Freesound Forums

Good day!

I've recently taken up the hobby of recording games I play and would like to compose highlights of said game play. In doing some research, I found that to add comic relief, suspense, etc. adding music and/or sound effects to my recordings could help keep viewers engaged.

I've looked around for "free music/sfx/vfx" and I stumbled upon this site, along with several others. Some are paid subscriptions, others like this one are 'free. From what I can tell so far, from reading other posts, is that allot of the sfx here require a attribution (to be publicly recognized).

How do I tell if a sound I like is 'free' to use with attribution?

How do I tell if I can use it in a highlight reel? And would I be able to post this publicly on facebook/YouTube or social media without being hit with a copyright infringement?

If I like a sound that is privatized, I messaging the owner for permission of use a viable strategy?

Finally, what other sites do you know of that have a good library for music/sound effects that are similar to "freesound" or have a minimum monthly subscription that offer either better quality or a higher quantity of choices? Also do these sites require any permission of use once subscribed? Or are you free to use them in any manner?

Thank you to anyone who can help clear up these questions.

Hlghball wrote:
How do I tell if a sound I like is 'free' to use with attribution? ...

Each Freesound has one of three license options, see ... https://freesound.org/help/faq/#licenses

Just to add to the conversation...

All sounds are free to use on this site, that is something you can be certain about, however of the 3 licenses 2 of them require you to give credits to the authors. I answered this licensing question in great detail in another thread, please have a look there:

https://freesound.org/forum/legal-help-and-attribution-questions/38292/?page=1#post84692

I know the FAQ can be quite ambiguous in places, so the above forum thread will hopefully clear up any doubts.

Headphaze,

Thank you for your shared knowledge. In terms of commercial use, does that only apply when intending to profit? And if so, does using these sounds in a youtube clip or facebook post automatically make it "commercial"? Thank you.

Hlghball wrote:
Headphaze,

Thank you for your shared knowledge. In terms of commercial use, does that only apply when intending to profit? And if so, does using these sounds in a youtube clip or facebook post automatically make it "commercial"? Thank you.

Yes, the definition of commercial is for profit. If you don't intend to profit off your project then it wouldn't be classed as such.

Youtube is fine unless you are part of the Youtube partnership, benefiting from ad placement on your videos. Ad revenue would count as "commercial" use.

Headphaze wrote:

Yes, the definition of commercial is for profit. If you don't intend to profit off your project then it wouldn't be classed as such.

Youtube is fine unless you are part of the Youtube partnership, benefiting from ad placement on your videos. Ad revenue would count as "commercial" use.

Understood.

So essentially if the clips/videos go viral and ad placement is ran, then it would be considered commercial, in which case the sfx would need to be removed, attributed or given permission for use via the author, correct?

If the effect is CC-0 then this would not apply, correct?

By chance do you know of any legitimate sites that offer background music, simple melodies or instrumentals, electronic and what not that allow for the purchase of the track to be used as filler music? Thank you again.

Right, CC 0 is safe to use with no attribution required, and you can also use CC-BY in commercial projects, however with CC-By and CC-BY-NC, you MUST attribute the author/authors even if you're using their property non-commercially. If you do decide to use CC-BY-NC in your YouTube project, there is a way to set the video as non-commercial, but if you do get in a bind and a commercialized video with CC-BY-NC samples goes viral, you would have to take down the video until the correct changes were made. As for a free music site, I'd recommend: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/

The site has literally hundreds of tracks and offers a license similar to CC-BY.

-Sincerely

FiveBrosStopMosYT