Should we have free music for Youtube videos?

If you are a Youtuber, you are most likely no stranger to the importance of having good music in a video. At one point or another, you have probably been on the hunt for royalty-free or copyright-free music for Youtube. But why does it have to be so complicated? How can you legally use music in Youtube videos? How do you avoid getting slapped with a copyright claim? And is royalty-free music really a good thing?

How does royalty-free music work?

Some music-tech companies use a business model where they buy the financial rights to a song to become the sole owner of the music. They do this by paying a lump sum to the artist, leaving them with no choice but to renounce their royalties and copyrights.

This is because buying the rights to a song is easier than getting into the complicated jungle of music law, and a lot cheaper in the case of more unknown artists. While this can work as a viable solution, it leaves two main problems. 

What are royalties?

Firstly, you are not only taking away the artists' rights to their music, but you also take away one of the artists' main sources of income – royalties. Royalties are the financial compensation a holder of intellectual property rights - an artist, for example - receives when the rights to use their copyrighted work is licensed to someone else.

"Just as in other professions, we need to make sure that songwriters are paid for their work. The key to a thriving music industry is that royalties flow back to the creators, which allows them to keep writing and producing. Thanks to Cora Music, we finally have a solution for this on Youtube", says Peter Lindström, Director Members & Market at STIM.

Secondly, this only works with unknown music. If you want to use the music you hear on the radio in your videos on Youtube, you are in for disappointment. Buying the rights to a well-known and well-loved song can be extremely expensive, not to mention an administrative nightmare.

Is royalty-free music bad?

Usually, getting paid for the job you do is considered to be a matter of course. Unfortunately, anyone who works in the creative industry knows that is not always the case. Getting paid in exposure, or people and companies not understanding the worth you provide, is a recurring event whether you are a Youtuber or a musician. So there should be a mutual understanding between Youtubers and artists - everyone deserves to get paid for the job they perform, and everyone deserves to own the rights to their work.

What if I don’t monetize my videos?

Now, we want to be fair. Maybe you are using Youtube as a hobby, posting videos for fun, and not making any money from your channel. In that case, you might not have the funds to make artists' royalties a priority, and that is ok. But if you are a part of the creative industry and monetizing your Youtube content, you have more power than you think. Would it not be great to know that while you get paid for your videos, you are also supporting and helping artists get paid continuously?

How to legally use music in videos

Luckily, using music legally and ethically on Youtube does not have to be complicated anymore! We swallowed the bitter pill and entered that complicated jungle of music law, and we came out of it with a solution! We found a way to offer you the well-known, popular music you hear on the radio to use in your Youtube videos. At the same time, we make sure the artists also get the royalties they deserve. It is a win-win for all!

“We’ve done all the work and made all the necessary agreements with rightsholders, and we’ll handle all the royalty payments. Cora Music is a solution to make it easy for everyone to use copyright protected music in Youtube videos. It’s an exchange between two creative communities: quality music for video producers, decent royalties for music creators. This is really the first time this is possible in a solution that works for everyone", says Malte Andreasson, CEO of Cora Music.

Where can I find music for Youtube videos?

If you want to know more about Cora Music, you can go to this page. If you want to check out the artists that could feature in your next YouTube video, click here.