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Industry

A Guide to Royalty Free Indie Music

Mackenzie Scott

Jul 8, 2022

Artistry is, and always has been, the lifeblood of indie music. For decades now, independent artists and record labels have been writing, producing, and distributing songs that don’t always follow mainstream rules or expectations. 

The music — whether it’s indie rock, indie pop, indie folk, or any other style — typically has a uniquely alternative feel. Many artists also place additional emphasis on storytelling through their choice of instruments and lyrics. 

To license this type of music, you have a couple options: 1) You can negotiate with copyright owners yourself and pay ongoing royalties or 2) you can find and license indie music from a royalty free music company and avoid making royalty payments altogether.

If you opt for the latter approach, this guide will be especially helpful to you since we’ve put together a roundup of the newest and most trending indie tracks in our catalog to-date. 

To make your search for the right music even easier, we’re also throwing in a few curated indie playlists that are worth checking out.

 

An intro to indie music

If you’ve ever thought that indie music exists outside of the mainstream, you’re not alone. By definition, this type of music is made independently so that the artists (instead of the major record labels) have creative freedom and control over their own music.

However, like funk and disco, indie music made its way into popular culture simply because people liked what they heard. Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, and The Smiths are a few of the many indie artists who have crossed over into the popular music scene.

At Soundstripe, we love working one-on-one with established artists around the world to produce indie music for our catalog. Not only do we get to support artists and musicians in the creative community, but we’re also able to build a diverse music library for you.

To give you a better idea of your indie music options, let’s start off this guide with a few of our most popular playlists:

Indie Rock

Indie Rock playlist

Listen and license here

Indie Pop

Indie Pop playlist

Listen and license here

Indie Radio

Indie Radio playlist

Listen and license here

Indie Staff Picks

Indie Staff Picks playlist

Listen and license here

Pro Tip: As you check out these playlists and find songs that you like, select the “Similar Songs” icon to get a list of more relevant tracks. 

Our top 10 indie tracks

Whether you’re looking for a specific type of sound or not, there are thousands of tracks (7,000+ in fact) to choose from in our catalog. If you’d like to search on a song-by-song basis instead of sorting through playlists, then here are 10 trending indie tracks to listen to first:

1. “Indi Heart Magazine” by Reel Life

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Genre: Pop

Instruments: Bass and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

2. “Chasing Horizons” by Dreamlamp

standard_dreamlamp-cover

Genre: Pop

Instruments: Acoustic guitar and bells

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

3. “Cloud Pillow” by Neon Beach

Neon Beach

Genre: Pop

Instruments: Samples and guitar

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

4. “Stand Here And Wait” by Fantoms

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Genre: Indie Rock

Instruments: Electric guitar and claps / snaps / stomps

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

5. “Happy” by Empyreal Glow

Empyreal_Glow

Genre: Pop

Instruments: Synth and electronic drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

6. “The First Time” by TAYME

TAYME cover

Genre: Rock

Instruments: Guitar and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

7. “The Count” by Adrian Walther

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Genre: Pop

Instruments: Drum kit and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

8. “Overtime” by Simple Thieves

Simple Thieves cover

Genre: Pop

Instruments: Synth and electric guitar

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

9. “Love Like This” by Centerpiece

Centerpiece cover

Genre: Rock

Instruments: Percussion and claps / snaps / stomps

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

10. “Free” by Makenna Susan

Makenna Susan cover

Genre: Pop

Instruments: Electronic drums and electric guitar

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

New indie music for 2022

We release new music every week, and the eight songs below are just a few of the many new songs to join our catalog in 2022. 

Pro Tip: If you’d like to stay updated on what’s new in the library, our Recently Added playlist is a great resource for finding new indie music going forward.

1. “Strawberry Summertime” by EILOH

EILOH cover

Genre: Electronic

Instruments: Percussion and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

2. “Lavender” by VAULTZ

VAULTZ

Genre: Indie Rock

Instruments: Synth and guitar

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

3. “Red Door” by Lee Of The Stone

Lee Of The Stone cover

Genre: Rock

Instruments: Synth and guitar

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

4. “Curious” by TAYME

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Genre: Rock

Instruments: Percussion and claps / snaps / stomps

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

5. “Smoke And Mirrors” by Taiym

Taiym cover

Genre: Indie Score

Instruments: Synth and percussion

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

 

6. “Yeux Cachés” by Nom Fabriqué

Nom Fabrique cover

Genre: Electronic

Instruments: Drums and electronic drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

7. “Film School” by Aaron Sprinkle

Aaron Sprinkle cover

Genre: Rock

Instruments: Guitar and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

8. “Like Quicksand” by Terminals

Terminals cover

Genre: Indie Score

Instruments: Bass and drums

Listen and license here.

 

 

 

Looking for more royalty free indie music?

Hopefully, we’ve been able to give you a comprehensive overview of your indie music options with Soundstripe in this guide. If you haven’t found exactly what you’re looking for, don’t worry — there are thousands more tracks in our catalog. 

Feel free to peruse our library and continue your search for the best indie music. By signing up for a free account, you can start favoriting songs and building your own playlists today. That way, when you decide to subscribe, you’ll know exactly what you need to license for an upcoming project. 

If this guide was helpful and sparked your interest in other types of royalty free music, these articles on the Soundstripe blog are worth checking out next: