Music sources

[SamanthaL.]

What's your go-to place for finding cool beats and background music for videos and slideshows? I love making special videos for people as gifts, but I'm always afraid of running afoul of the copyright.

 

[Fairytale Studios]

I've sourced music from Epidemic Sound a few times. They have a lot to choose from and several tracks are less than a buck. Plus, they keep it simple by bundling all the legal rights. I source Disney's music through their licensing company. It's pretty pricey, unfortunately.

 

[Rachel]

Free Music Archive means just what it says. Some of the music is hit or miss, but if you're willing to search, you'll find something that fits your needs.

@Fairytale Studios, I've heard that Disney is pretty ruthless when it comes to enforcing their copyright, so it's smart of you to pony up the money. When I was younger, I used copyrighted music in a video that I uploaded to YouTube. I got a rather threatening letter and the copyright holder had the video taken down, but that's as far as it went. I was about 16 or 17 at the time and was just starting to get into videography. I was so embarrassed. I should've known better too because that's when the music industry was suing people for torrenting music. However, I thought that since I bought the song, that it was okay to use. Boy was I wrong.

 

[SamanthaL.]

Wow, you guys have so much great info. Thanks for sharing! I'm going through and bookmarking the sites you both listed.

@Rachel, I'm sorry that happened to you, especially at such a young age. That would've freaked me out. I'm glad they didn't continue to pursue you.

 

[Markshot 12]

i have a personal blog that isn't monetized (Or even live yet) That has a few music videos on it. I haven't heard anything form anybody about it yet. Of course there are only 2 other people who know about it, but I have thought about this. I might have to take them down in due time.

 

[vlog2020]

YouTube can be confusing when it comes to copyright, as a top vlogger, Simon Whistler, found. He is the guy behind Biographics, which by the way is very good. He used a 10 second clip of Winston Churchill, but was ordered to take it down by Sony, who apparently own all the rights to Churchill material. I am just going to stick with the free music that YouTube supplies for my vlogs.

 

[Chappel]

Hi there, Mixkit looks good as it offers a large library of free music downloads for pretty much any use. It also seems to specialize in techno, drum n bass and ambient, if you are looking for some "cool beats."

 

[Mushroom]

Copyright is definitely sometimes a headache. I still don’t fully understand how it works and even more than that, there are different copyright laws in different areas. Usually I tend to go for copyright-free music resources because it seems to be the safest.

 

[JohnnyB]

audiojungle.net is the best music source!

 

[Mushroom]

Now I realise there is a problem with the music in the YouTube audio library. There is no guarantee that your video won’t be taken down if you use those resources outside YouTube.