CC0, CC BY or royalty-free: which music license do you need?

To choose music for a project, start with how you will use it. CC0 music needs no credit, CC BY music needs credit but allows commercial use, CC BY-NC music is for non-commercial use only, and royalty-free describes a payment arrangement, not a Creative Commons license.

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Example tracks

These are real catalog tracks. The credit line under each row is the one Uncommon Ear generates.

  • Monplaisir Mid-tempo. Suggested for loop.

    0:19

  • kennysvoice Credit required Mid-tempo. Suggested for intro / outro.

    0:30
    Credit to include

    “Trailer Funk - Bed100BPM” by kennysvoice, via Freesound, licensed CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ https://freesound.org/s/347927/

  • reinsamba Credit required Mid-tempo. Suggested for intro / outro.

    0:23
    Credit to include

    “Church organ 2” by reinsamba, via Freesound, licensed CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://freesound.org/s/23417/

  • FK_Prod Credit required Fast. Suggested for intro / outro.

    0:29
    Credit to include

    “Church organ music” by FK_Prod, via Freesound, licensed CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ https://freesound.org/s/190468/

Steps

  1. Decide whether your use is commercial

    A monetized video, a paid game, client work and an ad are commercial uses, and CC BY-NC tracks are not for them. If you are unsure whether your project counts, pick a CC0 or CC BY track, which both allow commercial use.

  2. Choose CC0 for optional credit

    With CC0, the maker gives up their copyright and related rights as far as the law allows. You can copy, change, share and use the track for any purpose, commercial work included, with no credit and no permission. Crediting the maker is a courtesy. The first example below is CC0.

  3. Credit the maker for CC BY

    CC BY 3.0 and CC BY 4.0 let you use, change and share a track for any purpose, commercial work included, if you give credit. Name the maker, link the source, name the license and link it, and say if you changed the track. The license lets you give credit in any reasonable manner for your medium, such as a video description or podcast notes. The track page has a credit line to copy.

  4. Treat OGA-BY like CC BY

    OGA-BY 3.0 and 4.0 are attribution licenses from OpenGameArt. In Uncommon Ear's license table they require credit and allow commercial use, the same as CC BY. The OGA-BY 3.0 text asks for the author, the title if supplied and a link where practical, and it does not limit use to non-commercial work.

  5. Keep CC BY-NC for non-commercial projects

    CC BY-NC 3.0 and 4.0 let you use and change a track with credit for non-commercial purposes only. That means not in monetized videos, paid games, client work or ads. The Creative Commons text defines non-commercial as not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.

  6. Read royalty-free as a payment term

    Royalty-free usually means you do not pay royalties or license fees for each use. It does not mean the music costs nothing, needs no credit or is cleared of claims. Even the CC BY license text calls its grant royalty-free, and CC BY still requires credit. Ask what the actual license says.

  7. Expect Content ID claims to be possible

    No license can stop automated claims. A video platform can flag a track that someone else registered, or that sounds like another recording, even when you have the right to use it. Keep the track page link and credit line. YouTube says to dispute a claim only if you are confident you have the necessary rights, because disputing without a valid reason can lead to a copyright strike.

Common mistakes

  • Treating royalty-free as meaning no credit. The two are unrelated.
  • Assuming CC BY is non-commercial. CC BY allows commercial use; it is CC BY-NC that does not.
  • Using a CC BY-NC track in a monetized video, paid game, client work or ad.
  • Relying on the credit tags in an exported file instead of publishing credit where your audience sees it.
  • Assuming a license covers everything in a recording. It cannot give you rights the maker never had, such as a sampled melody, or rights to a person's voice or likeness, or trademarks.
  • Disputing a claim you are not sure about. Check the track page and the license first.