A working method to secure your channel from copyright issues is to use music with the owner's permission. Being an experienced Youtuber, you know the services where you can find such tracks. But creators often don't have enough information: how and where to find the right tune? Here is a quick overview of the main methods. But beware: groups in social networks and Youtube channels called "Copyright free music" are a pretty unsafe and suspicious way of searching. To avoid becoming a victim of ignorance and confusion, let's get into the types of licenses.
There is no music without copyright, but sometimes the copyright owner gives permission to use their track. Creative Commons is a license that allow anyone to use the material on author's terms. But it has its difficulties, so be careful.
Attribution — license with giving credit to the author. Tracks can be used in a video in case author is credited in the description.
Attribution Share Alike — this license allows editing tracks, even for commercial purposes, and author must be credited.
Attribution No Derivatives — tracks are used for commercial and non-commercial purposes but that cannot be edited. Author must be credited.
Attribution Non-Commercial — tracks with this license and their remixes cannot be used for commercial purposes. Author must be credited in case you remix it.
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike — music can be used and edited for commercial purposes, author must be credited.
Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives — the strictest license. Tracks cannot be edited, author must be credited. Cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Royalty-Free — music with this license is not free. You pay for it once, but you can use it as many times as you want.
Some words about where you can get music for your videos:
Free/budget sources:
1. Be mediacube.network's partner and get a free access for a great music library - Epidemic Sound;) This means you can use a countless number of tracks in your videos. Free and legal.
In Youtube's Audio Library you'll find a lot of tunes and sound effects. Some of them can only be used with crediting the author. Music can be filtered by genres, mood, instruments, duration and attribution. Sound effects can also be filtered by categories: human voices, animals, alarms, impacts, etc. The choice is not big, but you still can find something worthy.
ATTENTION! Study carefully terms of use on each track, because not every one of them can be used for commercial purposes.
3. Audiostocks and music libraries. But you'll have to pay for access to truly quality services. If you need light background music you can always find if on free websites. Some examples: Netlabels, BeatPick, Shutterstock Music, FreeSound, Musopen, De Wolfe Music.
ATTENTION! Study carefully terms of use on each track, because not every one of them can be used for commercial purposes.
Expensive sources:
1. Pay the musician for making the track. But Youtubers usually have a large circle of contacts. You might find some beginner musicmaker among them. Useful connections are important for a Youtuber.
2. Pay money for the track or at least the part that you liked. Big money, if we're talking popular tracks. Decent money if we're talking about a begginer artist. In both cases it is very important to document the copyright argeement correctly.
You're extremely lucky if you have a talent for music yourself! Persistence, internet access and a little time are more than enough for creating your own music track.