YouTube Audio Library — The Ultimate Guide To Usage, Merits, and Demerits
Finding the right music for your content projects can be challenging. With tons of licensing concerns, creators may often feel overwhelmed. Youtube’s Free Music Library saves the day by providing music for your podcasting and video projects. These tracks are prepared by professionals and can suit different vibes, moods, and scenes.
Types Of Music Available
Music on the web is primarily classified into 3 licensing categories. Before we talk about the Free Youtube Music Library, let’s try to understand what these licenses, are and how they affect music used on the internet.
1 — Public Domain Music
Every piece of music that is freely available for everyone in the world to download and use falls under this category. Mostly, the intellectual property claim for public domain music has either expired, been forfeited, or been renounced.
As a thumb rule, when the copyright on a work expires, you can use it for any purpose without compensating the publisher, the artist, or another institution.
Did You Know : You can check if a song is public domain via this website.
2 — Creative Commons License Music
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that works to solve legal obstacles to information and creative sharing. Simply put, assets on Creative Commons are contributed, available to use with some conditions. If you simply download a creative commons license song and put it into your film, you may have to face copyright claim(s).
The best way to avoid this is to modify the song and then use it. However, a mechanical license may still be required. For example, if you like a track and wish to use it in your content, you can download it and make certain changes to it and use it. The changes may include a new bassline, or a new guitar solo or riff, a different arpeggio pattern, a creative arrangement of the song, or a new set of vocals.
However, as this can be a long process, people often prefer using royalty-free music.
3 — Royalty-free Music
This music is free to use for videos and filmmaking projects. However, getting a royalty-free license may also be a challenge at times, as it’s not readily available. To get a royalty-free music license, you may need to consult the copyright owner.
YouTube music library offers a vast pool of free stock audios and royalty-free music that you can listen to, and use in your content. As this music is royalty-free, you won’t be facing any copyright claims for this music.
Now, Let’s Talk About The Library
YouTube’s audio library allows you to scroll through numerous royalty-free music tracks — the choices include thousands of sound effects and songs to suit your content. There are filters and a search bar to navigate through and use tracks for your videos. Additionally, if you know the track you are looking for, you can simply place the keyword, artist, or track title in the search bar. You can sort your search results by clicking the filter button next to the artist, genre or moods of individual tracks. Apart from this, you can click the star icon and save your favorite tracks. If you click on the Starred tab, you will be able to see your list of favorite tracks.
If you find something you like, you can simply download it and add the track to your video without worrying about getting slapped with a copyright strike or losing your revenue to copyright owners.
The Finer Details
Some audio tracks require attribution, so you must properly credit the artist in the description of your video. To access the attribution info, click on the Creative Commons icon under the “License Type” column, copy the attribution details from the pop-up window and paste them into your video description. Many tracks on YouTube are listed as not requiring attribution and, in this instance, it completely depends on the copyright owner.
You MUST contact the artist if you wish to use the music on any project outside of YouTube.
How Music Is Tagged And Classified
Tagging is done in the library to help organize and classify the music tracks, making it easier for users to find the tracks that are most relevant for their needs. The tags provide information about the music, such as the genre, mood, artist, and title, which can help users narrow down their search and find the tracks that are most suitable for their videos. Additionally, tags can help YouTube and its partners track the usage of the music tracks and ensure that the rights holders are properly credited and compensated.
The tracks are classified by genre and mood, and they are also tagged with relevant metadata, such as the artist name, track title, and duration. The classification and tagging of the tracks is done by YouTube and its partners to make it easier for users to find the music they need for their videos.
A user could use the genre filter to search for only electronic tracks, or the mood filter to search for tracks that are energetic and upbeat. The filters can be combined to create more specific search queries, making it easier to find the exact music that is needed for a particular project.
What You Should Be Careful About
YouTube’s Audio Library contains no-copyright music and royalty-free audio. However, even if you have a free licence to use the audio tracks, you must obey the platform’s rules and regulations or you will be in breach of the licence.
Attribution and Ownership
Terms of service are periodically updated, so keep an eye out for any changes. You should also respect the regulations outlined in the official YouTube Audio Library channel. In order to attribute the track’s artist, you have to include the complete credits in the video description. That implies you can’t delete any of the attribution language, just use it in part, or add parts to it.
Modifications and Sale
You cannot make modifications to the audio track without the artist’s permission. If you want to remix a song or utilise a portion of it in another audio file, you must first obtain permission from the original artist. You are also not permitted to sell the music, as ownership lies with the artist.
Cross-Platform Use
To use the music in any website other than YouTube, contact the original artist and obtain the appropriate permissions. Failure to follow this principle may result in a copyright lawsuit or strike. Any questions or concerns about utilizing the track are often best answered by contacting the artist. It is always a good idea to double-check the permissions for each piece of music you intend to utilize, since there may be occasions when you are not permitted to use the track outside of YouTube. It is also not permitted to download the audio track using a third-party programme. The only option available in the YouTube Audio Library is to download.
Merits Of Using YouTube Audio Library
Reduced Copyright Strikes
The audio tracks are available under a free licence, which means you may listen to them for free as long as you follow the rules. You won’t have to worry about copyright concerns with the audio as long as you follow the YouTube Terms of Service and the rules for using music from the Audio Library.
Affordably Priced Solution
You can be on a limited budget if you’re just starting started with YouTube videos. For inexperienced content creators wishing to add relevant sounds to their videos, the YouTube Audio Library is a low-cost choice. While major content makers may have the means to invest in original and licenced music tracks, the sounds available in the Library are an excellent place to begin if you’re just starting started.
Lower Demonetization Risk
If you use audio from the Audio Library in your videos, you may still monetize them on YouTube, as long as you qualify for monetization in the first place. The main benefit is that using sounds from the Library will not result in your video being demonetized later on, as long as proper recognition is given and permission is obtained for any alterations.
Demerits Of Using YouTube Audio Library
The Options Are Limited
The YouTube Audio Library contains close to 1,600 audio recordings. While you have these options, keep in mind that other YouTube video creators have access to the same music and sound effects that you have. This makes creating videos that truly stand out more challenging. Because YouTube Audio Library is used by many YouTubers, your final products may be unable to stand out from the crowd.
The Quality Has A Glass Ceiling
The accessible tunes in the library are fairly dated and lack lustre. Furthermore, the bulk of the songs are not created by esteemed professionals. That becomes a problem if you want to take your content to the next level —you’d ideally want music that makes your subscribers feel the video, keeps them coming back for more. High-quality stock music is rare to find, and continues to pose workflow interruptions to the modern creator.
It’s A Hassle To Find Something Fitting
You’ll have to go through and try a little bit of everything until you find something that works, which might take a long time (especially if you’re a perfectionist). You might not be able to find music or sound effects that are a good fit for the video you’re creating.
The search functionality of YouTube Audio Library does not help streamline the searching, filtering, and editing process. The waveforms are not visible, the names may not convey anything about a song, the moods can be wrongly tagged — these are just some of the problems that take up a lot of time while using YouTube audio library.
Compatibility Issues With Other Platforms
If you decide to reshare video snippets on Instagram to promote your channel and encourage people to view the entire video, and it includes a library track, you must provide correct attribution as stipulated by YouTube guidelines. YouTube does not expressly forbid producers from utilising audio from its Library on other services, but Creative Commons license terms are also applicable. The terms of usage could vary for some tracks and specific platforms and countries, which is a new task to keep up with every time you are acquiring a song.
The YouTube Audio Library has a wide range of music and sound effects that you may freely use in your videos. Although this low-cost option may assist you in creating unique YouTube videos (and monetising them), ensure that you understand and follow the criteria to avoid copyright breaches. For content creators and filmmakers, YouTube’s audio library is an excellent musical resource. To overcome its shortcomings, you can acquire royalty-free music from Beatoven.ai, an AI-enabled tool that allows users to make music for their creative purposes in a few clicks.
So whether you are making an intense video, or a comic short, Beatoven.ai allows you to set the tone, mood and tempo, and choose the genre you want your music in — much like with the YouTube Audio Library!
