Playing music while streaming on Twitch can help increase viewership. Background music brings life to your broadcast.
Besides, you can use music to set the tone of your broadcast. For example, some songs evoke a feeling of excitement, while others can evoke sadness.
However, playing copyrighted music on Twitch can land you into huge problems, such as getting your account suspended.
Noteworthy, purchasing a song as a CD or MP3 does not give you the right to use it publicly.
Similarly, subscribing to streaming services such as Spotify or Netflix does not give you the license to use their music publicly. It only gives you the right to personal use. Playing such music on Twitch is considered public use.
There are three options when choosing royalty-free streaming music to play on Twitch. It can be original music, i.e., it’s yours, the music you have been licensed, or songs from Soundtrack.
So, where do you find copyright-free music to use on Twitch? While there are many sources, it is worth noting that some of them require you to pay, while others are free of charge.
In some cases, the owners of royalty-free music may require you to attribute these songs to them if you intend to use them in streams.
Make sure to read and familiarize yourself with the requirements of every site before using their music. With that out of the way, these are the top 10 sources of copyright-free music to play on Twitch.
1. Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is the best site to source music to play without copyright on Twitch. They have a catalog containing over 35,000 songs, all of which are safe to use for streaming on Twitch, as VOD or live stream.
Signing up with Epidemic Sound gives you a 30-day free trial. You can use this free trial to explore and discover their library. You can also download the music and publish as many podcasts or video tracks as possible.
If you are a regular streamer or video publisher, you will need to subscribe after the 30-day free trial, as it’s more beneficial.
Epidemic Sound has different subscriptions starting at $ 9/month for the personal to $ 19/month for commercial and then enterprise, which is customized.
Whichever subscription you choose, you’ll have full access to the 35,000+ tracks and over 90,000 sound effects. You’ll also enjoy unlimited downloads and use in your Twitch account.
2. Soundstripe
Soundstripe is a major provider of free music for streamers on Twitch, as well as sound effects and videos. Inc. Magazine recently named the site as one of the fastest-growing and upcoming private media companies in the Southeast.
The site has a very easy-to-use interface, where the users can download the songs they want in just 5 minutes or less on average. In addition, the signup process is straightforward, requiring your email and password to start.
Soundstripe has different subscriptions specifically for Twitch users. You can unlock tracks from Grammy-winning artists to produce a wonderful listening experience for all your fans.
To start with is the Twitch Free Extension that is cleared for Twitch, with a royalty-free music-curated playlist. Then you can subscribe to the Twitch Pro Extension for just $ 3.99/month.
Here you can have exclusive playlists, create custom playlists, and has the song shuffle feature.
In addition, their Standard Music Licensing plans go for just $ 12/month and have more features than the Pro extension.
3. Josh Woodard
Yes, the Josh Woodward website has 200+ free music listening for live streaming. You can listen to or download this royalty-free streaming music and use it for your podcasts or videos on Twitch.
The site contains over 200 MP3 collections of songs created by the owner Josh Woodard, that is copyright free. You can also get the Epic Bundle for just $ 40, which has different formats of his songs.
With this Epic Bundle, you get vocal MP3s and FLAC files of each song’s regular and instrumental versions.
Signing up and using the music on Twitch is very easy and free. All you have to do is attribute the songs to the creator.
4. Bensound
This is another amazing site that provides royalty-free streaming music for Twitch users. Bensound’s royalty-free music is safe and ready for use on Twitch and other public domains.
Your videos on Twitch are cleared to use forever, even if you later close your account with Bensound.
Users can obtain a free license to use on Twitch for free content, and you also have to attribute it to Bensound. You can also signup for the Pay-per-Track plan, which gives you access to a single track only, or the All Access plan, which provides you access to their entire library with unlimited downloads.
In both subscriptions, you get a perpetual license that is valid forever. You also don’t need to credit Bensound for any licensed tracks.
The site also allows you to adapt the song to your project by either making loops, cutting, or adding voiceovers.
5. Free Music Archive
The Free Music Archive is a depository of royalty-free streaming music. Users can listen to and download the music for use on Twitch.
However, they must follow the instructions to use the tracks in their live stream, such as attributing the creator.
The Free Music Achieve is a subsidiary of independent freeform radio stations and is directed by WFMU.
They obtain high-quality music from artists’ galleries, netlabels, subsidiary radio stations, and performance spaces.
Users can ‘tip’ the artist directly if they like what they hear, or they can buy a full album from the artist’s song profiles.
Therefore, the artists feel rewarded and continue providing free music to their fans. Free Music archive is open and free for everyone, regardless of registration and other requirements.
6. YouTube Audio Library
You can access tons of music listening for live streaming from the YouTube Library to use on Twitch. You need an active YouTube account and sign in directly to the YouTube studio.
Here you can browse your music subscriptions in different categories, as they have a very easy-to-use interface. You can also ‘favorite’ a song or choose ‘later’ to download another time.
The YouTube Audio Library also contains a separate tab for sound effects that you can download for free.
Although the music on YouTube Audio Library is free for use, some tracks will require you to attribute to the owner and follow some other rules.
To access an even broader ad-free base of music, you can subscribe to YouTube Music Premium. The plans start as low as $9.99/month and $ 4.99/month for college students.
7. Pretzel Rocks
Pretzel Rocks is one of the best royalty-free streaming music providers for Twitch users. All their music is copyright free and licensed, so you are free to use them on Twitch live stream and VOD.
Some of the unique features of Pretzel Rocks include;
- The ‘what’s playing chat bot’, which announces the song
- A wide genre of songs, such as hip-hop, metal, and dubstep.
- It is constantly updated with the latest music.
- Ability to add song info to a local file and add it to track information on the overlay.
You can sign up for the free account and download the application on your desktop. You will need to integrate the chatbot into your stream to use this free tier to ensure attribution to the artists.
Another option is to subscribe to their $5/month plan. This plan lets you access Premium Discord and drop the chatbot attribution.
These two options help you to concentrate on your broadcast without worrying about copyright.
8. StreamBeats
Another site where you can play music without copyright on Twitch is StreamBeats. StreamBeats is a collection of royalty-free music and sound effects that you can use on Twitch streams.
Harris Heller, a stream coach, curated the music here. He intended to create music that would not get muted or have copyright-related issues on Twitch.
The good this about StreamBeats music is that you don’t have to worry about chatbot attribution or downloading software. Instead, you can get the music directly from the streambeats.com website and use it.
9. NoCopyrightSounds
NoCopyrightSounds, or NCS, is a copyright-free British record label that provides Twitch users with thousands of free tracks. Their music is directly from the artists, so you know it’s safe.
The good thing about NCS is that they have been around for many years, reflected in their content quality. Users can download or stream their content from the chosen genre’s playlist.
Signup is straightforward and free, and you are good to go. You are, however, required to full credit attribution when you use their content on Twitch.
10. SoundCloud
Finally, you can use SoundCloud, an online music-sharing and audio-streaming site. Here you can find thousands of copyright-free music to use on Twitch.
To start with, you can sign up for the free version of SoundCloud to gain access to their content. Then, as a regular streamer, you need to upgrade to SoundCloud Go for just $4.99/month or SoundCloud Go+ for $ 9.99/month, as they have greater catalogues and more features.
The fact that SoundCloud has been around for quite some time ensures you’ll get lots of music from different artists. You can also download any song thanks to the readily available SoundCloud downloaders. Just make sure the songs are covered by the copyright-free license.
You can also rest assured that it is safe to use on Twitch as long as you abide by their rules of royalty-free music.