While searching for the perfect music tracks as a video game developer or a content creator, I'm sure you have come across many terms like Royalty-free Music, Creative Commons Music, Copyright-right Music, and DMCA-free Music. But what do they really mean, and are they safe to use in your projects?
After putting so much work and love into your projects, the last thing you want to is to be caught with copyright strikes or have your audio muted or even removed on YouTube or Twitch.
In this article, we put together the terms' definitions and differences. Some of them are similar, and it can get confusing!
Table of Contents:
- Royalty-free Music
- Creative Commons Music
- Copyright-free Music
- DMCA-free Music
- Music List (Free & Paid)
What is Royalty-free music?
Royalty-Free music is a type of music license that allows the buyer to pay a fee once for the music license to sync to a medium. Usually, the music license fee for a TV commercial, YouTube video, or video game varies and is dependent on a few factors—the number of views (100-10,000), downloads, reach, media platform, or duration of use (months/years) of the music for the medium.
Different music licensing sites have their unique license tier and offer licenses in per-track, subscription, or both. Some sites allow licensed music to be used only once, while others multiple or even unlimited times.
While "free" might be in the term "royalty-free," it isn't always free, and in most cases, it's not. The music's owner is either getting paid or waiving payment. Instead, you are just cutting out excess licensing fees and freeing yourself from the responsibility of paying royalties to a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) when purchasing a license for this type of music. The royalty-free music company you licensed for the music track handles the license, royalty fees, and payouts to the composers.
In essence, royalty-free music is a solution that enables you to legally add music that is not your own to your project. Free and paid licenses for royalty-free music are available, but the difference is that the free licenses often come with some limitations on their use.
What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization that helps creators, from individuals to large institutes, grant copyright permission to the public to use their creative work in a standardized way under copyright law.
Royalty-free ≠ Creative Commons
First things first, there seems to be a misconception that music can be used as long as attribution or credit is given. Not all royalty free music composers share their work under Creative Commons, so it is not okay to use a piece of music that does not belong to you simply by giving credit. Doing that is actually against copyright law unless the work is used under fair use.
Let's go back to Creative Commons. There are six creative commons licenses built upon a combination of four conditions.
The 4 distinct conditions of a Creative Commons License:
1. CC (Attribution) — Credit must be given to the creator
2. NC (Non-commercial) — Only non-commercial uses of the work are permitted
3. NA (No Derivate Works) — No derivatives or adaptations of the work are permitted
4. SA (Share alike) — Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
Creative Commons is a great way to add music to your project for free, but it isn't the most reliable way. There's a higher chance of running into a legal issue, and music options are limited compared to royalty-free.
For example, it is hard to guarantee the creator's right who publish content under a Creative Commons license. Many publishers believe works under Creative Commons are in the public domain and may create new works upon them and/or re-publish them in another license. In such cases, the new works published by these creators don't wholly own the copyright.
Next, there were cases where commercial works or YouTube videos received copyright strikes after the creator changed the copyright from Creative Commons to 'All Rights Reserved'. To be safe, it's always good to screenshot the type of license the work was published under when you download any Creative Commons Work and note down the date and the URL!
Lastly, the licenses may not be specific enough. For example, how do you define commercial or non-commercial? Does a monetized YouTube video fall under commercial? Or what if a company uses Common Creative License music to feature a product behind-the-scenes but isn't trying to sell the product in the video? Is that still under commercial use? Again, it's hard to be specific and different people might have conflicting answers.
What is Copyright-free music?
"Copyright-free music" means that the music is "free of copyright", which indicates that it is in the public domain, or CC0 (aka CC Zero, the "sister" of the public domain). As of January 1, 2022, musical compositions from 1926 and earlier will be in the public domain or when the music composer or songwriter has renounced their copyright to a particular work.
With works in the public domain or CC0, there are almost no restrictions on what you can do with them. You can sell them, create new works based on them, or even re-distribute them. Furthermore, it's all legal to use without permission or having to pay the original composer, even without attribution!
One important thing to note—every sound recording possesses two inherent rights: (1) the composer's copyright and (2) the music recording author's right.
A company or individual who interpreted work in the public domain, for example, a Beethoven work, and recorded it in a medium, falls under a derivative work. Therefore, they have the copyright to that recording and can ask for a license fee if you want to use their recorded work.
However, as straightforward as it is, this term often gets misused. Many "Copyright Free Music" or "No Copyright Music" available on YouTube are not actually copyright-free. Most songs require Attribution, are limited to a particular platform, or are not allowed in monetized videos. For example, this YouTube channel publishes no copyright music but is actually not in the public domain. The publisher requires Attribution when their music is used and is limited to only YouTube and Twitch.
As such, please be careful when approaching a work that claims to be "Copyright-free". Always take the time to read the terms of the licenses and comply with them. It may just save you countless headaches in the future.
You might realize by now that finding music that does not belong to anybody and has 100% zero copyrights is exceptionally rare. Yes, indeed it is! Read more about Copyright-free and Creative Commons.
Last but not least, what is DMCA-free music?
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (aka DMCA) is a United States copyright law created in 1998 that criminalizes the unlawful use of copyrighted materials such as music, artwork, videos, pictures, written text, and software. In other words, DMCA enables copyright owners to remove unauthorized uses of their work.
Similar to music under royalty-free, creative commons, copyright-free, and DMCA-free included, these legal terms serve the purpose of letting you legally use music that does not belong to you. So DMCA-free music is music that is safe to use in your projects and streaming platforms without being concerned about copyright violations and having your project taken down.
What are some examples of DMCA-free music?
- Music in the public domain or CC0
- Music under the right creative commons licenses
- Royalty-free music that covers the appropriate use—for example, streaming, YouTube, Video Games, etc
That being said, it is more likely that DMCA music is not free, although there are some playlists on streaming platforms that provide free music. It's best to research before using any music that could be infringing material, as it may cause inconvenience to your channel.
Since we are discussing DMCA-free music, we will focus on these two relevant platforms that take DMCA very seriously.
No. 1 — Twitch
When Twitch receives a complete notification from a rights holder claiming that content on a channel infringes the rights holder's copyright, Twitch will notify the account holder. At the same time, they will generally remove or disable access to the content containing the claimed infringing material. They may also disable a live stream and/or suspend the account. Read more about DMCA on Twitch.
No. 2 — YouTube
Anyone can file a copyright claim on YouTube. YouTube will remove the video containing the claimed infringing material, and the channel owner can choose to accept the takedown or issue a counter-notice. YouTube will also add a copyright strike to their account. Read up more regarding YouTube DMCA procedures.
Why is the confusion real
Although all the term "royalty-free", "copyright free" and "DMCA-free", has the word 'free' in them. Only copyright free music (aka Public Domain music or CC0) is the really free music you can use without permission and payment.
We understand that the legal meaning behind royalty-free and DMCA-free has been so loosely applied and altered through casual use, causing even more confusion. Unfortunately, this only increases the risk of running into a copyright issue.
Therefore, it is safer to seek out a music licensing site if you need background music for your content rather than searching "royalty-free", "copyright-free," or "DMCA-free".
Get started on some free music (not copyright-free!)
⚠️ Most resources need attribution & have various limitations.
- YouTube Audio Library (Music & sound effects, most tracks do not need attribution. Available for Monetization on YouTube only. Mp3 format)
- Oneul (Cute Music, attribution required. Non-commercial purposes but Monetized videos allowed. Mp3 format)
- Peritune (Japanese Style Music, attribution required - CC4.0. Mp3 format)
- Sound Bible (Sound Effects, consists of Creative Commons and Public Domain. Wav and mp3 format)
- NoCopyrightSounds (Music, attribution required. Limited to YouTube and Twitch. Available for Monetized Videos following their guidelines. Mp3 format)
- WOW Sound Starter Pack (Music & sound effects, attribution required. Available for Commercial use. Wav and mp3 format)
- More resources for indie game developers
Paid music solutions: For Video Games & Gaming Videos
If you are a game developer, live streamer, or VTuber creating kawaii gaming videos, feel free to check out our library, WOW Sound, a video game and anime-inspired music and sound effects licensing site. All our music and sound effects are royalty-free, copyright-safe, DMCA-free, and cleared for YouTube, Twitch and TikTok! That means you don't need to worry about Content ID claims and copyright strikes!
Search for a range of music and sound effects from cute, comical, epic orchestral, action, upbeat, Japanese RPG, and lofi, all the way to kawaii and light-hearted anime tracks. It also works excellent for non-gaming videos like 'Just Chatting', 'Art Drawing', and kawaii Vlogs.
All music tracks are lovingly crafted, not mass-produced, from as little as $1.90 per license or $11.70 per month to access thousands of music and sound effects; both come with a lifetime license.
You also don't ever have to worry about your video game, video, or gameplay footage uploaded by you or your players running into copyright issues and being taken down on YouTube or Twitch. Monetize your videos now with the option of an unlimited-use license! Additionally, 99% of our music loops and comes with various mixes and end stingers to provide flexibility whether you are using the track for your video game or marketing materials!
Recommended playlists:
Anime-inspired Music
Anime sound effects
Action Battle Music
Video Game Sound Effects
Japanese RPG Music
Casual & Puzzle Game Music
Visual Novel Music
Cartoon Sound Effects
Comedy music
Happy music
Paid music solutions: For films, advertisements, videos and vlogs
Audio Jungle
Pond5
Musicbed
Artlist
Epidemic Sound
PremiumBeat