Music is an integral part of audio and especially Podcasting. But how do you source music for podcast that is safe and without usage rights issues? If that is you, then this episode is for you.
But before we get into the sourcing aspects, let me tell you a small story.
It was about 7 years back, to be precise.
I had registered a domain name taylorswiftguitarchords.com, in order to set up an affiliate marketing website as part of my niche affiliate marketing business.
The intention was to promote products and services related to learning Guitar.
The market was a good one and there was a lot of money to be made.
I setup the website and built it for about 6 months. Soon after the site started to generate income.
That was when all of a sudden I get an email from somebody claiming to be a part of the legal team for Taylor Swift.
The email said that the name that I was using in the domain name was trademarked for digital usage and that I should take it down immediately.
Since emails like these are common, where people would either be threatening you or, will be willing to pay you millions of dollars for nothing and these are nothing but scammers trying to con you of money, I ignored this email as well.
After about a couple of weeks, I got another email from the same email address. This time the email was a little more sterner and had a threatening tone.
Now, I was a little scared.
I reached out to my domain registrar to gather information and they came back in 24hours stating that the “trademark” thing was for real.
Since the email wasn’t demanding any money or, trying to scam me I felt there could be some genuinity. And when the domain registrar confirmed the trademark piece, I felt it appropriate to heed to their demand and take the domain down.
And, that is what I did.
I later tried to gather more information and came to know that there were a lot of people who went through the same situation. In fact, there were a few who had to pay exorbitant money as part of legal cases filed against them.
I was fortunate enough to not have to pay any money.
But when I further dug in to find why they did not demand any money from me, I got to know that it was the limitations in what the trademark covered, that saved me from such an issue.
Anyways,
Coming back to what our core topic was – music for podcast.
Music rights are also similar. And it is important that you understand what usage rights are associated with the music that you find online before you download one and use it as music for your podcast.
If you don’t, you could end up in unnecessary legal troubles.
Here are some dos and don’ts about using creatives that you find online, especially music for podcast.
Do’s and Don’ts in Downloading Music for Podcast
The internet is full of resources and you will find pretty much anything that you want by a simple search. But that doesn’t mean that these can be used anyways you like.
Most creatives come with usage rights and terms and it is important to understand these terms before you attempt using them for your benefit.
Music is one such thing.
People blatantly download and use music only to find that it isn’t royalty-free, after some time. The consequence – they either end up spending hours editing and removing the music from every place that they used it in or, end up paying a huge sum of money as compensation.
Do you really want to get into such a mess?
No. Right?
The easiest way to avoid this is by ensuring that you read all the terms, usage rights, and the fine print with any creative that you are planning to use.
One of the things to do and in fact, the right thing to do is to credit every creator for their work. Be it an image that you are using, a music score or, even a video – you should credit the creator for his hard work.
As creators that is our responsibility.
But merely crediting somebody for his work, doesn’t give you the permission to use his work in any way that you like.
If you are planning to use somebody’s creatives, you need to get explicit written permission from them to use them.
In fact, this is what most websites that make such creatives available for downloads, do.
It is also important to keep in mind that not all creatives and assets that are available online are meant to be re-used, irrespective of what the purpose of usage is.
A lot of people think that all music available online can be freely downloaded and used in which form and whatever purpose they would like to use it for.
They think that Royalty FREE means that is FREE to use.
That isn’t true.
Royalty FREE only means that you do not have to pay a royalty for the piece of music to its creators if you intend to use it.
There could be additional terms associated with it, that could restrict you from using it for certain purposes and such others.
So, ensure that you understand the usage rights well before you start using them.
That brings us to the question – where do you source music for podcast, that is free to use and without any rights issues?
Sourcing the Music for Your Podcast
Here are 3 resources that I commonly use for all my needs. These are in the order of my preference.
In fact, these are the only 3 resources I go to if I need to find FREE music, images or, videos for use in my business.
Pixabay
Pixabay is my go-to resource for all things music, image, and videos. There are a ton of resources available for download and most of them are FREE to use even without attribution.
That saves you the pain of reading that fine print, though I still encourage you to read and understand any terms associated with the usage of the assets.
I also ensure that I credit the creator irrespective of it is required or, not.
Youtube Music Library
Youtube music library is another good resource with a ton of music that is Royalty FREE and that you can use in your works.
But a word of caution. Not all music is FREE to use. You will have to check the rights associated with each piece of music rather than generalizing and downloading something that you liked.
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a library that is full of high-quality songs that you can use for podcasting. But here again, you might want to read the fine print because there are some of them that need attribution.
They also have an app through which you can access their library of songs on a mobile phone
CC Mixter
CCMixter is another repository with a lot of music files. It is in fact a global music community.
It has more than 45,000 musicians from around the world who are part of this community.
The site has music, remixes, samples, etc. and you can use the music however you want. But in most cases, you will need to provide an attribution..
Paid Resources that I use
There are 2 paid resources that I use along with those free ones that we spoke about. These are excellent resources for your music needs and are trustworthy when it comes to licensing.
Audio Jungle – Audio jungle is part of Envato Market and is an excellent repository for good music. The music prices start from $1 and can go really expensive. It might be a little expensive for people who are starting off but you will find excellent music scores here.
Wondershare Filmora – Filmora is a tool that I use for video editing and it comes with a good collection of royalty-free music. I use them also a lot. There are some that are paid but because it is part of the software, the prices are really low.
You can order Filmora here.
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