Finding the perfect FREE audio file

There are so many places to find great audio.

Your ideal file format is .mp3.

My favorite is YouTube! Pasting a link into a "youtube to mp3" converter is a speedy way to get great audio. You can even refine it or crop out bits you don't like with free software like Audacity.

Look up movie soundtracks, famous composers, free audiobooks, and educational videos.

Additionally, I enjoy recording my own voice or the voice of others with a free app downloaded to my cell phone. I have Voice Recorder.

You can even combine these together by layering music, sound effects, and voice recordings in Audacity.

Other places to find free audio:

Other places to find free audio:

Public Domain Archives: These are fantastic for finding older books, music, and historical recordings. LibriVox is a huge library of public domain audiobooks read by volunteers. The Internet Archive also has a massive collection of free audio, from old radio shows to music and spoken-word performances.

Royalty-Free Music and Sound Effect Libraries: These sites are a goldmine for creators who need background music or specific sound effects without worrying about copyright.

Zapsplat has a huge library of over 100,000 free sound effects and music tracks.

Freesound.org is a collaborative database of audio snippets, sound effects, and recordings.

Pixabay is well-known for its free images, but it also has a great selection of free music and sound effects.

Bensound offers a variety of royalty-free music tracks that can be used with attribution.

The BBC Sound Effects Archive provides over 16,000 sound effects from their library for personal and educational use.

Podcasts: Many podcasts offer free episodes that you can download directly from their websites or through podcast apps. Look for shows with a creative commons license or that explicitly state the content can be used for personal projects.

Free Music and Sample Websites:

NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) provides a library of electronic music that is free to use on YouTube and other platforms with attribution.

Incompetech offers a large collection of free music created by composer Kevin MacLeod.

SoundCloud allows many artists to upload and offer their tracks for free download, often under Creative Commons licenses.

What suggestions do you have? Leave a comment below!