How to Search for Royalty-free Music on Soundcloud?

Finding good background music for videos without getting copyright strikes is honestly one of the most annoying parts of content creation. You either pay way too much for boring stock music or risk using something copyright-protected and hope nobody notices.

SoundCloud has this massive collection of music from independent artists, and here’s what most people don’t realize: a lot of it is completely free to use. 

What is SoundCloud?

SoundCloud is one of the largest online audio platforms where musicians, producers, podcasters, and DJs can upload and share tracks with a global audience. Unlike Spotify or Apple Music, where everything is curated and controlled by major labels, SoundCloud lets anyone upload their tracks directly to the platform. We’re talking about 400+ million songs from over 40 million artists across 193 countries.

The biggest difference between SoundCloud and your typical streaming service is who’s uploading the music. On Spotify, you’re mostly getting tracks from established artists and labels. On SoundCloud, you’ll find everything from bedroom producers making beats in their apartments to established artists dropping exclusive content. Independent artists often upload their songs with much more flexible licensing terms than what you’d find on stock music sites.

The platform operates on a “freemium” model that’s pretty generous compared to other platforms. The free version doesn’t limit your skips (which is huge), and you can access millions of tracks without paying anything. However, you’ll hear ads between songs, and you can’t download music for offline listening.

SoundCloud has become the main platform for emerging artists because it’s so easy to get started — just upload your track and it’s live for the world to hear. For example, Billie Eilish uploaded “Ocean Eyes” to SoundCloud when she was just 13, and it went viral overnight.

The platform also pioneered the whole “SoundCloud rap” movement that gave us artists like Post Malone, Lil Uzi Vert, and XXXTentacion. These artists built massive followings by consistently dropping tracks on SoundCloud before they ever had record deals.

For people making video content, podcasts, or any kind of production work, SoundCloud’s artist-friendly approach creates opportunities you won’t find elsewhere. A lot of artists actually want people to find and use their music, especially if it helps them get more visibility on YouTube or other platforms.

What is Royalty-free in Music?

A lot of confusion around “royalty-free music” comes from the wording. It’s not actually free. Instead, you pay once at the start, and then you’re free to reuse the track as often as you need without ongoing costs.

Most people see “royalty-free” and think they can just download whatever they want without paying anything. That’s not how it works. The “free” part refers to being free from ongoing royalty payments, not free from cost altogether.

When you use a track in your YouTube video or commercial project, traditional licensing would require you to pay the artist every single time someone watches or hears it. With royalty-free licensing, you skip all that and just pay once upfront.

SoundCloud has tons of royalty-free content uploaded; you just have to know how to find it.

Start a Search on SoundCloud

First, open your browser and head to soundcloud.com. You don’t even need to create an account to start browsing. The search bar is right at the top of the page, and this is where most people make their first mistake.

It seems obvious, but typing “royalty-free” into SoundCloud’s search bar will give you random results. The platform wasn’t really designed with content creators in mind, so artists don’t always tag their music with licensing terms.

Instead, try searching for the style or mood you actually need, like “ambient track”, “background music”, “electronic instrumental”, etc. This approach finds music that’s actually suitable for video production work. Then you can check the licensing after you find something that fits your project.

Filter Your Search Results

When you search, SoundCloud shows you everything by default: tracks, playlists, people, and albums. For finding music you can download, click on “Tracks” right under the search bar. This filters out all the user profiles and playlists, leaving you with just individual songs. 

The copyright and licensing filters are buried under a submenu that’s easy to miss. On the left side of your search results, look for “Filter results” and then find the copyright symbol (it looks like a little “C” in a circle).

Click on that copyright symbol and you’ll get these options:

• to use commercially;
• to modify commercially;
• to share;
• for any purpose.

For most content creators, “To use commercially” is the magic filter: it shows you tracks that artists have specifically cleared for commercial use, which covers almost any YouTube video, client production, or business project.

Don’t get confused by the word “commercial”. On SoundCloud, this just means you can use the music in your regular content creation work without worrying about copyright strikes.

Download the Right Track for your Project

Not every song on SoundCloud has download enabled, even if the artist wants people to use it. Look for the download arrow next to the play button: if it’s grayed out or missing completely, you’re out of luck with that particular track.

Some artists only enable downloads for followers, so if you see a track you really want but can’t download it, try following the artist first. Sometimes that unlocks the download option in your browser.

However, just because a track is downloadable doesn’t mean you can use it in your YouTube video or commercial project. The licensing details are usually buried in the track description.

Look for phrases like:

• “Creative Commons”;
• “Commercial use allowed”;
• “Attribution required” (you’ll need to credit the artist);
• “Non-commercial only” (useless if you’re monetizing your content).

If a description just says “free download” but doesn’t mention how you’re allowed to use it, take that as a warning. Free to grab doesn’t automatically mean free to drop into your production work.

If you find the perfect track but the licensing isn’t clear, send a quick message explaining your project. You’d be surprised how many artists are happy to let you use their music in exchange for exposure on your YouTube channel or website.

Downloading from SoundCloud can offer multiple quality levels. It’s always better to select the highest. Compression during upload is unavoidable, but high-quality audio handles it much better than a low-quality file that can’t be improved later.

Most tracks can be downloaded as MP3 files, which work fine for background music in video production. If you need a different format, you can always convert it using your editing software.

SoundCloud alternative: Mubert

Searching SoundCloud for royalty-free music can be hit-or-miss, and instead of hunting through millions of songs hoping to find something that’s both the right fit and legally safe, Mubert generates custom music specifically for your project. We mean AI-powered track creation that gives you exactly what you need in seconds, not hours.

Everything Mubert creates is automatically royalty-free and cleared for commercial use. You don’t have to read through confusing Creative Commons licenses or message artists to ask about copyright permissions. Just generate a track right in your browser, download it, and use it in your media content.

Unlike stock music sites that give you pre-made tracks to choose from, Mubert generates original music every time. This means you’re never going to hear your background song in someone else’s video on YouTube. The AI pulls from millions of samples created by real human artists, so the music doesn’t sound robotic or generic.

SoundCloud still has its place. If you’re looking for music with vocals, need something in a very specific genre, or want to support independent artists directly, SoundCloud’s massive library is hard to beat. But for background music, corporate videos, YouTube content, podcasts, or any situation where you need reliable royalty-free tracks without the legal complications, Mubert eliminates most of the problems.

AI Music Company

Mubert is a platform powered by music producers that helps creators and brands generate unlimited royalty-free music with the help of AI. Our mission is to empower and protect the creators. Our purpose is to democratize the Creator Economy.

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