All the tracks on the website include the full song, loop sets (up to 16 different loops per track), and/or short clips (15 sec, 30 sec, and 60 sec). The site's interface isn't crowded with information. The signposting is as clear as it gets. You don't even have to register to purchase tracks.
The prices are relatively steep.
PremiumBeat is up there with the best stock music sites on the market today. It is as good for music makers as it is for customers. You won't be able to find so much quality original content anywhere else. It doesn't hurt that the website's layout is straightforward and the model is as streamlined as they come.
$49
Available
Images, stock footage, 3D loops, After Effect templates
Available
N/A
Phone, email, FAQ, blog
The platform offers over 500,000 tracks to choose from. You can select individual tracks (starting at $15 per track), buy pre-purchased credit bundles, or go all-in with monthly ($190) or annual ($950) memberships. The site lets you select/sift through tracks based on tempo.
No discounts for large or multiple purchases.
Pond5 hosts one of the biggest stock music libraries out there. Whether you’re working on a short promo video, corporate shoot or commercial, the company's platform offers stock music for just about any project. The company gives media creators the tools necessary to thrive, including stats on listens, likes, and add to carts.
$35
Available
Stock footage, images, illustrations, After Effects templates, 3D models
Available
N/A
Help center, phone, email, blog, social media presence
The layout presents curated galleries that guide you through the available content. Signing up and payment options allow for quick access to the content the customer requires. You can choose annual billing and save on the already affordable plans.
It can be difficult to find the right track at times.
MotionElements is all about flexibility and streamlining your interactions with the platform. You'll always be able to find the right track for your project. Plus, the company pays artists at least 50% of the royalties. There aren't too many stock music sites that sell music as well as MotionElements.
$15
Available
Stock footage, animations, images, illustrations, GIFs, After Effects templates, Premiere Pro templates, Apple Motion templates, vectors
Unavailable
N/A
Help center, email
The prices depend on the size of your potential target audience. The song lists include the track's artist and title, a waveform (that you can scrub through), mood, song duration, type (vocal or instrumental), and licensing shortcut button.
The library is relatively small.
Soundstripe is an excellent service for creative freelancers in general. It is also really good for independent/commercial filmmakers, wedding videographers, and marketing agencies. The prices alone make the platform attractive to various customers on a tight budget. The user interface is great too.
$10
Available
N/A
Unavailable
N/A
Live chat, FAQ, phone, email blog
The Wide License will let you use the company's audio products in Internet broadcasting, corporate trade shows, regional TV/radio broadcasting, national TV/radio broadcasting, international TV/radio broadcasting, live theatrical performances, feature films, games, and other applications (mobile, desktop, other platforms).
The interface is a little bloated.
LuckStock isn't the all-around best stock music site available these days. The platform definitely has its moments though. You don't have to pay a king's ransom to purchase a few songs. It won't take you too much time to find/select the right audio track(s). The sound effect library is nothing to scoff at.
$25
Available
N/A
Unavailable
N/A
Knowledge base, email, social media presence
Stock Music on Steroids
The people behind PremiumBeat dub their services "stock music on steroids". As far as we're concerned, that description is about as accurate as they come. A subsidiary of Shutterstock, the world's biggest image library, PremiumBeat puts quality over quantity. We're not saying that the company's selection is lacking though. It is up there with the biggest names in the business.
But it is really the company's handpicked, royalty-free, limited selection music in both traditional and modern styles that allows the company to edge out its competition in a major fashion. PremiumBeat's library is curated by music experts. It offers you that nice polished feel you’ll only usually get from those big production houses.
All tracks on the website are exclusive and cleared for copyright. If you hear something on PremiumBeat, good luck finding the same tune anywhere else. The only exception is classical music but that's beside the point. The company's experts do not automatically accept all submitted music. They're busy constantly sifting through their tracks and eliminating music when necessary.
You won't have to deal with flagging on YouTube, Vimeo, and other similar platforms. The company's copyright-clear music allows for the smoothest experience on just about every major video sharing site.
Streamlined Model
As much as content matters, any online platform is only as good as its interface. That is precisely why we've no issues putting PremiumBeat so high up on our list. The site's search functionality and layout make it particularly easy to quickly find what you’re after, which is great since you want to find the right track without wasting hours trawling through unnecessary options.
The aforementioned layout isn't crowded with information, which is always a plus in our book. The signposting is as clear as it gets. You don't even have to register to purchase tracks. The company's model is as streamlined for customers as it is for content creators.
Plus, we really like the website's overall look and feel. It is massive but, at the same time, not clunky at all. It isn't bloated with unnecessary tools and features. It doesn't overwhelm you. Everything is right there at your fingertips.
Not Just Tracks
As far as the pricing is concerned, PremiumBeat is surprisingly affordable. The audio tracks always cost $49 per track. The length does not matter. Of course, we're talking about standard, non-commercial, web-based license. You'll have to cough up $199 per track for that premium license that covers revenue-generating content. But that's always the case with these resources.
All the tracks on the website include the full song, loop sets (up to 16 different loops per track), and/or short clips (15 sec, 30 sec, and 60 sec). The platform has an excellent audio track selection as well as countless sound effects (SFX) to choose from.
Other than that, with Shutterstock behind it, PremiumBeat will let you access stock footage and stock imagery too. There're even After Effects templates available at RocketStock, another Shutterstock subsidiary.
All things considered, PremiumBeat is up there with the best stock music sites on the market today. It is as good for music makers as it is for customers. You won't be able to find so much quality original content anywhere else. It doesn't hurt that the website's layout is straightforward and the model is as streamlined as they come.
A Tune for Every Project
Pond5 markets itself as the “world’s biggest collection of royalty-free stock video and media assets”. The company isn't just in the stock music business. They sell everything from stock footage and photography to illustrations, sound effects, After Effects templates, and 3D models. There's very little that you won't be able to find on the company's website.
At the same time, Pond5 is arguably the biggest stock music platform out there. The company's marketplace offers over 500,000 tracks to choose from. As you would imagine, there're tracks there for just about any project.
Pond5 covers just about every subject, including but not limited to Action, Acoustic, Aggressive, Ambient, Calm, Chill Out, Cinematic, Corporate, Dance, Dark, Festive, Folk, Funk, Funny, Happy, Hip Hop, Holiday, Inspirational, Jazz, Kids, Orchestral, Patriotic, Production, Reggae, Rock, Romantic, Sad, Suspense, Video Game, World, War, etc.
Search and Categorizing System
Pond5 definitely banks on its huge and diverse stock media selection first and foremost. At the same time, the company has other things going for it. For one, the website has an excellent search and categorizing system. You can sort the tracks by duration, upload date, artist, price, page views, number of sales, etc.
The music preview feature here is fast and intuitive. You'll be able to quickly demo a lot of music.
When you find the right track, you can download a watermarked preview, add it to a collection, or buy a license and download the music immediately.
Needless to say, having the option to sample the track before you buy it is huge.
You can select individual tracks (starting at $15 per track), buy pre-purchased credit bundles, or go all-in with monthly ($190) or annual ($950) memberships.
As for the search system, the biggest standout feature is definitely the Tempo setting. Using that setting, you can select/sift through tracks based on tempo. At the same time, we really like the additional filters too, especially the Public Domain and non-P.R.O. settings.
The Tools Necessary to Succeed
Pond5 is great for customers. It is even better for musicians though. The website is intuitive and accessible to beginners. You can batch upload your songs (the company's servers are usually really fast). It lets you use batch templates and quickly make batch edits to songs. The company's platform automatically inserts watermarks, so you don’t have to waste your time on that too.
They offer contributors a customizable artist account. You can set your own prices. The affiliate program is nothing to complain about (especially compared to its direct competition). The review process for new music is quick and straightforward enough.
Other than that, the platform provides artists with extensive data on sales trends. It doesn't force an exclusive license onto contributors, meaning you're free to sell your music on other websites.
Long story short, Pond5 hosts one of the biggest stock music libraries out there. Whether you’re working on a short promo video, corporate shoot or commercial, the company's platform offers stock music for just about any project. The company gives media creators the tools necessary to thrive, including the best statistics on listens, likes, and add to carts.
Select Your Track
MotionElements has it all. The company's platform is home to stock video footage, animation, images, illustrations, GIFs, After Effects templates, Premiere Pro templates, Apple Motion templates, vectors, sound effects, and music. We're not going to cover MotionElements' extensive media library here. We're here to talk about stock music share sites and MotionElements is as good as the next platform on that front.
As far as we're concerned, it all starts with the music selection. MotionElements excels at that. The company's search engine is absolutely nothing to scoff at.
But the biggest difference probably stems from its categorization. You can select the right track based on your mood, choosing from Action, Ambient, Calm, Epic, Funny, Futuristic, Happy, Horror, Inspirational, Mysterious, Romantic, Sad, Sexy, and Stylish.
You can go with genre and select anything from Ambient, Ballroom, Blues, Christian, Classical, Country, Easy Listening, Electronic, Experimental and Abstract, Folk, Hip Hop, Japanese, Jazz, Latin, Oriental, Pop, Reggae and Ska, Rhythm & Blues, as well as RockWorld.
Last but not least, the platform lets you decide based on category. You can go with Anime, Battle, Cinematic, Corporate, Game, Holiday, Kids, News, Workout. Needless to say, you shouldn't have any issues finding the right track for just about any purpose/application.
Choose Your Plan
As it is always the case, MotionElements lets you select individual tracks and pay for them separately. More often than not, the prices are fair enough and you'll unlikely face any issues buying/downloading different tracks. However, we would say that the company's subscription plans are where it's at.
There are 3 different plan categories available right now. The first one includes music, After Effects templates, and Premiere Pro templates. The second category is reserved for stock footage and Apple Motion. The last category covers images, GIFs, vectors, and Lotties. Naturally, we will not be covering the last two categories in this review and rather focus on the first one.
There are 2 monthly plans that concern music. The Starter plan will cost you 29 bucks per month and let you download 3 media elements (again, music, After Effects templates, or Premiere Pro templates). It gives you access to the music subscription library that includes tracks aren't available for download otherwise. You'll also be able to access the After Effects and Premiere Pro subscription libraries. These media elements are all royalty-free, meaning you buy them once for unlimited worldwide use in as many projects as necessary. You can cancel anytime you want.
The Professional plan is the same except that the cost goes to 89 bucks per month and the media elements that the cost covers go from 3 to 10. Needless to say, $10 per media element is not a bad deal.
Curated Galleries
The plans are great. We didn't even mention the fact that you can choose annual billing and subscribe to the Starter and Professional plans for $19 and $59 respectively.
Other than that, there isn't much left to cover here. The website's design looks fresh and modern. The navigation part is easy. The layout presents curated galleries that guide you through the available content. Signing up and payment options allow for quick access to the content the customer requires.
In short, MotionElements is all about flexibility and streamlining your interactions with the platform. You'll always be able to find the right track for your project. Plus, the company pays artists at least 50% of the royalties. There aren't too many stock music sites that sell music as well as MotionElements.
A Different Approach
Soundstripe is a little different compared to every other platform on the list. The company's library isn't as expansive as its big-name competition. At the same time, Soundstripe, in many ways, is a much more practical, affordable, and streamlined service. Of course, in this business, affordable is a relative term. That is especially the case with Soundstripe. The people behind this stock music site will charge differently depending on your project's target audience. More specifically, the size of that target audience.
You'll have to pay $0.00 (you'll still have to pay for the subscription plan but we will cover those in a moment) for any song provided your project isn't going to reach over 50k viewers. Planning to hit somewhere between 50k and a million viewers? You'll have to cough up $67 bucks per license. Over a million viewers and the price goes from 69 bucks to $297.00.
You can purchase songs without subscribing to the company's services. However, the problem is that you'll be purchasing single-project licenses, meaning you'll have to pay the same price again and again whenever you feel like using the same song in a different video.
Curated Playlists
Now, let's cover the plans. First things first, here isn't that much difference between them. The Standard plan will cost you $19 per month or $11.25 billed annually. It offers unlimited music licenses, curated playlists on-demand, as well as access to new songs coming every week.
It's not bad but, as far as we're concerned, the Premium plan is much better from the price-value perspective. In addition to the same perks, the plan offers access to 30,000+ sound effects, pre-released music, and over 1,000 songs with stems. It will cost you just $21 per month. You will have to go with the annual billing though.
We really like the curated playlists. At the same time, the company's search settings/filters are pretty impressive too. You can search by genre, mood, instruments, duration, the list goes on.
These memberships cover broadcast and commercial use too. Yes. Your license covers pretty much any video use. The only restriction pertains to video content that is pornographic in nature.
The Right Information at a Glance
The platform's new-and-improved interface is as sleek and easy to understand as the next best thing. From a design standpoint, the layout is very well-organized, all while providing the necessary information at a glance. The song lists include the track's artist and title, a waveform (that you can scrub through), mood, song duration, type (vocal or instrumental), and licensing shortcut button.
You're able to navigate different sections using the left sidebar. There, you'll find the necessary options for browsing the company's music library as well as managing your playlists and/or favorited tracks. You can follow specific artists or playlists to see new relevant content. Other than that, the sidebar features an account management section. This is where you'll be handling billing, private settings, etc.
To bring it home, Soundstripe is an excellent service for creative freelancers in general. It is also really good for independent/commercial filmmakers, wedding videographers, and marketing agencies. The prices alone make the platform attractive to various customers on a tight budget. The user interface is great too.
It's All About Music
LuckStock isn't the biggest name in the stock music business. The company is getting there though. There are over 120,000 royalty-free tracks and sound effects available on the website today. The platform does not rival Pond5 in the quantity department and it isn't as attractive as PremiumBeats on the quality/exclusivity front.
On the flip side, the company's price rates are far more sparing. The aforementioned resources aren't necessarily expensive but they're definitely not cheap either. LuckStock, on the other hand, is a lot more affordable. The prices there start at 5-6 bucks per sound effect and your average track costs somewhere around $25.
The other advantage that the website offers is that LuckStock doesn't delve into the footage/image territory. As far as we're concerned, this is an advantage because it doesn't bloat the website with unnecessary media elements.
At the same time, the website is a little clunky. It isn't necessarily bloated but the information is presented in a slightly inconvenient fashion and the interface feels a little outdated.
Top Authors and Featured Items
It is a shame that you cannot purchase an item without creating an account at Luckstock. Luckily, it is not that difficult to do that. Go to the "Create Account" page to register. It shouldn't take you more than two minutes. After that, the platform offers several ways to find stock music, including the usual search engine approach as well as browsing the platform's multiple categories. At the same time, there is the Popular Files page as well as Top Authors and Featured Items pages. There, you will be able to easily and effortlessly find various awesome tracks.
Done with the search? Now, you can select the right license from the tab on the right side of the item preview page. You can add that item to the shopping cart or purchase the track directly via the "Buy Now" button. The payment options are more or less the usual drill. You can use your PayPal balance. You can pay with your credit card. You can deposit money to your account balance using PayPal or credit card. The process/progress is pretty much straightforward after that.
The Right License
LuckStock lets you purchase a single-use license as well as unlimited-use license. Just make sure to select the "Unlimited Standard License" option in the Shopping Cart.
Other than that, the company offers standard and wide licenses. The Standard License will let you use the audio in/on/as Internet videos, (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), commercial as well as non-commercial websites, internal corporate presentations, student films, in-store background music, podcasts, and music-on-hold.
In addition to everything we've listed above, the Wide License covers use pertaining to commercial Internet broadcasting, corporate trade shows, regional TV and radio broadcasting, national TV and radio broadcasting, international TV and radio broadcasting, live theatrical performances, feature films, games and other applications (mobile, desktop, other platforms), and just about every other application that does not involve re-selling the company's royalty-free music and audio products.
All in all, LuckStock isn't the all-around best stock music site available these days. The platform definitely has its moments though. You don't have to pay a king's ransom to purchase a few songs. It won't take you too much time to find/select the right audio track(s). The sound effect library is nothing to scoff at.
Infographics
What Is a Stock Music Site?
Looking to put together an awesome presentation? Need to finish that passion project that you've been working on day and night for the past months? Sure, you probably can't do that without some stock footage. At the same time, the audio part is just as important as the video part. In fact, shooting your own footage is nothing compared to creating your own tracks/sound effects. It is just way too time-consuming. There are free stock music sites available out there but they aren't even remotely as good as any platform on this list.
Here, you will find the best stock audio websites with the best selection, rates, customer service, etc. These sites will be able to help various artists realize the wildest dreams. They're great for filmmakers. From unique sound effects to hype music, 80's music, techno, indie, sci-fi, dubstep, and action music, there's something for everyone here. You'll be able to access pop songs as well as classical music. The inspirational tracks available at these websites are great for trailers and games too.
Our audio editing software review might come in handy too.