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 to be 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 won’t find mainstream music from your favourite band or singer in royalty-free music libraries because their record label controls the distribution.

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, music creators need to earn an income.

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, albeit somewhat 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.

In reality, 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 libraries have different terms for purchasing and using their music.

We’ve done our best to simplify our licensing, but please get in touch if you need any clarification. The price 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.