8 Free Resources to Soundtrack Your Social Video

Soundtrack Your Social Video:- Social videos should form a significant part of your online marketing campaign in the days to come if it’s not already. As per Cisco, 82% of the internet traffic would be video by the year 2023. However, the question that arises here is: What features should you include to make the perfect video?

Lively animations, interesting scripts, appealing voices, strong editing tools, eye-catching footage- all of this is a must but not enough. A crucial aspect we tend to avoid while creating video content is the background track. In fact, selecting the correct music not only makes the video more engaging but also helps convey your intended message to your viewers. 

However, getting good music that fits your social video perfectly may seem like a tricky task. Lucky for you, there are many amazing free or cheap resources available at your disposal to soundtrack your video.

What’s Free Music?

Before we get to know the best sites to download the free soundtrack for your video, let us first learn what free audio or music licensing means. Well, just like stock videos and stock images, background sound comes with its own separate download license. 

• Royalty-Free Music: This kind of music licensing lets the purchasers pay one-time music licensing fee and allows them to use the downloaded music whenever and however they want. 
• Public Domain: People don’t need permission from the person who created the music. The music track is free for anyone to use, and you can use it for any reason or purpose.

Apart from these two kinds of music licenses, you might also witness a Creative Commons music license that allows downloading as well as sharing the music freely. But there are several Creative Commons music licenses that one needs to keep in mind.

Below listed are five of them that you will come across quite often:

• CC BY: This allows you to use the music for anything provided you give the attribution to its creator.
• CC0: Such music is free to use, share, modify, and download without any conditions or restrictions. 
• CC BY-NC: This music license can be used only for personal reasons as long as you provide the attribution to the author.
• CC BY-ND: In this case, you can only copy and then distribute the music if you give the attribution. No adaptations or derivatives of work are authorized or permitted.
• CC BY-SA: Apart from the CC BY music license, derivative works could be distributed only under similar conditions as original music. 

Hence, ensure that you properly read the music licenses before downloading and using the track in your social video. Now, let us go on to know the ten amazing free resources to soundtrack your video.

10 Free Platforms to Soundtrack Your Social Video

YouTube Audio Library

Under YouTube’s ‘Create’ section, you will find the ‘Audio Library’ containing a massive collection of completely free sound effects and background music for you to select from. These songs are grouped by mood, duration, attribution requirements, genre, and instrument. Using filters here will help make the search process more effective and quicker. 

You will find all music listed in the YouTube Studio section, or you can also tap ‘Audio Library Classic’ on the top right side to get more sound music effects in your opened tab. You can listen and download the music in the library without any restriction in just a few clicks. 

Moreover, new releases get added twice a month to YouTube Audio Library, bringing more excitement among users whenever they browse the site. 

Music license: CC BY and Public Domain

Incompetech

Incompetech comprises a huge royalty-free audio collection for your social videos. In all, there are over 2,000 pieces of music developed by composer Kevin MacLeod. One can download for free provided you give due credit to the musician as well as the site. 

Incompetech sorts the music in collections as per genre, topics, speed, tempo, length, or feel. A ‘Film Scoring Moods’ section allows you to download music that fits ‘Mystery’ or ‘Horror’ themes, for example. In addition, there is world audio inspired by the music culture of different nations like Brazil and Africa. 

You should definitely have a look at the lists of the most downloaded or most recent music. That would help you discover what the website has in store. Then, if you like any song, simply tap on the download option. The website will display the precise attribution, which should be copied and then pasted in the description box when you publish your video. 

Hence, Incompetech makes a good resource to find a free soundtrack for social videos for these reasons. 

Music license: CC BY

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a popular open music platform worldwide driven by a huge community of curators, listeners, and creators. You will find many different audios on this platform, with more than 190 million audio tracks from around 20 million curators across the globe. 

On SoundCloud, you need to search for people, tracks, playlists, albums, or else sign up to the platform and then upload your music. The platform also allows you to narrow down your search results through tags. 

However, not every song on SoundCloud can be downloaded. You won’t see the download button at times, with the music available only for listening and streaming. Therefore, you need to filter out your search a little to display audio tracks that can be reused. 

You can also search for free music by typing the track’s exact name and then checking the license ahead of using it. 

Music license: All Creative Common types 

BenSound

BenSound’s attractive homepage layout will have you amazed with the first click of the mouse. Every track gets displayed on the screen through its name, eye-catching thumbnail, and description.  

BenSound offers an excellent collection of music in varied genres like rock, jazz, urban, electronica, pop, acoustic, cinematic, and more. Besides over 300 tracks available on the website, there are around 80 tracks that you can download for free, sans purchasing. 

These tracks can then be used on Facebook, YouTube, or any other purpose, provided you credit the site. If you are not able to credit Bensound.com, you will have to purchase the license. Also, bear in mind that BenSound lets you remix its music and utilize them to make new songs.

Music License: Royalty-Free and CC BY-ND 

Facebook Sound Collection

Facebook is one of the biggest social media channels and a widely used platform globally. Several users use it to share photos, videos, information and interact with others, but most don’t really know that Facebook also comprises a huge music collection. 

Facebook Sound Collection forms a part of the Facebook Creator Studio. When you look at it for the first time, you will notice that the Facebook Sound Collection looks very similar to the YouTube Audio Library. Hence, listening, searching, and then downloading music becomes extremely easy. 

This sound collection provides you with access to over 7,000 high-quality audio music and almost 2,000 sound effects. You can download them for free and use them for Instagram or Facebook video footage.

Music License: Public Domain   

Mixkit

Mixkit is another great resource for a free soundtrack. This website offers more than 1,000 audio tracks and makes a fantastic choice for your upcoming project. Unlike the other free soundtrack websites, you can just search for the music through tag, mood, and genre. 

However, you will find an array of options in every section that will certainly not disappoint you. Moreover, you can download and utilize every track with ease, without attribution or signing up to the Mixkit. 

Remember that it’s illegal to use Mixkit’s music tracks on DVDs, CDs, video games, radio broadcasts, or TV. Besides, you also cannot claim them as yours or register them in any rights management company. 

Mixkit allows you to copy, distribute, download, and perform publicly from Music Items across any social media channel or the internet, including web-based podcasts, advertisements, and videos-on-demand services. So, do not hesitate, do try out Mixkit.

Music License: Public Domain

Envato Market

Envato Market, also called AudioJungle, provides royalty-free soundtracks, with paid tracks starting from $1.

The website has a worldwide community that keeps uploading their music. You can search music through recent items, most popular, or categories. After finding your preferred music, you can then download a single or several music tracks, known as music packs. 

Envato Market also has a fascinating feature called music kits. Such kits provide music in an enhanced manner to let you modify the tracks by yourself. It is a good feature in case you wish to personalize your track. This way, you won’t have jingles similar to anyone else.

Music License: Royalty-Free

Jamendo

The Jamendo homepage has two key sections: Licensing and Music. While Jamendo Licensing offers royalty-free audio for commercial purposes, Jamendo Music has licensed songs under the Creative Commons. As a result, it might be a little challenging for you to search for songs and use the site if you are a newbie. 

Lucky for you, tapping on the ‘Hot Selections’ option will let you explore the handpicked playlists curated by the Jamendo experts. The site also lets you upload and then share your track as a music artist. You need to just sign up to Jamendo and follow the guidelines.

Nearly all the songs listed in the ‘Music’ section can be used only for personal purposes. Hence, be sure to check the license of each song before you download and use it.

Music License: Royalty-Free and all Creative Common Types

Free Stock Music

As the name suggests, Free Stock Music offers music that you can download and utilize for free for commercial reasons. However, all that the site asks you to do is put the respective attribution in credits. Click on the audio name, and you will see the instructions. Next, copy the track information available and then paste it into your video description box.

Another amazing aspect of Free Stock Music is that it allows you to download music in both .wav and mp3 files. Moreover, this music library offers you the chance to find music as per the license options. That, in turn, enables you to get songs that precisely meet your requirements. 

Music License: CC BY-SA, CC BY, CC BY-ND, CC0

ccMixter

Lastly, ccMixter is another site that provides an array of music options, especially if you want to make your own music mixes. ccMixter essentially is one community website that takes contributions from several creators worldwide. The vocalists upload their acapellas, musicians upload music, and the DJs mix two tracks to create captivating songs. 

Each song on ccMixter is available in attribution license; therefore, you can use them for free, provided you give credit to their creator. Meanwhile, you could purchase a license as well to eliminate any restrictions. 

You’ll find three key song categories on this website: Music for Video Games, Free Music for Commercial Projects, and Instrumental Music for Film & Video. You can look for several tracks in ccMixter, though it may take some time to go through the website at first. Thus, using ‘tag search’ will make an amazing choice here to narrow your search.

Music Licenses: CC BY-NC and CC BY

Conclusion

Ready to bring your social video marketing strategy into action? Adding a soundtrack and making an engaging social video will not seem difficult anymore with these free resources. Don’t hesitate to try a platform that best meets your needs. However, be sure to check the licenses carefully before downloading and utilizing tracks for your upcoming project.