Last Updated on April 13, 2022
The size of the royalty-free music market grows on almost daily basis, such is the appetite for the product that’s offered, but though that means that the overall quality of the industry improves, it also means that there is a fair amount of deadwood to steer clear of also.
In 2021 we are very much in the throes of a content production bonanza. Every single one of us is a mini-content creator, if you think about it, though some of us are much more active in the field than others.
Whenever we post on social media we are in essence producing content but clearly there are those who do this for a living. Content creators come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from filmmakers to social media influencers.
All this content, or pretty much all of it, needs a musical soundtrack and that can come in two forms. Predominantly your visuals will be backed by either a score made up of musical tracks and samples or by the addition of sound effects designed to provide a rounded backdrop to your video or film project.
In order to secure and use the relevant musical output you’ll need clearance or a license to do so. This isn’t as easy as it seems and failure to do this right can result in punishments ranging from being thrown off a social media channel to a fine or even imprisonment.
Thankfully there is a solution and that comes in the form of royalty-free music, which is a quick, inexpensive and wholly purpose built way to solve this age-old headache.
What does Royalty-Free Mean?
Because the cost of licensing mainstream music is sky high and the pursuit of the relevant permissions can be even more costly in terms of your time, royalty-free music and sound effects is a perfect option to consider.
Royalty-free music basically covers a subscription service that you pay for that gives you a blanket license to use all the music and SFX (Sound Effects) that a provider has to offer and this means you have a near-limitless amount of tracks and effects to choose from.
All of this is paid for on a monthly, or yearly, basis and you never have to worry about licenses or clearance as it’s all part of the overall service. Therefore you have the peace of mind that brings and that leaves you free to make the important creative decisions about your project.
Great for Sound Effects
When it comes to royalty-free sound effects you are basically unlocking a veritable treasure trove of musical content. The way the best providers work, such as Artlist (more on them later), is they house the entire SFX library in a database that you can search through in order to find just what you are looking for.
Some of these SFX are split into categories in relation to genre and others in relation to moods. For instance perhaps you are putting together a horror-filled project and therefore you need plenty of creaking doors or maybe an explosion or two.
You might also want to use more incidental type effects like ones related to weather or the sound of busy traffic, pretty much anything you can imagine is here. In fact with Artlist half the fun is searching for the right sound effect, moving through them until you pick up precisely what you were looking for.
Why Artlist?
As stated before, there are many royalty-free music providers but Artlist is consistently ranked number one with users. That’s because their service is slick and professional and is available for an inexpensive price. They offer rates that cover either music or SFX, or indeed both, and the yearly cost is very competitive when compared to others in the field.
The quality of the music is definitely the highest in the market and that’s important as you’ll want the bridge between the visuals and the sound to be seamless. The sheer size of what Artlist offers in terms of music and SFX is on it’s own is enough to make you give any other competitor a miss.
Their customer service is effective and the overall package you get for your subscription fee is frankly head and shoulders above the rest.
Another big tick in the Artlist box comes from the fact that even if you cease to use their services, all the items you’ve downloaded up to that point, are yours forever. Which is incredible when you think about it and the reason they can offer this level of service is that they are no doubt confident that you’d have no reason to shop anywhere else for royalty-free music as they have you covered anyway.
Artlist is constantly evolving and their music and SFX libraries are always updating with new items, so much so that every time you return you have a whole new raft of great music and effects to check out. In fact the only drawback is knowing when to stop searching as the hunt for great tracks and SFX can be very addictive indeed.
