20 Best Free Stock Music Sites for 2023
If you are looking for the best royalty-free stock music sites, you have come to the right place. In this extensive guide, you will find a list of the top free stock music sites. Creating your own original music can be costly and time-consuming. Therefore, you need some genuine and authentic resources from where you can get some good quality music for your project. So, let’s now quickly see some of the best royalty-free stock music sites. Let’s dive in!
Music has the ability to define a piece of media. If you want to create a website that deals with animation, games, video creation and so then, an audio track can take it to the next level. But to produce an original audio stock can be costly. If you want royalty-free audio in the budget then, this guide is a must-read for you. A list of free royalty-free music sites is devised here. Thus, you will get what you need here. From free soundtracks, loops, instrumental music, to a lot more interesting stuff. However, these sites are great resources for high-quality music. Let’s sift through this rich free stock audio sites list.
Here at TemplateToaster, the best web design software, I have a list of Royalty-Free Music sites that facilitates free stock audio to you. Most of the sites are under creative commons license or licensing that provides free stock music downloads for personal use. You can make most of these sites and get ahead with the project in no time. However, if you wish to create a music website on your own, you can do that too with the help of your own website builder TemplateToaster.
So, let’s now check out the best royalty-free music sites.
List of Best Royalty-Free Stock Music Sites
- Adobe Audition
- SoundCloud
- TuneReel
- MixKit
- Newgrounds
- Bensound
- Converse Sample Library
- Pond5
- Freesound
- Free Music Archive
- Musopen
- HookSounds
- Audionautix
- Filmstro
- Freeplay Music
- CC Trax
- PacDv
- Foximusic
- Phlow Magazine
- Soundshiva
Free Stock Music Sites for YouTube Videos & So
1. Adobe Audition
The Adobe Audition software includes thousands of uncompressed audio sound effects. These files are sorted by type and style. You will get a download in Zip format. These royalty-free audio tracks can be downloaded easily with a single click. And when it is Adobe, professionalism is assured. It provides you features beyond simple recordings. Thus, creating impressive texture to your audio with layered sound effects becomes way easier. There are over 12k free sound effects that you can use for your projects and drive traffic to your website.
License: Adobe Software License Agreement (EULA)
2. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is one of the best and widely used royalty-free stock music sites. However, most of the audio tracks are uploaded by professional artists. While some files are shared by musicians. SoundCloud lets you search for an audio track by artist, band, or podcast to make it easy for you to get what you are looking for. Music can be downloaded easily under the creative commons license. Mainly CC-BY means give credit to artists.
License: Creative Commons (CC-BY for Commercial Use)
3. TuneReel
TuneReel is more than just a soundtrack. Whether you are a YouTuber, wedding videographer, filmmaker, there is a soundtrack for everyone. It offers a royalty-free music library and a high-quality soundtrack for your next project. These soundtracks are handpicked to bring an emotion from the media production. These soundtracks are curated to bring emotion and an enthralling reaction out from the audience.
Besides, TuneReel also guides you through the process of curating fresh tracks and exploring the vast network of independent music creators, who can even contribute to our music library, and make their music come alive. All levels of the TuneReel license levels allow monetization in your video. Furthermore, you can also preview the track and see if it is the right option for you. If you are creating a project for yourself then you can go for the Standard License. And if you are creating a project for a client then you can go for the Extended Licence. Your membership will renew automatically after one year, however, you can cancel it at any time. TuneReel accepts payments with all major credit card and debit cards.
License: TuneReel is a production music licensing library based in Los Angeles.
4. Mixkit
Mixkit is an amazing free gallery of stock video clips, sound effects, music tracks, and video templates. However, the clips, tunes, and templates available on this platform are created by some of the professional content creators only. They have an advanced and rapidly growing library that includes high-quality items to download. Mixkit is brought to you by Envato that assures the quality as well as availability. Moreover, each audio clip is royalty-free and is free to use without attribution or signup. So, everything is pretty simple with Mixkit.
License: Mixkit Stock Music Free License
5. Newgrounds
Basically, Newgrounds was a large game and animation site. In the year 2003, it started an audio portal by collaborating with musicians. Whereas, in the audio section, you will get hip-hop, rock, podcasts & much more. You will get the music of all genres almost free under the Creative Commons license. However, it offers different licensing with various tracks. For example, some have CC0 license means free for personal and commercial use. On the other hand, some have CC-Attribution which means you have to give credit to the artist. Also, CC-BY-NC-SA needs attribution plus if the track is used to create new music, the new track will hold the same license as the original one.
License: Most of the audio tracks are under Creative Commons (Some tracks are of CC0, CC-Attribution license, Some of CC-BY-NC-SA)
6. Bensound
The Bensound belongs to Benjamin TISSOT, a Composer, and Musician from France. He has over 10 years of experience in writing music. His work was featured in many projects like animations, corporate videos, commercials, etc. However, he provides free stock music for commercial use as well as personal use by Bensound. You just have to give him credit. The available music is of different genres like acoustic, cinematic, pop, electronica, etc. The audio tracks are under CC-Attribution license means, you have to credit the musician.
License: Creative Commons 3.0- Attribution (Give credit to Musician)
7. Converse Sample Library
The Converse Sample Library is a growing collection of free-stock music at Rubber Tracks Studios. You will find shots, stems, loops recorded by Rubber Studios here. You can create cool kits of your favorite music for mobiles, browsers, etc. All the music is royalty-free with no hidden charges at all.
License: Royalty-Free (Free to Explore, Download, Experiment)
8. Pond5
Pond5 is one of the largest pools of best royalty-free stock music. You can use music to make your project as musically impressive as you want. They offer a library of over 50k tracks to work with. Each piece of music is highly engaging and of high quality. Thus, finding the right kind of music for your project becomes easier. However, the categories such as genre, mood, and instrumental. Under which you will find many other sub-categories that can help you find the best suitable music for your project.
License: All Media and Digital Licenses
9. Freesound
Freesound is among some of the easy-to-go royalty-free music sites present out there. You can get anything from sound effects to music loops. There are various categories of music like animals, sci-fi, vehicles, machines, etc. However, music can be downloaded easily for free. Only you have to link back their audio to the site. In fact, Freesound focus to create an open-source database of sound that can be used for scientific research as well as third-party integrations.
License: Creative Commons licenses
10. Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality free-stock audio clips. It is directed by WFMU, a renowned radio station in America. It has a huge collection of various genres blue, country, classic, novelty, instrumental, spoken, etc. In fact, it also provides free stock music for videos. Most of the music is licensed under Creative Commons 3.0. It means you have to credit the musician. If not, you can tip the artist at PayPal. Some tracks are under CC-BY-NC means remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as credit artist. Some under CC-BY-NC-ND means only allow others to download and share them with others as long as credit is given to artists. But they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.
License: Most of the tracks are of Creative Commons (Including CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-SA, CC-BY-NC-SA, CC-BY-ND, CC-BY-NC-ND)
11. Musopen
Musopen is one of the best free stock music sites. It is a US-based non-profit site with free music resources. It provides sheet music, recordings, and textbooks. However, it sorts the music by composer, performer, instrument, period, form. Also, the music is licensed under Creative Commons with attribution. And it is not available for commercial use. Even, if you create or build your own music based on its resources you have to license it as the original.
License: Most of the Music is Under Creative Commons 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
12. HookSound
HookSound comes with amazingly simple and easy-to-use labels. They offer very catch royalty-free music and have a community of over 100,000 people around the globe. Each and every piece of music is crafted by professionals. You are free to use them for whatever kind of work you wish to use them for. Everything is released under Creative Commons license.
License: Under Creative Commons license
13. Audionautix
Audionautix is a great site for free stock music. It is run by Jason Shaw, a composer, producer, engineer. This site has managed music tracks by genre, mood, tempo. However, music is licensed under creative commons, free for commercial as well as personal use. But, you have to credit Audionautix if you use their resources.
License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY 3.0)
14. Filmstro
Filmstro is another competitive choice available in the market when it comes to the best royalty-free stock site. They have all kinds of music to use. However, they also an instructional video on the product page that defines everything quite clearly. There are different price packaging to choose from.
15. Freeplay Music
Freeplay Music is a professional-looking site that provides free stock music on YouTube. However, it lets you select the track and add it to your cart. Then, you have to specify the license type. If you opt for a personal license, it’s all free. And the best thing is you don’t even need a credit card for that. This site has good quality free stock music and updated on the regular basis. Moreover, it also has a section for the new volumes released of songs. Freeplay Music is completely free for educational purposes i.e to use in classrooms. In fact, all tracks are available free to Qualifying Network Broadcasters too. Whereas, if you wish to use it for business then, you will have to buy a YouTube license for that. There are several different types of licenses available to choose from.
License: Free Personal License. YouTube License for the Business.
16. CC Trax
CC Trax is a great resource for free stock music. It has different categories of music like ambient, techno, electronica, and jazz, etc. You can download without any signup. It gives you the freedom to download the full album with a single click. Most of the audio tracks are available in MP3 format. It has all types of licensing for audio tracks. Some audio tracks come under creative commons, some are royalty-free. You can see the license details by selecting a particular track. You can also search for a song by the type of associated license.
License: All Types of license (Creative Commons + Royalty-Free)
17. PacDv
PacDv is a good resource for sound effects. You can see it as a free stock background music site. It has a large collection of free sound effects. There are different categories for sound effects. Like ambiance, domestic, machines, mechanical, people, and a lot more. Though all the sound files are free, yet it is recommended to credit PacDv. But not compulsory.
License: Free but Recommends Attribution. However, Not Compulsory Either
18. Foximusic
Foximusic is another comprehensive solution that offers you a fresh and updated collection of royalty-free music. You will find a variety of music here categorized in different genres. No matter if you need a piece of music for personal use or commercial use, Foximusic is the right choice to find it from. However, it offers the license type that you can use depending on your needs and requirements. It has one ‘Universal License’ that covers the use of music on both online and non-web platforms. Anything from your advertising or entertainment projects on any platform can get music from Foximusic.
License: Single Universal License
19. Phlow-Magazine
Phlow Magazine is one of the best free stock music sites. It provides free mp3 downloads from musicians and netlabels all over the world. All the tracks are categorized according to genre. You will get ambient, techno, pop, drum & bass, compilation, jazz music, and much more. However, the free music is under Creative Commons License. For example, some have CC0 licenses which mean free for personal and commercial use. Whereas, some have CC-Attribution which means free but attribution required. Moreover, the CC-BY-NC-SA requires attribution and if the new track uses any of the resources, it will hold the same license as the original.
License: Creative Commons
20. Soundshiva
Soundshiva is one of the best free stock music sites out there. It is dedicated to netlabels. There is a huge collection of music sorted by genres. You can get anything you like from a variety of music genres such as folklore, glitch, drone, minimal, punk, and a lot more. Moreover, it highlights the fresh releases. And it also maintains audio tracks as the most loved, recommended, and commercial choices. In fact, the most noticeable thing is license though free for personal use. But, you may come across some restrictions as well. For instance, you can share with attribution but not for commercial use. Also, you can share your remix, transform or build upon material but under the same license as the original one holds.
License: Creative Commons 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
So, these were some of the best royalty-free music sites. You can use anyone that you find most suitable for your business.
Best Free Stock Music Sites – In Conclusion
With lots of audio stock sites coming every day, it’s hard to make a choice. But, I am quite sure this list of free stock music sites will benefit you. The most interesting fact about these sites is that avail you of high-quality music at free of cost. You can easily use these resources to create your own music for animations, games, background, etc. for your website. As you are thinking to refresh your website with some cool music, we recommend giving a fresh look to it! You can create your own website in just a few clicks with our offline website builder, TemplateToaster.
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Please, check and https://www.free-stock-music.com – lot of royalty free music categorized by genre and mood.
Thanks for the great list.
Nice post! Check out to groovebakery to find more royalty free music under creative commons license and download it for free!
well this is more updated than the one I wrote, I love people who writes about music, anything that is related to it. Top 10 High Quality Free Music Archives
https://musicadvisor.com/top-10-high-quality-free-music-archivesfree-music-archive/
Hi!
I would like to suggest one great royalty free music website. It is easy and simple to use stockmelodies.net
There’s a difference between free music for YouTube videos and royalty free music. Free music is where you can just download the music for free, but it’s not necessarily free to use. You might face copyright issues. Whereas copyright free music means it’s just free of any royalty fees. You have to just once, to buy it, or get it free from other resources. Once you buy/get the track, you can use it for free in a video, without being charged for the music per a number of views.
Amazing, animation with music will be the perfect combination for the best website.
I am using YouTube Audio Library for upload the music in my Youtube channel, whenever I am uploading any new video or slideshow.
As I read your article and you have mentioned a list of many Musical sites but why you have put center line on some names? They are good or not?
We can also put Music on Youtube video with the help of CC Trax?
Thanks for porting this article, everything has mentioned very clearly in this article.
Most of the sites I have used and develop musical sites, It looks like amazing, I love it.
This is really very helpful article for me, I really appreciate it.
Opsound seems interesting from features is it free or paid version?
Developer need help at every step to know about new techniques and new features to add in website as per new requirements, thanks for posting!
Adobe Audition has latest music list.
SoundCloud has latest list of music.