How to find music for a wedding video

Hello all! In this article, I am going to tell you where to find music for wedding videos in 2023. The article is based on my experience and subjective opinion – if you are looking for a real peer review, check the comments.

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Should I be using unlicensed music?

Short answer? No. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll explain. All music is divided into two types: Licensed and Unlicensed. Unlicensed works are released by little-known authors who allow their music to be used for free. Of course, ‘free’ is a pretty compelling argument, so why did I say “No”?

Using unlicensed music comes with some serious weaknesses:

1. You will have to search for appropriate music manually.
2. You will have to search without any filters, (by performers, genres, musical instruments) or algorithms with recommendations.
3. Even if you find something that you can use, chances are, you will eventually trash it, because 95% of all free music is of exceptionally low quality, and won’t resonate with your clients. 

In other words, you are going to spend a lot of time, and it is far from certain that it will pay off. Now, it is another thing if you use what is called ‘Royalty-free’ music. So let’s talk about that.

The services listed below barely differ at all from each other in terms of tools and functions, all provide a license for commercial and individual use of music, all with more or less the same conditions. However, it is worth zooming in a bit on this “barely”.

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Artlist

Artlist is a huge library of high-quality music.

Artlist has a very handy music filtering system, which helps a lot when searching and saves a lot of time. However, this is not its main advantage.

Affordable subscription

When you subscribe to Creator Pro, you get an unlimited license for all platforms (YouTube, Facebook, etc.) for commercial projects. This costs only $16.6/month with an annual subscription. For comparison, let’s take a look at Musicbed, which is more or less the same as Artlist, but costs $80/month. On top of its lower cost, Artlist also provides a free trial period.

Conclusion

Artlist has a low entry threshold, as well as simple and convenient tools for finding the right music: just what a beginner videographer needs.

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MUSICBED

This service is essentially Apple TV+ for the world of music services – simple, aesthetically pleasing, but expensive. Despite the expense, I can’t hide how much I love this service: Musicbed pulls you in with its free and uncluttered UI/UX design.

Like Artlist, there are convenient filters for finding music (for example, by music genre, desired mood, video type, instruments in musical compositions etc.).

But in Musicbed, these filters have more options to customize: this is one of the main reasons I actually prefer it. For example, one option I often use is “Advanced – Build – Stays Steady/Has Build”. Try it and you will immediately see how much time it will save you while searching for music!

Like I said earlier, the only downside is the subscription cost – it can be as much as $80/month for wedding filmmakers, or $60 for a one-time purchase of a single license. Is the cost justified? In my opinion, Yes. Musicbed has artists and playlists that other services don’t, and it definitely helps me out.

Conclusion

If you are a beginner or just an amateur making a wedding video as a gift for a friend, then I recommend some of the more financially accessible services… however, for everyone else, this is the one for you!

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Epidemic Sound

I have rarely ever used Epidemic Sound (almost never actually), so I turned to my friends for a review. They tell me that Epidemic Sound is the best service for individual creators. In fact, this service leaves competitors far behind.

Not tied to a service

The rights to audio content that you used during an active subscription remains with you even after you cancel your subscription… forever. For example, if you used audio content for your YouTube channel or others during your active subscription, then you do not need to renew your subscription in order to maintain monetization from the video. On Artlist, this feature is only available with a $200 annual Creator Pro subscription. And, well, when it comes to Musicbed, there is really nothing to say.

However, for those who do master the app, it could open the door to new career opportunities in Hollywood, where DaVinci Resolve is the go-to app for film editors.

Unlimited number of sites

The basic subscription for $9/month provides a license for several sites at once. Creators can use music for YouTube, Instagram and Twitch.

So why is Epidemic Sound not the best service for wedding filmmakers?

The service does not have any of the benefits that are specifically designed for wedding videographers in comparison with competitors:

• Epidemic has excellent content quality and a slightly larger library, but the difference is hardly noticeable.
• For commercial wedding video projects, you will need to purchase an appropriate subscription for $230/year. Artlist, meanwhile, is $200/year.

In my opinion, Epidemic’s interface also looks more archaic. If Artlist looks fresh and new and Musicbed is a timeless classic, Epidemic seems to be stuck somewhere in 2017. Of course, this is a somewhat subjective criteria.

Back to filters

Epidemic gives you a slightly more advanced filter setup, although it looks a bit cluttered.

You can use different versions of a song and its tracks separately

Every song has an instrumental version without vocals. This is very useful if you want something strictly musical in your video. You can do the same on Musicbed and Artlist. Not only can you download an mp3 of the song, you can access an archive of its various audio tracks. The most obvious use for this feature is that it allows you to adjust the volume of each instrument separately.

Conclusion

Epidemic Sound is the best choice for those who need high-quality music for personal purposes. Electronic and country music predominate their library, so for wedding videos it is probably better to choose something else. However, if you have a themed wedding, that’s another story…

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Comparison table

When comparing services above, I rely on my audience – wedding videographers.

	Artlist	MUSICBED	Epidemic Sound
Commercial subscription	– 200$/year	80$/month 720$/year	19$/month 230$/year
Free period	30 days	–	30 days
Availability of useful chips: by points	2 points	3 points	2 points
Subscription usage options: by points	2 points	1 point	3 points
Popularity and size of the community: by points	3 points	3 points	1 point

All in all, I suggest that you base your choice of service on cost and availability. If you are new to wedding video editing, I recommend Artist. You can get started quickly, and it’s cheap. However, if any of the specific features of the other services appeal to you, they are all great choices.

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