Finding & Using Digital Media

This page contains a list of websites that offer digital music and audio files for reuse.  The first bullet point will link you to the music resources and the second bullet point will link to the license page, if available. Additional information is included that you may find helpful when choosing which sites to use. Free resources often take a hit in quality and some hosting sites are easier to search than others, so manage your expectations. Note: Sound effects resources can be found at the bottom of the list.

Pixabay

• https://pixabay.com/music/
• https://pixabay.com/service/license/
• No-login for download
• Filter for Genre, Mood, and Movement
• Also has video, pictures and vectors

MixKit.co

• https://mixkit.co/free-stock-music/
• https://mixkit.co/license/#musicFree
• No-login for download
• Filter by Mood, Genre, or Tag
• Also has video

BenSound

• https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music
• https://www.bensound.com/licensing (Specifically doesn’t allow “Podcasts”)
• No-login for download
• Pre-cleared for YouTube use (i.e., YouTube's bots won't copyright strike this music)
• Filter by Genre
• Small selection but songs are high quality

TakeTones

• https://taketones.com/
• https://taketones.com/page/license
• Account required for download
• Filter Free to limit to songs available without a subscription
• Filter by genre, mood, and usage type
• Has looping versions of tracks that can be helpful for longer projects

Audionauti

• https://audionautix.com/
• https://audionautix.com/creative-commons-music
• No-login to download
• Filter by Mood, Genre, Tempo
• Site can be hard to navigate but music has high production value

Fesliyan Studios

• https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/
• https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/policy
• No-login for download
• No Filter or Search function; broken into categories with good descriptions for each track
• Small selection but unique music

NoCopyrightSound

• https://ncs.io/music
• https://ncs.io/usage-policy
• No-login for download
• Filter by genre, mood and a toggle for tracks with instrumental versions
• Really high quality music
• Instrumental version is often a version of a song with lyrics and the lyrical version is the only one that can be previewed you have to click the download button to get a download of the instrumental version.
• It looks like the site is going through a redesign so some broken links and other odd other bugs might pop up on you.

Musopen

• https://musopen.org/music/
• Each track has link to license
• Filter by composer, instrument, historical time period, mood, length, ratings and Licenses
• High-quality downloads require paid membership; all tracks are available in standard-quality
• Account required for download
• This site is specifically targeted towards classical music
• Includes free downloads of sheet music for those of you that want to play the music yourself

Youtube AudioLibrary

• https://studio.youtube.com/ Login then click Audio Library on side menu.
• Pre-cleared for YouTube use (i.e., YouTube's bots won't copyright strike this music)
• Licenses for use outside of YouTube are unclear
• Account required for download
• Filter by Mood, Genre, Duration, and more

Purple Planet

• https://www.purple-planet.com/
• https://www.purple-planet.com/using-our-free-music
• No-login for download
• Offers looping versions of some songs that might be helpful with longer projects; No filter or search but broken up into mood style categories.

FMA

• https://freemusicarchive.org/search
• https://freemusicarchive.org/License_Guide
• No-login for download
• Filter by Genre, Duration, License, and an instrument-only toggle

Freeplaymusic

• https://freeplaymusic.com/#/
• https://freeplaymusic.com/#/pricing
• Only free for personal use on Youtube or Educational in-Classroom
• Filter by Scene, Genre, or Mood
• Login-Required to download

CCMixter

• http://dig.ccmixter.org/dig
• http://dig.ccmixter.org/licenses
• No-Login Required
• Filter by Genre, Instrument, Style, License, and a toggle for “instrument only”

CCtrax

• https://cctrax.com/
• License on each album page
• No-Login for download
• Filter by License, Genre, Tag
• Genres focused more towards electronic, jazz and modern classical

NetLabels

• https://archive.org/details/netlabels?tab=collection
• Licensing info available on each item
• No-Login for download
• Search and Filter are not as intuitive as other sources; it might be more complicated finding something useful for specific needs. But if you're just browsing it's worth checking out
• This is a collection from The Internet Archive, an expansive digital library preserving significant websites and other digital cultural artifacts, millions of which are in the public domain

EDM Royalty Free

• https://edmroyaltyfree.net/
• License info at bottom of page
• Login-requited to go through check-out even with free items
• Music focused on Electronic Dance Music some of the songs are tagged with Premium and require purchase of at least a standard license

FreeSound.org

• https://freesound.org/browse/
• https://freesound.org/help/faq/#wait-this-is-all-free
• Need free account to download sounds
• Tag Cloud Search
• More for Sound Effects than Music
• Great Resources and would be higher if you were looking for sound effects

BBC Sound Effects Library

• http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/
• Extensive high-quality sound effects library
• Usage license info is at the top of the page
• Account required for download
• Filter by Category (e.g. "crowds", "footsteps", "factories", etc.)
• The best free resource for sound effects

This list was created by Scott Barnes - Digital Media Specialist at the Sanford Media Center. If you have more questions or need help bringing your multimedia projects to life, don't hesitate to contact us.