This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Did you know, fun fact, you can't just go out and use anybody's music or anybody's art, at least not commercially, because it belongs to them, right? And this makes sense, but people tend to forget it. In fact, recently, a major video game release got in trouble. This game is called Cyberpunk 2077. You might've heard of it.
It's like the most anticipated game of the holiday season of 2020 and, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars, probably at least a lot of money, let's say, has been in development for this game. But then when it came out, it actually included some songs they weren't supposed to use. So like all those smart people and all that money that went into developing this game, they kind of, you know, missed this one big thing. So then they had to go and publicly tell everybody who purchased it to disable the music in the game settings until a patch was available. And, you know, just imagine how embarrassing that is and be like, how do we forget this one thing?
You know, and so now, of course, they have liability issues, all kinds of stuff associated with it. So this whole thing, this issue applies to you as well. If you have a podcast, if you have a YouTube channel, if you have any other medium that might use music, or if you'd like to start one at some point, you're probably not at the level of the, you know, the major studio with the hundreds of millions of dollars. So the stakes were not quite as high as that, but it still is something to be aware of. You can't use people's music without permission, but where can you find music you can use without worrying?
Because, you know, if you've got a podcast, if you've got the YouTube channel, you want to have some cool music. And it's actually totally possible to find great music, lots of different options without breaking the law or worrying about your videos being taken down or anything else. So that's what we're going to talk about here. The listener question is, where can I find royalty-free music? That question and the answer is coming up in just 30 seconds.
[Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Amber. I'm taking the leap and starting a podcast and maybe a YouTube channel as well. I'll keep you posted, but here's one problem I'm having at the outset. Where can I find music I can use as an intro track and maybe some background music throughout without getting into trouble and preferably without paying? I know that YouTube especially is very strict about taking down videos that are improperly using other people's music.
I would hate to have a popular video with lots of views, but then lose everything because I made a mistake with a few seconds of music. Thanks, Chris. And looking forward to your advice about this. [Music]
Hey, Amber, it's exciting to hear about your podcast, maybe your YouTube channel as well. And just a quick note to all of our listeners, if you're starting a podcast, a YouTube channel or something else, just let me know.
I like to do shout outs from time to time and even if I don't specifically shout it out on the podcast, I always want to encourage people and cheer them on. We have a whole community of people who are starting stuff. And now back to the question. So yes, as mentioned, you can't use commercial music without paying for it, without having a license, et cetera. YouTube especially is quite strict.
So is Twitch. This is definitely something you want to be careful about. I should say briefly that there are some exceptions. I listened to the podcast Switched on Pop, which analyzes songs with detailed commentary. It's a pretty cool show.
Anyway, they don't include the full song when they're doing this, but they can play a short snippet because they're talking about the song. I don't know the precise usage terms of what's okay and what's not, just to mention that there can be some exceptions. But in general, like especially if it's a background track or if it's music for your show, you don't want to use music you don't have the rights to. But the good news is, the good news and the most important thing is it's not that hard to find lots of good options. So you want to search for royalty-free music.
When you do that, you're gonna find lots of sources. Some is completely free. Most is usually available by paying a small license fee, sometimes a subscription, sometimes just a one-off fee, depending on the usage. One of my favorite sources is epidemicsound.com. Another one is bensound.com.
So that's epidemicsound.com. Bensound, B-E-N, sound.com. No affiliation there. I've just had a good experience with them. If you go on a hunt, don't start with Spotify.
Don't start wherever you listen to music. Don't start there and say like, "Where can I find good music?" Because almost everything on those platforms will not be easily available for licensing. I'm sure there is some way to license it, but it's gonna be a lot more difficult than just going to one of these services. So start with one of these royalty-free sources, either one of the two I mentioned or something else, so you can find what works well for you without getting into trouble, as I said, or breaking the law. Normally, I'm not opposed to getting into trouble, just by the way, but I do want to respect the rights and property of artists.
Okay, listeners, if you've got a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We're gonna keep delving into all of this stuff this year. Very excited to hear about listener projects as well, as mentioned. You can also share those with me there or on social media. I am Chris Guillebeau on Twitter or Facebook.
I am 193 countries, 193 countries, on Instagram. Thank you so much. Do come back tomorrow. This is Sideofsoulschool. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
