Podcasts are everywhere. You can find episodes on true crime, cooking, sports, politics, pets, celebrities — you name it. If you can think of it, somebody probably has a podcast about it.
But they’re not all good. Just because you have a mic on your laptop and some spare time doesn’t mean your podcast is going to be great. Good podcasts rely on pre-production, branding, editing, equipment, and (you guessed it) music.
If your podcast sounds like it was recorded by an amateur, even if somebody downloads and episode, they’ll tune back out pretty quickly — it’s likely they can find a more professional production on the web. You only have a limited amount of time to snare your audience’s attention, and then you need to hold onto it throughout the episode. Drawing them in is where the music matters — sustaining their attention the entire time takes some finesse and a lot of creativity.
So, to give your podcast its best chance out of the gate, we’ve rounded up some free music for podcasts, divided by categories that you might need. Check it out . . .
Holiday Music
Listen, a theme song is important, but so is keeping your content current. When Halloween or Christmas or Thanksgiving rolls around, a good way to indicate that your content is fresh is by making it timely. Weaving in some holiday music to change things up is a great way to keep your audience coming back for more. Here are a few of our favorites.
🎄 Royalty Free Christmas Music
🎃 Royalty Free Halloween Music
Middle Music
You might think that the most important parts of your podcast are the beginning and the end. We spend lots of time deciding how to brand our podcasts with just the right music so that our episodes stand out in the crowd. Similarly, we want to end on a strong note, so we pay lots of attention to our outro music.
While those songs are important, the majority of your podcast happens in what you might think of as “the middle.” This is the long stretch between that exciting opening and the satisfying conclusion. If you want to sustain interest and keep from fatiguing your listener during the long middle, you’re going to need some music to dial things down a bit and give everybody a chance to catch their breath . . . and then wind them back up again!
Music can be a great way to transition between segments, prepare the audience for a new guest, or provide a background for sponsorships and other messages. To help you nail the long middle, we’ve gathered a few of our favorite mellow tracks from different categories. Check it out . . .
🧘♂️ Royalty Free Meditation Music
Music for Streams
The exciting, live cousin of the podcast is the stream. Unlike the podcast, you don’t download the entire program — rather, you play it back in real time by streaming it from the source. These differ from podcasts because they often include video, and they’re generally faster-paced. They need to keep up the pace, maintain interest, and create excitement without being too overly distracting.
So, if you need some royalty free Twitch music, or more general music for streams, we’ve collected some for you from a couple of our favorite categories. If you want something fun, try some royalty-free jazz music — if you need something more heart-pounding, then our royalty-free upbeat music is exactly what you need.
Cover image via Freepik.
Looking for creative assets you can use in your projects? Check these out.
- 10 Free Ambient Tracks for Your Creative Projects
- 18 Free Rain and Storm Assets
- Eyes in the Sky — 15 Free Aerial Stock Footage Clips
- The Sounds of Summer: 23 Free Assets for Podcasters
- Summer Mixology — 21 Free Filmmaking Assets
Need a break? Check out our videvoscapes — the ultimate reels for relaxation or concentration. Each videvoscape collects hours of high-definition nature footage and background video with downtempo chill beats for the ultimate escape from the grind.
