When you look at sites that cater to the creator industry with music, footage, and editing templates, there is fierce competition. But, despite the saturated market, Artlist (get two free months) has a lot to offer and a compelling package. Especially if you are a solo content creator. Artlist offers a complete package of footage, video templates, SFX, and apps. In this review, though, I am going to focus on Artlist’s royalty-free music service. Looking at the tracks, the size of the portfolio, the licensing scheme, and how easy is it to find the music you need?

When you first log into Artlist, you’ll be greeted by the home page. Like most home pages, it starts with a line of recommended songs and then some trending content. At the top of the page, you will have access to the different libraries Artlist offers: music, SFX, footage, templates, plugins, and apps. Each library is extensive in its own right, and the best value would probably come from the Max plan), but as I said, today is all about music.

Finding the music you need, when you need it

Finding the right song for your project can be tricky. Even when you know what style, pacing, and genre you need, it can still take a while to find what you want. Artlist makes this process easier by giving you more tools to search with. The best one is the AI search bar, which is how all music services should work. The AI bar (generic name, but great service) really simplifies looking for songs. There is some technical info below, but you can do this instead, which is far more fun.

Go into Artist now, and type “Linkin Park.”, you will receive a list of songs that sound very much like Linkin Park. Obviously, Linkin Park (or other big names) do not license their music to creators, but if you want to get a specific sound, this is how I would start. With the AI search bar. Here is the first song I got. I gotta say, it sis not a 100% hit, but it is still very impressive. These aren’t random songs with the “rock” tag, they actually do sound like the sound of the artist you are going for. Just for fun, go into Artlist and look for “Pink Floyd”, “Nirvana”, and “Taylor Swift”. The AI is not at song-style level yet, but for getting the sound of an artist, it does wonders.

[See, most search bars are text-based and will use your text to look at titles or tags of a song. This means that you need to know what you are looking for and be quite specific if you are looking for “cinematic”, “elevating,” or “high energy”, know the BPM , the genre, and a bunch of other search parameters. With the AI search bar, you can work in a very intuitive way. Even if you are not familiar with the right jargon.]

Once you find the right song, you can download the song and test it out. You can also share the link with a team member for them to review the song. They will need to sign up to download a watermarked song, but signing up is free.

You still have the standard tools, that you would expect from any music service: you can see a general waveform, and you can listen and scrab each song right on the search screen. It’s a fast and easy way to “feel” a song, or see how the “drop” works. You also have the option to download a test version of a song to check if it truly fits your project. But Artlist also offers an AI tool to let you search songs in a very intuitive way.

Navigating the Artlist song library

A good interface in a library site is just as important as good search tools. The better they are, the easier it is to find music and keep track of your favorite artists. I’m happy to see that Artlist put a lot of effort into the search screen. In the end, the faster you find the song you need, the faster you can get to editing.

Clicking on a song gives you plenty of useful info. You’ll have the album, a link to the artist’s page, the BPM, and the relevant category tags. These tags aren’t grouped into one messy chunk. Instead, tags for songs are separated into four individual tag lists: “Mood”, “Video theme”, “Instrument”, and “Genre”.

This organization is great if you are editing a video and need to find a bunch of similar songs. The tags link to songs that share the tag, as expected. Or, you can link the album for more songs.

Speaking of which, the filter settings for the search panel are incredibly extensive. You can filter search results based on BPM ranges and song durations. You can also filter based on vocals and instruments, although you can’t select what instruments specifically. On the vocals side, you can specify male, female, duet, group, and even acapella.

“Tracks” vs. “Artists”

There are over ten thousand songs on Artlist. Some are cinematic, some are for elevators, and some feel like they are meant for certain types of clips like “weddings” or “business”. It is this library that separates Artlist from other services. Artlist’s library is meant for content creation. While technically nothing stops you from enjoying the songs here as you would on a service like Spotify, the tracks on Artlist are specifically tailored to content creators.

But the best part is that songs on Artlist have variations to choose from. Just about every song has several versions. For example, if you find a good vocal song but need a ‘clean” version, just click on a small arrow next to the song’s name, and you will find the instrumental version.

Not every song has an alternative version, but most do. Additionally, the type of an alternative version can differ from song to song. In one case, you may find the alternative to skip on the backing vocals; in another case, you may find an alternative that cuts only the lead vocals, and you can also find alternative versions that don’t cut anything but rather just offer a slightly different take on that song.

Also, songs are almost always a part of an album, so if you need more songs in the same style, they are easy to get to. Each song is available for download in WAV and MP3 files. Every single song I have gone through so far has been recorded in high quality (Surprisingly, this is not the case with every music service). So, in terms of quality and quantity, Artlist gets an A+.

The relationship between Artlist and its artists

I’ve known Artlist for a really long while now, from when they were just starting out, and I am not surprised with the size of the collection or with the quality of the material. When I first met Artlist in 2019, they were already recording their own songs in a studio. And I can’t help feeling that they make an extra effort to work with the artists directly. Artlist directs the artists to cover gaps in the library or create new songs where they see demand. Then, if possible, they get the artists to record a track specifically for them in one of their studios. This is very different from your run-of-the-meal music service that simply licenses music from whoever wants to send it in.

Know your artist

Artlist has decent info pages for artists on the platform. Not everyone cares about this sort of thing. I do. I bet that if you uploaded your work, you’d like people to know who made it.

On an artist’s profile page, you can see their albums, a profile picture, and a bio. The bio only appears if you click on their profile picture, but it’s there. You also get a “Save” button, which keeps collections of artists to suit your different projects. Lastly, there is a “Share” button for sending the profile to coworkers or project stakeholders.

Artlist also has an artist showcase on the homepage, which changes quite often. It’s a neat way to get yourself acquainted with new artists. Think about it as an “I feel lucky” button for music.

The clear list – a different approach to licensing

Instead of downloading a license for each song individually, Artlist uses a “clear list”. You submit your social media accounts into a list, and these accounts won’t get flagged for using music from Artlist. The personal license links one account per platform, and the unlimited license lets you hook up to three accounts.

You can still download individual song licenses, but there is also a general license called Max Pro that covers everything on the platform in a single PDF file. This has you covered from all angles. For your own work, you can depend on the general Max Pro license, which removes the hassle of downloading and tracking multiple licenses. For client work, you can download a single-track license and send it to the client. On many other services, you will need to download a license for each song individually. Obviously, you can only use the songs for client projects, and not send them as white-label songs to a client, but that’s just how the industry works.

In terms of the actual license, it is incredibly comprehensive. Once you are in the PRO plan (or higher), the license covers pretty much everything: from social media, through podcasts all the way to paid ads, TV and broadcast.

Pricing and plans

Artlist has quite a range of offerings, and the first thing you need to do is decide what you are interested in: Music & SFX, Footage & Template, or both. For music, there is a Social license for creators that covers a single account per platform for $17.54 a month, or $140 a year. For footage there is a yearly license for about $420, and the best value for money is probably the Max track at $64.79 a month (billed yearly at $561.48). It not only includes music, SFX, footage, and templates, but also unlocks Artlist’s plugins (for premier and the likes) and editing apps. App plans are unlimited downloads so you can be covered for all your music needs for about $11 a month. Not a bad deal.

If you are a part of a bigger team, Artlist also has an Enterprise plan, with user management and features.

Conclusion

Over the years, I have used almost any music service out there, and I can full-heartedly say that Artlist ranks very high. Mostly for two features: An includible, diverse original song library, and the fact that it’s incredibly easy to find the songs I need. At under $12 a month for a social license, it is an incredible offer, so is $47/month for unlimited music, SFX, and footage. If you register through this link, you also get two free months on your subscription.

Launchpad

Welcome to DIYP Launchpad. DIYP Launchpad is a place where we share new gear with you. Full disclosure: DIYP may receive compensation for the time invested in creating the review. Brands sending gear for the DIYP Launchpad segment do not see the review before it goes live or have any editorial control over it.