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So, I left a lot of sites out of this review. As social media has grown and video editing software like iMovie keeps getting better, the market for music has also grown. While these sites typically have a much smaller library to choose from, it is an easy way to get started using royalty-free music, and sometimes you find some real gems. However, there are also sites that offer completely free music. Today, most providers offer a subscription service: For a flat monthly fee, you can download any song and use it for (pretty much) any purpose. It just means you don’t have to pay royalties each time your video is played and don’t have to get the artist’s permission to use it in the first place. Royalty-free music does not, sadly, mean it is always free. While there are exceptions to the rules ( Instagram, for example, generally allows you to post a video clip you’ve taken at a concert), the best solution is to use royalty-free music. While this is usually because they support the other party, the point is that everybody has to get permission to use somebody else’s art for their own purposes. If you follow US politics, you may have heard stories of various musicians objecting to the use of their songs at political rallies. That is, by the time you’ve heard it, it has been copyrighted.Īnd if it is copyrighted, you (generally) need to pay the creator a royalty fee if you are using it to make money, and you always need to ask their permission – regardless of whether you are using it to earn money on YouTube or just “borrowing” Michael Jackson’s Thriller to make a sillier Halloween video to share on Facebook. Music is written by somebody and is, effectively, automatically copyrighted at the time they make a CD or publish it online. There are also some good free sites that have less options but work just fine.There are several great sites, and the costs are reasonable: Around $15 a month.You need to use royalty-free music to avoid getting into trouble.The Best Truly Free Royalty-Free Music Sites.
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