be used on YouTube and Twitch. However, proper attribution is required!
If you are a gamer, a DJ, a rapper, etc, check out this channel for some exceptional beats!
6. Audio Library – Music for Content Creators
Audio Library is a YouTube channel comprising an enormous collection of 2.4k+ royalty-free and no-copyright music tracks spanning genres like Bright, Inspirational, Pop, Happy, Dance, Electronic, etc. They also have playlists sorted by mood, genre, and popular music tracks.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 2.4k+ tracks
All songs under the ‘No Copyright’ playlist can be used for free. However, you can only use them on your YouTube videos along with proper attribution. I loved their diverse collection of tracks that are fit for all types of creative projects!
7. Chill Out Records – No Copyright Music
Chill Out Records is a YouTube channel offering a decent collection of copyright free music tracks. Their library comprises 165+ tracks in various genres like Lofi, Chill, Hiphop, Funky, Dramatic, Acoustic, EDM, etc.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 165+ tracks
These tracks are free for being used on YouTube as background music, and in videos and vlogs along with proper credits. Though their collection is small, you can definitely check it out for some cool background tracks for your YouTube intros and outro, vlogs, gaming streams, etc.
8. HeroBoard – Music for Creators
HeroBoard is a YouTube channel that provides an appreciable collection of non-copyrighted electronic music for creators.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 480+ tracks
Its library comprises 480+ videos separated into various playlists including EDM, Drum and Bass, House, Trap, Dubstep, etc. You can use these tracks on your monetized and non-monetized Twitch and YouTube channels for free, as long as you provide proper attribution.
9. Royalty Free Music from Bass Nation
As the name suggests, Bass Nation presents premium quality bass music on their YouTube channel. Their library is quite limited, comprising merely 50+ royalty free tracks that can be used for free on YouTube provided you attribute the artist in your video descriptions.
Attribution: Required
Music Collection: 50+ tracks
If you want background music for your YouTube intros, product mockups, app demos, etc, you should definitely check out Bass Nation for some high quality music.
Conclusion
The right music can not only help you evoke emotions in your audience but also add a professional touch to your videos. In this article, we discussed the 19 Best Resources to find copyright-free music online.
I hope you found them helpful. Check them out if you are looking for some unique and good quality music for your videos. Additionally, if you want a range of personal and marketing assets for your brands, you can also check out Placeit and Envato Elements.
Are there any other websites or channels offering good music tracks for free? Share them in the comments box below so we all can benefit from them!
This is Kripesh, taking your leave! You can join my weekly newsletter to get notified about my latest videos, blog posts, and the best discounts and offers running on digital tools. I’ll see you in the next one. Cheers and keep learning! 🙂
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