Aside from podcast skills, access to royalty-free podcast music is essential to ensuring your podcast stays up and running (also see, ‘Royalty Free Music‘).
It also ensures that a crackdown on copyrighted music doesn’t hit you, so your podcast doesn’t get taken down (also see, ‘Creative Ways To Use Copyrighted Music In Podcast‘).
After all, you don’t want to lose all the hard work you’ve put into your site.
That’s why we’ll be taking a look at Audioblocks, or as it’s now more commonly referred to, Storyblocks.
In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how you can use Audioblocks and how their licensing works.
| Free Audio Software  |  |  |  |
| Primary Rating: 3.5 | Primary Rating: 3.5 | Primary Rating: 3.5 | Primary Rating: 3.5 |
| N/A | $31.49 | N/A | N/A |
What Is Audioblocks?
Audio blocks was the original name of Storyblocks and was solely focused on the sound effect and royalty free music side for creators.
However, in recent years it merged with two other sites: Videoblocks and GraphicStock.
By merging these three sites, Storyblocks became the go-to name for Audio block.
Since they merged, their site became known as a music library for video, audio, and image content, instead of specializing in only one area.
As Storyblocks, they license high-quality images, videos, and audio to ensure that creatives have as many tools at their disposal as they can.
But just what sort of licensing can you get for your Audioblocks?
Storyblocks License
With Storyblocks, have two options to license music: the individual and business plan subscription model.
Anything downloaded, whether it’s stock video, images, or audio, is covered under these licenses.
Individual License
Individual licenses are perfect for individual creators, such as freelancers, bloggers, hobbyists, or creators of YouTube videos.
The production budget for an individual is unlimited, and all assets are licensed to an individual instead of a company.
With an individual standard license, you can distribute as many tracks that are covered by your license for print, digital media, and production.
You can also get access to Storyblocks Maker and an Adobe Premiere Pro plugin. You’re also covered for up to $20,000 in indemnification.
Business License
Business licenses are far better for creative teams, specifically ones who work for companies or are engaged in commercial projects.
All of the assets are licensed to the users in your organization, and you have an unlimited production budget.
All of your material is allowed unlimited access and distribution for print and digital media and production.
You can gain access to Storyblocks Maker for Teams and the Adobe Premiere Pro Plugin. You’re also covered with up to $1,000,000 in indemnification too.
Subscription Plans
You can only get access to these licenses by signing up to Storyblocks for its subscription plans.
There are three individual plans you can choose from here.
Starter Plan
The starter plan is for those who are new to creating content. It costs $15 per month, billed on an annual basis at roughly $180 per year.
With the starter plan, you have access to 5 downloads per month. You can download HD footage, music, and images through this.
However, if you want more than 5 downloads each month, investing in one of the other plans would be better.
Unlimited All-Access Plan
The unlimited all-access plan is for anyone who wants to take their content to the next level. It costs $30 a month and is billed on an annual basis at roughly $360.
Unlike the starter plan, you can access unlimited downloads and get individual licenses to HD and 4K footage, After Effects templates, music, sound effects, and images.
Pro Plan
The pro plan is for professionals, and it’s billed at $35 per month, with a cost of roughly $420 each year.
You can get access to all types of music and sound effects (hip hop, epidemic sound), HD and 4k footage, After Effects templates, and their image library.
For business plans, you would need to contact Storyblocks directly for pricing.
If you want to use your podcast and play it on YouTube, then you’ll find that Storyblocks can offer you more resources than other licensing sites.
How To Find Audio On Storyblocks
Finding audio on Storyblocks is relatively simple. When you go to the search bar, make sure you select Audio on the left.
If you click the selection, you’ll find that you can filter it from All Audio, Music, and Sound Effects.
When you’ve searched for all audio, you can sort by Most Relevant, Most Downloaded, Most Recent, Trending Now, Undiscovered, Duration: Low-High, Duration: High-Low, Title: A-Z, and Title: Z-A.
To the left of the page, you’ll be able to select Music or Sound Effects.
On the Music menu, you will be able to find the Moods, Genres, Instruments, Vocals, Tempo, and Duration of the song of your choice.
Under Sound Effects, you will be able to select the Duration of the tune and find different categories of Sound Effects.
You can select multiple choices, too, so that you can filter through a variety of selections.
When you look at each audio, you can look at the title of the piece and what categories it would fall under beneath it.
You can play each bit of audio, and you can see whether it’s Music or SFX. Below the song is a selection of soundwaves and the duration of the audio.
If you like the audio you’ve listened to, you can add it to a folder for later or download it to your computer.
Overall, it has a simple user interface, and if you get stuck, you can contact the customer service team with the speech bubble in the lower right corner.
Final Thoughts
Audioblocks, or Storyblocks as it is more commonly referred to these days, is a great option for any podcaster who also needs access to images and footage too.
As the licenses don’t run out, you don’t need to worry about renewing them every few years. You can also cancel your plan at any time if you’re unhappy with it.
There are thousands of songs available and even more videos and images that you can utilize for your podcast.
If you want to delve into mixed media with your content, then Storyblocks is the right choice for you.
Next time you need licensing, why not head over to the Storyblocks website to scour their selection of sounds?
