Today I want to share my favorite music licensing sites for wedding films. I made a video like this about five years ago, but things have changed and there are new websites to talk about that you may not know of.
So regardless of whether you are a seasoned pro who feels like you have run out of songs to license and you are looking for somewhere new, or you are brand new to filming weddings and looking for the best bang for your buck, this is going to have something for you.
Incidentally, for the sake of ethics, I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by any of these sites. But I am an affiliate for pretty much all of them, so if you do sign up using my links I get a commission, and I would appreciate that.
Musicbed, My Favorite
Musicbed is one of the longest running music licensing sites and I have been using them since about 2011. What sets them apart, and the reason they are my favorite, is a huge variety of music that is all very high quality. And unlike some of the other sites we are about to talk about, Musicbed excels at having not only great instrumental music but great lyrical music too. So if you need great songs with vocals, this is my first choice.
But I am going to warn you now, you are going to have to pay for it, because Musicbed is the most expensive site on this list. They offer subscriptions based on how you want to use the music, and for wedding films at the time of writing it is about $1,100 per year. I think they are completely worth it for the quality of songs they offer.
Track Club
This is a brand new site I have not talked about before, and it is interesting. If you watched my old music licensing video you will know one of my favorite sites used to be Marmoset, which still exists and still offers great music.
The reason Marmoset stopped being my go-to is that they never offered a subscription like these other sites, where you pay a monthly fee and download unlimited music. Instead you were paying roughly $100 per track to license a song for a wedding film.
All of that has now changed, because Marmoset created a brand new site called Track Club, where you can find a ton of the songs available on Marmoset and license an unlimited number of them with a monthly subscription. Marmoset is finally on the subscription train.
There are two big reasons I recommend them. The first is that Marmoset, and therefore Track Club, has always had one of the most unique libraries out there with very interesting sounding musicians. Maybe it is because they are in Portland, so they are separated from the Nashville sound a lot of artists fall into. Or maybe it is just that Portland is weird in the best possible way. Either way, if you want songs that sound different from anywhere else, check them out.
The second is a feature called MixLab, which lets you take almost any song you license from them and remix it right in your web browser. It is so cool that it deserves its own video, and I did end up making one.
Last thing about Track Club: the pricing is very competitive. They have dramatically undercut Musicbed, at $465 per year for a business plan at the time of writing, which is really impressive.
Soundstripe, The Best Value
Now for some budget friendly options, starting with one of the cheapest by far. Soundstripe costs $240 per year at the time of writing, but their biggest differentiator is that they also offer one of the cheapest monthly options for wedding filmmakers.
That means if you need to license songs for a project but you are not a full time wedding filmmaker, and you may not have anything to edit for a few months, you can pay for one month, cancel, and then resubscribe later whenever you need more music. Which is a great way to save money.
A Note On Cancelling
To be clear, because a lot of people asked this last time I made a video like this: with any of the sites here, do not worry about cancelling your subscription. Any song you have already licensed and already used in a video stays licensed in perpetuity. Even after you cancel, that license is still legal and valid, and your video is still protected from copyright claims on YouTube.
Back to Soundstripe. Not only is it the best bang for your buck, it has a great selection, and if you are just getting started you are going to love it. The one knock is that they do not have the widest variety of lyrical tracks, so after a year or two of licensing from them you may find yourself wanting more variety.
One extra benefit: if you sign up for their Pro plan, which you would need anyway for wedding films, you also get access to thousands of sound effects. And they have a Pro Plus plan that includes stock footage too.
Artlist
Artlist is similar to Soundstripe in that it is great value, at $200 per year for unlimited music downloads that also include sound effects. Where they differ is that, maybe because they are based in Israel, I find they have a wider selection of songs, and especially if you are looking for music for weddings from other cultures around the world, Artlist is one of my go-to recommendations.
Where they struggle, similar to Soundstripe, is that they do not have a huge selection of lyrical songs. There are tons of instrumentals, but they are not quite there on vocals. Regardless, it is great value, though keep in mind you have to pay yearly. They do not offer a monthly option like Soundstripe.
MusicVine
Here is a site I have never talked about before, and you need to be aware of it, especially if you are in the UK. Hello Philip Bloom and my other UK filmmaker friends.
My favorite thing about MusicVine is the searching. Their biggest strength is that they have realized traditional genres like rock or country are not the best way to find music for a film. So instead, MusicVine lets you search by the type of video you are making and shows you music that fits it. And they recently added Wedding as a style, with a lot of great options in there.
Even better, if you film weddings from other cultures you can search by culture or locale, so you can find Middle Eastern music, or Indian music, or Latin, or whatever you need, quickly.
On pricing, they offer a Pro Lite subscription for about $240 per year that includes unlimited downloads for wedding films, which is a pretty solid deal.
Speaking of which, This Music Licensing Site Lets Your REMIX Songs In Your Browser is worth a look too.
Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound has been around a while and was one of the first licensing sites to really embrace YouTube, which is why you have probably seen other YouTubers promote it and why it is on this list. At $220 per year you get a good selection of tracks and sound effects.
Like Soundstripe they offer a month-at-a-time option, but it costs $50 per month, which is quite a bit more expensive. One big plus is that they also offer a one month trial with no strings attached, so you can literally sign up, license some tracks, cancel the trial, and those licenses are still valid. It is a great way to test the library.
As for weaknesses, and the main reason I would take that free trial before committing, their library is significantly lacking in lyrical songs, more so than anything else on this list. If you want more than instrumentals you are going to have to really dig, and you will likely run out of options pretty fast.
Audiio
One more to talk about, and that is Audiio. You are probably thinking, audio, Matt? Like sound? No. Audiio. A-U-D-I-I-O. Yeah, it is a weird spelling.
Audiio’s main claim to fame is that they offer a lifetime music subscription for a one time payment. At the time of writing you can pay $299 once and get unlimited access to their entire catalog, which they add to daily, for the rest of your life. It is kind of a crazy deal, which is why they are on this list. Their selection is pretty solid overall, but in this case it really always comes back to that price, and if you can find $300 of value in their library it is totally worth signing up.
What About Popular Top 40 Music?
What about the songs actually being played on the radio? Is there a way to license those? The answer is yes, there are sites that offer it, and I have an entire separate video about licensing Top 40 music.
Which Should You Sign Up For?
There are a ton of options out there, so how do you decide where to spend your money?
If you are just getting started, that is pretty easy. I would start with Soundstripe, because you can sign up one month at a time and dip your toes into music licensing without spending a lot.
After that, I would consider Artlist, MusicVine, Audiio or Epidemic Sound. These all range from $200 to $300 per year and all of them give you a much wider variety to choose from.
Then, if you feel like you have exhausted those libraries, or you want a wider variety of lyrical songs, or you have been filming weddings a long time and you are after the best of the best, I would look at Track Club and Musicbed. Musicbed has been around a while and has a huge variety, which is why I love and recommend them. But I am betting you probably do not know about Track Club and have not used them yet, so if you want new and unique songs you cannot find anywhere else, go check them out.
If I missed any sites, or there are others I should cover in the future, leave me a comment and let me know.
And lastly, since this entire post has been about wedding filmmaking, I have put together a free guide called Level Up Your Wedding Films, which walks you through how to take your wedding films from good to great. Completely free.
Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!