How To Choose Best Music Library For Commercial And Freelance Videos

how to choose best music library for commercial videos

Scott Dumas, a professional videographer and filmmaker, explains how to pick the best royalty free music library for commercial and freelance videography.

Scott Dumas

Hey, I’m Scott, a photographer and filmmaker from the US living in Japan. I work on all kinds of projects from in-store product videos to short interviews and documentaries, all the way up to TV commercials. After doing this for years, I can safely say that music is a big part of the job.

Do you use music in your videos?

Yes, absolutely! have you ever watched a movie without music i mean unless the content is absolutely purposely tense or silent for dramatic effect it can really take the feeling out of it and without feeling even a great movie can fall flat.

What kind of music library would be best for your needs?

When I was looking for a music library I wanted to find a place that would meet these three essential requirements:

1. The music library has a good range of music genres and effects to cover different video types from corporate to educational motivational and so on.

2. I can legally use their music in all kinds of commercial videos and freelance gigs without having to worry about breaking the copyright law or violating the licensing agreement.

3. It must be affordable, since most of my clients are small businesses and they usually have near zero real budget for music.

Of course, there are plenty of music libraries to choose from.

Some are quite good but expensive, some don’t cover the usage that I need, and some lock you into long-term subscriptions when you may only need a couple of songs every now and then.

The latter is especially important now when jobs have kind of dried up for a lot of videographers and freelancers.

Why did you choose TunePocket?

Why TunePocket? I can think of 3 good reasons:

Flexible membership plans

Many music libraries offer unlimited subscriptions and, of course, TunePocket does as well. But, like I said, what if you don’t really need that unlimited subscription?

With TunePocket you can either get the unlimited download subscription or just license a couple of soundtracks for a small project.

The best thing, you can upgrade or downgrade anytime, as your needs change.

Most affordable among similar services

The price of unlimited subscriptions with most of the popular music libraries is typically around $199 a year.

I can say from personal experience that it can be substantially higher if you want to use the music in commercial projects. Or if you want the sound effects included with your subscription.

If you take a look at Epidemic Sound, which I also occasionally use in certain cases (and for certain clients), they charge A LOT for commercial licenses.

At TunePocket you can get unlimited access to the entire catalog starting as low as $99 per year, which saves you at least 50% compared to similar subscription services.

If you don’t make lots of videos or prefer to re-use the same soundtrack in all of your videos, you can pick individual music tracks for less than $5 per download by purchasing small download packs of five or ten tracks.

That option is perfect for videographers and video creators who have less frequent work. However, if you expect to use over 20 music tracks per year, the unlimited subscription will be your best bet.

Keep in mind that clients do often change their mind and you may often need intros, outros, and sound effects to complement the main soundtrack. Thus, these 20 tracks may not necessarily cover 20 freelance gigs.

The commercial license included by default with all TunePocket membership plans.

Last but not least, TunePocket does not charge extra for the sound effects, so you get access to everything from the get-go.

Wide commercial license

Most music libraries offer tiered licenses depending on how you plan to use their content. This can considerably raise your licensing costs and limit usage in certain cases.

TunePocket aims to make licensing simple, thus there’s one license that covers pretty much any use.

You can use (and reuse!) TunePocket music in most personal or commercial media project, from YouTube and social media, to ads, commercials, film, and documentaries.

Since TunePocket has plenty of 100% royalty-free music, you can also use their tracks in offline and non-video projects. For example, at presentations, meetings, events, and for in-store music ambiance.

If you’re a freelancer working on a client video, you can download the PDF licensing certificate (showing your client’s company name) and give it to your client as proof of proper licensing.

In my experience, even the clients without a music budget or clients who hadn’t really thought about the complexities of music licensing will appreciate that!

Free infographic: How to choose best music library for commercial videos

How to choose best music library for commercial freelance videos

Takeaway

There are definitely a number of different choices when it comes to choosing the best music library for your needs. Each library may appeal to different types of video creators or different types of uses.

In my opinion, TunePocket is extremely well-rounded, thanks to its flexible membership plans, affordable pricing, and wide commercial license that covers all usage I need.

It would be a great choice for any videographer with a small budget and is more than worth a try!

Want to try TunePocket for yourself? You can browse and preview the entire library before you sign up. I hope to see you soon as a new member!

Have a question?

Post it in the comments below or contact us.

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