Where to find music for videos
Updated August 2021
I’ve rounded up the best spots to find both free and paid soundtrack songs.
Free music
Down with giving shout-outs? Then you've got plenty of options that’ll keep your wallet fat.
YouTube
The YouTube Audio Library is the first place I’d look for free tracks.
It’s got a clean interface that’s easy to search by genre, mood, instrument, and more.
Most songs don’t need attribution, but be sure to check just in case.
SoundCloud
There’s no shortage of songs here, but finding tracks can take some time and persistence. Here’s how:
Start here to search for tracks you can use commercially, and then enter the genre or mood of music you’d like.
After you find a song you like, click on its title.
Copy the link at the page you land on, and paste it in SoundCloud Downloader to download the song file.
Finally, be sure to credit the artist.
David Cutter
This indie composer has a massive library of fresh hip hop beats that make excellent background songs for spoken soundbites.
The easiest way to download his music is from his SoundCloud using SoundCloud Downloader, but make sure you include the credit below in your video description.
Music: http://davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic.
Budget music
These sites offer tracks on the cheap under one simple license that covers just about every use under the sun.
Envato
You can license single songs for $12-29 on average at this digital marketplace’s audio shop AudioJungle, though some tracks are as cheap as $1.
You can also get unlimited songs (from a much smaller music library) through its Envato Elements subscription.
This scores you gobs of other unlimited creative goodies like stock footage, video templates, graphic designs, animations, sound effects, and more. (We have it and don’t know how we ever lived without it.)
Soundstripe
This subscription-only service offers unlimited tracks for $149/year or $19/month.
They’ve designed the best interface in our opinion and they’ve got plenty of simple beats that play nice under soundbites, but their library can feel generic at times.
They’ve also got a Premiere Pro plug-in and an upgraded membership that includes song stems and sound effects.
Artlist
A $199 annual subscription is the only way to access this library of more than 8,000 songs (versus Soundstripe’s 4,000).
We think Artlist’s music collection tends to be edgier and has more lyrical songs we like, but it can be harder to find non-distracting songs to lay behind narration.
High-end music
Get top-notch quality at used-based price, but be ready to navigate red tape.
MusicBed
Musicbed’s songs are so good that we’ve saved them to our personal playlists for later jam seshes.
They’ve got a nice interface that lets you license songs for personal use starting at $49-$199. If you’re making commercials, be prepared to spend.
They also recently launched a subscription model priced at $15-$100/month for most plans.
Epidemic Sound
This veteran in the music-licensing game has a huge library of more than 30,000 quality tracks.
You can use single songs for $99-$1,999, but you’ll need to choose from complicated license options first.
Or you can download unlimited tracks for $15-$49/month or $144-$299/year depending on the use.
Marmoset
This music agency has curated a unique collection of excellent indie tracks that you can license by the song. (No subscription model here.)
Prices depend on use and can get expensive with big campaigns, but they make it easy to find the license you need.
The biggest perk to Marmoset, though, might be its delightful search interface. Filmmakers especially swear by its “song arc” filter. It’s free to test out if you wanna give it a whirl.