In this post, I’m sharing my favorite places to find birthday video music. Free options, how to find popular music, and more! Music licensing rules are COMPLICATED and the last thing you want is for your friend or family member’s birthday message video to get flagged for using unlicensed music. Let’s dive in.
The Best Free Sites for Birthday Video Music
Most of the music you find here uses a Creative Commons license. Provide attribution in the description of your YouTube video (look for each song’s individual rules). Unless you’re getting paid as a video editor (like I do) or using the video in some kind of professional context, you can use a personal license. Birthday videos fall in this category, so you should be good to go!
Find a bunch of options that are already approved for use on YouTube in the YouTube studio. If you get music from here, you know it will be fine!
This is a smaller music library but has some great options. Most songs are free as long as you provide attribution in the description + credits of your video.
BONUS TIP! A lot of video editing apps for smartphones have music libraries – including Adobe Rush, InShot, Filmm and Splice! I’ve shared my favorite apps to edit with on your iPhone in a previous post. If you’re hoping to create your video on your smartphone, definitely check out that list next!
Low-Budget Music Options
This is a paid site, with songs costing $49. The songs here are well-vetted + high quality. I’d recommend looking here especially if you’re wanting a song with lyrics for your birthday video!
Songs average around $20 for a license. They have a helpful filter that lets you set your budget when you’re looking for the right music track for your birthday video.
This is a monthly membership site, but you get to download up to 5 songs for $10 so that’s a good deal. You can sign up for 1 month, download what you need + cancel afterward if you don’t need music on an ongoing basis.
I find that the quality on these paid sites is a little better than the free sites and you get more unique music.
Finding Popular Songs for your Birthday Video
If you’re looking for a specific popular song, that can be really tricky as big record labels don’t often negotiate with music licensing sites. However, you can check the site Tracks Music and sometimes you’ll get lucky. I was looking for a specific Jason Mraz song for my wedding video + was able to find + license it there. This costs about $60 per song but can be worth it if you really want a specific popular song + don’t want to worry about it being flagged.
Now that you have the perfect song picked out, how do you get your birthday video put together? Here is my complete guide to how to make a birthday message video! I’ll see you over there!
