Video has become an everyday need for us. There are many materials needed to make videos for creators, including music, videos, images, etc. Music is an important one of them. For newbies, they may try to use free resources first. So, where can you find free music and sound effects?
Please Note: If you are looking for some materials to use in your videos, try using the Platinum version of YouTube Movie Maker. We have prepared many videos, pictures, and music clips for you, you just need to double click and download them to use. This will save you a lot of time.
First of all, we need to find out what is free music? Generally speaking, there are two types of free music: copyright-free and royalty-free.
Copyright-Free Music Sites
When we say copyright-free music here, we mean free music that you can use as much as you want. These are music that usually has no copyright issues and can be used without worry. They may be out of copyright or the author is willing to provide them for free.
However, it is important to note that it is usually fine for personal use for free, but if it is used for commercial purposes, you need to check the license. If the license says there is a fee for commercial use, then you will need to pay.
You can find copyright-free music and sound effects at the following sites.
Musopen
Musopen is a non-profit organization. It has a collection of music on its website that has passed its protection period. The music is copyright free and you can download and use it for free. Each piece of music is followed by a separate license. As you can see in the license notes, most of the music is copyright-free and can be used commercially.
Audio Archive
The Archive is the big name of the Internet archive. In addition to the web pages that are known to everyone, it also holds a lot of audio. Audio Archive contains music, podcasts, audiobooks, and many other categories. You can find the music you want in it. It’s easy to search and use.
Freesound
Freesound is a free sound collection website, created by the Music Technology Group of Universitat Pompeu Fabra. You can find all kinds of audio clips and recordings here. You can search for keywords to find the music you want and download it after logging in. The site also offers a forum where you can communicate with other user
There are already more than 500,000 audio clips of all kinds on the site, and you can also upload any audio you want to share to the site.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online record sales platform and music community. Users can buy music directly from it and support their favorite artists. Also, some creators share their music for free. You can find some copyright-free music here.
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a free online music library. It has a collection of free music that users can search and download. After you have searched for the desired result, you can download the music directly from the page. If you want to use the music safely, you can choose its pro version.
Royalty-free Music Sites
Royalty-free music generally refers to music that is royalty-free, meaning that you don’t have to pay for it every time it is distributed. There are many names in the industry for this type of music. You need to know that although this type of music is called royalty-free, you still usually need to purchase a license to download it. After you purchase it, it doesn’t mean you can use it as much as you want, and you need to check the license file for the exact license.
Many websites offer royalty-free music, some of the more well-known ones are as follows.
Final Words
As you can see, although there are multiple names for free music, there is no such thing as absolutely free music. This is because whether it is royalty-free or copyright-free, it is just a name people give to them. Music copyright is a complex issue that is sometimes difficult for lawyers to explain. As for whether you can use it for free or not, you need to carefully check the accompanying licensing instructions. This usually depends on the usage case.
In general, the copyright-free music and sound effects download sites we provided above are usually fine for personal video production. After finding the right clips, you can try YouTube Movie Maker if you want to create quick videos with music and pictures.
