The 3 Most Common Misconceptions about Royalty-Free Music

In a nutshell, Royalty-Free music is a type of music licensing that allows you to pay for the music license in just one opportunity and use the music for the time you want. For example, if you buy a Royalty-Free Music license for a video that is going to appear on your website, you will have to pay only once, and you can use the music for a week or even 20 years if you want to.

Naturally, this means that anyone who creates a podcast and already has the visual elements for the presentation but needs a cool song to complement it only has to download Royalty-Free music. However, while many people are using it for many purposes, there are several misconceptions about the Royalty-Free music that many are not aware of. Here are the most significant.

It is not for Free

Despite what the name suggests, the Royalty-Free music is not cost-free. The only reason why it is named like that is that it is free of taxes. The Royalty-Free music can be licensed at any price, meaning there’s not a price structure but a licensing model.

As you can imagine, this essentially means you can find some pieces at a quite affordable price and some other that are just too expensive. This way, some Royalty-Free music can be purchased for $30 and some others for $600. After all, it has nothing to with the pricing but with the licensing model of not charging royalties each time you use the piece you bought.

It is not a Specific Music Genre

Another significant misconception that many people have about Royalty-Free music is that this one is some new genre. Just like the previous case, it all has to do with the name.

Far from it, the Royalty-Free music is a type of “Music Licensing” for commercial use, meaning that you can find almost any music genre you like, from Reggae to Country music or even thrash metal. And no, commercial doesn’t mean that you can use this music for advertising. It means you can use the music you downloaded for more than your private usage, which is the right you get every time you buy a CD or pay and download music.

You can use Royalty-Free music on YouTube

Considering that many people who post videos on YouTube doesn’t have the legal permission to use songs of their choice because of the copyright regulations, one of the main misconceptions about Royalty-Free music is that it can’t be used on YouTube videos.

This is a very reasonable misconception since YouTube has been developing the most sophisticated methods of identifying and flagging any single user who violates copyright rules.

However, once you download Royalty-Free music, you will get a one-time license for a track, which gives you the official rights to use it for the period of time you want. This means that if you upload a video on YouTube and want to include a specific song, all you need to do is to visit a music royalty-free music library, pick the song you want and pay for the one-time license. Sometimes the permit may be offered for free as long as there’s enough credit to the composer in the video.

Marie Foster
Marie Foster
Marie Foster is a reporter based in UK. Marie has also worked as a columnist for the various news sites.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I agreed with your content, Nice article, I am a new visitor. I like your site very much because you are updating new and different things. Thanks for sharing.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here