Royalty-free music for podcasts: the best free and paid sources
Every podcast needs a little music: a theme that tells listeners which show they are in, a bed under the cold open, a sting between segments. None of it can come from your own playlist. Royalty-free music for podcasts is music you license once, for free or for a fee, and can then use in every episode without paying per play. The catch is in the licence: check that it allows commercial use and podcast distribution before the track goes into your show.
This guide covers what “royalty-free” means for a podcast, then the best free sources, the music you can buy once and keep, and the subscriptions. It ends with how to choose and the licensing questions podcasters ask most.
Music for podcasts on MuseHub
Top picks at a glance:
- Best buy-once music for a podcast: The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle by Audio Hero, with background beds, intros and cinematic cues you keep after one purchase.
- Best free source with no credit needed: Pixabay Music.
- Best free source with a long back catalogue: Incompetech, if you can credit the composer.
- Best subscription for a weekly show: Epidemic Sound.
- Best for classical intros: Musopen.
What royalty-free means for a podcast
Four kinds of music are safe to use, and they are easy to confuse.
| Type | What you get | Credit needed | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty-free | A licence for a one-time fee, a subscription or free; no payment per play | Depends on the licence | Whether the licence covers podcasts and ads |
| Creative Commons | Free use on the terms the artist chose | Yes, for CC BY | NC licences rule out shows with ads or sponsors, and ND licences rule out using the track inside another work |
| Public domain | No copyright left to license | No | The recording can be protected even when the piece is not |
| Original or commissioned | Music you made or had made for you | No | Get a written agreement for commissioned music |
Royalty-free does not mean free of charge, and it does not mean copyright-free. It means the payment, if any, happens once.
The best royalty-free music for podcasts
1. The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle (Audio Hero)
The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle is a set of five music playlists from Audio Hero, a library of production music and sound effects. What matters for a podcast is that two of the five are built for spoken shows. Creator Talking Backgrounds is made for podcasts, explainers, commentary and interviews, and Creator Music Energy Momentum is for upbeat intros. The other three cover short-form edits, lifestyle and vlog storytelling, and cinematic cues for narrative episodes. Audio Hero’s licence is a lifetime licence that lists podcasts by name and lets you distribute your episodes without limits, so a theme you pick today is still yours in episode 200.
2. Pixabay Music
Pixabay Music is the music section of the free stock site Pixabay, with tracks you can search by genre, mood and length. Its standout feature is the licence: the Pixabay Content License allows commercial use without credit, and you can edit the tracks to fit. That makes it the easiest free source for a show with sponsors. You cannot resell or redistribute the tracks on their own. The library is large and uneven, so expect to audition many tracks before one fits, and expect to hear popular tracks in other people’s shows. Best for a first theme on no budget.
3. Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is a subscription library of music and sound effects used widely by YouTubers and podcasters. The standout is breadth: a large catalogue with stems, so you can drop the drums out of a track to make it a quieter bed. Its plans include licensing for podcasts, and episodes you publish while you subscribe stay cleared after you cancel. New episodes after that need a subscription again. Best for a weekly show that wants fresh music every episode.
4. Incompetech
Incompetech is the long-running library of composer Kevin MacLeod, with hundreds of tracks across nearly every genre. The tracks are free under a Creative Commons licence, which means every episode that uses one has to credit him. A paid Standard License removes the credit. Many tracks loop cleanly, which helps when a bed has to run under a long segment. Because the library is so widely used, some tracks will be familiar to listeners. Best for shows that can carry a credit line.
5. Artlist
Artlist is a subscription library of music and sound effects with a cinematic, produced sound, alongside a growing set of AI tools. Its Music & SFX plan covers personal and commercial use. You can filter by length to find intro-sized cuts and browse one artist’s tracks to keep a show’s sound consistent. Read what happens to your licence if you cancel before you build a long-running show on it. Best for branded shows and narrative podcasts.
6. AudioJungle
AudioJungle is a marketplace where independent composers sell single tracks and packs. It is the closest competitor to buying on MuseHub: one payment per track, no subscription. The catch is choosing the right licence. There are five music licences, each for one end product: the Music Standard licence covers most web uses and up to 10,000 downloads, while the broadcast licences step up by audience size. Check which one fits your show before you buy. Best for buying one specific theme you have searched for.
7. Creator Music & SFX Bundle (Audio Hero)
The Creator Music & SFX Bundle is Audio Hero’s large collection: 70 packs of music and sound effects for videos, streams and podcasts, under the same lifetime licence. Where The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle gives you a focused set for one show, this one is a production library, with enough music and effects to give several shows, or a network, their own sound. Best for producers who make more than one show.
8. Musopen
Musopen offers recordings of public-domain music, mostly classical. Public-domain works are free for any use, including commercial shows, with no licence or credit needed. That makes it a strong source for a history, education or culture show that wants a string quartet behind its opening. Musopen cannot guarantee the status of every recording, so check each one before you use it. Best for classical themes.
9. Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive is a large collection of independent music under Creative Commons licences, searchable by licence, genre and length. Its standout is variety: you find music here that no stock library carries. The trap is the licence. Many tracks are NonCommercial (NC), which rules them out the moment your show runs an ad or takes a sponsor, and NoDerivatives (ND) tracks cannot be placed inside another work, such as an episode. Best for non-commercial shows and for finding an unusual sound.
Comparison table
| Pick | Type | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle | Music packs, buy once | ZAR 999.99 | Beds and intros you keep |
| Pixabay Music | Free library | Free | A first theme, no credit |
| Epidemic Sound | Subscription | Subscription | Weekly shows |
| Incompetech | Free library, Creative Commons | Free with credit, or a paid licence | Shows that can credit |
| Artlist | Subscription | Subscription | Branded and narrative shows |
| AudioJungle | Marketplace | Per track | One specific theme |
| Creator Music & SFX Bundle | Music and effects packs, buy once | ZAR 4,999.99 | Producers with several shows |
| Musopen | Public domain | Free | Classical themes |
| Free Music Archive | Free library, Creative Commons | Free | Non-commercial shows |
Best for each job in an episode
- Intro and outro. A theme of about 5 to 15 seconds with a clean start and a fade, the same every episode. Energy Momentum suits an upbeat show, and a cinematic cue suits a narrative one.
- Background bed. Steady, low in the midrange where the voice sits, and loopable. Creator Talking Backgrounds is made for this.
- Transitions and stings. One to three seconds, between segments or before an ad. A short edit of your theme keeps the show recognizable.
How to choose
- Read the licence first. Check for commercial use, podcast distribution and every platform you publish on.
- Pick for the voice. Music that is busy in the midrange fights speech. Quieter, simpler tracks make better beds than good songs do.
- Prefer tracks that edit easily. Look for a clear downbeat at the start, a natural ending and sections that loop.
- One theme, a small palette. Keep the same intro and outro so listeners know where they are, and a few related tracks for beds and stings so it never gets stale.
- Decide how you want to pay. Free costs time and often a credit line. A subscription costs every month. Buying once costs once, and the music stays yours.
To place and level the music in your episode, see how to edit a podcast in Audacity.
FAQ
Next steps
Add sound effects to the music with podcast sound effects, and polish the mix with how to mix your podcast for better audio quality. Browse more music in Loops & Audio.
Get The Ultimate Creator Music Bundle and the rest in one place — download MuseHub free.