If you’re looking to create your own podcast, one way that you can set the tone and your brand is by choosing a piece of music that will work as your intro song.
Unfortunately, most of us aren’t skilled enough song writers or musicians to create our own original music and this means using something recorded by someone else.
However, this can become very expensive very quickly.
Buying the license to use a song in your podcast can cost a lot of money and many podcasters want to keep their costs down as much as possible.
This is where royalty free music libraries can help. Thankfully, there are many resources out there that can provide you with the best royalty free music you can use for free as your podcast intro.
In this article, we will look at how to get free podcast intro music.
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Why Do I Need Music For My Podcast?
Podcasts are all about the spoken word so you might be asking why music is even needed.
Music can help set the tone of your podcast and act as a natural way to change segments throughout the episode.
Choosing the right intro music, outro music, and theme song will set the mood, invite your listeners into the world of your podcast, and help set the tone of what they are about to listen to (also see, ‘What Music Should I Use For A Podcast?‘).
It can help identify your brand and if it’s especially catchy and memorable, it can become something your listeners actively want to listen to.
Important Terms To Know
When you find royalty free music for podcasts, you will find the music listed under a few different terms.
It’s important to know what these terms mean as they explain how you can use the music.
Please keep in mind that these are general definitions and sometimes the fine details can be different. You should always check the usage rules for any piece of music before you use it.
Creative Commons Music
In the case of most music that is under the umbrella of Creative Commons, you can use it freely as long as you credit the artist.
This is one type of royalty free podcast music (see Getty music) that you should definitely always check the finer details of as how you can choose the song might differ.
For example, some Creative Commons music will allow you to edit or manipulate the song, whereas others strictly prohibit it.
Many have exclusions against being used for commercial use too, so make sure you check everything first.
ALSO SEE: How Can I Add Music To My Podcast?
Royalty-Free Music
In the case of music that is royalty-free (See also: Spotify 2024: New Royalty Rules Threaten Indie Artists), you don’t need to pay the artist royalties if you play or use their theme music. You don’t own the copyright, but will have the license to use the song.
Some royalty-free songs require you to make a one-off payment to use the song and others ask for a continuing subscription.
Once you’ve paid this, you will be able to use the song as many times as you want.
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Public Domain Music
When songs are written, they are immediately copyrighted so that other people can’t use them without permission.
However, this copyright only exists for a limited period of time so eventually, songs enter the public domain and can be used by anyone for any purpose.
These rules can differ from country to country but in general, any musical compositions made before 1925 are considered public domain.
Where Can I Find Free Music For My Podcast Intro?
Let’s look at some resources where you can find free music for your podcast.
Freebeats.io
Freebeats music library offers a variety of free backing tracks that can be used as the base for songs but also as background music on podcasts and videos.
You will need to credit the website and to get an untagged mp3 you will need to follow the site on social media. To get the WAV file, you will need to pay for a membership.
However, if all you need is an mp3 that you can use on your podcast, you can get this from Freebeats without paying anything at all.
Silverman Sound Studios
Like Freebeats, you can download tracks for free from Silverman Sound Studios with a few, small, caveats.
You will need to credit the Studio for the song and can only get the mp3 version.
There are a few other paid tiers that will let you download the WAV files and use the songs without the need for credit.
The songs available on Silverman Sound Studios are very varied and you can search via different tags for the sound that you need.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a large selection of royalty-free music that doesn’t require any credit to download.
You can easily navigate and download the mp3s of each song without the need for any memberships or sign-up processes.
You can search this very comprehensive and free music archive as you can search for artist, title, genre, mood, and more.
There is even a category just for songs that would fit well as podcast music. Pixabay has one of the largest free music archives you will find.
Free Music Archive
As the name suggests, this is an archive of royalty free tracks that you can use. You don’t need to credit the artists if you use music that is posted on this site.
You can search for songs by genre, feeling, energy, or duration and choose either instrumental or vocal tracks.
You do need to pay for a membership to use the music on the site and there are several levels available. For many people, the lowest level will be all that you need.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we looked at why including music in your podcast is important and why you should have a podcast intro.
We explained the difference between the terms Creative Commons, royalty-free, and public domain and also introduced several sites that allow you to download music for free for your podcast.
We hope that this article has answered all of your questions about using free music for your podcast intro and that you’re able to find the perfect intro for your podcast.
