When you think of funk music, your first association might be the dance music of the 1970s and 80s with its syncopated bass lines and drum beats. Or maybe it’s artists like James Brown and George Clinton who come to mind.
Whatever the case, there’s still a place for funk music in the projects made by today’s YouTubers, freelancers, and other creators. The trick is knowing where and how to license the right songs.
This blog will point you in the direction of some great royalty free music and playlists that you can listen to and license through Soundstripe. Whether you’re looking for old school sounds or modern street funk, we’ve got you covered.
Our top royalty free funk music playlists
Funk music is stylistically rooted in jazz, R&B, and soul genres, so it comes as no surprise that this music has a reputation for being rhythmic and moving to its listeners. Or that hip hop artists have been inspired and influenced by this genre for years now. (Think of Dr. Dre’s classic G-Funk style.)
This genre is anything but obsolete to today’s creators, which is why we’re sharing three go-to playlists for finding great funk music:
Feelin' So Good
Listen and license here.
Advertising: Quirky
Listen and license here.
Chill
Listen and license here.
Notice how these playlists feature a variety of music genres — not exclusively funk. This is meant to give you a wide selection of song options, but if you want to exclude these additional genres, you can filter by “Funk” in the music catalog and get an even more curated search experience.
Here’s an example of what that filter process would look like:
If you’re looking for even more funk-filled playlists or chill music, take some time to peruse our other curated playlists until you find one that resonates. From Corporate & Advertising to Music For Moods, there’s a plethora of great playlist categories to check out.
Our top 10 royalty free funk songs
Starting your search with our funk music playlists and then using the filter functions can help you find the type of funk music you’re looking for in no time. Instead of sorting through all 7,000+ songs in our library, you get a more curated selection right off the bat.
To help more with your search, we’ve put together a roundup of the top 10 royalty free funk songs in our library to-date.
1. “Take It Back” by Dr. Delight
Genre: Old School Funk
Instruments: Bass and drums
Listen and license here.
2. “Conversation Funk” by Cast Of Characters
Genre: Retro Beats
Instruments: Bass and drums
Listen and license here.
3. “Lucky Number 7” by Dresden, The Flamingo
Genre: Electronic Funk
Instruments: Organ and electronic drums
Listen and license here.
4. “Imperial” by Midnight Daydream
Genre: Retro Beats
Instruments: Samples and bass
Listen and license here.
5. “Take A Ride” by Abloom
Genre: Electronic Funk
Instruments: Guitar and electric guitar
Listen and license here.
6. “Bitz” by Famous Cats
Genre: Electronic Funk
Instruments: Electric guitar and synth
Listen and license here.
7. “Tropicana” by Dresden, The Flamingo
Genre: Electronic Funk
Instruments: Percussion and guitar
Listen and license here.
8. “Funk Jam 2” by Adrian Crutchfield
Genre: Old School Funk
Instruments: Electric guitar and horns
Listen and license here.
9. “Funky Preacher” by Delbony
Genre: Retro Beats
Instruments: Horns and guitar
Listen and license here.
10. “Get It” by Soul Shifters
Genre: Old School Funk
Instruments: Bass and horns
Listen and license here.
New funk music
When taking on any new project, being able to conveniently find and license the perfect music is a top priority. That’s why it’s useful to know that you can sort our music based on what’s most popular or most recent in the library.
If you’re interested in listening to and licensing the newest funk music, we want to help you do that. Let’s take a look at (or listen to, rather) six recent additions to our catalog:
1. “Ogogoro” by Cast Of Characters
Genre: Groovy Beats
Instruments: Bass and drums
Listen and license here.
2. “Movin’ Along” by Dr. Delight
Genre: Old School Funk
Instruments: Ambient tones and bass
Listen and license here.
3. “Ent Her Stel Luh Skool Howze” by Cast Of Characters
Genre: Retro Beats
Instruments: Percussion and bass
Listen and license here.
4. “Left To Chance” by Dr. Delight
Genre: Smooth Funk
Instruments: Horns and samples
Listen and license here.
5. “Feeling” by Daniele Musto
Genre: Electronic Funk
Instruments: Guitar and electric guitar
Listen and license here.
6. “Always Together” by Dr. Delight
Genre: Old School Funk
Instruments: Rhodes and bass
Listen and license here.
Looking for more royalty free funk music?
Hopefully, this blog will be a helpful resource in your search for royalty free funk music — whether you’re searching now for a current project or later for a future one.
We’ve covered a lot of the best funk songs and playlists in our library, but if you still haven’t found exactly what you’re looking for, don’t worry. We’ve perfected our search and filter functions to make sure that you do.
Let’s say that you’re looking for funk music that is happy but not overly dancey or mellow. You can include and exclude filters to generate results like this:
Since you’re able to combine an unlimited amount of filters, you can quickly narrow down on the songs you do want and exclude the ones you don’t. Within seconds, you can reduce hundreds of options to something more manageable and curated.
Once you find the song (or songs) that you want to use in your project, you can license the music by clicking the download button. It’s really as simple as that.
When you sign up for a Soundstripe music plan, you get lifetime licensing protection on all of the songs you download from our library — even if you decide to unsubscribe one day. Depending on your plan, you also get access to song stems, YouTube video clearance, and team collaboration tools.
If you want to learn more about our library before making a decision, take your time and get familiar with our music, SFX, and video catalogs in the meantime.
Further reading
Interested in reading more top resources and getting our best filmmaking tips and tricks? Here are a couple of our most popular articles from across the Soundstripe blog:
