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Monday, June 23, 2014

Where to Find Royalty Free Music


One of the essentials for a good book trailer is the music. It sets the mood and tone of the story. Really effective music can elevate an otherwise average trailer to something compelling and powerful.

However, you can’t use just any music. You can’t select the latest pop hit without acquiring the right to use it. Since your trailer will be viewed over and over, you’ll need royalty free music.

What is royalty free? According to Wikipedia:

"Royalty-free, or RF, refers to the right to use copyrighted material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties or license fees for each use or per volume sold, or some time period of use or sales."

Online, there are many places to find royalty free music, both free and for a fee. When selecting your music, be sure to check the following:

The license agreement
Cost of music
Cost to access music site
Length of music

Here is a list of sites that offer music for commercial use either for free or for a fee:

Audionautix
Free Music Archive
Free Stock Music
Dig CCMixer
Sound Cloud
Vimeo Music Store
Incompetech
Music Bakery
Jamendo
Stock Music Site
Pixel Prospector - lists a variety of other music sites

Have you created a book trailer? What other royalty free music sites have you discovered?

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42 comments:

  1. Alex J. CavanaughJune 23, 2014 at 7:54 AM

    Great list!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mason CanyonJune 23, 2014 at 8:16 AM

    Music is a key element in a good book trailer. If the music isn't good, as a viewer I tend not to pay as close attention as I should or not even finish the trailer if there is music and talking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 23, 2014 at 8:29 AM

    Holy lots of links, Batman. You are always chock full of great information! I haven't even thought of a trailer yet. But, that's because I'm still editing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. L. Diane WolfeJune 23, 2014 at 8:38 AM

    Mason, the music can make or break a book trailer.

    Thanks, Elsie and Alex.

    ReplyDelete
  5. kaykualaJune 23, 2014 at 8:42 AM

    Thanks for the info Diane! It'll come in useful knowing them now!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
  6. Karen LangeJune 23, 2014 at 9:28 AM

    This is a great list - appreciate your research. It's wonderful to have a safe list to use. I haven't done a book trailer yet, but hope to in the future. Thanks so much for helping us on our journey!

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  7. Pat HattJune 23, 2014 at 9:40 AM

    Awesome list, never knew there were so many.

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  8. Michelle WallaceJune 23, 2014 at 11:16 AM

    Diane, your brain is a treasure trove. I'd love a peek inside. Just for a day.

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  9. Hilary Melton-ButcherJune 23, 2014 at 1:04 PM

    Hi Diane .. this is a very useful list - especially for someone like me who is so unmusical ... still I'm sure I'll need the information at some stage ...

    Inflatables - become deflated?!!

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  10. Linda KayJune 23, 2014 at 1:15 PM

    So glad to find our blog! I'm working on getting my first book published, so got into blogging to practice writing. Thanks for sharing the music sites!

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  11. Elizabeth Spann CraigJune 23, 2014 at 2:11 PM

    Great list here, Diane! Thanks for sharing this.

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  12. J.L. CampbellJune 23, 2014 at 2:22 PM

    Wonderful of you to share, Diane. Appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. L. Diane WolfeJune 23, 2014 at 2:34 PM

    Pat, there are hundreds. Really surprised me, too.

    I hope the list helps everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Rawknrobyn.blogspot.comJune 23, 2014 at 2:45 PM

    I didn't know such a site existed. Saves on the time and worry over legalities. Thanks, Michelle.
    Be well.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Susan Gourley/KelleyJune 23, 2014 at 7:13 PM

    Ouch. Now you're taking away my last excuse for not making a trailer. I'm marking these sites.

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousJune 23, 2014 at 7:37 PM

    Great list. I use Incompetech whenever I play with trailers.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Christine RainsJune 23, 2014 at 7:58 PM

    Thanks for these links! A long time ago, I had a novel some friends made a book trailer for and one of them created original music for it. The book's out of print, but I still go watch the trailer now and then!

    ReplyDelete
  18. klahanieJune 23, 2014 at 8:32 PM

    Yay, here I am at the IWSG aka...

    How timely was this. You must of read my mind. What a horrible thought that is. These are just the links I've been looking for.

    Thank you, Diane.

    Gary

    ReplyDelete
  19. MusicRevolutionJune 23, 2014 at 9:20 PM

    You might also try MusicRevolution.com http://www.musicrevolution.com, an online marketplace for royalty-free music. MusicRevolution.com has over 30,000 tracks of affordable, high-quality royalty-free music. New music is being added every day. I am the co-founder.

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  20. EllaJune 23, 2014 at 10:14 PM

    You are a wealthy of information-thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousJune 24, 2014 at 8:01 AM

    Great list, Diane. Thanks for sharing this information.

    ReplyDelete
  22. UnknownJune 24, 2014 at 8:41 AM

    Hi Dianne,
    I appreciate this list so very much One of my popular book tours in company pffers a free trailer and as a result I end up doing a quite a bit of them and making a good selection can be very challenging because my options were limited.
    I am so happy Michelle Wallace dropped this on my email.

    I know they are plugging in here but I just saw the prices for single tracks at music revolution as well and starting at $9 I think they are work looking into.

    I have looked at some of the paid music at my favourite site Jamendo and their prices start at over $100 for commercial use of a track. Which is just impractical.

    Thank you again Dianne.

    ReplyDelete
  23. UnknownJune 24, 2014 at 9:58 AM

    Great list! Let me also add Dano Songs. He's got some great stuff! http://www.danosongs.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Shell FlowerJune 24, 2014 at 10:12 AM

    Good point on the music for a book trailer. So many things to consider besides just writing the book! My son produces music for snowboarding and skiing videos. It's amazing how fast stuff gets pulled off You Tube for royalty infringement.

    ReplyDelete
  25. cleemckenzieJune 24, 2014 at 12:00 PM

    Royalty Free is the author's friend. Thanks for putting together this list of RF music!

    ReplyDelete
  26. UnknownJune 24, 2014 at 3:15 PM

    Thanks Diane for the list! Check out www.smartsound.com as well. They have tracks that you can customize and and plenty of genres to choose from ranging from classical, rock, to even production music like you would see in commercials or even newscasts.

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  27. LizaJune 24, 2014 at 4:49 PM

    This is great information. Thank you for posting it.

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  28. Lynda R Young as Elle CardyJune 24, 2014 at 7:29 PM

    These are a great resource! Thanks so much for putting them together, Diane.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Tara TylerJune 24, 2014 at 7:32 PM

    thank you, Diane! singing your praises, all the time =)

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  30. J.Q. RoseJune 24, 2014 at 7:34 PM

    Thanx for the info. Please add Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for free music.

    ReplyDelete
  31. L. Diane WolfeJune 25, 2014 at 8:04 AM

    Susan, no excuses now.

    Gary - LOL!

    Wendy, $100 is more than what most of these charge and some are free. Glad you found the list.

    Thanks to everyone who suggested some other sites.

    ReplyDelete
  32. M PaxJune 25, 2014 at 1:58 PM

    I have a friend who does trailers for me, and I'm very, very grateful. I did buy some royalty free music when we first started. It can be a lot of fun to make a trailer.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Joylene Nowell ButlerJune 25, 2014 at 3:19 PM

    I just this moment looked up David Hoppe to see where I could find his music, AND then I clicked on this post. Excellent timing, Diane. It's like you read my mind.

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  34. LeoviJune 26, 2014 at 8:08 AM

    Thank you very much for sharing these sites with free music rights, I especially comes in handy!

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  35. LisaJune 26, 2014 at 3:07 PM

    Thanks so much for this list!! So very helpful...

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  36. Karla GomezJune 26, 2014 at 6:43 PM

    dang! I'm not even that far ahead, but this is a good post!!!

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  37. Elizabeth MuellerJune 26, 2014 at 8:39 PM

    Hi, Diane! Thanks for the list! :D

    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

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  38. Lori L. MacLaughlinJune 26, 2014 at 10:17 PM

    Thanks so much for the great list!

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  39. Toi ThomasJune 30, 2014 at 7:04 PM

    So good to know. I may tackle a book trailer someday.

    ReplyDelete
  40. UnknownJuly 16, 2014 at 8:57 PM

    Bookmarking this for some day I might have to create a book trailer :)

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  41. UnknownSeptember 22, 2014 at 11:49 AM

    Hello :)
    Have also a try to this new one http://www.musicincloud.com for nice and original royalty free music :) nice price also.. enjoy

    ReplyDelete
  42. AnonymousApril 11, 2016 at 7:25 AM

    I know few storage where you can download background music for free, but most of them are full of different malware. The only one I can recommend you it's http://melodyloops.com/ this is the best one if you're looking for some great background music for commercial use.

    ReplyDelete