Music can add to your post and maintain interest from followers and new visitors. Most people will need a comprehensive library of tunes to choose from and it is possible to source royalty free music that you can use on your vlog.
Royalty-free music essentially means that you have the right to use music and songs without the need to pay royalties or licence fees. This means you can use them in vlogs without getting into trouble with Youtube or other vlogging site.
Here are some of the major sources where royalty free music is available:
YouTube Audio Library
The library is easy to use and it has some of the best search features of any streaming service. The library holds live performances, covers from unsigned artists, and random songs that are not available on Spotify or Apple Music. The free version is ad-supported or you can pay a monthly subscription for ad-free YouTube Music Premium which includes ad-free viewing on the traditional YouTube app and website.
Currently, the audio quality in YouTube Music is set at a default of 128kbps (AAC on mobile, OPUS for web) with a good connection, and 64kbps in poor network conditions, but that is due to be upgraded soon. What makes YouTube Audio Library’s music so good for vlogs is that the music will always stay royalty free. Whilst music is not updated at the same high frequency of other sources listed here, the selection is vast, so should not be a problem.
Spotify
Spotify has music that can be curated to your wishes, though not as well as YouTube Audio Library with its unbeatable Google Assistant. Yet back in May, Spotify revamped its free tier, which offers more than ever before. Spotify will have you listening to new music simply, through personalised recommendations so you don’t need to search. With so many artists published on Spotify you will find many other like-minded music lovers who have already found copyright free music, including the playlists YouTube Vlog Music and Chill Hop For YouTube.
Spotify on mobile offers 15 personalised playlists for every non-paying user, automatically generated from previous listening, what you have marked as favourite and what you have told Spotify you like. It’s not possible to choose what’s in these playlists beyond suggesting artists and songs you like, but you can play them in any order and skip songs an unlimited number of times.
Then there are the ads, cutting in every few songs, but they’re not a huge inconvenience considering you’re getting access to just about any song you could want to listen to, free of charge. If you want ad-free access and the ability to listen to any playlist in any order and control your listening experience song by song a subscription service is available.
Spotify’s desktop apps, which covers iPads, offer the ability to skip and shuffle for free, which the mobile app does not, though like the mobile app, the adverts are still interspersed throughout.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is the showcase for some of the best music creators. Soundcloud’s Free Music selection of copyright free music for YouTube is huge, coming under the Creative Commons license. Music can be used for videos at no cost as long as credit is given to the artist.
SoundCloud is not so easy to search, but there are lists that have been created that can help, such as Vlog Music No Copyright or Free Music For Vlogs. SoundCloud also has filters and choosing “to use commercially” or “to modify commercially” makes it much easier to find royalty free music.
Free Music Archive
Whilst there are fewer helpful tools to help select copyright free music than the other sites listed here, the Free Music Archive has a very good selection to choose from. Before you begin, read the “FAQs to free to use music” to confirm which music from their archives can be used in your video. The site can be overwhelming so the suggestion is to start with the Charts Past Week link to see what others have highlighted as good vlog music.