The short version: The best free podcast intro music comes from YouTube's Audio Library, Pixabay Music, and the free tiers of Uppbeat or Epidemic Sound's trial, but "free" only matters if the licence covers commercial and monetised podcasts, which a lot of free tracks don't. Read the licence before you fall in love with the track, not after you've built three episodes around it.
I've spent more hours than I'd like editing podcasts for clients and for my own show, and the single most common mistake new podcasters make isn't picking bad music. It's picking music without checking whether they're allowed to use it. Let me save you that headache.
The free sources that are worth your time
There are dozens of "free music" sites and most of them are either rubbish quality, riddled with watermarked previews, or quietly require attribution you'll forget to add. Here are the ones I'd point a client toward.
- YouTube Audio Library - free, no YouTube channel required to download, and a chunk of the tracks need no attribution at all. The catch is you have to sift through a lot of generic corporate stings to find something with character.
- Pixabay Music - free for commercial use, no attribution required, and the search filters by mood and genre, which saves time. Quality varies episode to episode but the good ones are very good.
- Free Music Archive - a mixed bag licence-wise. Some tracks are public domain, some are Creative Commons with attribution, some restrict commercial use entirely. You have to check each track individually, which is annoying but worth ten seconds of your time.
- Uppbeat - free tier with a decent library, attribution baked into a simple credit line, and tracks specifically cleared for YouTube and podcast use.
- Incompetech (Kevin MacLeod) - an enormous back catalogue, all free with attribution under Creative Commons. Dated in places but there are hidden gems if you're patient.
A worked example: building an intro from nothing
Say you run a 20-minute weekly marketing podcast aimed at small business owners, and you've got zero budget for music because you're spending everything on hosting and a half-decent microphone. Here's a realistic route through it:
- Spend 20 minutes on Pixabay Music searching "upbeat corporate" and "confident intro" and shortlist five tracks under 30 seconds.
- Download each as an MP3 and drop them into whatever you're editing in, whether that's Audacity, GarageBand, or something heavier.
- Trim each to a 7 to 10 second sting for your actual intro, not the full track. Nobody needs 90 seconds of music before you start talking.
- Layer your voiceover ("You're listening to [show name], the podcast for...") over the music at around 15 to 20 percent volume under your voice, full volume before and after.
- Export, listen back on earbuds and on a laptop speaker, because music that sounds fine on headphones can swamp your voice on a tinny speaker.
- Keep the licence confirmation email or screenshot. If you're ever asked to prove you had rights to use it, "I found it on Google" is not an answer anyone wants to hear.
That whole process takes under an hour and costs nothing. The intro won't sound like a network show, but it'll sound intentional, which is the bar most podcasts need to clear.
The uncomfortable bit nobody tells you
Here's what most "free intro music" lists skip over: a lot of free tracks are only free for non-commercial use, and the moment you put ads in your show, charge for a premium feed, or even link to your own paid product in the show notes, you've technically crossed into commercial use. Spotify and YouTube both run content ID and claims systems, and I've seen podcasters get a strike or a muted episode months after publishing because the "free" track they used had restrictions they never read. The licence text matters more than the sound quality. A slightly less exciting track with a clear commercial licence beats a brilliant one that could get your episode taken down.
If you're unsure whether a track covers your use case, assume it doesn't and move to a source with explicit commercial clearance. Pixabay and Uppbeat are both explicit about this. Free Music Archive is the one where you need to read each listing.
What free costs you that paid doesn't
Free music libraries are smaller and more picked-over than paid ones, which means there's a real chance your intro sounds like three other podcasts in your niche. If you want something more distinctive, a few routes worth knowing about:
- Paid libraries like Epidemic Sound or Artlist run roughly 10 to 15 pounds a month and give you far deeper catalogues with clear commercial licensing baked in, no guesswork.
- Fiverr composers will write a custom sting for anywhere from 15 to 80 pounds depending on how fast and how custom you want it, and you own it outright.
- If you or someone on your team can play an instrument or use software, building your own intro from scratch in a free tool like GarageBand on a Mac costs nothing but time, and you end up with something nobody else has.
On the DIY front, it's also worth knowing what the free versions of music software let you do before you commit an evening to it. FL Studio's free trial has a save limit that catches people out, Pro Tools Intro caps you at 8 tracks, and if you'd rather build a beat than compose a melody, there are several free beat maker tools worth comparing before you pick one.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
A quick note on inspiration and research
If you want to hear what works in your niche before you choose anything, listening around is the cheapest research you'll do. A YouTube Premium free trial is a decent way to binge competitor shows ad-free while you figure out what tone you're going for, and if you're the kind of person who writes to music, having a SiriusXM subscription running in the background while you plan your show's sound can help you pin down a mood before you start searching libraries.
My actual recommendation
If you're launching a podcast this month on no budget, start with Pixabay Music and Uppbeat's free tier, pick two or three options, test them under your voice, and move on. Don't spend a weekend auditioning fifty tracks. An intro is ten seconds of a show people are there to hear you talk, not a film score. Get something decent, get the licensing right, and get back to recording.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use free YouTube Audio Library music on Spotify and Apple Podcasts too?
Yes, the licence attached to YouTube Audio Library tracks generally covers use outside YouTube as well, including podcast platforms, but always check the specific track's licence notes since a handful carry extra restrictions.
Do I need to credit the artist if the music is free?
It depends on the licence. Some tracks are fully free with no attribution needed, others require a credit line in your show notes or description, and skipping that credit when it's required can technically breach the terms even though the music itself cost nothing.
Is royalty-free the same as free?
No, and this trips people up constantly. Royalty-free means you pay once and never pay ongoing royalties, not that the track was free to begin with. Plenty of royalty-free music libraries charge a one-off or subscription fee.
What's the safest free option if I'm monetising my podcast with ads?
Pixabay Music and Uppbeat's free tier both explicitly allow commercial use including monetised shows, which makes them a safer starting point than scraping random Creative Commons tracks from forums or Free Music Archive without reading each individual licence.
Run a business, a brand or a blog? I feature tools, products and expert guest posts for an audience of 15,000. See how it works
