You've done all the hard work. You've written your video script, filmed your footage, and even added some special effects. Now it's time to add music! Music is a powerful tool for elevating your videos, but you might not know where to find the right music for your YouTube videos. Thankfully there are lots of options out there, including Loudly’s own library of royalty-free tracks.

Ask Your Favorite Musician

If you create engaging content that resonates with a musician you like, or if you have a relationship with an independent artist, you can collaborate with them to create bespoke music for your content.

Once you’ve found an artist or song that you like, contact the creator and ask if they’ll let you use their music in your video. If they're interested in the idea of creating music specifically for your channel, they may be more likely to work with you if the terms are clear. Depending on the level of exposure they can expect, most will be happy to share their creations with other content creators, as long as they get credit for it! 

Use a Music Library

If you're looking for a track that fits the mood of your video, you'll probably want to use a royalty-free track. These tracks can be added to your video with no fear of copyright claims (though every library is different so be sure to read their rules).

Using a music library like Loudly gives you worry-free access to tons of royalty-free tracks created by real musicians and producers. Loudly also offers an industry-first ability to customize tracks in real time along with your video!

This ground-breaking new feature from Loudly allows creators to match an audio soundtrack to their video and then modify aspects of the soundtrack to fit the pace, edits and changes in their video - and it all happens in real-time!

Be Mindful of Content ID Claims.

When dealing with music for YouTube videos, all YouTube creators have had their fair share of frustrations dealing with Content ID claims. When you upload any video, YouTube scans it for copyrighted material. While most claims no longer result in an immediate takedown, videos flagged with copyrighted music can lead to your potential ad revenue going to the original artist instead.

You can avoid problems by choosing music for YouTube Videos that isn't copyrighted, by using Creative Commons-licensed tracks, or of course, music libraries. If you're ever unsure of the rights of a song, you can always upload a video containing the song (as private) and wait for YouTube to scan for the rights.