4 min read – November 17th, 2022
You’ve just finished editing your cool new video with a feeling of accomplishment, however, it needs fresh music! So, now comes the frustrating part where you have to search online for the perfect music track!
After browsing countless music libraries, you’ve hit a dead-end wall because you’re presented so many licenses, rules and specific conditions you don’t understand – we get it! It’s painful.
This is why we at Scott Holmes Music decided to construct a handy guide where you can get free music downloads for videos with confidence knowing you’re not breaking any rules or infringing anyones rights.
Let’s begin!
Basic Types of Music Licenses
It’s important to understand different music licenses accommodate for varying prices and project uses. To avoid any illegal wrongdoing, gathering a basic grasp of how licensing works will lead to a more confident approach when searching online for music tracks.
1. Public Domain Music
Having no exclusive intellectual property rights, public domain content is available for both non-commercial and commercial use. If you’re looking for free music downloads for videos without any copyright, project usage and financial restrictions, this is quite possibly your best answer.
2. Creative Commons Music
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity.
Music producers can publish their works under a free Creative Commons license and offer it to video editors and content creators under certain conditions.
For a better understanding, there are six license options: three for non-commercial use (business) and three for non-commercial use (personal).
Commercial Use
- Attribution (CC BY): You can use the song for commercial use, remix and adapt to fit your projects. Make sure to credit the creator and musical works.
- Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA): You can use the song for commercial use, remix and adapt to fit your projects. Make sure to credit the creator and musical works. Note if changes were made to the original content, and license the new work with the same CC license.
- Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND): You can use the song for commercial use, remix and adapt to fit your projects. Make sure to credit the creator and musical works. Note if changes were made to the original content. If you do alter the original content, you can’t publicly share the new work.
Non-Commercial Use
- Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): You can use the song for non-business purposes as long as you credit the creator, link to the CC license.
- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA): You can use the song for non-business purposes as long as you credit the creator. Note if changes were made to the original content, and license the new work with the same CC license.
- Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND): You can use the song for non-business purposes as long as you credit the creator. Note if changes were made to the original content. If you do alter the original content, you can’t publicly share the new work.
Discover Free Music Downloads with Scott Holmes Music
Why choose Us?
Not only do we have a stunning library of music, we also offer free music downloads for videos with our Creative Commons License. You’ll find we follow the same structure as the CC BY-NC license:
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC): You can use the song for non-business purposes (personal use) as long as you credit the creator, link to the CC license.
For a better understanding of how our license works and what project types it allows for, check out our handy Ultimate Music License Guide.
Every track within our library offers free music downloads for non-commercial (non-business) purposes with a wide variety of genres and moods to choose from:
Take a listen to some of our most popular soundtracks available to license:
Written by Scott Holmes
Music Producer and owner of Scott Holmes Music
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