Music for filmmakers

Filmmakers get their music in many different ways based on several factors, such as budget, network, and others. Generally, since you must own the rights to the music you’re using in your movies (at least if you’re planning on releasing them), filmmakers either:

• Commission some custom music to one or multiple artists (which can be very expensive).
• If working for big networks, they probably have access to a wide choice of songs, including the commercially-famous ones.
• Use third-party suppliers, like Epidemic Sound. Services like Epidemic Sound allow filmmakers to use original music that has been cleared for commercial use and have it at a much more affordable price than you would spend with the other two options.

If you’re intrigued, get started here!

Choosing the right music for a film can make a huge difference in how the viewer perceives it. But how does one choose the best music? Every movie has a different vibe and it’s up to the filmmaking team to encapsulate it with the perfect soundtrack.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, either check out the soundtrack of your favorite movies or explore our Cinematic Themes. Our Themes are playlists that have been curated by our Music Curation team, don’t forget to check them out!

This is a hard question since there are so many possible answers! Definitely, the budget for movies like Top Gun is much different from the one someone might have for a film school project.

Some amateur directors/filmmakers might even be musicians on the side and this fact allows them to pay $0 to soundtrack their movies! If you’re not a musician yourself and you need an original and commercial-use-safe soundtrack for your film, try Epidemic Sound!

If you release a movie to the public, you must comply with the general copyright rules which means that, yes, you must own the rights to use specific music in your content. You could either ask the artist, the record label that manages their catalog, or simply get started with Epidemic Sound!

This is one of the most-asked questions we get! There is no real limit in seconds before which a song is not copyrighted! This means that you will most likely need to pay for the right to use a specific song.