Where to Find Royalty Free Music for Your Short Film?

Making a short film is now easier than ever.

The advent of cheaper filmmaking equipment has literally put a camera in all our hands. No matter whether it is a professional film camera or an iPhone, pretty much anyone now can film a movie.

The real challenge of making any low budget short movie comes with getting the sound right. Background noise, poor quality microphones, and lack of musical accompaniment can really put the downer on even the best short film.

Getting hold of the right song for a film is a problem that even the biggest Hollywood productions face.

There are a number of reasons why this is the case. The most common is that the artist who recorded the song doesn’t want it to be in the film for some reason. Another reason is that the owner demands too much money.

In the days of Easy Rider (1969), it was actually cheaper to pay top artists to use their songs. This is why the film has such an amazing soundtrack that is filled with all the 60’s greats.

Nothing stays the same for long as they say. Nowadays, artists charge so much that it is actually cheaper to pay a composer to create an original score from scratch.

Unfortunately, this is simply not a good option for those filmmakers on a tight budget.

If you are a filmmaker who is looking for places where you can get hold of songs for free then look no further as we reveal the best places to find songs for your movie.

Where Can I Find Music For My Film Soundtrack?

To answer this question, first you have to know who you are making your film for.

If you are only planning to make a short film that you don’t intend to show to audiences or post online for anyone to see, then it doesn’t really matter what song you use.

However, most filmmakers will be hoping to get their film seen by as many people as possible.

If you intend to make a film that will get some form of distribution or be shown outside of purely educational facilities like schools or universities, then you will definitely need to either pay for the pleasure of using a song or find one that can be used for free.

Warning: If you do download and use a song in your film, you need to make sure that you are allowed to do so. If you use a song without the permission of the owner then you are breaking the law.

For more information on “How To Acquire Music For Films”, read this article to make sure that you don’t end up in trouble.

Those filmmakers who are planning to get their film distributed can find plenty of sites online where they can purchase a license to do so.

Here are a few sites where you can get access to licensed music:

Audio Socket: https://www.audiosocket.com/

Music Vine: https://musicvine.com/

Music Bed: https://www.musicbed.com/

Free Music Play allows its users to purchase a license for the type of project that they require. The site offers a wide range of licenses for everything from businesses, advertising, education, and film etc.

To give you an example of how much licensed music for your site is likely to cost, here are Free Music Play’s current film license types and its fees:

Student Film Festivals – $25

Professional Film Festivals – $150

Film Trailer All Media – $500

Feature Film All Media – $1000

How can you get music for free?

Well, the great news is that there are literally hundreds of thousands of songs available online that won’t cost you a cent.

The great thing about these sites is that there really is no catch. Many of the sites don’t even ask users to create an account either. Most make their money from onsite advertising or by offering premium subscription accounts that come with added features.

Sites like Free Music Archive offer unrestricted free access to its entire music catalog. Sites like these allow users to make donations in order to help keep the site going.

Other sites like Danosongs Royalty Free Music allows its users limited access to a certain amount of songs for their films. Once a user has reached this limit, the site asks them to make a donation to use further songs.

Some sites only allow free users access to only part of their catalog for free. Usually, the best songs on these sites are only available as if user’s signup to subscription-based memberships. After all, they have to pay for the site somehow.

Free Song Sites For Your Movie Soundtrack:

Here is Sofy.tv’s list of the best places to get free music for your film.

Remember to make sure that you are using the songs according to the guidelines set out in the site’s terms and conditions. This will keep you out of trouble so that you can concentrate on enjoying your great film!

Free Music Play – http://freeplaymusic.com

Free Music Archive – http://freemusicarchive.org/

Dig. cc mixter – http://dig.ccmixter.org/

Musopen – https://musopen.org/

Clip dealer – https://eu.clipdealer.com/

Free Music Domain – http://www.freemusicpublicdomain.com

Partners in rhyme – https://www.partnersinrhyme.com/

Audio Micro – http://www.audiomicro.com/

Dano songs – www.danosongs.com

Stock Music Site – https://www.stockmusicsite.com/

Luck Stock – https://luckstock.com/

Beat Pick – http://www.beatpick.com/