What is Royalty Free Music? How is It Different From Other Music Licences?
Do you think the “Royalty Free” term is very confusing? Well, you are not alone. Check out this post to find out the meaning of royalty free and other licenses.
Discover royalty free musicSnapmuse Published:
Oct 21, 2021
Updated:
Jul 17, 2023
13 min read
What is Royalty Free Music? How is It Different From Other Music Licences?
If you are a content creator, you must have heard of music licensing, copyright, and royalty free songs. Do you know what they mean?
Music licensing terms like “royalty-free” can be confusing at times but worry not; we are here to explain! Simply put, royalty-free music is a license where users pay only once and acquire lifetime legal usage of the music. That is why you can use royalty-free music in your YouTube videos, Twitch streams, or Instagram posts without worrying about license fees or other legal issues.
If you would like to learn more about music licensing and royalty-free music, take a closer look at our detailed guide below.
If you are looking for high-quality production music, browse our library now to discover exclusive stock music and royalty-free music by top composers!
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How Does Royalty Free Music Differ From Other Music Licenses?
If you create video content for platforms such as YouTube or Twitch, you must definitely know the struggle to find the right music for your video. After rigorous hours of editing and reediting, the final and maybe the most crucial step is to add the music composition.
Before adding a track to your video, you must first consider if it complements your content, then you should check its license. Since all major video sharing and social media platforms require the use of non-copyrighted music, you should be very careful with the tracks you incorporate into your content. If you don’t want to deal with negative consequences or legal issues, you should use royalty free music only.
But what does royalty free music mean? How is it different from other music licenses like Creative Commons? Is it the same as public domain?
Briefly, royalty free is a music license that does not require the user to pay for performance royalties. In other words, you don’t have to pay for each time you play or use a royalty free track. That is why royalty free licensing is often preferred by top content creators and influencers.
In the following sections, we will discuss royalty free music in detail and compare it with other music licenses. Moreover, we will tell you where to find royalty free music online! Keep reading to learn more about music royalties and using royalty free music.
Royalty Free Music Definition
Although the concepts of music licensing and performance rights can be very confusing, royalty free music definition is very straightforward: Royalty free music, also known as royalty free licensing, refers to the tracks that you can use on your commercial content, YouTube videos, Twitch streams and more without getting in trouble with the law.
Legal Usage of the Music for Lifetime
But what makes royalty free music so unique that you can use it in your commercial content, social media posts and streams without legal ramifications? The answer is simple: You pay only once to use royalty free music! After you purchase it, you acquire the legal usage of the music for lifetime. Then you can make use of that track in any content you create: Advertisements, videos, films, animations, infomercials, school projects, work projects, various artistic performances and more.
In more sophisticated terms, royalty free music does not require you to pay for royalties. That is why you don’t have to pay for each time you play a royalty free track. Opposed to royalty free music, copyrighted music requires you to pay royalties for each time you use or play it. Moreover, most copyrighted music cannot be used in commercial projects. If you do use such music, you might face copyright infringement charges and serious fees.
If you are a video producer, influencer, vlogger or steamer, you should use royalty free music in your content and steer clear of copyrighted music.
Do I Need to Pay for Royalty Free Music?
Yes. In order to acquire the rights to use a royalty free song legally, you need to pay for royalty free music. Often you need to pay the owner but you can make the process much simpler and easier if you opt for stock music and royalty free music providers like Snapmuse.
Do You Know Who Composes Royalty Free Songs and Why?
If you are a content creator, you must have wondered who creates the royalty free songs you use in your videos, podcasts and more. Short answer is, professional musicians/composers!
Professional musicians create royalty free music and share it with the public on royalty free music sites like Snapmuse. They opt for composing royalty free music for it offers various benefits: creative freedom, being able to set a price themselves, avoiding tiring contracts and agreements, being able to work whenever and however they want to work, and much more. Thanks to the royalty free music composers, you can use high quality music without dealing with performance rights and music copyright!
So What is Copyright Free Music?
While discussing royalty free music definition above, we also mentioned copyrighted music. The term copyright refers to the right to copy a piece of art: A song, a painting, a movie… You name it. So, copyrighted music means that there is a person that withholds the copyright to that piece.
When someone creates a unique track, they automatically own the copyright to it. They can hold onto their copyright or grant it to someone else for various reasons.
Copyright free music, then, refers to the tracks that are free of copyright. Copyright free songs are the ones whose copyright has expired or has been purchased by another party. In other words, copyright free music is in the public domain. If you want to use copyright free music, you don’t need to pay license fees or performance royalties.
What Happens If You Use Copyrighted Music?
If you use a copyrighted track in a commercial project, YouTube video or Twitch steam, these platforms can remove your video, delete your account or prohibit you from monetizing your content. Moreover, the owner of the copyrighted material you used can sue you for copyright infringement. In such a case, you might have to pay serious amounts of money.
On the other hand, you can freely use copyright free music in your vlogs, YouTube videos, Instagram content, Twitch streams and various commercial projects. You can easily find popular royalty free music for your projects but finding free copyright free music, copyright free background music or copyright free music for YouTube is almost impossible since there are not many copyright free tracks.
Royalty free music and copyright free music are NOT the same!
You can use both royalty free songs and copyright free songs in your commercial projects, YouTube videos, Twitch streams and various other projects. So, is royalty free and copyright free the same? No, not really.
Although royalty free and copyright free are two terms that are often used interchangeably, they do not refer to the same thing. Royalty free means that once you purchase the content, you can use it as many times as you want. Various composers and producers make royalty free stock music to be used in YouTube videos, Twitch streams and more. So that you can find and download many unique royalty free tracks online. You can use your downloaded royalty free music in your various video projects or podcasts.
In other words, you don’t need to pay royalties per use when you prefer royalty free music. You only need to make a one-time purchase, then you can use royalty-free music as many times as you want.
On the other hand, copyright free music refers to the tracks that you can use without paying for. Copyright free tracks are in the public domain, which means you can incorporate copyright free tracks into your YouTube videos, Twitch streams, podcasts, advertisements and various other projects.
Learn How to Find and Use Royalty Free Music
Using music in any video project is beneficial for various reasons: It helps you to grow your audience, convey your message more efficiently, create professional looking videos and much more. Yet dealing with licenses and paying hefty license fees can be very challenging. That is why you must look for stock music and royalty free music.
Do you need to find high quality royalty free music but don’t know where to look? If so, you will find all the information you need below.
Where Can I Find Royalty Free Music?
Where to get royalty free music is a rather confusing issue since there are tons of websites online that claim to offer royalty free music. In fact, most of these websites have low quality tracks for exaggerated prices.
If you are wondering how to find royalty free music, you are in the right place! Just browse extensive music libraries of Snapmuse and find the royalty free track you need.
Royalty Free Music Subscription
If you often create videos, advertisements, films or work on such projects, you must need royalty free music on a regular basis. If that is the case, you can subscribe to various royalty free music providers and find fresh, high quality music whenever you need.
How Can I Use Royalty Free Music?
It is very simple! First, you need to find a suitable royalty free track that will enhance your video or project.
Once you find the best music for your project, you can make your purchase securely and easily. Then you can download your royalty free music and incorporate it into any project you want.
You can create captivating films, engaging YouTube videos, fun Instagram videos, impressive Twitch streams and much more with royalty free music.
Can I Use Royalty Free Music on YouTube?
Yes, and in fact, you must. All social media platforms and video sharing platforms require the use of royalty free music. That is why you must find and use royalty free music on your YouTube and Vimeo videos, Twitch streams and Instagram videos.
Royalty free music license allows you to use any royalty free track you purchase in your video projects.
Examples of Royalty Free Music for Videos
If you create video content, you must check out our royalty free music archive where you can find thousands of high quality, royalty free music that will bring your videos to life. Once you downloaded the royalty free track that you liked, you can easily incorporate it to your videos.
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Top Royalty free music genres
In Snapmuse library, you can find high quality royalty free music in hundreds of different genres including but not limited to jazz, blues, rock, alternative, pop, classical, indie, EDM, electronic, reggae, soul, world, religious and more.
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Top Royalty free music moods
You can browse thousands of royalty free music by moods. Discover happy, sad, exciting, thrilling, chill, meditative, upbeat and many more moods and find a track that will complement your mood!
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Frequently Asked Questions
