How to find the right music for your content with Epidemic Sound
Learn how to find the perfect soundtrack for your video content.
Finding the right music for your content is one of the hardest parts of any passion project — especially when faced with thousands of tracks and sound effects.
But don’t sweat it. Here’s a guide to help you nail the vibe every time with Epidemic Sound.
Tip #1: Search and filtering
Music is built on feeling. Sometimes, you need to use your own language and emotions to describe it. Use Epidemic Sound’s search bar to describe music and sound effects in your own words — our semantic search gives you more accurate, relevant results.
There are more than 50,000 tracks across nearly 400 genres, all cleared for use in your content. Filter through tracks based on genre, mood, length, tempo, and vocal/instrumental options to narrow down your search.
BONUS TIP: Track listings in your search will always include key details like length and BPM, helping you identify potential matches by their pacing.
Tip #2: Find similar tracks
Heard an irresistible hook, beat, or riff, and want more options that sound like it? Use Epidemic Sound’s find similar feature.
Just drag your slider across a track’s waveform to explore similar-sounding tracks from the catalog.
Tip #3: Search by reference track
If you have a popular song in mind and want something with the same energy, let’s find it. Type in any track or artist name, or paste a Spotify link, and get instant matches from our catalog. You can also search by Shazam directly in the Epidemic Sound app.
Tip #4: Use curated playlists to find more specific vibes
A sure-fire method for finding the perfect track is by heading to our curated playlists, which we call “Themes.” All tracks are handpicked by our expert music curators, and will help nudge you toward tracks that capture the mood you’re looking for.
From Holiday Essentials to Badass Ads and even Bardcore — if you can vibe to it, we’ve got it.
Tip #5: Featured music is a great starting point
Our Player’s home page is filled with fresh, exciting featured music. You’ll find personal recommendations, hot and trending tracks, popular genres and moods, featured sound effects, and the latest releases.
Tip #6: Staff picks are “staff picks” for a reason
Our music curators know a thing or two about, well, curating music. That’s why we update our Staff Picks playlist weekly, giving you a tailor-made sonic feast chosen by the best in the business.
Tip #7: Take advantage of stems
Love a track but want to get rid of a certain element, or just make it more unique to your content? Our tracks come in four stems: melody, instruments, bass, and drums. You can either download a full mix or each stem separately by clicking the download arrow to the right of the track.
Tip #8: Say what you mean when searching for sound effects
Our catalog features more than 200,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects to explore and download. That might seem overwhelming, but our intuitive tagging and categorization system means you can use the first word that comes to mind, without having to think about a particular category.
Tip #9: Get inspired with personal recommendations
Struggling for inspiration? We’ve got you covered. The Epidemic Sound Player dishes out bespoke suggestions based on your habits.
These recommendations come via two routes:
- Based on recent uploads to your connected YouTube channel(s), we’ll find music commonly used with the type of videos you create. Don’t like the recommendations? Refresh, and you’ll get a new set of tracks.
- Based on your previous downloads from the Epidemic Sound catalog, we’ll give recommendations that match the genres and tracks you’ve liked enough to save. Five recommended tracks will appear under “More of what you like” on your main page in the Player. To get the ball rolling, you need to download at least one track — the more you download, the more accurately we can recommend music.
Tip #10: Collaborate on playlists
You can invite anyone, including non-subscribers, to collaborate on playlists. They can then add and remove tracks, share the playlist with others, and change its name — this is an ideal solution for those of you working in large teams.
Now that we’ve covered those 10 tips…
Try Epidemic Sound.
Our catalog is high-quality, affordable, and safe. An Epidemic Sound subscription goes beyond royalty-free music, removing the headache of licensing and freeing you up to do what you do best.
You can enjoy the safety of our license hand-in-hand with our massive catalog of 50,000 tracks, covering just about every genre you can think of. You’ll also gain unlimited access to our advanced search features and AI tools — finding the right sound’s never been easier.
It’s better than royalty-free. It’s worry-free.
Related posts: