Free music resources - post your favorites!

There are quite a few online sources for free music. Most but not all is (USA) licensed under some version of the Creative Commons license.

I’m starting this thread to invite people to share their sources, and I’ll post some from time to time as well. Please include the terms under which the music is free, and when there is a cost!

First up is freeplaymusic.com. This is a traditional music library, with prices to match, *except* that they have a free license for non-revenue personal projects posted on youtube. And, also free for educational use, which is how I found them. Click on the pricing link, upper right of the home page, to see their various license types. Then, search or browse for what you want! Over 50,000 tunes here...

Second is Eric Matyas’ soundimage.org, about which he posts frequent updates to this and many other forums. His licenses are more like a Creative Commons license that requires attribution (Music: soundimage.org or something must be in the credits), or, if you’re unable to credit, you can use his music for a fee.

I *strongly* recommend a close look at the license for any music you’d like to use.

Creative works such as music, photos, video, etc. belong to the creator of the work. Unauthorized / unlicensed use isn’t cool, and, if you post your work on Youtube, Vimeo, or other online distribution channels may result in headaches. You may find that your clip has been converted to monetized, revenue to someone else on Youtube, which can be a bit of a problem if you’re posting for a non-profit, or maybe not a problem, depending. Or, uncommonly, muted, which is a huge problem. More recently, Vimeo has been deactivating user accounts that they feel have been violating their terms of service on use of music.

Post your favorite music sources!

If you watch TV in the US, you’ve heard tracks from bensound.com.

The first track on the home page, “Ukulele”, is everywhere. For non-profit use, it’s freely licensed under Creative Commons, but you must include attribution.

The library is not huge, but it’s very high quality, and can also be licensed for commercial use. It’s really a great resource!

I *strongly* recommend a close look at the license for any music you’d like to use!

I make video slide shows to share with my father and friends many miles (and time zones) away. I have used Professor Eric Matyas's original compositions going on five years now (soundimage,org).

I can honestly say he has something to fit any style or mood I wish to portray. His contribution to personal and commercial members on POTN is greatly appreciated.

gewb wrote in post #18777542
I make video slide shows to share with my father and friends many miles (and time zones) away. I have used Professor Eric Matyas's original compositions going on five years now (soundimage,org).

I can honestly say he has something to fit any style or mood I wish to portray. His contribution to personal and commercial members on POTN is greatly appreciated.

A strong endorsement of Matyas' library!

It's a wide world of music out there. There are many great sources. Do have a listen to them.

Have a listen to incompetech.com, a very popular free/creative commons music library. It's pretty broad.

Do read through the licensing requirements!

Recently recommended to me:

jamendo.com

Not free! But, a really broad catalog, with most common uses by people at $10/cut, and organizations at $50/cut.

If you're a musician, upload your music!

Somebody I was working with recently included a cut from soundcloud.com, and I needed to know what we could do with that video clip.

To my total surprise, the user agreement terms allow the use of music from soundcloud for almost any purpose without compensation.

That’s a really, really broad source of music!

“...By uploading Your Content to the Platform, you also grant a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid up, license to other users of the Platform, and to operators and users of any other websites, apps and/or platforms to which Your Content has been shared or embedded using the Services (“Linked Services”), to use, copy, listen to offline, repost, transmit or otherwise distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, adapt, prepare derivative works of, compile, make available and otherwise communicate to the public, Your Content utilizing the features of the Platform from time to time, and within the parameters set by you using the Services...”