Video creators have tons of great options to find music for YouTube videos. Many creators will try out one platform, then move to another in their search for the best music for YouTube videos.
Creator Laura Medley talks about the different sites she uses to find music for YouTube videos
Two of the most popular music platforms for YouTube creators are Thematic and Epidemic Sound. Both music sites provide creators with music for YouTube videos, social media, and podcasts, and as a result some might consider these two options as alternatives or competitors to one another.
Creators will find similarities between the two music sites, including a selection of quality music for videos, an easy-to-use and copyright claim-free experience, and a music library that are trusted by the biggest creators in the world. However, there are some key differences to consider when comparing the two platforms.
- What is Thematic?
- What is Epidemic Sound?
- Is Thematic or Epidemic Sound better for video creators?
- Is Thematic or Epidemic Sound better for music artists?
- Epidemic Sound FAQs
Let’s dive into the differences between Thematic and Epidemic Sound:
What is Thematic?
Thematic is a community-driven platform where creators can license trending songs from music artists in exchange for promotion. Creators can access unlimited royalty-free music and sound effects from Thematic to make their content creation easier.
Thematic’s mission is to bring creatives together and empower them to achieve their full potential through a fair, safe and collaborative exchange. Thematic believes that all content creators should have fair access to quality music for their videos.
Thematic has a freemium business model where all creators can download free music for videos. The paid Premium subscription (starting at $8.99/month) unlocks additional songs and features, and the Pro subscription provides tools and advanced features for professional creators. The music from Thematic can be used in YouTube videos, across social media platforms (like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch), and in podcasts..
The music from Thematic is from trending, independent music artists. These are real music artists you can find on Instagram and TikTok who are looking to get their songs discovered by new audiences.
Some of the artists featured on Thematic have gone on to have massively successful careers, including: Fiji Blue (who signed to Virgin Records), Nicky Youre (whose song “Sunroof” was the top trending song on TikTok), EVAN GIIA (who signed to Astralwerks), and JP Saxe (who was nominated for a Grammy and signed to Arista).
Thematic is a marketing engine and launching pad for the next big thing in music. Creators using the music from Thematic get the opportunity to use the music from these artists and be part of their success story.
What is Epidemic Sound?
Epidemic Sound is a production music library providing royalty free background music and sound effects for videos. Creators get unlimited downloads of the music and SFX when using the Epidemic sound library.
Epidemic’s mission is to empower creativity and soundtrack the world. They aim to enrich the creative process and enable creators to elevate their content through the music and SFX.
Epidemic Sound has a subscription business model (starting at $9.99/month for digital platforms). Their subscription plans have a free trial period, but there is no free plan option. The music from Epidemic can be used on a variety of web platforms, depending on the tier selected.
The music available on Epidemic Sound is from a variety of composers, production music artists, and independent music artists. Some of the artists on Epidemic are actual artists you might find on Instagram, and some of the artists are pseudonyms (groups of works from composers under different, made-up artist names).
Is Thematic or Epidemic Sound better for video creators?
Both Thematic and Epidemic Sound are designed to help creators elevate their content and produce great videos. Creators can find quality royalty-free music for YouTube videos and sound effects on both platforms.
Let’s explore some of the key differences between these two sites for providing music for creators.
Are you a new or established creator?
You may have different needs for music depending on whether you’re a brand new creator, who is just getting started with their channel, or an established creator, who creates content as their full-time job.
Music for new creators
For creators just getting started, Thematic provides the best option as it has a free subscription for creators. Epidemic Sound does not have any free subscriptions available on its site.
Thematic allows any creator, even if they’re making their very first video, to get access to high quality music for their videos for free. Creators no longer need to wait to get a lot of subscribers or to become eligible for video monetization to get access to the best music for YouTube videos. They can use Thematic from day one to start making amazing videos with great music from real independent artists.
Music for established & full-time creators
On both Thematic and Epidemic Sound, full-time content creators and video creators with established audiences can find great music options for their videos. Each site has a subscription option available for creators who are looking for the widest selection of songs for all of their video needs.
For example, both Thematic and Epidemic provide subscription plans that allow creators to clear music for multiple YouTube channels, for client accounts, and for use in digital ads.
On Thematic’s Pro subscription, established creators can also invite their video editors to help find music for their channel (without sharing login info).
Music Library on Epidemic Sound vs Thematic
Thematic’s music selection is curated and matched to each creator based on their personal aesthetic, video content, and favorite types of music. In fact, many creators find Thematic to be the best site to get aesthetic music for YouTube videos.
Creators on Thematic get curated Weekly Matches every Friday and their own personalized mix of songs and curated playlists matched to the creator’s aesthetic. This ensures a fast and easy way for creators to find the perfect song to enhance their video.
Thematic has also recently added an AI-powered music search called Trackmatic where creators can describe their videos to get song recommendations matched to their content.
Epidemic has a large production music library that creators can browse and filter through. They have over 40,000 songs that creators can search to find a song that fits their YouTube video.
Epidemic Music provides playlists for creators that match different genres and moods. Creators can explore these different playlists by clicking through their featured pages and finding a playlist they enjoy.
Song Filters to find the right music
When searching on both Thematic and Epidemic, creators can use song filters to find specific songs for their videos. Both platforms allow creators to search by keyword and filter by mood or vibe, genre, instrumental only, song duration, and BPM. Thematic also allows creators to filter by the video keyword, song energy, featured instrument, explicit songs, vocal types, and song key.
Epidemic’s search results include sound effects, songs, and editorial playlists. Thematic’s search results include songs, editorial playlists, playlists from the community, music artists, and other creators using the site.
Creator Community
One of the things that creators love most about using Thematic is the creative community. Thematic helps to connect the creators and music artists in a collaborative way.
For example, Thematic features YouTube videos from its creators throughout the site. Many creators like to watch these videos to see what songs to use or what types of videos to create.
Creators can also follow other creators and music artists on Thematic. This allows a creator to see all of the songs their favorite influencers feature in their YouTube videos, the achievements they’ve earned on the site, similar creators, links to their social media platforms, and their shared music playlists. Likewise, they can see the latest songs from their favorite music artists.
Also, Thematic has both an Affiliate Squad and private community Discord server where the creators and music artists on the site can connect directly, collaborate, and refer friends to join the Thematic community. Some of the music artists have ended up working on new music together and meeting up in person because of their connection in this community.
Epidemic Sound’s community program is an affiliate loyalty program that encourages creators to invite other creators to use Epidemic Sound. Creators can register to join the community to get their referral link.
Which is Creator-First?
Thematic is the only music licensing platform that was developed by a YouTube creator. Co-founded by the premier beauty influencer and entrepreneur, Michelle Phan, Thematic was built to solve the issue of connecting music artists and creators from a creator-first perspective.
Epidemic Sound was created in 2009 by Swedish entrepreneurs from the TV and music industries.
Using Thematic and Epidemic Together
Often, creators use both platforms to soundtrack their videos. For example, a creator will use a hot new song from Thematic in their video intro and montages to set the vibe of their video, then feature Epidemic music in other parts of their video, like during voiceovers.
Below is a great example from creator Yoora Jung. The song featured during her video intro (“Pretty Blue Jeans & Me” by nodisco.) is a perfect fit for Yoora’s aesthetic and helps to capture the viewers’ attention. The song from Epidemic Sound played later (during the car part of the video at 2:50) was a great chill background song to keep the video flowing. Check it out here:
As you can see in Yoora’s video, the music from Thematic helped to set the overall tone and feeling of the video (which is key to making videos successful and growing a YouTube audience).
Winner of best site for video creators
While we find that Thematic and Epidemic are complementary music solutions for creators, Thematic is the clear winner as it provides a music solution for all levels of creators (and not just full-time creators). All creators can start using Thematic for free without a paid subscription.
In terms of music quality and differences, Thematic has more aesthetic and trending music from real artists and songs you’ll want to add to your Spotify playlists. Epidemic Sound is a great source production background music and sfx.
You’ll find that many serious content creators tend to use both platforms to provide the perfect soundtrack for their YouTube videos.
Is Thematic or Epidemic Sound better for musicians and music artists?
Thematic and Epidemic Sound provide different values for music artists. Let’s compare the differences between the two sites from the perspective of music artists.
What are the benefits of Thematic for music artists?
Thematic provides independent music artists with song promotion and influencer marketing for their music. Thematic offers music artists a way to get their music discovered by new audiences – driving new fans, more Spotify streams, and higher social engagement. It is completely free for music artists to launch a song campaign to Thematic.
What value and royalties do musicians receive on Thematic?
The creators using music from Thematic are required to promote the song and artist in their videos.
Thematic provides their music artists with a full performance dashboard of how and where their music is being featured on YouTube, including Earned Media Value (the estimated cost that the artist would likely have to spend through paid marketing efforts to achieve the same exposure and engagement they are receiving organically through Thematic).
The music artist keeps full control and ownership of their music and can opt their songs out at any time. Thematic admins the songs in YouTube Content ID while the music is available on Thematic and pays out 80% of all collected revenues to the music artist. Thematic does not take any of the music artist’s streaming royalties.
What are the benefits of Epidemic Sound for music artists?
Epidemic Sound provides composers and music artists with a way to sell their music for an upfront fee. Epidemic purchases songs from music artists for an agreed-upon amount. As a result, Epidemic fully owns the music on its site and controls the exclusive rights to the music. The music by Epidemic Sound is owned by Epidemic Sound (not the artists).
What value and royalties do musicians receive on Epidemic Sound?
The creators using Epidemic music licensing are not required to promote the song or artist in their videos.
Epidemic pays out 50% of the collected streaming revenue from the songs with the music artist.
Comparison of Features for Music Artists
Features | Epidemic Sound | Thematic |
|---|---|---|
| Song Promotion | Not required | Creators are required to promote the music and artist ✅ |
| Song Ownership | Epidemic owns the songs (purchases it from the artist) | Music artists keep 100% ownership of their music ✅ |
| Song Royalties | 50/50 split between the artist and Epidemic | Music artists keep 100% ownership of their streaming royalties ✅ |
| Content ID Earnings | 50/50 split between the artist and Epidemic | Music artists keep 80% of their YouTube earnings ✅ |
Winner of best site for music artists
As you can see, there is a clear difference of value for the music artist when looking at the two platforms. Music artists who are looking to grow their fans and take their career to the next level, while also monetizing their copyrights, would find most success on Thematic. Music artists or composers who are looking to sell their music copyrights in exchange for royalties should consider making music for Epidemic Sound.
Epidemic Sound FAQs
Let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Epidemic Sound!
Can I use Epidemic Sound for free?
Epidemic Sound does not have a free plan available for creators. Their personal subscription plans start at $9/month (when billed annually) and they may offer a free trial for these plans (although it is not guaranteed).
Is Epidemic Sound worth it?
Epidemic Sound is one of many providers for royalty free music for videos, so it really depends on what you’re looking for. If using popular music from real or trending artists is not a priority or if you need tons of regular background music for all of your videos, Epidemic Sound may be worth it for your needs. Their subscription plans are relatively inexpensive (starting at $9/month for social media platforms) and they provide many tracks for creators.
However, if you would like more of a curated library with trending songs, or if you need free music for videos, Epidemic Sound may not be worth it. We recommend considering all of the royalty free music options available to you before making a decision.
Is Epidemic Sound legal?
Yes! Epidemic Sound is a legal way to get royalty free music for videos. They are a trusted company and provide creators with different subscriptions to get music for videos. Creators will just want to make sure that they are on the appropriate subscription to make sure they are in compliance with Epidemic’s terms of service and licensing regulations.
What is Epidemic Sound used for?
Epidemic Sound is used by creators, freelancers, agencies, and businesses to get royalty free music for videos and podcasts. They provide songs and sound effects (SFX) that can be used in both personal or commercial video projects (based on your subscription type) across social media and online platforms (like podcasts or company websites).
We hope you found this guide to the differences between Thematic and Epidemic Sound helpful. As you can see in our comparison of the two platforms, creators can find value from both platforms in different ways and both provide creators with great music for YouTube videos.
Ready to get started with Thematic? Sign-up for free Thematic to find music for YouTube videos.
Looking for more creator tools and resources? Visit Thematic’s Creator Toolkit for additional resources on creating content – including starting a YouTube channel, thumbnail and channel art templates, best practices, and of course, great royalty free songs to use in your videos for free with Thematic.