Podcasting Q&A

Podcast Music: Everything you need to know!

• Buzzsprout

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Ahmad asks, "Can you explain everything related to music and podcasting?"

TL;DR
Most podcasts incorporate music in some fashion, whether it's a cool intro for an interview show or an immerse audio drama.

The most important thing is to find music that you can use on your podcast without getting sued.

So in today's episode, we're going to explore some common myths around using copyrighted music and present some options for where you can find music that sounds amazing and is safe for your podcast.

Where to find free music


Where to find high-quality paid music


Check out our recent episode of Buzzcast to hear how you can use premium music from Soundstripe to create an audio masterpiece.

Record your podcasting question at Speakpipe.com/Buzzsprout to be featured on a future episode.

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Gilon:

In today's episode, we're going to show you where you can find great music to use on your podcast. Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, where you learn the best tips and strategies to launch grow and monetize your show. This week's question comes from Ahmad.

Ahmad:

Hi, everyone. This is Ahmad Ali. So my question is everything about music related to podcasting, into music, and even in the middle broadcasting music for free and paid as well. Thank you so much.

Gilon:

Thank you so much for your question. So the thing about using music on your podcast is how to find music that you can use without getting sued. So in today's episode, we're going to explore some common myths around using copyrighted music, as well as present some options for where you can find music that sounds amazing, and is also safe for your podcast. So let's address some of the common misconceptions around using copyrighted music for your podcast. A lot of times we get a question about Can I use this music? If I use it in this specific way? I'm not getting in trouble, right? Instead of us breaking down all the different kinds of ways you could possibly use it, maybe get in trouble? Maybe not. We invited Gordon from the podcast lawyer.com to come answer your questions about using copyrighted music on your podcast.

Travis:

So Gordon, let's talk about fair use. Cuz I know that's something especially if people are coming from the YouTube space, they've probably heard of thrown around a lot, which is, well, if I use somebody who's worked specifically, you know, copyrighted music, but I'm doing it in a creative way, or I'm taking creative license with it or changing it somehow that now gives me the right to use it without having to worry about getting sued. So maybe if you could speak to some of the misnomers with that thought process and the the way that people should be thinking about the

Gordon:

Fair Use idea, fair use is one of the most commonly mentioned and least often understood principles in copyright law, even among copyright lawyers. So the idea of fair use is that it comes from the principle of the First Amendment free speech here in the United States where we have a free speech principle that's in the Constitution. Well, so is the copyright clause of the constitution that gives Congress the power to make a copyright law. So we have this inherent conflict between a rule that says you have the freedom to say and do anything you want in speech, and another one that says, but you can't copy this stuff. The problem is that there are no rules of thumb, it isn't four bars, or 10 seconds, or any of that kind of stuff. Each case has to be evaluated on its own. And that means that by the time you're having this conversation about whether what you did is really a fair use. You're paying lawyers 10s of 1000s of dollars to defend you and a copyright infringement lawsuit, and yeah, you might win. But you're paying lawyers 10s of $1,000 to defend you in a lawsuit. So my recommendation is unless you're really, really certain, or if you've gotten a lawyers opinion letter, saying, hey, what you propose to do is fair use or will likely be fair use. Don't do it.

Gilon:

So now let's talk about music that we can use, there are three categories. The first Creative Commons, this is where creators have basically set limits on how and when music can be used. The second royalty free music this is where music can be used repeatedly without any kind of fee. And then the third is public domain. And this is basically where copyright limits have been lifted on older songs, such as Nursery Rhymes that are a couple of 100 years old, most podcasters end up using royalty free music, so we're going to give you five options for where you can find that three free to paid. Our first royalty free offering is pixabay. So pixabay is this amazing, completely free resource that offers royalty free music. Our second free offering is YouTube Music Library. They offer free music and unlimited downloads on that music. You can search for music by artists by track name by mood, and even by genre. The third option is the Free Music Archive, which is exactly what it sounds like. So the kicker here is that you're going to want to make sure that you look into their Frequently Asked Questions page to find out exactly how you can use each song but the offerings are high quality and great music that you get to use safely and for free on your podcast. So now let's talk about our paid options for royalty free music. You might be thinking, why would I pay for music if I can get it for free. When we pay for music, we tend to get higher quality tracks as well as a better curated experience, which means in turn that it will be easier for you to find exactly what you're looking for. For your podcast. Our first paid offering is stock music.com once you purchase a track with them, you get a lifetime synchronization license, which basically means that you get to use that track indefinitely on your podcast. Our second offering is sound stripe comm soundstripe is a great resource if you use a ton of music on your podcast. If you want an example of how to use sound check for your podcast, check out this recent episode of Buzzcast where we talked about the day podcasts stopped. We'll link it in the description below. If you host your podcast to Buzzsprout Be sure to check out your resources tab because you get 15% off the sound stripe subscription plan of your choice.

Sarah:

Thanks for listening to Podcasting Q&A. If you have a question you'd like for us to answer on a future episode of the show, head to speakpipe.com/ uzzsprout and click on the li k in the show notes and leave brief audio message Podcas ing Q&A is available both video nd audio format. If you prefer video, please subscribe to the Buzzsprout YouTube channe. And if you'd like audio Podcas ing Q&A is available in all yo r favorite podcast apps. That's it for today. Thanks for listen ng and as always keep podcas ing