What is Royalty Free Music? Discover What it Really Means and How to Use it for Your Commercial Projects
Soundstripe Team
Aug 22, 2024
(TLDR: If you want access to radio-quality music that won't get you flagged on YouTube, check out our very reasonable pricing options.)
Every video creator can sympathize with the feeling of shooting a stunning video, editing it, and then realizing they still need that perfect track to go with it.
You hop onto the computer, start looking around for free music for videographers, and finally come across websites with royalty free or copyright free music.
It's common knowledge among content creators that royalty free music is the way to go when you want to be legal — but what is copyright free music exactly? And can you use royalty free music for commercial use?
Did you know that royalty free or copyright free music doesn't actually exist?
Before you start arguing, or point out that we here at Soundstripe literally provide royalty free music to creators, give us a chance to explain what we mean.
The term "royalty free" implies that you won't be responsible for paying royalty fees when you license music or media. When you license through a royalty free media company, that company pays the song's creator(s) so you don't have to. But the owner of the music is either getting paid or waiving payment — the song isn't actually "free" in either case.
(This saves you money in the long run, especially when you secure a lifetime song license.)
There's more to unpack here, so let's break it down even further.
Another common question for content creators looking to license music for their commercial and for-profit projects is whether royalty free music is covered. The answer to this question is—yes. As a Soundstripe user, all of your royalty free music can be used for commercial projects.
If you’re creating videos for yourself to use on your YouTube channel and other social platforms, you can rest assured that any Soundstripe music or sound effects will be fully protected and covered.
Furthermore, if you use Soundstripe royalty free music for any of your clients' commercial projects, you can provide them with coverage as well. If you have more questions about the nuances of commercial use coverage, check out our FAQ page.
Now, while the word "free" might be in their names, royalty free and copyright free music isn't actually free. However, when you license this type of music, you're cutting out the costs of paying royalties and excess licensing fees.
These terms can be misleading, especially to new creators who are not yet well-versed in the legalities of using this kind of music for videos.
As explained in this video about music licensing, the definition of "copyright free" simply means that no one owns the copyright to said music or the owner is not claiming copyright. (In a legal sense, they still own the copyright, but by choosing not to enforce it, they are stating they won't directly claim copyright infringement against anyone who uses it.)
In most cases, the original copyright only lasts for a limited amount of time—on average, 95 years, but it could be as few as 70 years or as many as 120, depending on the circumstances surrounding the specific work.
The vast majority of music you're going to find is, in fact, copyrighted — including royalty free music. Royalties are still being paid, even for music that is considered royalty free.
This essentially means that nothing is actually royalty free, at least not in the grand scheme of things. It simply means you personally won't have to pay royalties because the company you use covers any of that stuff for you.
If you’re still a bit confused and wondering if there might be any other assumptions you've made that might be wrong, here's a quick rundown of facts around exactly what is royalty free music and uncopyrighted music:
A common mistake is thinking that if a track is labeled royalty free, that means it's free to use. This is not true! The music must be paid for in order to own the license to use it.
The royalty free music you license from a company like Soundstripe can 100% be used in YouTube videos. Here's a blog post on using music on youtube channels that covers how you can get complete protection from Content ID claims.
Although we threw both terms together, we want to make a clear distinction that copyright-free has no copyright, and royalty free means the music has a copyright.
Copyright free music is basically a unicorn, meaning it's extremely hard to find truly copyright free tracks. Almost every track out there has some sort of copyright, even music with a Creative Commons license.
Stock music is another term that is often used to refer to royalty free music. This isn't correct. It can include stock music, but stock music isn't always royalty free.
It isn't just limited to instrumentals or background tunes. You can find every type of music royalty free.
Each royalty free music company works differently, so it's important to be aware of terms and conditions before you sign up. (We might be biased, but we think Soundstripe has one of the best offers for filmmakers.)
With those little nuggets of information out of the way, let's circle back to one more subject about royalty free music before you delve into why Soundstripe is going to make your life easier.
Finally, just to clear up any confusion, it's worth mentioning as a disclaimer that both copyright free music and royalty free music are not free to use to create your own tracks. Any re-use of music for your own songs is a big violation.
To give you even more context, here’s a brief rundown of the history of music licensing for video and how royalty free music became one of the more popular forms of licensing and usage rights.
In the early days of licensing music for video, using music in any form of media required negotiating licenses with multiple rights holders, including composers, publishers, and record labels, which often resulted in high costs and complex agreements.
In the 1970s and 1980s, though, stock music libraries emerged and offered more accessible options. These stock libraries provided pre-recorded tracks for various uses, but users still had to pay royalties based on how often and where the music was used. This model was more straightforward but still posed limitations for widespread and repeated use, particularly for early content creators or small businesses with limited budgets.
By the 1990s the term "royalty free" started to gain traction within the music licensing space. Companies began offering music tracks that could be licensed for a one-time fee, allowing users to avoid the recurring costs of traditional royalties. This shift was driven by the growing demand for affordable and easily accessible music for videos, advertisements, and other multimedia projects.
When the digital revolution of the 2000s hit, the royalty free model really took off. As online platforms and marketplaces emerged, it only became easier for creators to find and license music. This leads us to today, when royalty free music is a full-blown industry revolutionized by subscription-based models and other innovative ways to empower both musicians and all sorts of digital content creators.
If you haven’t gathered as much so far, it should go without saying that we’re very much in favor of content creators using royalty free music for their videos over trying to scour the internet for the elusive music without copyright which is hard to find and rarely exists.
To strengthen our case, here are some of the top benefits of using royalty free music for your videos and all your other marketing content.
At Soundstripe, we approach royalty free music as a true one-stop solution for content creators looking to provide the soundtracks for all of their projects. Whether you’re scoring a short film with your friends, shooting a corporate video for a client, or simply creating content for your own YouTube channel that you plan to share on different social media platforms, we have you covered.
And speaking specifically about Soundstripe’s royalty free music, we’re also proud to share that our music is created by real artists creating real music. Soundstripe was actually founded by three musicians, so supporting artists has been fundamental to how we do business.
To date, we’ve employed over 150 musicians to help them make a living doing what they love. Simply put, when artists thrive, we all win. Unlike many royalty free music websites, which are all about quantity, at Soundstripe, we’re all about quality. We keep our standards unreasonably high, so you only get the most outstanding music.
We’ve launched artists in residence programs that have helped develop musicians in our home city of Nashville, Tennessee. We've also worked to feature and develop up-and-coming artists, such as this James Cole & Brian Brown artist spotlight, to help grow our library's depth of quality.
Check out our artists page here if you’d like to learn more about Soundstripe’s artists. Or, you know, check out our royalty free music itself.
Furthermore, if you’d like to truly understand what Soundstripe music sounds like, here are some tracks we’d like to highlight and recommend using for any of your diverse video (or other forms of content) needs.
Description: A high-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy rock song best described as happy and hopeful. The guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments on this track.
Description: A medium-energy pop song best described as fun and happy. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, hip-hop song best described as hopeful and inspiring. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A high-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Drums and electronic drums are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A medium-energy, electronic song best described as fun and happy. Strings and violin are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A low-energy, acoustic song best described as romantic and hopeful. Guitar and acoustic guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A high-energy, funk song best described as fun and happy. Drums and drum kits are the primary instruments in this track.
Description: A low-energy, electronic song best described as hopeful and inspiring. Electronic drums and drums are the primary instruments in this track.
If you’d like to browse some more royalty free music selections, you can check out plenty more playlist sounds on our Soundstripe app.
Overall, the future of music licensing is really centered around royalty free music, and Soundstripe is one of the biggest and best royalty free music subscription companies in this space for a reason. If you’re curious to try out Soundstripe and get started, we encourage you to browse through our music library and check out our pricing plans today.
