50+ Royalty-Free Stock Music Sites

by | May 10, 2010 | Music | 49 comments

Have I mentioned I’m a prodigious list-maker?

I am….my shrink has yet to explain the significance.

With Google around, it may seem a moot point, but then again, Google only provides search results, and the list I have here today is sifted, winnowed, filtered and somewhat vetted.

Voice-Actors are always looking for royalty-free, stock music, music beds, sound effects, looped tracks, and public domain music (must be 1922 or older, BTW).

HERE‘s a great site that explains public domain, copywriting, and music copying principles. Reading below, you’ll see a list that I’ve compiled from — first — my trusted friends at the VO-BB (Voice Over Bulletin Board), and secondly from a Google search using the terms “royalty-free”, “music-beds”, “public domain”, and “stock music”.

I can tell you that I visited each site, and found them all to be exactly what they claim to be.  Not all sites are made the same, but you’ll see a lot of similarities among them:  free download samples, graduated pricing structures, an occasional calendar special, packaged specials, and a spectrum of music genres.

Digging into some of the sites will yield sections that offer looped tracks, special effects, stingers, and sound effects. I’d recommend checking out the first ten-or-so on the list before going deeper…but they’re all genuine.

CourVO

http://www.digitaljuice.com/

http://www.footagefirm.com/

http://www.pond5.com/

http://www.stock20.com/commerce/index.php

http://www.mymusicsource.com/

http://www.yopo.co.uk/

http://www.radio-mall.com/stxold.htm

http://www.tracksnow.com/shopping/catalog/

http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

http://www.sound-ideas.com/

http://www.freeplaymusic.com/

http://www.flyinghands.com/

http://www.cssmusic.com/

http://www.smartsound.com/

http://www.soundsnap.com/

http://www.findsounds.com/

http://www.killertracks.com

http://www.musicbakery.com/

http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/

http://www.mediamonkey.com/

http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/free-music.html

http://incompetech.com/static/music/

http://www.publicdomain4u.com/

http://www.publicdomain4u.com/

http://derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/music.php

http://www.stockmusicstore.com

http://www.freemusicbeds.com/

http://www.mysourcefor.org

http://www.freshmusic.com/

http://www.audiomicro.com/

http://www.beatsuite.com/

http://www.opuzz.com/

http://www.premiumbeat.com/

http://www.royalty-free.tv/

http://audiojungle.net/

http://www.primaryelements.com/

http://www.loopsound.com/

http://www.iamusic.com/

http://www.whitebeetle.com/

http://www.pdinfo.com/

http://beatdock.com/

http://www.productiontrax.com/

http://www.buyabeat.com/

http://www.studiocutz.com/

http://www.stockmusicsite.com/

http://www.allmusiclibrary.com/

http://www.buyoutmusictracks.com/

http://www.sounddogs.com/

http://www.sfxsource.com/

http://www.bbm.net/

http://www.stonewashed.net/buyoutmusic.html

http://www.footagefirm.com/

(Author’s note:  the following two added 5-20-10 from suggestions of the ones I missed – also see next blog article)

http://www.jewelbeat.com

http://www.doschdesign.com/products/audio/Dosch_Trailer_Music_Sounds.html

(another added 6-13-10)

http://www.music2license.com/

(another added 6-25-10)

http://www.musicrevolution.com

(another added 12-14-10)

http://www.directcomposer.com/

(another added 3-15-11)

http://stockfuel.com/

(another added 6-11-11)

http://www.stockmusic.net/

(this one added 8-17-11)

(added 3-15-12)

added (8-28-12)

http://www.grooveoption.com/

added (1-24-13)
http://www.dl-sounds.com/

added (6-10-13)
http://www.soundtaxi.net/en/

(added 7-27-13)

http://www.melodypods.com/

(added 1-26-14)

UniqueTracks Production Music Library http://www.uniquetracks.com

(added 12-27-15)

https://www.909music.com/

(added 3-27-18)

(added 12-3-2020)
https://www.joystock.org

Comments

comments

49 Comments

  1. Guy Lewis
    Guy Lewis on May 10, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    Hi Dave, if you get the chance It would be great to see you add AmbientMusicGarden.com to your list as we offer all our music royalty free as well.

    Many thanks,

    Guy Lewis

    Reply
  4. Levi
    Levi on May 17, 2010 at 8:51 am

    I’m with Greg. I have used http://www.royaltyfreemusiclibrary.com twice. Music is good and licensing is easy to understand. (which isn’t always the case with some royalty free sites)

    Reply
  5. Ian Kirton
    Ian Kirton on June 13, 2010 at 3:23 am

    Hi Dave,
    I would really appreciate it if you could take a look at our new royalty free music site and maybe add it to your list. http://www.music2license.com.

    Best wishes,

    Ian Kirton.

    Reply
  8. Brad Whiting
    Brad Whiting on December 21, 2010 at 9:49 am

    That’s a great list, I do a lot of multimedia for work, so I’m always looking for more music to add to my library.

    Reply
  10. ajlst21
    ajlst21 on March 14, 2011 at 11:23 am

    I like the list, not sure if this made it or not, but there is plenty of decent SFX and audio and music over there… http://stockfuel.com

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on March 14, 2011 at 4:09 pm

      Thanks, Alexander…I’ll add the link to the list.

      DC

      Reply
  11. Jerry
    Jerry on March 15, 2011 at 8:01 am

    Wow! This is a fantastic list of royalty-free stock music sites. Thank you so much for taking the time to share them with us here. This will save us an awful lot of time with voice over and video production! And the fact that you actually took the time to check each one of the 50+ websites out yourself is an added plus. I will DEFINITELY be blogging about this and sharing your website with my readers over at my blog, http://cheapvoiceoversandvideos.blogspot.com/. You offer a lot of truly valuable resources for the voice over community. Thanks again!

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on March 15, 2011 at 2:16 pm

      Jerry,

      Thanks for visiting and commenting those kind words.

      I appreciate the link…

      write soon, write often,

      Dave C

      Reply
  13. Leanne
    Leanne on June 10, 2011 at 7:31 am

    Another site to be added to this list is http://www.stockmusic.net. We provide royalty free music licensing for all media forms and do custom composing as well. Not to mention we have witty and fun track descriptions so that you don’t get bored as you browse.

    🙂

    Thanks for making the list!

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on June 11, 2011 at 12:26 pm

      Thanks for writing, Leane! I’ll be sure to add it to the list!

      Dave C

      Reply
  14. Charles Johnson
    Charles Johnson on August 16, 2011 at 3:26 am

    We are an audio / sound production company that specializes is providing
    high quality audio for students, faculty, non profit agencies and projects.
    Our resource is 100% free and has loads of free content your students would
    hopefully be interested in.

    We’ve worked with such fine organizations as the British Columbia Ministry
    of Finance, Stony Brook University in NY, Our Dynamic Earth, and Tux Paint a
    popular paint program designed for children.

    We were hoping you could offer our services to your students and faculty. We
    saw where you http://www.courvo.com/2010/05/50-royalty-free-stock-music-sites.html
    and hoped you would consider adding our site as well.

    If we can help you at all, or if you happen to have questions about
    SoundBible.com just let us know.

    In addition to this project we have started what is going to be another top
    knotch project WikiTopic.org, an open discussion platform that aims to
    promote local and regional topics submitted by users.

    While it’s not a audio resource is is a nice discussion utility for class
    discussions, no registration is required.
    .

    —
    Thanks C.J.

    Charles Johnson
    Koenig Media, LLC

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on August 17, 2011 at 12:55 am

      Charles,

      Thanks for tipping me off to this site. I chuckled about your reference to “my students”. This is just a blog for VO talent where I share whatever information I come across that enables my peers.

      I’m not only going to add your site to the current list on the previous article, but I blogged about soundbible.com and other recent adds to the list on Today’s blog.

      I appreciate your stopping by to let us know!

      Dave C

      Reply
  15. TheGuy
    TheGuy on August 20, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    Killertracks.com is not rights managed, not royalty free

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on August 20, 2011 at 8:48 pm

      Thanks for stopping by, “guy”…

      Educate me/us. What’s the discinction here? Is Killertracks.com illegal? Is Killertracks.com breaking some rules? Does in not belong in this list? In short…can you flesh-out your comment a little.

      I’d really like to know.

      Thanks for taking the time to raise the flag.

      Dave C

      Reply
  16. Manuel
    Manuel on November 29, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Hello people,
    I want to share a new royalty free music site with pianos music tracks
    There are many genres and moods with high quality sound.
    http://www.royaltyfreepianos.com

    Reply
  17. Heather Farrar
    Heather Farrar on February 21, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Needed a sound effect for a project and realized you were the guru who put this together a few blogs back. Went to you site here did a simple search and BAM! got what I needed…thanks Dave…you certainly are amazing!

    Reply
  18. Bill
    Bill on March 15, 2012 at 3:19 am

    Hi Dave
    Like your list.
    There are many players out there..

    You can also check http://www.themusicase.com and included in your list if you want.
    i am working the last 5 years on royalty free music industry as an independent film maker and stock music libraries saved me a lot of time.

    thanks.

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on March 15, 2012 at 11:55 pm

      Bill,

      You’re great for stopping by and letting me know about that. I’ve added it to the list.

      Let me know if there’s ever anything I can do for you.

      best,

      Dave Courvoisier

      Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on June 25, 2012 at 9:05 pm

      Hi Wesley,

      I’d like to thank you on behalf of my readers for this generous offer. I’m including you in the 50+ Royalty-Free Stock Music sites list if that’s OK.

      I’m also adding you to an update blog I’m writing today on this article, since I also got a similar message from another visitor: Jean Anfossi. Know her?

      Best to you, and thanks for stopping by to comment!

      Dave Courvoisier

      Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on August 29, 2012 at 12:59 am

      Thanks for this link, Mathias…I’ve added it to that particular blog article.

      Dave C

      Reply
  22. Frederique Desmarais
    Frederique Desmarais on September 16, 2012 at 7:17 am

    Hi Dave,

    Royalty Free Music with free download is also available from http://www.royaltyfreeze.com
    The free tracks on offer are changed a few times per month.
    I find it an excellent source for original tracks.

    Regards,
    Frederique

    Reply
  24. Kate
    Kate on January 15, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    Hey Dave,

    I am totally new to the notion of purchasing music, but am embarking on a small video project that will require music. Regarding respect for copyrights, I am concerned that I might download something that is not legit. Is there a verified clearing house that can confirm that a particular stock music site is legit? Dave, I’d be so very grateful for your input.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  26. Marc
    Marc on June 10, 2013 at 5:44 am

    Hi Dave,
    great list! but It seems you missed another one of the top addresses for royalty free music, Soundtaxi.net.
    I’d really appreciate, if you could add it. Thx a lot for checking it out!

    best,
    Marc

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on June 10, 2013 at 9:02 pm

      Thanks, Marc,

      Now added to the list!

      Dave Courvoisier

      Reply
  27. Ambient Guy
    Ambient Guy on July 27, 2013 at 2:47 am

    On a slightly different slant, if you are looking for royalty free music to use in the background of your business, say for example, a cafe, restaurant, retail store etc, then http://www.melodypods.com offers up a simple way to play legal royalty free music in your business using smartphone and tablet apps. So not a traditional track download licensing website for production music needs but still royalty free background music.

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on July 27, 2013 at 10:06 pm

      Thanks!

      I’ve added this link to the list in that article.

      I appreciate your stopping by my blog.

      dave courvoisier

      Reply
  28. David Geary
    David Geary on January 22, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    Hi Dave,

    We have yet another site for your list.
    UniqueTracks Production Music Library
    http://www.uniquetracks.com
    Online since 1998

    Nice comprehensive list
    Dave G.

    Reply
  29. android answers
    android answers on January 28, 2014 at 9:34 am

    Thanks for finally talking about >50+ Royalty-Free Stock Music Sites | Dave Courvoisier’s
    Blog <Liked it!

    Reply
  30. Yoav
    Yoav on March 26, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    Thanks for that amazing list!
    I would like to add Foximusic.com – which offers free downloads (credit needed).

    Best,
    Yoav

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on March 29, 2018 at 8:06 pm

      Thanks, CC! Hope all is well!

      Dave C

      Reply
  32. Cody
    Cody on February 25, 2020 at 1:20 am

    Thanks for that amazing list!

    Reply
  33. Jessica
    Jessica on December 2, 2020 at 2:55 am

    Howdy,

    I’ve just launched Joystock: cool music, no account needed, and most importantly the music is free to use:
    https://www.joystock.org

    I could make a good addition to your article if you update it for 2021!

    Thanks and have a great day!
    Regards,
    Jessica

    Reply
    • CourVO
      CourVO on December 3, 2020 at 10:09 am

      Jessica,

      I just added it to the list.

      Thanks!

      Dave Courvoisier

      Reply
  34. Erny
    Erny on December 21, 2020 at 4:29 am

    Hi, I didn’t think there were so many places!
    I’m going to share one which is that small but has excellent quality and offers not so common music styles, and I haven’t seen it on your list!

    I recently purchased a standard license for royalty free chinese instrumental music

    You can add it to this precious list:

    https://www.mp3jungle.org/

    Than you!

    Reply

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