Only a few years ago, you probably would’ve been able to stream any sort of copyrighted material on Twitch without too much trouble from the platform. Not that it was ever legal, of course — in fact, playing copyrighted music or even television shows and movies on your stream has always been illegal and prohibited. However, only a few years ago (say, maybe around 2018), people were using copyrighted material without any worry or concern.
So what changed?
Well, sometime around 2019 or so, Twitch started cracking down on the use of copyrighted material on its platform — probably because the pressure from copyright holders became too much to let go any further. Twitch doesn’t want any legal trouble, so naturally, it started enforcing the rules. Nowadays, you get three copyright strikes before you get banned from Twitch.
But what do you do if you want to play some background music on your stream?
You could be like some of the people who don’t care about copyright claims and just continue with old habits of playing whatever they wanted on stream (we do not encourage this). Or, you could find a service that offers a way to use licensed music on your stream 100% legally.
This is where Artlist and Epidemic Sound come in.
What is Epidemic Sound?
Epidemic Sound is a company that provides royalty-free music and sound effects. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and was established in 2009. It is now one of the longest-standing companies of its kind, which probably explains the fact that they also have one of the largest libraries of royalty-free audio (more than 35,000 music tracks and more than 90,000 sound effects).
Music on Epidemic Sound is 100% exclusively licensed, meaning the company owns all the licenses. What this means is you will never have to worry about getting copyright-struck unless you use their music without an active Epidemic Sound license.
Epidemic sound has two really cool features that you’ll probably enjoy using:
- Stems – Ever liked a song but hated something about it? What if you find a song that’s perfect for your video but there’s just an instrument in it that clashes with your theme? Well, stems allows you to customize your download. Now you can remove that annoying instrument, or the vocals, or whatever you want before you download a track!
- Find Similar – If you find a song but it’s just not…right, you can use the find similar feature to find other songs just like it. Maybe one of the results is the perfect choice!
Epidemic Sound has a 30-day free trial, also known as their “first month free” when you subscribe to one of their plans.
Epidemic Sound has three plans available: Personal, Commercial, and Enterprise. Not surprisingly, you have to contact the company for a price quote on the Enterprise plan. However, the personal plan starts at $9/month (when billed annually) and the commercial plan starts at $19/month (when billed annually).
The quality of music here is superb, so you never have to worry about not being able to find something you like. Especially not with a library 35,000+ strong!
Epidemic Sound Pros and Cons
Not quite sure whether Epidemic Sound is for you? Let’s look at some of its pros and cons!
| Pros | Cons |
| – One of the earliest companies offering copyright-free audio, which means they’ve had ages to improve their service. – One of the largest libraries of copyright-free music and sound effects available. Music on this platform is exclusive and cannot be found anywhere else. – Has excellent quality music. – Game-changing stems and find similar features. – Has a 30-day free trial available where you can use all the features as normal. Also known as “First month free”. – Allows you to cancel your subscription at any time. – Allows you to buy individual licenses for songs and sound effects (no need for a subscription). | – Licensing individual songs and sound effects can get really expensive. – Epidemic Sound will start monetizing your videos if you used ES’s music in them while your subscription was inactive. More information here. – User interface and experience could be better. |
What is Artlist.io?
Like Epidemic Sound, Artlist.io is a platform that offers royalty-free music and sound effects. It was established by Ira Belsky around seven years ago in 2015. Since being founded it’s found great success, especially as it continues to adapt to the market and change its business model to provide the best value to its customers.
Music on Artlist.io is of really good quality. However, unlike Epidemic Sound, many of the tracks are not exclusive, so you’ll probably find some of the songs here also available on other platforms. You shouldn’t run into any problems, however — as long as you have a valid license when you add an asset to your content!
Artlist has two cool features you might like:
- Remixes – If you like a song enough but want to hear it in a different version, you can try looking for a remix of it. Artlist offers remixes of tracks, making them available in different versions (different genre, longer or shorter, etc.).
- Video theme – Want to find music that suits the particular theme of your video? Artlist’s video theme feature allows you to do just that without any hassle!
Artlist doesn’t have a traditional “trial period.” Rather, you are able to download a preview of any song. The caveat — the song will be watermarked and cannot be used in any content (it’s for personal use only).
Artlist has three plans available: Personal, Unlimited, and Enterprise. Of course Enterprise requires you to speak with sales for a quote. However, Personal starts at $9.99/month when billed annually.
The Unlimited plans at Artlist are a bit different, since you can only pay for them annually — no monthly option here. There are also three options:
- Music Only: $199/year (About $16.60/month)
- SFX Only: $149/year (About $12.41/month)
- Music and SFX: $299/year (About $25/month)
Artlist.io Pros and Cons
Not 100% sold on Artlist? Take a look at some of its pros and cons below.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Licensing with Artlist is extremely easy. Arlist’s licenses allow you to use your music (and sound effects) in whatever audio-visual application you need, depending on your subscription. – Two licensing options: Personal and Unlimited. Enterprise is also available, but you’ll need to contact Artlist for pricing. – Unlimited plan allows you to choose between music only, music and SFX, and SFX only plans. – Artlist has excellent quality music and sound effects, with an 8000+ track library that continues to grow by 80-150 tracks per month. – The user interface and experience at Artlist are excellent! – Cool features: remixes and video themes. – Free trial available. | – Unlike Epidemic Sound, a lot of the music added to Artlist’s library is not exclusive, which means you’ll probably find it elsewhere. This isn’t always a bad thing! – Compared to Epidemic Sound, Artlist has a smaller library. – Free trial only allows you to download song previews that have watermarks on them. Music downloaded on free trial are only for personal use. – Unlimited plans are available on a yearly payment basis only. That means you have to pay for a year’s license upfront. |
Artlist vs. Epidemic Sound Compared
TL;DR? We’ve got you. Here’s a quick comparison table of the two services:
|  | |
| Track and Sound Effect Library | 35,000+ music tracks and 90,000+ sound effects | 8,000+ songs and 1000+ sound effects |
| Music Quality | High | High |
| User Interface and Experience | Could be better | Good |
| Unique Features | Stems, Find Similar | Remixes, Video Themes |
| Pricing | Personal Plan – $15/month paid monthly – $9/month paid yearly (billed $108 upfront) Commercial Plan – $49/month paid monthly – $19/month paid yearly (billed $228 upfront) Enterprise Plan Contact Epidemic Sound for pricing | Personal Plan – $14.99/month paid monthly – $9.99/month paid yearly (billed about $120 upfront) Unlimted Plan (Billed upfront annually, no monthly option) – Music Only: $199/year (About $16.60/month) – SFX Only: $149/year (About $12.41/month) – Music and SFX: $299/year (About $25/month) Enterprise Plan Contact Artlist for pricing |
| Free Trial | Epidemic Sound has a “first month free” policy, which works as a thirty-day free trial. | Artlist allows you to download watermarked song previews, for personal use only. No “trial period.” |
| Link | Sign Up for Epidemic Sound | Sign Up for Artlist |
Which One Should You Pick?
After considering all of the features, similarities, and differences between these two services, it may become easier to figure out which option suits you better. However, in our opinion, you should:
- Choose Artlist if you want a great user experience, a straightforward license, and the ability to find different versions of a song.
- Choose Epidemic Sound if you want a larger selection or if you want to use the stems feature.
Beyond that, it really all depends on your budget and what you intend to use the assets for. Always remember to select a plan that suits your licensing needs or you just might find yourself in hot water with the DMCA police!
Wrapping Up
There are so many different platforms where you can get sound effects and music to use on your live streams or videos, and Artist and Epidemic Sound are just two of them. However, there’s no denying that both offer excellent value for what they offer. Only you can decide whether Artlist or Epidemic Sound is better for you, but we do hope that this comparison review has helped give you a better idea of both platforms!
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