A Full Guide to Royalty-Free Music (2024)

What is royalty-free music?

First, it’s important to note that royalty-free music is different than copyright-free music. At times, that leads to confusion for content creators. Essentially, royalty-free music is audio that can be used without paying royalties to the original content creators such as artists, musicians, or sample pack makers. That doesn’t mean the creators never receive any royalties for their music. ‘Royalty-free’ means you don’t have to worry about paying royalties. However, a third party—like a stock music website or a royalty-free music subscription service—might handle that with the respective original creator of the work(s). When using royalty-free music, there are certain limitations and restrictions in play. More on that later.

How is it different from copyright-free music?

When music is copyright-free, that means the audio can be freely used by anyone, without any restrictions. If you’re a content creator, it’s good to have a deep understanding of royalties, music publishing, and definitions like 'copyright' and 'royalty-free.' It’s worth noting that any produced musical works are, by law, automatically protected by copyright. So even copyright-free music is, essentially, protected by copyright. The difference is that the original copyright owners allow anyone to freely use their work without restrictions. With royalty-free music, some limitations or terms might come into play. This is typically covered in music licenses, so you have proof of the type of usage.

Is royalty-free music free to use?

Don’t let the term confuse you: royalty-free music is not free. The definition relates to the fact it’s freefrom royalties after usage. Depending on the rights, terms, and platform, you need to pay a one-time fee or a subscription to use royalty-free music. For example, services like Splice, Epidemic Sound, and Tracklib offer different plans and pricing, each with its own benefits. On the other side, platforms like Jcazmusic and Uppbeat offer content like sample packs, one-shots, and effects to download for a single license fee. On Tracklib, you can access a complete library of royalty-free samples in the Sounds section.

Who can use royalty-free music?

You can use royalty-free music for commercial content as long as you follow the licensing terms and conditions of the music licenses and sample packs. That's why it's always important to read the terms. There are common misconceptions for a reason: producers aren't fully up to speed about what royalty-free music entails.

This YouTube video about how a beat by content creator and beatmaker Kyle Beat was supposedly "stolen," is a good example of that. Sit tight, wait for the plot twist, and take notes—especially after the 10-minute mark:

How to choose between copyright-free and royalty-free music

If you want to use music freely without any restrictions or limitations, then copyright-free music is the way to go. However, this usually shows in the lack of quality and generic catalogs of copyright-free music platforms. Royalty-free music usually has a wider and more qualitative offering. In that case, you might need to follow licensing terms and usage terms. Find more on that below to make the right decision.

1. Free or Cheap

Royalty-free music is generally cheap—or even free—to use. Unlike samples, which can be quite expensive unless you use a service like Tracklib for pre-cleared songs to legally sample.

2. Clear & Simple

It's to the point to use royalty-free music. There’s no complex clearance process and the music licenses are straight-forward.

3. Easy to Use

Because royalty-free music is usually available in ready-to-use formats such as loops, one-shots, and themed packs, it’s easy to use in music production and DAWs.

4. Widely Available

From stock music websites to public domain music to sample pack services: royalty-free music libraries are easily accessible and widely available.

Is it ethical to download music for free?

You don't support the ecosystem of musicians, copyright owners, and new content creators by downloading music illegally for free. To take this into full consideration, reverse thinking is needed: how would you feel if someone else downloaded your music and used it without permission, credits, or royalties, whatsoever? For a legal and educational take on this, we recommend reading this paper by professors of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

Is there copyright protection and infringement for royalty-free music?

As previously explained, royalty-free music means something else than copyright-free music. Each and any musical work is automatically, by law, protected by copyright. That includes royalty-free music. So when a creator offers music on a royalty-free basis, that does not mean signing off on all rights. So copyright protection and infringement even apply to royalty-free music. Simply put, it comes down to the usage terms and licensing conditions in the music license that you don’t have to share royalties with the original creators.

Do I want to support artists?

When it comes to producing music and beatmaking, it’s worth considering that by sampling real, original music instead of royalty-free material, you support the original creators and rightsholders of the music. Tracklib offers you a straightforward way to do this. This maintains the music scene and supports independent creators. However, this of course also applies when using royalty-free music as per the licensing terms.

Is it safe to use royalty-free music? Or is it going to bite me in the ass later?

There's a grey area of known issues surrounding the use of royalty-free music. As discussed in YouTube comment sections and Reddit communities, users point out that it’s a known scam that some people and services offer "royalty free" music to later register with a PRO and claim ownership of. By doing this, they monetize your content with ad revenues on platforms like YouTube.

Similarly, copyright ownership was previously also an issue with royalty-free samples from Splice, which was resolved in 2023 by offering certified licenses to their users with proof of the usage terms.

Original compositions

A uniquely composed, arranged, or written piece of music is what is referred to as an original composition. For example, think of songs and records.

Stock music

Stock music is also known as production music or, more popularly, library music. The music is typically used in film, television, games, radio, online video streaming, and other media.

Creative Commons music

With Creative Commons, creators can use public licenses to indicate how they want to offer their work to the public. If you’re a creator yourself, you can refer to the Creative Commons license to get familiar with the usage terms of a work. There are six different licenses, including NC (non-commercial use), ND (no derivative works), and CC BY (the most open license). The latter allows the content creator to redistribute, create derivatives, and use the work for commercial output.

By using royalty-free music, you select from ready-to-use material on stock music websites or royalty-free music platforms. By licensing music directly from a record label, artist, or publisher, you need to handle and negotiate the licensing terms with all the rightsholders involved.

The pros and cons of royalty-free music

Pro: Easy, affordable, and convenient to use.
Pro: Widely available.
Pro: Made available in ready-to-use one-shots, loops, and curated packs.
Pro: Royalty-free music is content without restrictions and limitations.
Pro: No need to pay royalties over usage in your work.

Con: Might raise difficulties or misunderstandings about IP ownership and monetization.
Con: Quite generic compared to original music.
Con: Limited usage based on predefined terms and conditions.

The pros and cons of direct licensing

Pro: Quality, original music.
Pro: Select from all music imaginable.
Pro: Licensed music that’s uniquely for you.
Pro: The terms and conditions are open for negotiation.
Pro: Textures, studio techniques, musicianship, and dynamics that royalty-free music can hardly imitate.

Con: Relatively expensive compared to royalty-free music.
Con: Depending on the complexity of the agreement or contract, you might need the help of a music lawyer.
Con: A split of royalties or publishing might come into play as part of the license.
Con: Finding and contacting the original copyright owners might be difficult.

Stock music platforms

Epidemic Sound

AudioJungle

The Musicbed

Artlist

Pond5

TuneReel

Audiio

Shutterstock's PremiumBeat

Tracklib's Sounds

Online music libraries

WhoSampled's Crates

Splice

Vanacore

Loot Audio

Extreme Music

Tracklib

Independent musicians and composers

Alternatively, it’s possible to reach out to independent musicians, record labels, publishers, and composers to inquire and negotiate about using their music. Keep in mind that you need to find the original copyright owners; that’s typically not only the musician itself. Some artists might already offer their music on stock music platforms or as part of music libraries.

When sampling music from Tracklib, there’s no need to contact artists or rightsholders. All music on Tracklib is pre-cleared and ready to be flipped.

There are two sides to music copyright. For a more detailed explanation, we recommend reading this guide: Music Publishing Made Easy: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners. This guide also includes a diagram to give a complete overview of music copyright. Below you find the basic definitions for a better understanding of music copyright.

Composition rights

Composition rights are also referred to as publishing. These so-called publishing rights or compositional rights refer to the musical works that form a song such as melodies, the composition, and the lyrics.

Recording rights

The recording rights are the master side of music copyright. This means the actual sound recording of a song: the master file. Or, in other words, what’s recorded as the output from the studio or home studio.

Duration of music copyright

There are a lot of online myths and common misconceptions about the duration of music copyright. Make sure to read Myths & Misconceptions About Sampling Music Debunked and Sample Clearance Demystified: How to Clear a Sample to make sure you don't fall for fake facts, misconceptions, and annoying misunderstandings of copyright claims.

Online copyright databases

For starters, DSPs like Spotify offer a way to check the credits of a song or composition. Right-click the song and then select View Credits in the pop-up. For more detailed and confirmed credits, it’s best to navigate to official databases like ASCAP's Repertory Search or BMI's Songview.

Hiring a music rights specialist

With a slew of misconceptions and complexities regarding music copyright, the safest foolproof option is to hire a music rights specialist. Individuals like Deborah Mannis-Gardner (who is called the Sample Clearance Queen thanks to her hard work with DMG Clearance Inc.) or music lawyers who specialize in music copyright, are here to help.

Using music identification tools

Alternatively, you can also use online copyright checkers such as eProves, the verified music credits on Muso.AI, or Shazam-like scanning for music rights with My Copyright Checker.

Proper attribution and crediting

The saying "Credit where credit is due" exists for a reason. Always make sure to properly attribute the right credits for musicians, collaborators, and contributors to a song. For a better understanding of who earns or deserves what, check out the guide Music Publishing Made Easy.

Seeking permission from the copyright holder

Copyright claims or licensing issues after the release of a song can be a burden. This might lead to the removal of a song from all streaming platforms or worse: legal issues and infringement cases. With artificial intelligence as well as music professionals getting smarter, it’s best to stay in the clear and seek upfront permission from the copyright owners.

Using royalty-free music licenses

Bear in mind that using royalty-free music doesn’t always mean you’re safe from copyright claims. As explained before, royalty-free doesn’t mean copyright-free. By law, all and any songs are automatically protected by copyright. That’s why it’s important to always check and understand the licensing terms of royalty-free music. Also to stay safe from scams and misconceptions.

Understanding fair use guidelines

The term 'fair use' refers to the rightful use of copyrighted material without prior permission for purposes such as education, criticism, research, satire, news reporting, and non-profit usage.

Restrictions and limitations of fair use

To be exact, the law defines four factors to determine whether or not the use of an existing work is fair use:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

2. the nature of the copyrighted work;

3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

When is fair use applicable to using royalty-free music?

One of the myths and misconceptions about samples is that sampling in general is considered "fair use." If only that were true…

To decide if the usage of royalty-free music is considered fair use, there needs to be a clear combination of the four factors (see above) as defined by law. In the past, fair use lawsuits and copyright infringement claims have proven the mind-boggling complexity of the subject of the fair use doctrine. Most recently, the mammoth music industry lawsuit between major labels and AI music start-ups Suno and Udio is now a fight surrounding the defendants' fair use claims.