There is often a confusion between the terms royalty free music and music without copyright. Although it may seem like they essentially mean the same, music without copyright is not the most perfect way of referring to royalty free music. This is because royalty free music is basically the one where there are no royalties or Author’s rights involved whereas copyright is automatically born when the music is created. That is why it is best to refer to the music without any royalties as royalty free music. But exactly what is royalty free music? Well royalty free in music basically means that there are no royalties involved that are to be paid to the author, co-writer, or composer of the music or song. So, this type of music is usually preferred by new content creators as they can have a much easier access to it than royalty based music.
What does Royalty Free Music Mean?
Royalty free music is basically the music which is available for you to use without having to pay royalties to the rightful owners which is otherwise the case with royalty based music. Although royalty free music isn’t always free and may come with a one time license purchase, the licensing process is still much simpler and hassle free as compared to the traditional licensing process of royalty based music. There are also many websites that act as platforms for royalty free music and allow content creators to use this music for making their content more engaging. Such sites often offer a subscription based interface which allows you to use available royalty free music for videos after a simple subscription.
Although many people seem to think that royalty free means absolutely free of cost, that’s not how it works and there are again two types of royalty free music—free and paid. The different sites that offer you such royalty music for videos also require you to obtain certain licenses that give you a lifetime access to this music.
Different Types of Licenses on Royalty Free Music
When talking about the different types of licenses on free royalty free music there are two important terms that you need to consider— public domain music and music protected by free licenses. Each of these licenses has a different meaning.
- Public domain music
Any music that is not protected by copyrights is included in the public domain music, so it can be used without permission and without having to pay the original creator of the music. This means that you can freely use this royalty free background music for videos and other content. As no one has the copyrights of this music, if you decide to use it in your content and sell it on your website, you will become the rightful owner of the recording.
- Music protected by free licenses
Music protected by free licenses is different from that of the public domain, wherein the original creator of the music sets certain guidelines and limitations on the use of the music. These limitations usually do not restrict the use of the music but require the content creators to give credits to the original creator or author of the music. There are certain authentic ways in which you can attribute the original artist and if you want to use the best royalty free music under this license you need to have knowledge about those.
Different Licenses on Paid Royalty Free Music
Paid royalty free music is the one that you can use by obtaining a one time license that gives you the rights to use a composer’s music or song for your personal projects. Although you can use free royalty free music by having a creative commons license, it does not always allow you to use the music for commercial purposes. This is why most people would want to go for paid royalty free music.
You can get access to this kind of music by having paid licenses that you can obtain from the company that distributes or sells the music. There are many websites that have some of the most popular royalty free music on paid licenses and allows you to buy different paid licenses to have permission for using that music in your project. There are often different types of licenses for different categories of music, so before you go on and buy the license make sure to read all the specifications on the website.
