The Best Music Licensing Platforms for Video Production – In Our Opinion
Have you ever watched scenes of a horror movie or played certain parts of a scary video game on mute? Some of you just read this and chuckled because you know exactly what I’m talking about. It loses its ability to scare you, right? Why? Because there is so much power in music. For filmmakers and video production companies, music is possibly the most important part of their creative arsenal, and choosing the right music for your production is crucial.
When we’re in the edit room and the director says “this scene needs to feel dangerous,” the conversation isn’t really about finding a “scary song.” It’s about finding a track that does specific emotional work, reliably, on the first try.
That’s why having the right music licensing platforms for video production is an essential part of a filmmaker’s toolkit. The music and sound effects you choose for a video don’t just fill space. The story and environment you create with sound determines whether the audience feels what you want them to feel – or whether they lose interest in the first 30 seconds.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of every music licensing platform on the market – there are dozens. And if they didn’t make our list, it doesn’t mean they aren’t good music licensing platforms or offer competitive pricing. We just have a few that have become our “go to” music providers for commercial video production, documentary films, and corporate interviews.
In this article, we’ll list our favorite music licensing platforms for video production and filmmaking. These are the five we actually reach for, for one reason or another, in client work and our own productions. We’ll tell you what we like, what we’re over, and where the space is heading.
Music Licensing Platforms for Video Production Have Exploded Recently
Over the last decade, music licensing platforms have exploded. A few years ago, you could count the number of platforms with both hands. But now, it seems there are more and more popping up each week.
If you’re an established video production company or experienced filmmaker, you’ll more than likely have your go-to music licensing platforms you use and that’s ok. We most certainly do. But here’s a list of the top 5 we like to use each time.
Before we get to our top picks, here’s our criteria for companies to make our list.
- Quality — We look at companies that provide high-quality content produced by reputable musicians. Why? Because true musicians that care about their reputation will care about the quality of content they produce – and (likely) have an understanding of what’s needed in a broadcast or branded context. A handful of great tracks beats a library of 100,000 forgettable ones.
- Website + Discovery — If we can’t find what we’re looking for in under five minutes, the platform has a problem. Music that’s technically licensed but impossible to locate doesn’t help anyone. How easy is the website to browse? Can you find what you’re looking for relatively quickly and is it intuitive?
- Price and licensing clarity — We work with everyone from independent YouTubers to enterprise agencies. Some sites cater towards agencies and large production companies that produce commercial content. Others are freelancers and have limited budgets. We look at both, weigh pros and cons, and read the fine print. A platform that doesn’t explain what you’re actually buying isn’t worth the savings.
- The intangible — Does the platform feel like it was built by people who understand video production? Or does it feel like it was built by people who mostly think about music? That difference shows up in the UX capabilities, search filters, the licensing terms, and the support.
1. MusicBed – The Gold Standard. Cardboard Spaceship’s overall best choice for music licensed content.
Who it’s for: Commercial filmmakers, agencies, brands, and anyone who needs reliable quality
without spending hours searching.
MusicBed is a: “Curated Roster of Real Artists. Our A&R team handpicks every song from our roster of indie musicians, bands, and composers, so you can spend less time digging and more time creating.”
MusicBed is still the standard by which we measure everything else. They’ve been at this since
the early days of the licensing platform boom, and they’ve done the hard thing: said no to most
submissions. Their library sits at around 10,000+ tracks – not the largest by a long shot, but
the selection process means you’re rarely digging through filler.
As a music licensing pioneer, MusicBed has worked across every industry, provided work in every category, and truly provide music with creatives in mind.
What Makes MusicBed Different?
The quality bar isn’t just marketing. It’s their selection process. Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone has what they call a “highly selective process” however, we know from first-hand experience that MusicBed’s A&R team accepts roughly 1% of submissions. That creates a high barrier-to-entry that actually benefits the end user — every track on the platform had to earn its place.
Just like FilmSupply (a sister company focused on licensed video content), only the top 1% of MusicBed’s submissions get the right to publish their work on their platform.
This highly disciplined approach not only provides the highest quality content for filmmakers and video production companies, it also creates a high barrier-to-entry.
The MusicBed Interface Still Leads the Category.
We love how their website is laid out. Their functionality is very intuitive, and it doesn’t take long at all to find what you’re looking for. You can browse their full library without an account, search by mood, genre, and energy, and find what you need fast. Their support team will also personally review your project if you need help finding the right track – not a bot, an actual human who watches your footage.
If you need something for a specific video or scene, MusicBed’s team will personally look at the video and help you select that perfect score.
Take a look at this YouTuber’s (Cody Wanner) experience. He was looking for a specific sound for an old production using a vintage 16mm lens. Here’s what they did for him:
MusicBed Pricing – Designed for Real Applications
The pricing is structured around real use cases. MusicBed offers individual licensing plans and
business plans, with commercial licensing built in at every tier. They recently updated their
pricing structure to be more flexible – you’ll want to check the current tiers directly, but the
model now accommodates independent creators through enterprise teams.
You can browse all their songs for free without a subscription too.
Individual MusicBed subscriptions start out at $29.99 per month, but keep in mind, this is for individual use and not for clients. This option is most popular for social media content warriors that produce and distribution their own productions to promote their brands on YouTube.
If you are a business with less than 250 employees, then it’s $199.99 per month which isn’t bad. Enterprises are different and you’ll have to contact someone at MusicBed to discuss pricing for that.
If you want a great overview on their subscription model, take a look at this review posted by Matt Johnson on YouTube. Although this video is a couple years old, it is still very relevant today. Plus, Matt’s really entertaining too.
2. Artlist – The All-in-One Platform That’s Hard to Beat in 2026
Who it’s for: Filmmakers, freelancers, agencies, and anyone who wants music + footage + templates in one subscription. If you’re still buying these separately, Artlist is where the consolidation makes sense.
Artlist is a sister company of Artgrid.io, and has fundamentally changed what you’re getting for your subscription. In 2022, they were a music and SFX library. In 2026, they’re a full creative production platform – and that matters more than it sounds.
Artlist Free Trial – You Can Listen Before You Sign Up
You read that right. You can actually listen to their music before spending the money on a subscription. That’s really nice. It’s like the car salesman telling you to take the car home for the day and see how it feels. They know darn well you’ll end up buying it if that happens. It’s a pretty good strategy if you ask me.
What’s in the Artlist subscription now?
Music (60,000+ tracks), sound effects (50,000+), stock footage (180,000+ clips, HD through 8K), video templates (20,000+), and AI tools for video generation, image generation, SFX, and voiceovers. If you’re a solo filmmaker or a small team trying to do more without subscribing to six different services, this is the math that makes sense.
The music library is still where they win.
Every track feels like it’s made by someone who cares. Less filler, faster discovery. They now offer stems on a much broader selection of tracks, which is a significant update from their earlier offering – if you’ve ever needed to isolate the vocal from the instrumental, you know why this matters.
Artlist’s licensing model is clear.
Everything published during your subscription stays licensed forever. That’s the standard across the industry now, but Artlist executes it cleanly. Cancel, and anything you’ve already published with their music is covered. You just can’t use tracks in new projects without resubscribing.
Artlist’s AI features went further than we expected.
Artlist’s AI video generation, image generation, and voiceover tools have matured considerably. They’re not replacing a composer, but for producers who need quick prototyping or internal drafts, they’re genuinely useful.
Note: The daily download limit can be annoying
40 songs per day. For most workflows, that’s fine. For high-volume teams, it’s a friction point worth knowing about before you commit.
3. Audiio–They May be New Kids on the Block but They are Heavy Hitters
“Audiio is founded by former Universal Music Group artist Clay Jones and industry friends who share a vision of bringing the world’s best storytellers closer together. The team works directly with a network of publishers, labels, and independent musicians to ensure that relevant sync-worthy talent is recruited, and new music is added daily. To date, Audiio has licensed music in 80+ countries to projects ranging from nonprofit fundraisers to global television advertising campaigns.”
Audiio is our second choice for music licensing. Although they are one of the newest to hit the market, they are definitely a contender for top ranks. The founder has years of experience inside the industry and his team has an incredible ear for what’s good and what’s not.
Audiio for Pros – When You’re Trusted with Their Brand
It’s really cool when professionals in the industry rely on other professionals with their brand. Tribe Films was humbled when the founders of Audiio asked our team to create a commercial production for the launch of their platform. If you would like to see the commercial we produced using THEIR music, click the video below or you can view the Audiio Case Study Here.
The Audiio SFX Library is Really Strong
For only hitting the market recently, I must say that Audiio has done an outstanding job of creating a robust library of over 5,000 songs and over 30,000 SFX that include work from major labels, indie artists and composers.
Now I get that this is much lower than most of the competition out there, but I’m looking at Audiio’s quality over quantity. I’d rather have 1,000 high-quality songs to license than 10,000 mediocre ones.
For those that like a little more conversation and discussion around a review, here’s a really good one from Eric at Travel9to5 on Youtube:
Clean, Simple Website Design and Search Function
Their website interface is extremely simple to use and very intuitive. There is not a lot of guesswork when it comes to browsing their library. Their search function gives you options to filter songs based on mood, instruments, track length, vocals, energy level, genre, elements and more.
Audiio Pricing – Early Adopters of Unlimited Licensing
Audiio’s pricing is what sets them apart from their competition. It is very simple. They don’t offer monthly subscriptions, which I know will upset some of you. However, their annual packages end up being less expensive than most of their competitor’s monthly options so it works out in your favor.
Their standard annual subscription is $199 which provides each subscriber access to their 5,000+ library of songs and 30,000+ SFX and unlimited licensing. Crazy, right? But check this out…
For just $299 one-time fee, Audiio will give you a lifetime membership and perpetual licensing rights forever…what?! If that’s not early adopters, than I don’t know what is.
4. Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is one of the oldest and most robust platforms around. They have a massive following and one of the largest libraries (30,000 songs and 60,000+ SFX) around with very affordable monthly pricing. With all these positive features, you might wonder why they aren’t higher on the list.
Don’t get me wrong, Epidemic Sound is great; however, there are some features they have I feel need to be updated. First, let’s get into why we like them.
What we like about Epidemic Sound
As stated above, their library is massive. They have more than 35,000 songs and over 90,000 SFX. That’s crazy, but then again, that’s what you get when you’ve been around for more than 12 years. We also like them because of the depth in their library genres.
They have a very robust eclectic library which is really good if you want to think outside the box or use something for your high energy videos other than dance music.
The other gigantic plus is that they allow you to break songs into stems. This is such a huge benefit for video production companies that want only a portion of a song included in their production. So, if a producer doesn’t like the vocal track, they can strip it out and just include the instrumental part. This is really a great perk!
Epidemic Sound Pricing
Epidemic Sound was originally created exclusively for YouTube creators as a way of providing cheap licensed music for their creative needs. However, over the years, they have evolved to not just social media, but production companies and other agencies too.
Their model is a monthly subscription-based model for individual creators, freelancers and commercial/Enterprise usage. Their membership ranges from $15 per month to more than $500 per month for large scale licensed content for television or other productions on wide scale distribution channels.
The only real downside to Epidemic Sound is some of the quality of tracks in their library. You may have to weed through some of the legacy tracks that were added a while ago. There are still quite a few tracks that don’t really stand up to the quality of what is added today.
5. Marmoset Music
Marmoset Music rounds out our 5th choice of the top music licensing platforms around. They are not just a licensing platform, but an actual agency.
They are a perfect blend between price-sensitive platforms that cater to budget-conscious creatives looking for cheap corporate interview-style video music and professional film creatives looking for high-quality expensive tracks that will set their production apart from the rest.
Marmoset’s platform is unique in that they can not only help you find the music you need for your video production, but they can also collaborate with you by creating a music score for your film or other creative needs.
If you are going to offer that service, you better know what you’re doing. It appears that they do. They staff professional musicians and other personnel that have deep industry experience.
This really helps when needing to find a song because let’s face it, it can be a mind-numbing process searching through thousands of songs to find what you’re looking for.
At Marmoset, they make it really easy. Aside from the quality of songs in their library, their interface is one of the most intuitive to use. Their search menu actually lets you customize exactly what you’re looking for.
This is so incredibly helpful because you’re not just choosing a generic search category and having to sift through numerous songs. This interface really lets you customize what you’re looking for so you’re left with options that match exactly what you’re looking for.
Want to Play with the Best, You Gotta Pay – Marmoset Pricing
Price is a big factor when it comes to Marmoset. Unfortunately, if you want quality, you’re going to pay for it. Marmoset is similar to Musicbed’s pricing structure – it gets pricey really quick. But keep in mind, they aren’t just catering to the freelance run-and-gunners of the video production world. They are serving agencies in the commercial and broadcast categories as well.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not all pricey. They do have some reasonable options too. For example, they have an affordably priced dedicated podcasting license members can subscribe for.
Our Top Picks
As you can see, this list is highly subjective. You might not like some of our selections and that’s ok. These are just some of our favorites based on our experience from quality, website usability and pricing.
We do a lot of video work and need a lot of variation in music because, let’s face it, who wants to listen to two great pieces of commercial work with the same soundtrack, right?
Each one of these platforms offer users different advantages from licensing content whether you’re an individual creator or an organization, these five music licensing platforms for video production have you covered.