dionysus.biz banner image

Finding Royalty Free and Public Domain Music for Videos and Web

What? How can I find great music for my video production, computer game or website? Where can I get it without paying an "arm and a leg"?

The Answer: I had this problem and did a bunch of research to find the answers. Here is what I found:

Where to Find It and Will It Change?: : Websites for low cost music are changing rapidly. I did my research in March 2020 and noticed changes in the websites as I worked to develop this article so don't be surprised if some of the sources below "dry up" or radically change their distribution policies. Always check current policies before you buy or download because the web changes fast! As of today, here are the best I found:

Source of Music: Josh Woodward


Source of Music: Jabot7
Source of Music: Brett Van Donsel
Source of Music: Kevin MacLeod et. al.
Source of Music: Alexander et. al.
There are many commercial sources of music, photographs etc for use with videos, games, web, advertisements etc. These typically charge $30 to $75 per musical cut and they typically do allow commercial use, often without attribution. Always check the use conditions and duration of use rights of any service before download and use.

Conclusions: 1. A practical conclusion is that any distributed production with music, or images that reaches beyond your (immediate) family requires legally obtained music, photos etc. that are contained within the distributed product (see Summary Article for more specific definition of distribution & copyright law). This is required by U.S. and International copyright laws to protect the artists who create the things we enjoy. It can be challenging to find affordable music to support such projects and I have identified several sources that I personally have used.

Copyright law: Summary

2. Do you need to register a copyright for what you create? If you create material, it is legally protected by copyright law whether you register it or not. Registering your copyright gives you greater legal authority to 'go after violators'. But you should always provide an adequate copyright notice on all of your material. See notice at the bottom of this page as an example.

3. What if the music I buy is the Wrong Kind of File Format? There are many formats such as .mp3 or .wav or .aif etc.. If you are creating videos, web sites etc. and need music, it may come in a format you can't use. On the web, .mp3 format generally works well for both Windows and Mac. "WavePad" software from Australia does a good job of translating from one format to another. There are also free "on line converters" but I feel "wavepad" more "virus safe".


Music Attributions:
  1. "The Maze" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/
  2. "AOD_Mosca from JBot7
  3. "Manchester Mystery" from Brett Van Donsel
  4. "Piano Etude" from incomputech
  5. epic-battle-music-grzegorz-majcherczyk-heroica.mp3 from http://www.orangefreesounds.com
  6. Rain-on-window-sound from www.organgefreesounds.com from http://www.orangefreesounds.com


Contact the author paul@dionysus.biz by e-mail.
Copyright 2020 by Paul F. Watson
All Rights Reserved

Dionysus.biz Home Page