Music is an excellent accompaniment for your content – be it a video, podcast, or presentation. It can help set the tone and create an emotional connection between you and your audience.
However, hiring a musician to compose original music is a tedious, time-consuming, and expensive process. Thankfully, there are plenty of royalty-free music websites that help make this process simpler.
To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of the 15 best royalty-free music websites. We have provided in-depth information about each website and what they have to offer.
So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
#1 Artlist.io
Artlist.io is an Israel-based company that offers a wide selection of royalty-free music and sound effects. Nike, Wix, Netflix, Google, Mercedes, Adobe, Ikea, and Coca-Cola are some of the many big names that have used Artlist.io’s music in their projects.
Artlist.io offers more than 25k high-quality songs and 29k sound effects, with new tracks added daily. It has a simple, modern interface, which is easy to use.
The site offers a convenient search bar and various filters to help you find the perfect sound for your project. You can filter music based on mood, video theme, genre, and instrument.
Pricing
Artlist.io provides a fair and transparent royalty-free license, allowing you to download unlimited music and sound effects for multiple projects.
The site offers four subscription plans.
- Social Creator – $9.99/month if billed annually; $14.99/ month if billed monthly.
- Creator Pro – $16.60/month, billed annually
- Team – $28.20/month for two members, billed annually
- Enterprise – Price not mentioned; contact sales
Artlist.io does not charge VAT or sales tax from the majority of the world. However, it does levy VAT for Israel-based subscribers.
Payment
Artlist.io accepts payment via PayPal and the following credit/debit cards.
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Union Pay
- Dinners Club
The site offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Key Features
- Extensive sound library
- High-quality music
- Supports WAV 16-bit and 44.1 kHz MP3 320 kbit/s, WAV 16-bit and AAC 16-bit file type
- Unlimited downloads
- One universal royalty-free license for all music and sound effects
- Lifetime music usage
- Ability to use music with various platforms like social media and websites
- Advance filtering option
- Artlist Academy
Likes
- Affordable
- User-friendly
- Enormous sound library
Dislikes
- No free downloads
- No option to purchase individual tracks
#2 Bensound.com
Bensound.com is a French royalty-free music website. The website is owned and managed by Benjamin Tissot, a french musician and composer who has been writing and creating music for over ten years.
Bensound.com has served top brands such as Microsoft, Netflix, Google, NASA, Bose, Amazon, Sony, and Toyota, making it a trusted source of royalty-free music.
Bensound.com offers more than 1000 high-quality music tracks in various genres and styles.
The website has a simple, easy-to-navigate interface with the ability to search music by keyword. It allows you to sort music by genre, mood, theme, instruments, energy levels, and duration. With such music sorting options, you can quickly find a perfect tune for the project.
Bensound.com provides free music licenses for personal use. However, the music should only be used for educational purposes and not for commercial use. Moreover, the website demands that you attribute it whenever and wherever you use their music.
Pricing
Bensound.com offers a perpetual license, meaning the music can be used forever without additional or recurring payments. The site provides two pricing structures.
- All Access
- Pay per track
Bensound.com has three types of plans depending on the scope and usage rights. These plans are.
- Standard – all access costs €12/month, billed annually; pay per track costs €34.
- Extended – all access costs €25/month, billed €299 annually; pay per track costs €65.
- Premium – all access costs €40/month, billed €480 annually; pay per track costs €190.
Payment
Bensound.com accepts payment via PayPal and the following credit/debit cards.
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Union Pay
Key Features
- High-quality songs
- Composed by a professional musician
- Free license for personal use
- Perpetual license
- Simple, easy-to-navigate interface
- Advanced sorting options
Likes
- Free music license
- Cost-effective pricing plans
- Option to purchase individual music
Dislikes
- Limited collection
#3 Jamendo.com
Jamendo.com is one of the first European royalty-free music websites launched in 2004. The website’s royalty-free music is used by top brands such as Timberland, IKKS, Nestle, McDonald’s, Swarovski, TELE2, Carrefour, and Marionnaud.
Jamendo.com currently hosts over 500,000 tracks from over 40,000 independent artists from around 150 countries.
The site’s interface is quite simple and easy to navigate. It has a search bar to search music by artist name, genre, and keyword. The website allows you to sort music based on themes, moods, genres, and instruments.
Pricing
Jamendo.com has two pricing structures.
- Single track licenses
- Subscription
Both plans offer you a perpetual license.
Jamendo.com has six single-track licenses plan.
- Personal License – $9.99
- Standard License – $49
- Large License – $99
- Extended License – $299
- Full-Scale License – Price not mentioned; contact sales
- Track Packs – Depends on the number of licenses you choose
Jamendo.com has two subscription plans.
- Online Sync Subscription – $49/month if billed monthly or $299/year if billed annually.
- Unlimited Access – Price not mentioned; contact sales
Payment
Jamendo.com accepts payment via credit/debit cards only. It supports the following cards:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
Key Features
- 500,000+ tracks
- High-quality music
- Spotlight playlists
- Perpetual license
- Unlimited downloads
- Simple, easy-to-navigate interface
Likes
- A wide selection of music from around the world
- User-friendly
- Option to select individual music tracks
- Provides official certificate to avoid claims
Dislikes
- No free music option
- Expensive pricing structure
#4 Storyblocks.com
Storyblocks.com is a comprehensive online repository of royalty-free media content. The website provides over a million royalty-free videos, templates, soundtrack, sound effects, and photos, making it an ideal resource for filmmakers, video editors, and content creators.
Storyblocks.com has a search bar, allowing you to search music by keyword. It categorizes music based on genre, mood, and instrumentation.
Apart from the royalty-free media content, Storyblocks.com also provides a creative tool called Maker. Maker is an online video editing platform that integrates with Storyblocks’ library and helps you create beautiful and engaging videos.
Pricing
Storyblocks.com offers three subscription plans.
- Started – $15/month, billed annually
- Unlimited All Access – $30/month, billed annually
- Pro – $35/month, billed annually
Payment
Storyblocks.com accepts only US$. You can pay the site through PayPal and the following credit/debit cards.
- Mastercard
- Visa
Key Features
- A million royalty-free media content
- Perpetual license
- Maker video editor
- PremierPro plugin
- Support MP3 and WAV file type
- Unlimited downloads
Likes
- User-friendly
- A diverse range of royalty-free media content
- Affordable pricing plans
- High-quality music
Dislikes
- No free licenses
- No option to download individual tracks
#5 Pond5.com
Pond5.com is a New-York based online resource of royalty-free media content. It was launched in 2006. The site has a massive collection of royalty-free videos, music tracks, sound effects, after-effects, photos, illustrations, photoshop PSD files, and 3D models.
Pond5.com is well-known for having the world’s most extensive stock media collection. Snapchat, Facebook, Linkedin, Disney, Netflix, BBC, and Discovery channel are some of the many big names that have used Pond5’s media assets in their project.
Pond5.com offers over 1.6 million royalty-free music tracks and 1.7 million sound effects, making it an excellent resource. The website has a search bar and has sorted music based on genre, mood, and instruments. The website also groups a number of music tracks based on a particular theme, making it easier to find the perfect track.
Pricing
Pond5.com has two payment plans.
- Pay-per-item
- Subscription
Pay-per-item has no fixed cost. You can purchase the media content you need on an a-la-carte basis. The prices generally start at $5 and can go up to hundreds of dollars.
The subscription plan for music costs $25/month if billed monthly and $150/year if billed annually.
Payment
Pond5.com accepts payment via PayPal and the following credit/debit cards:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Maestro
- American Express
- JCB
- Discover
- Unionpay
Pond5.com accepts the following currency.
- USD – United States Dollar ($)
- AUD – Australian Dollar ($)
- BRL – Brazilian Real (R$)
- CHF – Swiss Franc (Fr.)
- CZK – Czeck Koruna (Kč)
- CAD – Canadian Dollar ($)
- EUR – European Euro (€)
- GBP – British Pound (£)
- JPY – Japanese Yen (¥)
- PLN – Polish Zloty (zł)
- SEK – Swedish Kronor (kr)
- SGD – Singapore Dollar ($)
- TWD – New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)
- CNY – Chinese Yuan (¥)
Key Features
- 1.6 million royalty-free music tracks & 1.7 million sound effects
- High-quality music
- Search bar to find a song quickly
- PremierPro plugin
- Perpetual license
- Ability to use music with various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
Likes
- User-friendly
- Enormous sound library
- Option to purchase individual music
Dislikes
- No free licenses
- Expensive
- Limit on downloads
- Requires different royalty-free licenses for music and sound effects
#6 Audionetwork.com
Audio Network is a UK-based music company that creates high-quality, original music and licenses it to filmmakers, web developers, game developers, and other media professionals. The site has a growing team of more than 170 music professionals based across 17 different locations globally.
The company has a library of nearly 200,000 music tracks that are ready to be used in projects. The music tracks span over 800 genres and can be filtered by mood, musical style, instrumentation, BPM, and emotion.
Audio Network offers ten trial tracks for free after signing up with the site.
Pricing
Audio Network has two payment plans.
- Single track
- Subscription
Single track has four types of plans.
- Creator – $9.99 to $29.99
- Corporate – $395
- Advertising – Price not mentioned; contact sales
- TV Programming – Price not mentioned; contact sales
The subscription plans are of three types.
- Corporate
- Advertising
- TV Programming
The price of the subscription plans is not mentioned on the website but can be obtained by contacting Audio Network’s sales team.
Please note that Audio Network charges VAT based on the country you are located in. For UK customers, the company charges a 20% VAT. However, if you are located within the EU VAT area and have a valid VAT number, you can get the VAT deducted from your bill.
Payment
You can pay the Audio Network via PayPal and the following credit/debit cards.
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Maestro
- American Express
Key Features
- Nearly 200,000 music tracks
- 800+ genres & styles to choose from
- High-quality music
- Detailed search filters
- Free trial tracks
- Lifetime music usage
Likes
- A wide selection of music from around the world
- User-friendly
- Good customer service
- Option to purchase individual music
Dislikes
- Download limits
- Hidden prices
#7 Epidemicsound.com
Epidemic Sound is a Swedish-based global music tech company that provides royalty-free music and sound effects. The company is headquartered in Stockholm and has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Amsterdam, and Seoul.
Epidemic Sound currently hosts more than 35,000 music tracks and 90,000 sound effects. These tracks can be filtered by mood, genre, tempo, and vocals. The website has a search bar that makes searching for a particular track easy.
Epidemic Sound has a mobile application that allows users to access their royalty-free music and sound effects on the go. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Epidemic Sound offers a 30-day free trial to access the whole music and sound effects library. However, you need to input your credit/debit card details, and you will be charged once the trial period ends.
Pricing
- Personal – $9/month if billed annually or $15/month if billed monthly.
- Commercial – $19/month if billed annually or $49/month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise – Price not mentioned; contact sales
Payment
Epidemic Sound’s online payment system accepts MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal.Key Features
- 35,000+ music tracks
- 90,000+ sound effects
- Detailed search filters
- 30-day free trial
- Lifetime music usage
- High-quality sound
- Perpetual license
- Ability to use music with various platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
Likes
- 30 days free trial
- Affordable subscription plans
- Mobile app
Dislikes
- No option to purchase individual music
- Low number of music and sound effects
#8 Soundstripe.com
Soundstripe is a US-based website offering royalty-free music, stock video, and sound effects. The site has collaborated with over 100 music professionals from across the world to establish a library of music and sound effects.
Soundstripe is trusted by some of the world’s leading brands, including Amazon, Volkswagen, Microsoft, Virgin Group, Whole Food Market, and The Players’ Tribune. The website presently has a library of over 8000 high-quality music and 60,000 sound effects, with new tracks added monthly.
The site has advanced music search filters such as mood, characteristic, genre, energy, instrument, key, artist, vocals, duration, BPM, and stems. With such advanced filtering, you can easily and quickly find the perfect track for your project.
Soundstripe has a mobile application for iOS and Android devices. The app can be used to discover songs, listen to music, create playlists, and even save music offline, making it easy to use on the go. Moreover, the site has plugins for Adobe PremierPro, Frame.io, and Twitch, allowing creators to access music Soundstripe’s library from the platform.
Soundstripe also offers music API, which enables developers to integrate Soundstripe’s library into their applications and websites easily. Kawasaki, Rizzle, and Waymark are some users of Soundstripe’s music API.
Pricing
Soundstripe offers three subscription plans for music and sound effects.
- Creator – $9.99/month if billed annually or $14.9/month if billed monthly.
- Pro – $19.99/month if billed annually or $29.99/month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise – Price not mentioned; contact sales
The site offers one more subscription plan called Pro Plus Video. Pro Plus Video gives access to music, sound effects, and a stock video library. It costs $33.90/month if billed annually or $54.99/month if billed monthly.
Payment
Soundstripe accepts payment via 16-digit credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
The site offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. However, you will only be eligible for a refund if you have not used any of Soundstripe’s content.
Key Features
- 8000+ music tracks
- 60,000+ sound effects
- Advanced search filters
- Mobile app for iOS & Android devices
- Plugins for Adobe PremierPro, Frame.io and Twitch
- Music API
- Unlimited downloads
- Lifetime music usage
- One universal royalty-free license for all music and sound effects
Likes
- User-friendliness
- Affordability
- Advanced search filters
- Easy integration of music into other applications and websites
- Mobile application
Dislikes
- Limited selection of music and sound effects
- No option to purchase individual music tracks
- No free trial period
#9 Hooksounds.com
HookSounds is a self-funded, fully remote company that has been running since 2016. The company aims to offer high-quality royalty-free music, sound effects, and intros/outros. HookSounds royalty-free content is used by many leading companies such as IBM, Booking.com, Samsung, Microsoft, Google, Uber, Yamaha, and Toyota.
The website presently hosts more than 5000 music tracks, sound effects, and intros/outros. The website promises to add new tracks every week. HookSounds media content can be easily filtered using parameters like genre, mood, BPM, and duration. It has a “Collections” feature that groups music tracks based on their use cases, such as corporate presentations, weddings, meditation, games, and more.
HookSounds accepts custom requests, allowing its users to get customized music and sound effects tailored to their projects. The company also provides in-store certificates and legal guarantees, enabling you to play HookSound’s music content on any physical store.
The website also gives API or FTP access, making integrating HookSounds content into applications or websites easier.
Pricing
HookSounds has three subscription plans.
- Premium – $14.99/month if billed annually or $19.99/month if billed monthly.
- Business – $49/month if billed annually or $64.99/month if billed monthly.
- Custom Plan – Price not mentioned; contact sale
Payment
HookSounds accepts payment through PayPal and the following credit/debit cards.
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
The company provides a 15-day refund policy, provided that you have not used any media content.
Key Features
- Self-produced music
- 5000+ music tracks, sound effects & intros/outros
- Advanced search filters
- API & FTP access
- Custom requests for music and sound effects
- Downloadable licenses and certificates
- In-store certificates and legal guarantees
- Unlimited downloads
- Lifetime music usage
Likes
- High-quality royalty-free content produced in-house
- API & FTP access
- Custom requests for music and sound effects
- Ability to license music for physical stores
Dislikes
- No free trial period
- Limited selection of tracks, effects, and intros/outros
- No option to purchase individual music tracks
#10 Shockwave-sound.com
Shockwave-Sound is one of the oldest royalty-free music libraries in the industry, having been around since 2000. Apple, Microsoft, BBC, Marriott, Pepsico, Dell, Starbucks, Nissan, United Nations, AMG, and Panasonic are some big companies that have used Shockwave-Sound’s music library for their projects.
Shockwave Sound has more than 90,000 royalty-free music and sound effects in its catalog, each being carefully hand-picked by a team of experienced music professionals. The website adds new music tracks every week, keeping its music library fresh and up to date.
The website has a bit sluggish interface making it difficult to browse through the content. However, its advanced search filters compensate for this minor issue. Shockwave Sound music library can be categorized based on genres, moods/emotions, production type, prominent instruments and artists.
Pricing
Shockwave Sound sells its music content based on individual licenses, meaning you have to pay for each track you intend to use. A single track costs anywhere between $2 and $100.
Payment
Shockwave Sound does not accept credit or debit card payments.
The company relies on three payment processing companies, Paypal, Stripe, and Worldpay, to accept consumer payments. It also accepts bank transfers or wire transfers in the USA, UK, and EU via Payoneer.
Key Features
- 90,000+ music tracks and sound effects
- Oldest and trusted royalty-free music provider
- Advanced search filters
- Individual track licenses
- Lifetime usage rights
Likes
- Large library of hand-picked music tracks and sound effects
- Ability to purchase individual track licenses
Dislikes
- Pricey
- Sluggish interface
- No credit/debit card payments
- No subscription model
#11 Filmstro.com
Filmstro is a music licensing platform designed for filmmakers, video editors, and other content creators. The company uses an innovative approach to license music by enabling users to customize the track.
Filmstro launched in 2016 and quickly gained popularity in the industry. Samsung, Film Riot, DHL, Vimeo, Skoda, BBC, and Expedia are some of the companies that have licensed music from Filmstro in recent years.
The website has over 3000 music tracks categorized based on music genre, mood, video genre, game genre, and instrumental palette.
Filmstro offers a user-friendly web application that helps you create and edit videos. It has various templates, transitions, and music that can be used to make a stunning video. The web application also helps to customize the ‘momentum,’ ‘depth,’ and ‘power’ of the music.
Filmstro also provides plugins for Adobe PremierPro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro, enabling users to access the Filmstro library directly from their video editing software.
Filmstro has a 5-day free trial period, allowing users to familiarise themselves with their services and content.
Pricing
Filmstro has three subscription plans.
- Youtuber – $14.99/month if billed monthly; $8.25/month if billed annually; $189 for lifetime
- Pro – $37.99/month if billed monthly; $20.75/month if billed annually; $299 for lifetime
- Pro Plus – $74.99/month if billed monthly; $41.50/month if billed annually; $599 for lifetime
Payment
Filmstro accepts payment via PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.
Key Features
- 3000+ music tracks
- Music customization option
- Video editor application
- Plugins for Adobe PremierPro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro
- Free trial period
- Unlimited download
- Perpetual license
Likes
- Ability to customize the track’s momentum, depth, and power
- User-friendly
- Lifetime subscription option
- Free trial
Dislikes
- Costly subscription plans
- Only 3000+ music tracks in comparison to other royalty-free music websites
- No option for individual track licensing
#12 Musicvine.com
Musicvine is a UK-based music licensing platform. It started in 2015 and has grown steadily ever since. The website has provided music to many reputed companies, including Addidas, LG, Tesla, H & M, and Dell.
Musicvine has collaborated with more than 150 music composers, songwriters, and beatmakers to provide best-in-class music tracks to its customers. The website has more than 6,000+ tracks segmented based on popularity, music genre, mood, production type, movie genre, instruments, occasion, culture/locale, era/decade, and footage/edit style.
The site also has a “Collection” feature that groups music tracks based on different topics or themes.
Pricing
Musicvine offers three types of pricing plans.
- Pro Subscription
- Creator Subscription
- Pay-Per-Use
The pro subscription plan has two types.
- Pro Lite – $19.99/month if billed annually; $24.99 if billed monthly
- Pro Standard – $35.99/month if billed annually; $44.99 if billed monthly
The creator subscription plan has two types.
- Creator Ambassador – $13.99/month if billed annually; $17.49 if billed monthly
- Creator Standard – $19.99/month if billed annually; $24.99 if billed monthly
The pricing of pay-per-use depends on the type of track being purchased.
Payment
Musicvine accepts all major credit and debit cards.
Key Features
- 6000+ music tracks
- Collection feature
- Unlimited downloads
- Lifetime music usage
- Variety of subscription plans
Likes
- Useful collection feature
- Pocket-friendly
- User-friendly
- Ability to buy individual tracks
Dislikes
- No free trial
- Only 6000+ music tracks
Other Stock Music Websites
The twelve websites mentioned above are our top recommendations for royalty-free music. There are, however, many other stock music websites that offer similar services.
Some other stock music websites worth considering are.
Final Thoughts
Music is an excellent way to set the tone and atmosphere for a video or presentation. However, producing one from scratch is a time and resource-consuming task. That’s why royalty-free music websites are so helpful.
We hope our comprehensive list of royalty-free music websites helps you find the perfect track for your project. From cinematic soundtracks to upbeat beats, from gentle melodies to haunting soundscapes – all sorts of music genres are available on these websites.
We highly recommend reading each website’s copyright and licensing information before subscribing to any of their services. Most websites have different restrictions and rules, so be sure to check them out to avoid any surprises later.
We hope you found this article useful. Thanks for reading!