RoyaltyFreeMusic

There are hundreds of royalty free music sites out there, all claiming to be the best. How can you tell which is actually numero uno? The truth is what’s considered “the best” by one person may be “the worst” for another. Music tastes are very personal, and finding the perfect track for your video is an arduous process.

That being said, if you’re looking for a good place to start, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com is certainly worth a look. The site offers a large selection that should suit most tastes, reasonable prices and few restrictions on usage.

For those of you who don’t want to spend hours investigating free music yet are on a tight budget, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com may be the solution for you.

Content

RoyaltyFreeMusic.com has over 7,000 music tracks and 10,000 sound effects (both wholly owned) available for purchase and instant download on the site. Music ranges in genre from “Acid Jazz” to “World Beat” and everything in between, although the largest collections fall under more mainstream categories like rock and electronica.

If you’re looking for a one time deal, tracks can be purchased individually for $59.95, which is slightly above the competition but still won’t break the bank. While this price is acceptable for 2-3 minute songs, it is very unreasonable for 5-10 second sound effects. Most sites will sell such sound effects for around $10.

To get the best deals, you have to buy in bulk. This means either purchasing ready-made albums at around $100 for 10 tracks, creating custom mixes of 2 to 20 tracks (2 for $87.95) or subscribing to RoyaltyFreeMusic.com.

The last option, subscription, is only recommended for “power users” – those who see themselves producing a new video with music every week. The prices simply aren’t worth it otherwise.

Subscriptions are either monthly or yearly and cost $299.95 or $999.95. With your subscription, you are allowed to download up to 30 music tracks or 300 sound effects in a calendar month. But don’t try to stock up for the rest of your production career – your rights to unused content expire as soon as your subscription runs out.

All music can be purchased for immediate download in MP3 or WAV format, but for those of you fearful of your track losing audio quality on its trip through those internet tubes, CDs can be delivered as well.

License

Every royalty free content site has a thorough license section with a thousand and one legal clauses ready to drive you mad. Yes, it’s frustrating to weed through the legalese, but the first thing you MUST do (before you search for songs) is make sure you are allowed to use music in the way that you intend.

Fortunately, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com does not have many restrictions when it comes to its content, particularly for web video. Assuming you’ll be using your purchased audio in Producer Rewards videos, you can use the content in as many projects as you like without any restriction on number of views or location.

The only restrictions that apply to you as a Producer Rewards member are those that come with the subscriptions mentioned earlier. If you are interested in using music or sound effects in a project other than web-video, consult RoyaltyFreeMusic.com’s license agreement.

Interface/Design

RoyaltyFreeMusic.com isn’t the prettiest site you’ll ever visit, but it should get the job done. The layout is very utilitarian, with no extra frills or flowery language to seduce you into opening up your wallet.

If you’re just looking to find audio and find it quickly, the site should suit you fine. The search function is very customizable and allows you to locate the music you need easily.

Once you have found your music, you can preview it in a player that pops up. Streaming is fast for the preview files, so you won’t have to wait long to find out if the song works for you.

Summary

On the whole, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com won’t blow you away if you’re expecting to find the latest and greatest in music. Nevertheless, the selection is large and varied, the prices are reasonable, and the lack of restrictions on web video usage makes it a good option for the average producer. It may not be the best royalty free music site, but you could do a lot worse. If you need music, make it one of the first sites you check out.