1. Basics
How to use it:
You MUST credit scottholmesmusic.com within your project or project description with either of the following examples:
“track name” by scottholmesmusic.com or music by scottholmesmusic.com
Under this license, you CANNOT use our work for commercial purposes.
(A commercial use is primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation – View our Ultimate Music License Guide for examples)
You cannot claim our work as your own.
You cannot make derivative copies (adding lyrics, musical parts or changing song titles) of our work and registering it to music services such as iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, etc. Doing so will have legal repercussions.
First and foremost, these licenses support Royalty Free Music for commercial use.
For a detailed description of what these licenses are and what they can be used for, please check out the View our Ultimate Music License Guide for examples.
Alternatively, a simplified version can be found under the License tables within the licensing page.
By purchasing an Access Pass you gain instant access to our entire library of 200+ music tracks & audio idents.
All tracks are Royalty Free and ready for commercial use.
Enjoy UNLIMITED downloads. No subscriptions or extra fees.
Buy once, license forever!
- What happens once I’ve purchased an Access Pass?
Upon purchase completion, your Access Pass is immediately activated.
Now when you click “Add to cart”, instead of seeing “Checkout”, your desired track(s) will now appear with a pink “Download Now” button. - If I purchase an All Access Pass, do I also have access to all future tracks too?
Yes. You’ll have access to all tracks (present and future). - Is there a limitation on how many tracks I can download?
No. You have unlimited downloads. You can login to your account and download 10 tracks one day, 30 the next or download all at once. - Can I download all tracks in one download?
Unfortunately not, tracks can only be downloaded individually. Sorry! However, upon purchase completion, you be given an option to receive a zip file of the (most up to date) entire music library via a downloadable link sent directly to your email. - Is All Access a subscription model? Would I have to pay monthly?
No. You simply buy All Access once. - Would I have to pay full price if I wanted to upgrade to a different Access Pass?
No. If you contact us beforehand with your existing license number, we will send you a discount code to deduct what you already paid for the previous Access Pass.
A commercial use is primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
Examples of commercial advantages –
Promoting a company, brand, product, service or event on a social front i.e. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc which may benefit an individual or company resulting in potential clients or customers.
Examples of monetary compensation –
Payment received as part of a company, organization, sponsor, entity or individual for working on or taking part of a project. Fundraising, YouTube monetization, Ad Revenue, etc.
Under the FREE CC License, commercial advantages/uses are prohibited. If either of the uses apply to your project, a commercial license (Standard, Broadcast or Full-Scale) MUST be obtained.
Still unsure?
View our Ultimate Music License Guide
In short, Royalty Free Music is music that you can purchase once (for commercial use) and use for as long as you like. A lot of other music licenses require you to pay each and every time the video is used or viewed.
There are three main copyright areas you should be aware of before starting to think about Royalty Free music and what it means. Synchronisation is the right to include the music along with a film. Mechanical means having the right to make more of your product or production that contains or uses the music. Performance is the right to play the music in a public space. You should have an understanding of what kind of music you need as per these areas before buying music. For any of these areas, Royalty Free music means you don’t have to pay each time you use the music.
ROYALTY FREE MUSIC IS NOT…
- Free
You will have to pay to license the music you want to use. Some Royalty Free music is sold for free,
but you shouldn’t assume that all Royalty Free music you come across will be free of charge.
The person who created the music will usually still want to make some money off of their work. - Copyright free
When you buy Royalty Free music, you are buying the right to use it. The creator of the music owns the copyright for that music. By buying the license the owner is in fact giving you the right to copy it, so it’s copyrighted and you still have to respect the terms of use set forth by the creator. - One type of music
Royalty free can be music of any type, genre, tone, mood, quality or price. When buying Royalty free music, you should try to find something that fits the overall emotional tone of the video you are making, is high quality, balanced well and is mixed with real instruments as opposed to fake-sounding electronic ones.
Royalty free music is the safest way to add music to your videos.
You pay for it once and can use it as many times as you like.
If you use music incorrectly, you can be punished by streaming sites by YouTube.
Your audio could be shut off or your video can be removed from the site completely.
It is much cheaper than paying royalties each and every time the music is used and the selection is usually better than free stock music.
Royalty free music was created so that TV producers could add music to shows without the long and complex process of paying royalties.
These days, anyone can create and sell Royalty Free music.
By buying this kind of music, you are supporting independent composers around the world.
2. Licensing
Yes, you can use our music for free for non-commercial projects such as home videos and non-monetized YouTube content. Such usage is covered by a Free Creative Commons License which is only valid if you credit us within the video description.
Yes, sometimes you may need to provide the license agreement to YouTube or other media platforms. For non-commercial use, you receive a FREE CC License with your music files. For commercial use, you receive a unique numbered license directly to your email address.
Yes, you can view a sample license via the Ultimate Music License Guide page.
Free Creative Commons License –
Yes, providing artist credit is a must.
“track name” by scottholmesmusic.com or music by scottholmesmusic.com
Standard, Broadcast & Full-Scale Licenses –
You have permission within the license not to provide artist credit.
It’s not necessary, although, optional if you wish to do so.
Our licenses are valid forever. Meaning, the licensee can used the licensed music perpetually on any present or future projects.
Yes you can! but first you must obtain a standard, broadcast or full-scale license.
IMPORTANT: The FREE CC License does not support monetization.
No. Claiming rights to the music will be considered a copyright violation.
Click here to check out our copyright claims page for more information.
No. All music at Scott Holmes Music is protected by copyright. You cannot add lyrics over the music track or re-mix it and distribute as your own.
This means the video producer can continue using the music on future projects whilst repeating the cycle of charging clients extra on top of existing bills for use of the music within their production.
If the video producer were to obtain a license, the video producer cannot alter the document by changing the licensee’s name or license number to then pass over to the client so they can act as the licensee.
If the client wishes to continue using the music on other projects, the client will have to obtain their own license.
We don’t recommend this.
However, if for any reason your client runs into a copyright issue, ask them to pass on your email address to the person or team who issued the copyright notice so you can act on their behalf by providing evidence of the licensed music (license PDF) along with consent of use.
3. Buying and Item Support
Simply hover your cursor over your desired track image –
Click “ADD TO CART”, then select your desired license type.
You can also purchase tracks by clicking “DETAILS”
Once you’ve completed a purchase, your licensed track(s) can be downloaded from the confirmation page.
NOTE: If using Safari, hold down the option key whilst clicking your items to download.
Shortly after, you’ll receive separate emails containing your receipt with download links to your licensed tracks, a unique license document and invoice.
Once you’ve registered an account, all your music files are stored within your account giving you the option to login at any time to re-download your files.
Everything included with your order –
- Receipt with download links
- Lifetime License
- Invoice
- Audio Files Included – MP3 & WAV
Bit Rate – 320 kbps
Sample Rate – 16/24-Bit, 44.1 kHz
The discount applies automatically at checkout.
Tracks listed under “premium” are for commercial use only. They are not available for download under the FREE CC License.
4. Account Management
It’s really simple. Just go to the registration page here then choose your username and insert your email address & a password and you’re good to go!
Sure, on the Login page you have a “Lost Password” link.
Enter your Username or Email address and You will receive a link to create a new password via email.
All purchased tracks, licenses and invoices are stored within your account.
Simply log in at anytime to re-download them.
Account > Purchase History > View Details & Downloads.
(Alternatively, contact us and we will re-activate your receipt links).
Contact us with your order number or receipt and we’ll arrange a new one for you.
In most cases, depending on your email settings, licenses and invoices can end up in junk/spam folders so we advise to check there.
If they’re not there, contact us with your order number and/or receipt and we’ll send them over to you.
- Login
- My Account
- Purchase History
- Generate Invoice
- Fill out the invoice fields
- Print/Save as PDF or Word Document.
- Login
- My Account
- Account Details
- Scroll to bottom and click “Delete Account”.
5. Payment
All payments are handled by PayPal & Stripe
PayPal is the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online. The service allows anyone to pay in any way they prefer, including through credit cards, bank accounts, PayPal Smart Connect or account balances, without sharing financial information.
Stripe is a market leader in online transactions trusted by thousands of online companies and used to handle billions of dollars transactions around the world securely and easily.
All transactions are handled directly through Stripe’s secure platform and your credit card details are never stored on the Scott Holmes Music website.
There are three possible reasons as to why card payments might fail:
- Your bank may have declined the payment as fraudulent activity
- Your card has insufficient funds
- Card details were entered incorrectly at checkout
In most cases, we’ve learned that failed payments typically stem from card details being entered incorrectly at checkout (especially the CVC security code).
We advise entering them in carefully, double checking and trying again.
No. Scott Holmes Music is currently not a VAT registered company.