In this article, you will discover the best royalty-free sound banks.
Do you want to edit a YouTube video, a holiday film or a short film using a free video bank, but you don’t know what kind of music to use to create your background music?
Do not panic !
Royalty-free sound banks are there to provide you with high-quality audio content that is perfectly suited to any type of project.
What is a royalty-free sound bank?
A royalty free sound bank brings together a selection of completely royalty-free music or sounds.
This means you can download them for free for commercial or personal use, without having to pay royalties to the artist.
You just need to buy it once or download it from a royalty-free sound bank to be able to use it without worry.
It is important to clearly differentiate royalty-free music from free sounds. Indeed, the latter can be free and downloadable very easily, but their use may still be subject to copyright.
On YouTube you can use royalty-free music or free sounds. However, be aware that a video using music subject to copyright cannot be monetized.
Likewise, carefully monitor the clauses for obtaining and using the sounds you download from sound banks. Some of them can only be used if you mention their authors in your video.
Top 10 of the best free royalty-free sound banks
To be sure to use music legally, we have gathered for you the ten best royalty-free sound banks for your commercial or personal projects.
The sound library
This French sound bank is managed by an enthusiast: Joseph Sardin.
It offers quality music, completely free and royalty-free, which you can use without problems for your marketing campaigns, for example.
Thanks to its keyword search tool, you can easily and quickly find the file you are looking for, whether it is a particular music or sound effect.
Finally, note that The sound library offers you the possibility of downloading music in different formats, including MP3, WAV, etc.
On the line
Even if the royalty-free sound bank Au bout du fil is not one of the densest platforms in terms of volume of content, you can nevertheless find high quality files there.
Completely royalty free, you can use them for any of your projects.
In the same way as La sonothèque, Au bout du fil offers you the possibility of searching for your royalty-free music or your sound quickly and efficiently via the search tool, then downloading it in MP3 format.
PremiumBeat
PremiumBeat is a royalty-free sound bank belonging to the Shutterstock image bank.
This platform offers you a selection of high quality and very varied sounds.
The PremiumBeat interface is very fluid and intuitive and makes it very easy to navigate through all the files offered.
It is a high-end platform, equipped with a considerable number of royalty-free audio files.
Also note that you can use Shutterstock’s help service if necessary.
The only negative point of this platform is that you have to pay a subscription to be able to access its content.
Count around $50 for a non-commercial license and $200 for a full license.
Audiojungle
Audiojungle is a fairly complete and affordable royalty-free sound bank, especially if you want to carry out a large-scale project.
This platform can evaluate the most popular audio tracks and also stays connected to contributor news.
On this site, you can also consult music kits, sound effects, as well as a very extensive discotheque (500,000 titles at present).
Its little extra?
Audiojungle favors quality over quantity. You can therefore find audio elements on this site that cannot be found anywhere else!
Sound Designers
A French-speaking platform very well supplied with audio tapes, Sound Designers allows you to download free and royalty-free sounds with great ease.
This platform is based on the collaborative aspect of its members.
The more active you are there, the more you will have access to high quality files.
Attention !
Sound Designers only offers music and sounds under the Creative Commons license.
This means that it is necessary to cite the authors when you use music from this site.
Artlist
Artlist is one of the best royalty-free sound banks on the market.
She offers very creative sounds and unique indie music.
Its elegant interface is very intuitive and allows you to search for the music file best suited to your needs in a very efficient way.
Note, however, that the unlimited license offered by Artliste costs around $200 per year.
However, it allows you to access the entire collection of the platform and benefit from lifetime use for each project.
Museopen
Museopen is a royalty-free sound bank which has the particularity of being entirely dedicated to classical music.
The pieces are classified according to their composers and allow you to create unique atmospheres for various projects.
Please note that all the songs available on Museopen are subject to the Creative Commons license, which means that you must mention their authors if you wish to use them for commercial or personal purposes.
Musicvine
Musicvine is a fairly new platform since it was launched in 2015.
It offers nearly 2,000 high-quality audio tracks.
Musicvine’s library makes it easy to search for the style of free music you need, depending on the mood or atmosphere you want to recreate.
To use the content on this platform, however, you will need to choose a license whose price may vary depending on the size of the project you wish to implement (a large-scale film or a video for a YouTube channel, for example).
PacDV
PacDV is one of the best-known royalty-free sound banks on the market.
For 20 years, she has already provided the music for several TV films, commercials and documentaries.
You can find downloadable sound effects there, as well as various and varied music that can easily be adapted to any project.
Soundstripe
Soundstrip is undoubtedly one of the best royalty-free sound banks.
This platform offers subscriptions to obtain production sounds, with unlimited licenses.
Don’t hesitate to browse its discotheque using its search tool: you’re sure to find what you’re looking for in its very wide selection of high-quality music!
You now know the best royalty-free sound banks on the market. All you have to do is start your research to find the royalty-free music that best suits your audiovisual project.
Good luck !