Music for videos is something that a lot of content creators look for. We all know that a great track truly can make or break a YouTube video. This could be on-brand introduction music, a relaxing Indie-Folk track for a travel vlog, or drama-fuelled Rock to heighten tension. For any content, intertwining music and video makes your videos memorable. So, where do you find music for YouTube videos? How do you go about using music on YouTube?
What Music Can I Use On YouTube?
In short, YouTube are vigilant when it comes to using music in your videos. This is down to copyright, which protects the rights of those who created the recording. Copyright means that you must get permission and pay to use tracks. When asking ‘what music can I use on YouTube’, it can get a little confusing. Therefore, your main options for using music on YouTube are:
- Spend time and money to comply with copyright law properly
- Avoid the issue by using music in the public domain
- Scour the web for (most likely poor quality) royalty free tracks
- Or choose from thousands of tracks quickly and at a great price with a company such as Audiosocket!
Let’s take a look at these options now:
How To Use Copyrighted Music On Your YouTube Channel
As mentioned, to use most music, you will need to obtain certain permissions. This means that to use a song in your video, you must get a license, plus permission from the owner of the content. This includes paying for the privilege, and making sure everything is above board. There is a chance your request may get rejected, or it could be a lengthy and expensive process to use the track. So, what would happen if you risked it, and used a track anyway? If you decided to use copyrighted music in your videos (and found out it was not copyright free music), YouTube will most likely take it down. You could also face legal action, as it is clear copyright infringement. So, really… it’s not worth it!
Tracks Without Copyright: Public Domain
There are tracks that are available to use within the public domain. These songs are work that was copyrighted but has lost their protection, for example tracks published before 1922. This does mean that they are available for anybody to use, and are technically free music to use on YouTube. However, you must ensure that they are in the public domain, and do your research! Finding these tracks won’t be easy, and you still risk there being copyright issues that your research didn’t find.
Royalty Free Music & Stock Music
Sounds tempting, right? Sadly, finding royalty free music or stock music for YouTube videos is likely to cause an array of problems. From poor quality tracks to hidden legal issues, it simply isn’t worth the risk. Plus, you are likely to end up with tracks that are in hundreds of other videos. This lessens the impact of your musical accompaniment, so you might as well not have bothered!
The bottom line is: Stock music is too easy. If you are using music in your YouTube videos, you will need to obtain the correct permissions and rights. This may seem a little overwhelming and will require some in-depth knowledge of music licensing. Alternatively, you could save yourself the hassle and use legal, great quality tracks… and that’s where Audiosocket comes in!
Free to Download and Royalty Free
When searching for a music track to use for your videos, be careful how you use the term “free.” There’s a wide range of sounds ranging from hip hop to rock that you can download online without spending any money. However, free of cost doesn’t mean free of copyright without all rights reserved. You can get demonetized or sued over the use of any kind of music for video, whether it’s hip hop or classical. Instead of trying to figure out which of those free songs come with a suspicious “all rights reserved” phrase, it’s best to use a pre-cleared music provider like Audiosocket that only has music and sounds you can use in your videos legally.
Timing
There’s a common misconception that if you only use part of a song, you do not have to get a music license. This is a myth unless the track is in the public domain. Even if you only use 30, 15, or 10 seconds of a song, you could still get a copyright claim. Luckily, you can reduce this confusion by getting pre-cleared music. Companies like Audiosocket ensure you have the right music license when you download your song.
Genre
Now, let’s talk about choosing the right music to match the mood of your video and enhance the atmosphere. This is when choosing the right genre becomes important. Using Audiosocket, you can easily search through hundreds of genres and all the music is pre-cleared to use in your videos.
With or Without Monetization
Pre-cleared music libraries like Audiosocket allow you to earn money from your videos. If you use music without a license, however, and YouTube doesn’t take your content down, they can still take away your revenue if the system detects unlicensed tracks. Similarly, if you think you’re safe using copyrighted background music for non-monetized content, think again. While it’s true YouTube can’t remove revenue that doesn’t exist, the music rights-holders can still issue a takedown of any videos with unlicensed music. You need permission to use licensed songs whether or not the content you’re using it for makes you money.
There’s another punishment for using unlicensed music; muting. YouTube can mute the part of your video with the copyrighted song. That might not be so bad if it’s the only sound that’s playing in that part of the video. Other audio, however, would be silenced as well. If you have someone talking while the music is playing, their dialogue will be muted right along with the song. The sudden absence of sound might also be jarring to your audience.
Don’t Give Up on Video Marketing
With a tangle of music licensing rights to think about, you might feel discouraged because you can’t simply use the songs you got from iTunes. We get it – with all the time and effort that goes into making videos and video marketing, finding the right sounds can feel like an extra burden. Luckily, you can obtain songs easily through Audiosocket’s music licensing solutions. We connect content creators with musicians willing to provide quality sounds. You can license the song and use it in your videos without penalty. Audiosocket has a user-friendly interface that allows you to search for various types of songs quickly and easily.
Sounds Don’t Only Mean Music
Did you know that people can also copyright sound effects? Music and sound are not synonymous! Whether the audio comes from a motion picture, a song recording, or another source, the audio is subject to copyright. So, if you hear sound effects from your favorite show that you think would be perfect for your videos, think again. That audio is likely owned by the production company and the creators of that sound. That’s why Audiosocket also offers pre-cleared sound design and sound effects. You can use these samples for your video projects without worrying about a copyright strike.
Finding the Right Song
Background music is essential to help set a mood and potentially make your video more memorable. That’s why you can’t just choose your favorite song on your playlist. All elements of the video, including the sounds, have to flow. Do you want your viewers to relax or feel excited? Who is your target audience? There are genres that can set a particular mood, like classical can be dramatic and rock can give a sense of individuality. Music can help increase the emotional intent of your video’s message. With Audiosocket, you can search by Genre, Mood, Instruments and more. We also have a state-of-the-art similarity search feature so you find the perfect track in less time. If you have a song in mind that you want to use—even a famous song—simply upload the mp3 or paste a YouTube, Soundcloud or Vimeo link into the search bar. Our search tool will give you a list of tracks that sound similar to your reference track. It all happens in seconds.
Not All Music Libraries are the Same
Music libraries have their unique advantages based on their target audience. At Audiosocket, we provide music and sound design to the Hollywood studios, indie creators, social influencers and small businesses alike. For individuals, our subscriptions are one of the most affordable with starting prices at $10 a month. Unlike some other music libraries, we have month-to-month plans that you can pause at any time or annual plans for greater savings. Audiosocket also has the deepest and most diverse catalog with over 85,000 tracks.
The YouTube Audio Library
Another music licensing option for your YouTube videos is the YouTube Audio Library. With YouTube’s Audio Library, you can browse and download free music for your projects. You’re free to use these audio tracks in any of your videos and every song in the library is available specifically for content creators, so you don’t have to worry about copyright strikes. The YouTube Audio Library comes with usage limitations, however. Unlike Audiosocket and other similar libraries, you can only use the tracks from YouTube’s Audio Library on YouTube. You might not be able to use those same songs anywhere else without running into copyright trouble. That’s limiting for those who display their content outside of their YouTube channels.
Understanding Content ID
Content ID is YouTube’s copyright detection algorithm. It allows copyright owners to claim and remove videos using their work without permission. So, it is important that you use pre-cleared music from a reputable music library to avoid any copyright strikes. If a copyright strike occurs, creators can submit a form to keep their uploads in good standing (if the accusations are wrong). Many say that no matter if it’s a music track or clips, the system seems to favor copyright owners because it can take a long time before everything is processed. You can surpass all of this inconvenience by utilizing the songs we have in Audiosocket’s audio library.
What Audiosocket Offers
We won’t reel off a list to convince you how great we are. All you need to know is that we provide access to licensed music for those of you publishing your media online. Our catalog includes over 200 genres, 80,000 tracks and 2000 Sound Designs. The best part is that can license as many tracks as you like with your subscription. This saves you from having to navigate the ins and outs of music licensing and copyright. We take care of it all, so you just need to worry about choosing the perfect track. Interested? Head to Audiosocket.com to take a look!
Music For YouTube Videos: Summary
Using music in videos shouldn’t be a headache, and we hope that this article has cleared up some questions you may have had. Take a look at our catalog and you will surely find the exact mood or genre that you’ve been looking for. For more information, check out our article on How To Stand Out On YouTube With Great Music.