Do You Need a Music License for Public Domain Songs? Understanding Royalty Free vs Public Domain Music

When looking for music for your video content and other marketing projects, there’s a lot to learn. There are all kinds of terms for different types of music licenses, and plenty of misnomers and misinformation exist regarding what songs can be used for different types of content.

Luckily, if you’re reading this article right now—which you are—you’ve come to the right place, as we’re experts in all things regarding music licensing. So, if you’re curious to learn more about songs under public domain and whether or not you can scour internet archives to find music that you’ll be able to use in your projects for free, then we have all the info you’ll need to help you on this path.

However, we’ll also give you the facts about public domain songs that you might not want to read, but will help you keep your projects in the clear and safe from any copyright infringement claims or issues.

So, without further ado, let’s explore the basics of music licensing and give you the uninhibited details about public domain songs.

A quick primer on music licensing

Before we explore the vast and complex world of public domain music, let’s quickly go over some music licensing basics. To give you the right framework here, try to think of music like any other piece of art or commerce. If you were to write a song yourself, as an artist and a musician, you’d want to be compensated if it were used by anyone else.

All songs (and sound effects, for that matter) have basic copyrights that extend not just to the artist who originally wrote and composed the song but also to the artists who recorded it.

If you wanted to use a song in your YouTube videos or in a broadcast commercial during the Super Bowl, you would need to negotiate with both the composer and the performer to compensate them fairly for their work.

To be even clearer, even with royalty-free music, which is what we offer at Soundstripe, there are copyrights associated with the music. The money you pay as part of your Soundstripe subscription is part of the compensation that goes to the composers and performers for every song, track, and sound effect in our library.

How public domain works

Now that we’ve covered some of the basics of music licensing let’s look into this world of public domain music. If you’re searching this term, you’re already a little familiar with what “public domain” means and how it supposedly works.

Public domain simply refers to works whose intellectual property rights have either expired, been forfeited (as in Creative Commons), or been waived. These works are technically free to use without needing to obtain rights permission. However, as we covered above, music recordings are copyright protected separately from musical compositions. There are no public domain sound recordings in the USA. 

Here are some helpful resources for searching and understanding Creative Commons, and how public domain works:

• PD Info- Public Domain Music
  A reference site to help identify public domain songs and public domain music . . . public domain music lists, royalty free music recordings you can license, and public domain sheet music reprints.
• Library Copyright Digital Slider
  Use this handy guide to help determine if a work first published in the USA is still under copyright or in public domain.
• Creative Commons Copyright
  Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. Our free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice.

Creative Commons and other “non-copyright music” options

Is public domain copyright free?' When exploring this topic, the term "non-copyright music" frequently appears as an umbrella term for various types of music like Public Domain, Creative Commons, and other seemingly "free" music apps and options.

In reality, "non-copyright music" is often used interchangeably with royalty-free music, which is what we offer at Soundstripe. However, technically speaking, these terms are different.

Non-copyright music specifically refers to music that is no longer protected by copyright. This typically occurs when the copyright holder allows the rights to expire, thereby placing the music in the public domain.

As a consequence, truly copyright-free music is quite rare. It's like finding a unicorn. Creators or brands looking for public domain music for videos will likely find that much of the music in the public domain is of lower quality and may not be suitable as content for their projects. Read more here, on how to tell if a song is copyrighted.

Additionally, since losing copyright means forfeiting potential revenue from the song, it's unlikely that a high-quality song would enter the public domain and become free to use. Therefore, while you might be searching for non-copyright music for your next video project, you are more likely looking for royalty free music.

What is royalty free music

Royalty free music is just what it sounds like. Companies like Soundstripe specialize in royalty free music, negotiating directly with artists on your behalf. This allows individual content creators to license music from these platforms at a reduced cost.

By dealing with a royalty-free music company rather than the artist or record label, you eliminate the need to worry about future royalty payments.

Another advantage of royalty-free music licenses is that some companies, such as Soundstripe, cover both personal and commercial projects. This means you can use their songs in any type of video you create.

The perks of royalty free music

Music royalties can be thought of as "profit sharing" between creators. Imagine you want to license a Hot 100 song for your next project. The song’s copyright holders expect an upfront licensing fee as part of the licensing agreement. Additionally, they will expect a share of any revenue the video generates.

If the video is posted on your monetized YouTube channel, a percentage of the revenue will go to the song’s copyright holders. If the video is a TV ad for a regional company, you’ll also need to make royalty payments.

Essentially, music licensing is an agreement between creators, where one artist (a content creator in this case) uses another artist's work (a musician). While you must pay an initial fee for the licensing agreement, royalties serve to acknowledge and compensate the artist for their contribution to your video's success.