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In video marketing, choosing the right soundtrack can be the difference between a video that grips your audience from start to finish and one that they can barely get halfway through.
Not just any music will do, and knowing where to find the best royalty-free music sites is helpful.
Play a fitting soundtrack or jingle in your video to grab your audience’s attention and evoke the specific emotions and feelings you want them to associate with your brand.
Neglect the musical aspect of your video, and people will think less of your brand.
Fortunately, we found 21 royalty-free music sites that provide high-quality music and can help you make the perfect soundtrack for your next video.
21 Royalty-Free Background Music Websites for Videos
1. PremiumBeat
Owned by Shutterstock, PremiumBeat offers one of the most diverse and sizable collections of royalty-free music online.
With the help of their music industry experts, they’ve curated over 10,000 tracks that you can segment by genre, mood, artists, instruments, beats per minute, and duration.
Their music experts also curate an Editor’s Pick playlist with 857 of PremiumBeat’s best tracks to help you make the best possible soundtrack for your videos.
What we like: Only some videos need a fast-beat song. Sometimes, a slow tempo works just fine. PremiumBeat’s filters make searching for music easy.
Best for: Video creators who know the style of music they want for their project.
Pricing: $64.95 a month
2. Epidemic Sound
By collaborating with some of the most talented musicians in the industry, Epidemic Sound’s tracks are featured on YouTube and Facebook videos that rack up over 20 billion views each month.
Epidemic Sound has curated over 725 albums of royalty-free music, spanning from genres like “Corporate” to “First Snow,” allowing you to create diverse and high-quality soundtracks.
What we like: Epidemic Sound offers a wide range of music and sound effects, making it the perfect one-stop shop for all your projects.
Best for: Creators who wish to monetize their platforms.
Pricing: Personal plans cost $15 a month. Commercial plans cost $49 a month. Enterprise has custom pricing.
3. Artlist
Artlist partners with some of the best Indie artists to create original tracks, helping companies like National Geographic, Microsoft, and Toyota make video soundtracks.
You can filter thousands of tracks by mood, theme, genre, instrument, tempo, and duration. Artlist also curates themed collections of their partner artists’ tracks and spotlights their albums.
What we like: Artlist drops new music monthly, meaning many choices exist.
Best for: YouTube creators who are looking to monetize their platforms.
Pricing: Prices range from $9.99 to $39.99 per month billed annually, plus custom pricing for enterprises.
4. Music Vine
Music Vine collaborates with over 160 independent musicians to produce over 2,500 tracks you can segment by style, mood, energy, vocals, and duration. They also curate collections for particular themes in filmmaking and video production.
You can filter them by vibe, theme, genre, and environment. Additionally, Music Vine dedicates a section of its website to its artists, letting people follow them and explore their music.
What we like: Music Vine classifies its music into three distinct categories: promotional, storytelling, and creative. This time-saving feature is helpful!
Best for: Creators with a budget who are looking for a subscription music service.
Pricing: Pro Lite plans cost $19.99 a month. Pro Standard plans start at $35.99 a month.
5. Soundstripe
Soundstripe partners with over 80 artists to produce songs you can filter by mood, genre, pace, instruments, key, vocals, duration, and beats per minute. They’ve also curated over 50 playlists from genres like action & sport to weddings.
On Soundstripe, you can also create an account, follow artists, build playlists, like songs, and create your playlists. If you need sound effects for your video, Soundstripe offers 29 sound effects categories, from construction to sci-fi.
What we like: Soundstripe is free to sign up and use. However, there are limits. Soundstripe’s subscription plans are affordable and offer extra perks.
Best for: Filmmakers and podcasters looking to add a bit of curated flair to their work.
Pricing: Creator plans cost $9.99 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $19.99 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.
6. Filmstro
Filmstro offers royalty-free music that spans over 65 different categories, like mood, film & video genre, music genre, and instrumental palette. Plus, it also lets you customize each track by its momentum, depth, and power.
This gives you infinite creative possibilities to choose from when you create your video’s soundtrack.
What we like: Filmstro offers a free, full-access trial of their service. This free trial allows users to learn the platform’s features before upgrading their service.
Best for: Video creators who want more leeway and creative license with their sounds and songs.
Pricing: YouTuber plans cost $8.25 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $20.75 a month, billed annually. Pro Plus plans cost $41.50 a month, billed annually.
7. Pond5
Pond5 offers one of the largest royalty-free music libraries in the world. With over 500,000 tracks in 36 genres spanning from Hawaiian to action, you can make music tracks for almost any video project.
What we like: Pond5 knows video creators need more than just sound. We appreciate that they offer other forms of multimedia on their platform.
Best for: Creators who want to pay per item instead of subscribing to a subscription-based plan.
Pricing: Pay per track based on what you purchase.
8. ccMixter
ccMixter has one of the most thorough processes for creating free music from any royalty-free music website.
They collaborate with musicians who upload original samples of their instrumentals, singers who upload original acapella recordings, and producers and DJs who mix the music together to create free tracks for their videos.
With over 120 original tracks for film & video, commercial projects, and video games, ccMixter can help you make a truly creative video soundtrack.
What we like: ccMixter is a collaborative community with various artists contributing to the website. That means you have a variety and plenty of songs and sounds to choose from.
Best for: Creators with a limited budget.
Pricing: There’s a one-time fee for each track or project.
9. Bensound
With over 300 tracks in the genres of acoustic, folk, cinematic, corporate, pop, electronica, urban, groove, jazz, rock, world, and more, Bensound provides plenty of musical options for your video’s soundtrack.
What we like: Bensound offers two pricing structures. Platform users can pay for a monthly subscription to the service or choose to pay per track.
Best for: Creators who want free music (with the credit to the artist) and paid music.
Pricing: Standard plans cost €9.99 a month, billed annually. Extended plans cost €19.99 a month, billed annually. Premium plans cost €39.99 a month, billed annually. You can also pay-per-track.
10. Storyblocks
Storyblocks, in partnership with professional musicians, is a royalty-free website that has thought of it all. Whether you’re looking for happy music, dark music, inspiring music, or anything in between, Storyblocks has it in their library.
Plus, they also offer footage users can add to their projects.
What we like: Storybooks require a monthly subscription to use the service. At just $15 per month, anyone can quickly create an account and add music to their projects.
Best for: With the addition of HD and 4K footage, Storybooks is best for YouTube creators.
Pricing: Starter plans cost $15 a month, billed annually. Unlimited plans cost $30 a month, billed annually. Pro plans cost $35 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.
11. Amazon
If Amazon doesn’t have what you’re looking for, do you really need it? Luckily, Amazon is also a great place to search for royalty-free music.
Searching for music is simple. Just type “royalty-free music” in the search bar and browse the over 30,000 search results.
What we like: Most of the royalty-free music available on Amazon can be downloaded as an MP3 file, making it easy to add to your project.
Best for: Creators with access to an Amazon account.
Pricing: Here, you pay per track.
12. YouTube Audio Library
If you’re a YouTube Creator, you can already access lots of music and sounds in the YouTube Studio. Using the filter, you can search for music or sounds depending on the mood you’re going for or the genre you’d like.
What we like: Adding music to a YouTube Short or video is easy with the YouTube audio library. Users can “star” their favorite sounds to save for later use. This is especially helpful if you’re creating a branded intro for your videos.
Best for: YouTube Audio is best for YouTube creators.
Pricing: Creating an account is free, but you need to invest to make a channel.
13. TeknoAxe
If you already know the kind of vibe you’re going for, TeknoAxe is for you. Compared to other royalty-free websites, TeknoAxe seems simplistic.
But don’t let the simple look fool you. TeknoAxe features a variety of royalty-free music in a wide range of genres.
What we like: We appreciate that the music and sounds on TeknoAxe are free to download through Creative Commons. Users are to support the website through donations only.
Best for: Creators with a solid idea of the type of sound they would like to add to their project.
Pricing: Cost depends on your track or project.
14. Audio Jungle
Audio Jungle is one of the best and most cost-efficient websites to search for royalty-free music. The cost of music or sound starts at an affordable one dollar and varies in price, depending on what you’re looking for.
Searching for a whole music bundle? Audio Jungle has you covered!
What we like: We appreciate Audio Jungle bundling sounds into a media or music pack. This makes it helpful for creators who want varied but related sounds for their projects.
Best for: Anyone creating a project that needs to add sound or music.
Pricing: Audio Jungle is pay per track.
15. Purple Planet
Purple Planet, owned and operated by a three-person musical team, boasts a vast collection of royalty-free music from real instruments, such as guitars and percussion instruments.
Purple Planet offers free music (with credit to the creators) and commercial licenses.
What we like: We appreciate Purple Planet creating music and sound with real instruments. Real instruments can create a mood that other music, such as music made by AI, cannot.
Best for: Purple Planet jives with any content creator — those who want a full commercial license and those who are okay with sharing credit.
Pricing: There are free downloads with credit. A standard license costs $8. A broadcast license costs $40.
16. AKM Music
AKM Music is one of the largest royalty-free music producers in the United Kingdom. AKM Music knows that sometimes you need to shop for music based on the mood or feeling you want to give your project.
This is why they’ve categorized their sound collection based on the genre and mood. You’ll save time searching and spend more time creating.
What we like: Purchasing a song from AKM Music is done in a snap. You simply pay for the song and the license one time, and you can use it or play it forever.
Best for: Creators looking for sounds that want to avoid paying for a subscription-based service.
Pricing: With AKM Music, you pay per track.
17. Jamendo
Want to know Jamendo’s biggest flex? Their catalog has over 500,000 songs from over 40,000 artists in over 150 countries. That’s a lot of music and guarantees you’ll find the best musical match for your project.
Not only does Jamendo offer you a wide selection of music, but it also helps artists create commercial licenses to gain monetary recognition for their work.
What we like: Although small, we appreciate that Jamendo continues to play the song you’re listening to, even when flipping through other pages on their website. You’ll never lose your sound by accidentally clicking elsewhere with Jamendo.
Best for: Jamendo is best for creators on a budget and those who don’t mind spending a little money for the perfect sound.
Pricing: Standard licenses cost $19. Large licenses cost $49. Enterprise licenses require a quote.
18. Marmoset
Marmoset’s portfolio of users is impressive — think of creators like Netflix, Apple, and Google. With these big names, you know the quality of royalty-free music on their website is legit.
Marmoset is a full-service music agency that offers music to meet any mood or energy.
What we like: Marmoset’s impressive catalog features music from every genre. There is no shortage of unique sounds to choose from on this website.
Best for: Creators working with a budget for their sound options.
Pricing: Individual plans cost $12 a month, billed annually. Business plans cost $39 a month, billed annually. Enterprise plans have custom pricing.
19. Envato Elements
Envato Elements is a solid choice when choosing a royalty-free music service. For just $16.50 a month, you’ll receive unlimited downloads from their over 15,000 selection of music and sounds.
Envato Elements offers a wide range of music for your project and other types of media, such as graphics and video templates, to elevate your project to the next level.
What we like: Evato Elements is a subscription-based service, and they recognize that you might not always need their services. With that in mind, you can cancel your subscription at any time.
Best for: Creators with a budget to spend on their projects.
Pricing: Starts at $16.50 a month.
20. Free Stock Music
If you don’t want to spend money on sound or music and are happy to share the credit with the creator, consider Free Stock Music. (For the record, you can also purchase a commercial license for the song!)
This music platform classifies sounds by category, mood, and tempo, so you can be sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.
What we like: The simplicity of the website makes it easy to find the right sound you’re looking to use for your project. We appreciate the tempo filter, too.
Best for: YouTube creators without a budget who don’t mind sharing credit.
Pricing: Free and pay-per-track options are available.
21. FoxiMusic
Foximusic has set out to solve the problem of finding royalty-free music. The team behind this music service is a group of musicians with decades of experience — meaning they make their own music in-house.
They’ve also simplified the purchasing process. Instead of signing up for a subscription, you can purchase one song or a music bundle, depending on your needs.
What we like: While subscription services are excellent, they’re not for everyone. The choice to bundle songs makes it easier for creators on a budget.
Best for: Creators who are recording both video and podcasts.
Pricing: You can pay per track or project.
AI Services for Royalty-Free Music
1. AVIA
If you’re more creative and want to compose your sounds or music based solely on emotion, consider using AIVA. AIVA is an AI-based music service that allows you complete control of the sounds you create.
With a pro annual subscription plan, you own the copyrights to the music you make.
What we like: AIVA is a subscription-based platform. Although there are paid versions of the service, you can use the free plan with up to three monthly downloads if you’re on a budget.
Best for: Creators who consider themselves picky and want to create their own music instead of choosing something else.
Pricing: Free plans are available. Standard annual plans cost €11 a month. Pro annual plans cost €33 a month.
2. Soundraw
Nothing is more frustrating than having an epic scene in your video, only for the music to not match the action. Soundraw takes the frustration out of selecting music that perfectly fits your project.
With Soundraw, simply tell the AI-based service what kind of music you want, and it will generate several variations within a few seconds. After that, choose the best song or start over again.
What we like: It can take a lot of work to choose the perfect song for your project. Soundraw removes the frustration by creating multiple variations with a similar sound and feel.
Best for: Creators who know precisely what they want but don’t want to spend hours looking for it.
Pricing: Free plans are available. Creator plans cost $16.99 a month. Artist plans cost $29.99 a month.
3. Soundful
If you can’t find a song that matches your head’s melody, try Soundful. Soundful, an AI-based music generator, allows users the creative space to create their own music and sounds.
Not only do users have complete creative freedom, but with specific pricing plans, users own the copyright licenses to the sounds they create.
What we like: Soundful is a subscription-based service. However, there is a free plan for users who want to learn the program before spending money or for those who need just one or two songs.
Best for: Creators looking for a distinct sound for their project.
Pricing: Free plans are available. Content creator plans cost $59.99 a year. Music Creator Plus plans cost $119.99 annually.
