Epidemic Sound Review 2024 | Is It Worth It For Creators?
Video makers and podcast creators are always looking for the best royalty free music to include in their content. Artists are always looking for a way to distribute their music and be heard by a wider audience. Fortunately, there is a platform to help both groups of people meet their goals.
Epidemic Sound Review
The quality of Epidemic Sound tracks is nothing short of spectacular, surpassing many competing platforms. Almost every track I listen to resonates with me, and I've noticed a similar impact on my audience. What sets Epidemic Sound apart is their collaboration with real artists from around the world. This partnership ensures a level of quality that rivals Artlist, while maintaining a more budget-friendly approach. Furthermore, Epidemic Sound boasts a larger library, providing a diverse array of options to choose from.
What is Epidemic Sound?
Created in 2009, Epidemic Sound is a royalty-free music subscription website based in Sweden that is for video makers, podcast creators, and artists. Video makers can use Epidemic Sound to conveniently download royalty-free music for their videos without having to worry about issues such as royalties or copyright infringement.
For podcast creators, Epidemic Sound even has several playlists dedicated to podcast-friendly tracks, hooks, and sounds that will meld seamlessly into the podcast and not overtake voiceovers.
Producers, composers, musicians, and artists can submit their songs for consideration and use Epidemic Sound to be distributed to streaming platforms and potentially be included on playlists with millions of followers, reaching online video creators, broadcasters, media agencies, and brands. Artists are paid upfront for the ownership of the music, and then Epidemic Sound splits the streaming revenue with them half and half. Thanks to flexible, short non-exclusive agreements, artists still have their freedom when they work with Epidemic Sound. Best of all, Epidemic Sound’s music professionals work with every music creator to help them develop the best version of each of their songs.
“Epidemic helps me get my music out to people without being intrusive in my creative process at all,” artist HDBeenDope (who has 2.6 million streams on Spotify) told Epidemic Sound. “A really great marriage in my opinion.”
Epidemic Sound Music Library
Epidemic Sound has a library of more than 35,000 royalty-free songs available to download, with approximately 80 to 150 new songs added each week. The platform also provides more than 90,000 sound effects. Every year, Epidemic Sound compiles a list of the best songs in each genre, making it easy for content creators to find top-quality music.
Epidemic Sound Pricing
Epidemic Sound revamped its subscription plans, and content creation has never sounded better. Here’s everything you need to know:
For the first time, the Personal Plan now lets storytellers publish content anywhere online. Whatever the story, brand, or audience, the Personal Plan takes the hassle out of soundtracking and creating great content.
The Commercial Plan now gives you coverage for up to three channels per platform and also lets you tell stories for clients and businesses, giving you full coverage for them anywhere online. Add your own or clients’ channels in the new Safelist tab.
Users on Epidemic Sound can choose to create a personal, commercial, or enterprise account. A personal account is for users creating content anywhere online which includes podcasts for their use on YouTube, Tic-Toc, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitch (includes Vimeo) with unlimited followers and views—this version also includes monetization of 1 channel per platform. A personal account subscription costs $15 a month or $108 per year.
The commercial account is for freelancers and businesses producing commercial content, and this version includes all the features from the personal level plus coverage for your clients or business and unlimited use of music in digital ads. A commercial account costs $19 a month or $228 per year. A commercial account allows to use and monetize 3 channels per platform.
The enterprise level is for media companies, publishers, and broadcasters, and it includes multiple user accounts, clearance for TV ads and shows and cinema, music curation support, customized music productions, and even a dedicated account manager. The enterprise-level costs $500 a month.
Occasionally, you might be able to find an Epidemic Sound promo code or coupons that will give you a discount by taking a percentage off of the price. Epidemic Sound is a much more convenient option than most royalty-free music websites if you are frequently creating content, as you do not need to buy one song at a time—subscribing to everything at once instead.
Single Track License
Epidemic Sound offers a more tailored music licensing solution. Though this option may be more expensive upfront, it provides users with an array of use cases to suit their specific needs. Ideal for indie games and apps, editorial and corporate productions, social media boosting, and online advertisements (including pre-, mid-, and post-rolls), a single-track license ensures you have the perfect soundtrack for your project. Additionally, this license extends to TV, radio, and multimedia usage, making it an excellent choice for feature films, games, apps, TV vignettes, and sound logos. With prices ranging from $99 to $599, the single-track license caters to the unique demands of larger companies, allowing them to invest in high-quality music for their projects.
Epidemic Sound Free Trial
Users can join Epidemic Sound through a free trial of 30 days, and after that, users must pay a monthly subscription fee of their choosing.
Epidemic Sound Licensing
The subscription plan you choose determines how you are allowed to use a certain track, but you will only be able to use your downloaded material during your subscription period. Epidemic Sound helps users avoid YouTube claims by enabling them to connect their social media accounts and giving them a direct license to use their music as much as they want. Epidemic Sound makes sure that none of their artists are part of a PRO (collecting society of royalties) before they join, giving them full ownership of the rights to the music and preventing any copyright infringement.
The Difference between a Personal and Commercial License
The commercial license allows usage on three channels per platform, whereas a personal license may only cover a single user.
Commercial licenses provide coverage for your clients or business, making them suitable for professionals who create content for third parties
Commercial licenses enable you to run digital ads, as long as your company doesn't fall into the billion-dollar category and the ad campaign remains exclusively online.
Major corporations, publishers, and government entities aren't eligible to use personal and commercial licenses. Furthermore, the license only covers one individual user, so if you need additional users, you'll have to sign up for more licenses or pay extra fees.
Limitations. You can't use the music on a standalone basis or for the purpose of creating a music-listening experience. Moreover, you can't use the music in any illegal, immoral, or political content, and you can't edit, alter, or change the music in any significant way.
If you follow the rules, you can monetize your content by allowing YouTube ads (as an example) to be displayed. To do this, you'll need to clear your productions and channels with Epidemic Sound by linking your channels in the dashboard. However, Epidemic Sound reserves the right to monetize unlicensed use of its music on YouTube and other platforms.
There are some things you just can't do with this license. For example, you can't use the music for broadcast-type content, theme songs, trademarks, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or in any way that would allow third parties to download, reproduce, or access the music.
What If I Cancel The Epidemic Sound Subscription?
Good news - you don't need to take down your productions if you cancel your subscription. But what happens next is crucial: you can't use the licensed works for new productions or create new versions of existing ones.
How Epidemic Sound Works
Once users have explored the music and sound effects on Epidemic Sound and chosen their subscription option, they can add channels and download as many tracks as they would like. Epidemic Sound also offers tutorial videos to help users get acclimated to the music editing process.
Epidemic Sound Customer Service
The Epidemic Sound customer service team is helpful and efficient, according to many current users. The website has a wide range of help articles to empower users to find answers to their questions without having to contact the customer support team, but the team will respond quickly to the queries they receive. With offices in Stockholm, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, and Seoul, they are active in several different time zones, ensuring a fast response.
Advantages And Disadvantages of Epidemic Sound
Pros:
The personal account is very inexpensive.
Epidemic Sound has world-class music and unique songs, curating nothing but the best.
The platform is well established after 13 years in business.
Epidemic Sound has a very extensive library of music.
The website also includes thousands of sound effects.
The platform is just as useful for companies as it is for individuals.
You can search for music by moods and tempos or with terms such as “find similar.”
Users can download tracks in stems, which means that they can remove vocals, bass or other instruments.
Some albums are curated by humans instead of software algorithms, resulting in better-quality music.
There is a 30-day free trial that allows people to try it out before committing to a subscription.
Cons:
The interface is not the most modern.
You can only use the content during an active subscription.
What People Like About Epidemic Sound
Users appreciated that the music and sound effects on Epidemic Sound are top quality, and they mentioned that the majority of the songs are unique and authentic, made by talented musicians. Members also like the easy integration with Adobe, which makes it faster and more convenient for content creators to edit and work on projects.
What People Do Not Like About Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound only allows members to use their content while they still have a subscription, which frustrates members who paid for a long time and then no longer have access to their materials when their subscription is over. Some users have mentioned that the terms and conditions of the platform are a bit confusing and could be better explained. Other members lamented that they forgot to cancel their free trial and were not given a refund even though they requested one. Some people mentioned that the website is difficult to navigate and that they feel the platform is overpriced for the content they receive.
Is Epidemic Sound Legitimate?
Because Epidemic Sound has been well-established since its creation in 2009 and has grown to be a fairly large royalty-free music subscription website, you can be confident that it is perfectly legitimate and not a scam. One of the telltale signs of a scam is a short history and a low number of social media followers; however, Epidemic Sound has a reputable history of 11 years and a large following on social media, with roughly 65,600 followers on YouTube, more than 53,000 followers on Facebook, more than 17,000 followers on Spotify, more than 13,600 followers on Twitter and approximately 251,000 followers on Instagram.
Is Epidemic Sound Worth It In 2024?
Although there are a few cons, Epidemic Sound is a great option for royalty-free music, and the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages of the platform. For artists, Epidemic Sound is an excellent way to be heard by a wider audience, and the website even pays the artist upfront, which is rare for music subscription websites. For content creators, Epidemic Sound provides trustworthy, high-quality royalty royalty-free music at a low price, so that video makers and podcasters do not have to worry about copyright infringement in the midst of trying to frequently produce content. Best of all, Epidemic Sound offers an extremely wide variety of music that is constantly being refreshed, ensuring that content creators will always have new songs to choose from. Whether you are an artist, a video maker, or a podcaster, working with Epidemic Sound will help you reach a larger audience and produce higher-quality content.
