What is Royalty Free Music?

When it comes to royalty-free music, people usually have a lot of misconceptions and confusion. This article is specifically for clearing the air. Here, we will talk a little bit about what royalty-free music is and the core concept. 

What is Royalty-Free Music?

The simplest definition of Royalty-Free Music is any content, which is free from royalties. As its name suggests, "Royalty-Free", merely means that you do not have to pay "royalties" to its creator. Now let us clear the concept of "royalty".  

Music is Royalty Free when: 

  • You only have to pay the license fee once. 
  • You are allowed to use the song anywhere. 
  • You are allowed to keep the music forever without re-occurring costs. 
  • You are allowed to use the music in an unlimited amount of projects at no extra cost. 

Some common misconceptions and confusions about royalty-free music: 

Royalty-Free Music is Free 

It is free from royalties. However, it does not mean that it is entirely free. One has to pay a one-time fee. After that, you are not liable to pay royalties to its creator. Therefore, since there is a one-time license fee, it is not entirely free. 

Royalty-Free music is of Low Quality 

As you will find out if you have visited various stock music websites, royalty-free music can be terrible, mediocre, but also brilliant. The challenge is to find those golden nuggets among tens of thousands of tracks.  Quality of the music and authorizing a piece of music as royalty-free music are two different things.  

Importance of Royalty-Free Music

Like in the past, royalty-free music was used mostly for TV, but it is currently being adjusted to the new digital music scene. A great deal of the royalty-free music obtained online is used for online stages, such as YouTube and other streaming video services, just as for digital recordings and different creations such as: 

  • TV/Radio 
  • Podcasts 
  • Commercials 
  • Short Films 
  • Educational Videos  
  • Internet Advertising 
  • Video Editing 
  • YouTube videos 
  • YouTube Ads 
  • Presentations 

Royalty-free music supports the use of legitimate music for video or sound-based creations. This implies that all degrees of makers approach a scope of musical substance that can be procured lawfully instead of utilizing copyrighted music unlawfully. Using music illicitly could even prompt lawful indictment. A simple method of staying away from any legal problems is by only going to legitimate royalty-free music sources.

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