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Epidemic Sound is a popular platform providing royalty-free soundtracks and sound effects to YouTubers and content creators worldwide. This article will explore the ins and outs of the service, covering everything from its pricing plans to its music library, user experience, licensing terms, and customer support. By the end of this Epidemic Sound review, you should have a clear idea of whether or not this platform is worth your investment.
What is Epidemic Sound?
Founded in 2009 in Sweden, Epidemic Sound has grown into a global music tech company with a mission to empower creativity. Boasting a library of over 35,000 songs and more than 60,000 sound effects, it provides royalty-free soundtracks to anyone with a creative project at hand.
Epidemic Sound is geared towards two distinct user groups: musicians seeking to share their work and content creators in need of unique soundtracks. This platform has successfully catered to over 5 million users, including individual creators, businesses, and even major corporations like Coca-Cola and Nike.
What is Royalty-Free Music?
Royalty-free music and sound effects are audio tracks and effects that creators can use in their projects without paying recurring royalties or licensing fees. Once a user purchases or subscribes to a royalty-free service, they can use the music and sound effects as often as they like without additional costs. This is particularly beneficial for content creators, businesses, and media producers who need high-quality audio without the hassle of ongoing payments or legal complexities.
Royalty-free music and sound effects are typically licensed for various uses, including videos, podcasts, commercials, and live streams. These licenses allow creators to legally incorporate audio into their work without worrying about copyright infringement or usage restrictions. The appeal of royalty-free music lies in its simplicity and affordability, providing a cost-effective solution for enhancing multimedia projects.
Epidemic Sound's Music Library: Thousands of Songs and Sound Effects
One of the biggest draws of Epidemic Sound is undoubtedly its expansive music library. With over 35,000 songs and more than 60,000 sound effects, users are spoilt for choice. Whether you're after a specific genre or a certain mood, the platform makes it easy for you to find the perfect sound for your project.
The music tracks are categorized into various genres, moods, and themes. Similarly, the sound effects are neatly organized into different categories, making it simple for users to navigate the platform. Moreover, if the user has a clear idea of what they're looking for, they can utilize the search feature to find music or sound effects to their liking swiftly.
All the tracks on Epidemic Sound are created by professional producers, composers, musicians, and artists. This ensures that the sound you source from this site is of the highest quality. Moreover, Epidemic Sound also has an in-house team of songwriters, producers, and sound engineers who work diligently to ensure that every track is world-class.
The Epidemic Sound User Experience
A key consideration when choosing a royalty-free music partner is the platform's user experience. Ideally, you want a service that is easy to navigate and allows you to find what you're looking for without any hassle. Epidemic Sound scores high in this regard, offering a user-friendly platform that makes finding music and sound effects a breeze.
When you land on the homepage, you're instantly shown featured playlists and themes. You can quickly shuffle through these or delve deeper into specific categories to find a track that suits your needs. The platform's search function also allows you to look for specific tracks effortlessly.
Licensing on Epidemic Sound: Worry-Free Music
All music in the Epidemic Sound catalog is royalty-free for subscribers. The subscription essentially covers the cost of a direct license with the platform, eliminating any worries about copyright infringement or other rights issues.
Epidemic Sound refers to its licensing model as worry-free, as it own the rights to all the music in its catalogue. This allows them to offer subscribers a direct license to the entire catalog, enabling users to utilize the music and sound effects as needed, without any complications.
If you need a track for a one-off production, Epidemic Sound also lets users purchase a Single Track License, perfect for users who don't need a full subscription.
How Much Does Epidemic Sound Cost?
Epidemic Sound offers three pricing plans: personal, commercial, and enterprise.
Plan | Price | Features |
Personal | $9.99/month | Billed annually ($119.88/year) Publish anywhere online Monetize 1 channel per platform Unlimited downloads Access to Epidemic Sound mobile app |
Commercial | $24.99/month | Billed annually ($299.88/year) Everything in Personal Monetize up to 3 channels per platform Publish content for clients and businesses Unlimited use in digital ads. |
Enterprise | Request a quote | Everything in Commercial Multiple user accounts All rights covered for TV shows and ads Customer Success manager and music curation Customized deal terms. |
Which Epidemic Sound Plan Should I Use?
For me, the personal plan works just fine. I would say most YouTubers and content creators should be good at using the personal plan. It is affordable and you'll never have to worry about a copyright strike or missing out on visibility or ad revenue.
However, if you are a brand who is planning on using music and sound effects for ads or other commercial purposes, the commercial plan will be best for you.
Epidemic Sound: The Final Verdict
Epidemic Sound is a comprehensive royalty-free music site with top-notch customer support and reasonable pricing plans. If you're seeking a platform that can consistently provide high-quality music and sound effects, Epidemic Sound could be the perfect choice for you and your YouTube channel and something your YouTube subscribers are sure to enjoy. It's a reliable and user-friendly platform that offers a vast library of exceptional tracks, making it an excellent choice for content creators of all kinds.
So, is Epidemic Sound worth it? Given its offerings, my experience and other positive user reviews, I would say yes! Whether you're an individual creator, a small business, or a major corporation, Epidemic Sound has a plan to suit your needs and a library of sounds to bring your content to life.
Written by Rob Miller
Founder, Creator Essentials
Rob has been on YouTube since 2016 and has worked on dozens of channels and websites, including his own, amassing hundreds of millions of views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
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