Royalty-Free Music — Pay Once, Use It Forever

What does royalty-free music actually mean?

Royalty-free describes how you pay, not what you pay. You buy a licence once and then use the track without paying a royalty per view, per broadcast or per year. The copyright stays with the rights holder; the licence spells out exactly what you may do with the music — and a good one also documents it.

At Artyfile, Artyfile Basic costs €29.90 per track, once. That single licence covers:

• Worldwide use, in perpetuity — videos you publish stay licensed for good
• Sync and master rights together, managed directly by Artyfile
• Commercial and private use: YouTube, social media, websites, podcasts, ads, corporate films, TV, cinema and streaming
• Unlimited projects of your own and projects you produce for clients or your employer
• An instant 44.1 kHz WAV download, a PDF invoice and a PDF licence certificate as documented proof of your rights

Royalty-free, free and copyright-free are three different things

The terms get mixed up constantly, and the mix-up is what gets videos claimed or clients worried.

• Free music costs nothing, but the terms change from track to track: many free tracks require attribution, some are cleared for one platform only, and "free for personal use" rarely stretches to a client video or an ad.
• "Copyright-free" would mean nobody owns the recording. That is rare for modern music: even a public-domain composition like Debussy's Clair de Lune becomes a new protected recording every time someone performs and records it.
• Royalty-free means licensed and paid once. The rights holder still owns the music; you hold a clear, documented permission to use it.

Free libraries, subscriptions or a one-time licence?

There are three honest ways to get music for video, and each suits a different buyer:

• Free libraries work for hobby projects when you read and follow each track's terms. They get risky once a video is commercial or made for a client.
• Subscriptions give you a large library for a monthly or yearly fee. Reusing tracks in new projects is tied to staying subscribed. See how the models compare in our Epidemic Sound alternative, Artlist alternative and PremiumBeat alternative guides.
• One-time licences — the Artyfile model — cost a fixed €29.90 per track. The licence is yours for life, and the track goes into every future project without renewal. If you reuse a handful of signature tracks, this is the simplest and most predictable option.

Find royalty-free music by mood

Start with the feeling your edit needs, then narrow by tempo and instrument:

• Calm background music for explainers, wellness and documentaries
• Upbeat background music for product videos, vlogs and ads
• Dramatic background music for trailers, reveals and big moments
• Suspenseful music for thrillers, true crime and tension
• Festive music for galas, anniversaries and holiday spots
• Acoustic guitar music for warm, organic stories
• Sad and emotional music for heartfelt moments

…or by use case

• YouTube videos, podcasts and intros & outros
• Commercials, corporate videos and advertising agencies
• Weddings, documentaries and film

Or open the full music catalogue and filter by mood, genre, use case, BPM and instrument. Three tracks to start with: Good Morning, a quiet piano and electric-piano piece at 60 BPM; Worlds Finest, driving, optimistic rock at 148 BPM; and Redrum Trailer, a full orchestral trailer cue with brass, choir and timpani.

What to know before you publish

• YouTube Content ID: Artyfile registers its catalogue in Content ID with a monetization policy. A claim may appear on your video; it is not a copyright strike, and your channel stays in good standing. With Basic, the ad revenue claimed for the music goes to Artyfile, not to your channel.
• YouTube Shorts: the same claim logic applies — since 24 September 2026, Shorts of one to three minutes with an active claim are no longer blocked automatically.
• Collection societies: Artyfile manages sync and master rights directly, so the licence carries no additional GEMA or collection-society fee. For TV and radio broadcasts, cue sheets go to the relevant society; Artyfile supplies the details on request.
• Public playback — music played in a shop, venue, gym or at an event — is a separate matter for the venue or operator under their own collection-society agreement.
• Client work: the licence stays with you, the licensee. Your client receives the finished video with cleared music, and the licence certificate documents the rights. A client who wants to use the recording on its own, outside that video, needs their own licence.

Real recordings, never AI-generated

Every Artyfile track is performed and recorded by professional musicians and ensembles and curated by composer and conductor Paul Lorenz — orchestral, piano, acoustic, jazz, pop, rock, electronic and folk. Prefer a share in a recording over a plain licence? Limited Edition offers numbered 1 % master shares at €69.90 each, with pro-rata participation in the recording's streaming, Content ID and third-party sync revenue; earnings depend on actual use and may be zero. Full details on the pricing page.