Stock Music & Sounds for Video Creators & Advertisers

A Brief Guide to Royalty-Free Music / Stock Music

There are several names for this type of music, including Stock Music, Royalty-Free Music, Copyright Free Music, and Library Music. Whatever it is referred to, it just means that it has been written for the purpose of being placed in a music library for people to license, download and use in their videos.

It is original music by independent composers and producers. You will not hear mainstream music from your favourite band or singer as their music will be under the control of their record label and not available in royalty-free music libraries.

A common myth is that it is free music. While this can be true if a composer decides to give their music away, it is generally not the case. After all, creators of music need to earn an income.

The term Royalty-Free Music is a historical term from the old library music industry (pre-Google), but it has stuck and is the most common search term now, albeit a little misleading. Historically, you had to pay a royalty every time music was played, royalty-free became the method of paying once per use rather than every time it was used.

The reality is, all music of this type has licensing terms and costs associated with it and unlike most industries, there are no standard rates or terms. This means that all libraries have different terms for the purchase and use of their music.

We have tried to make our licenses and prices simple, but do contact us if you need any clarification. Basically, the cost is based on your usage, see our prices and licenses here.

That covers the basics, but if you want a more in-depth view, we have another, article here.