Sound and music set the emotional tone of your game — but hiring a composer or licensing a premium library can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars you do not have. The good news: a handful of well-maintained sites offer high-quality music you can legally use in a released, commercial indie game for free.
Table of Contents
This guide covers the seven best sources, explains what their licenses actually mean in practice, covers the audio format that loops cleanly in game engines, shows you exactly where to place attribution credits in a shipped game, and calls out the single most common mistake that trips up first-time developers: grabbing a track that turns out to be non-commercial only.
Quick Answer
The fastest no-budget path: filter OpenGameArt.org by CC0 for game-specific tracks with zero legal friction, grab Tallbeard Studios’ FREE Music Loop Bundle on itch.io for 200+ ready-to-loop CC0 tracks, and fill genre gaps with Incompetech or Soundimage.org (both allow commercial use with a simple credit line). For completely attribution-free music, Pixabay Music is the cleanest option — download and ship with no credit required. All four paths are safe for commercial release on Steam, itch.io, or any storefront.
The Best Free Music Sites for Indie Games
OpenGameArt.org is purpose-built for game developers. Every asset displays its license clearly — look for CC0 (public domain: use freely, no credit needed) or CC-BY (commercial use allowed with attribution). You can filter the music library by license type and format. The community submits tracks specifically intended for games — chiptune, ambient, RPG, action, and more. One important detail: OpenGameArt also offers the OGA-BY license, which is designed for use on DRM-locked platforms like the Apple App Store and PlayStation Network where standard Creative Commons licenses can conflict with DRM requirements. If you are publishing to a locked storefront, filter for OGA-BY or CC0 to stay safe.
Incompetech (incompetech.com), the site of composer Kevin MacLeod, hosts more than 2,000 royalty-free tracks across dozens of genres, all free under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. You must include a credit line such as “Music: [Track Name] by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 4.0.” If attribution genuinely is not possible in your game — for example, a mobile release with no credits screen — Kevin also sells a paid license that removes the requirement. The library quality is consistently high and widely used in commercial releases.
Soundimage.org, maintained by composer Eric Matyas, offers thousands of original tracks and sound effects organized by game-relevant genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Chiptune, Puzzle, Horror, Action, Drama, and more. The OGG files on the site are specifically encoded as seamless looping tracks for game engines — no audio editing needed to make them loop cleanly. Commercial use is allowed with attribution; link back to soundimage.org in your credits. The site is ad-free and community-supported, making it one of the most game-developer-friendly libraries available at no cost.
Pixabay Music (pixabay.com/music/) offers tracks under the Pixabay License, which permits commercial use with no attribution required at all. Quality varies across the catalog, but there are solid ambient, lo-fi, and electronic tracks well-suited to menus, overworld maps, and cutscenes. No account is required to download. Note that the Pixabay License is not the same as Creative Commons — it is a proprietary simplified license — so do not host or redistribute the audio files standalone.
itch.io (itch.io/game-assets/free/tag-audio) hosts hundreds of free music packs uploaded by indie composers. A standout example is Tallbeard Studios’ FREE Music Loop Bundle — over 200 seamless looping tracks spanning ambient, chiptune, upbeat, and more, all released under CC0, meaning no attribution is required. Because each creator on itch.io sets their own license terms, always click through to the individual asset page and read the license before using any track — never assume site-wide terms apply.
dig.ccmixter.org is a Creative Commons music community that explicitly connects game developers with composers, with around 2,000 tracks tagged for game use. Most require attribution; check each track’s individual page for the exact license variant. The catalog skews toward electronic, hip-hop, and ambient styles and is useful for finding genres that purpose-built game libraries underrepresent.
Free Music Archive (freemusicarchive.org) is large but demands extra caution. Many artists on FMA use Non-Commercial (NC) Creative Commons licenses, which prohibit using the music in any game you sell or monetize with ads. FMA has a royalty-free filter, but always read the license on the specific track page — do not assume the whole site permits commercial use.
How to Read a Creative Commons License
Creative Commons licenses follow a consistent pattern. CC0 means the creator has released all rights — use the track in any game, free or paid, with no credit required. CC-BY means attribution is required but commercial use is allowed; list the track title, artist name, and source URL in your game’s credits or documentation. CC-BY-SA adds a share-alike condition: if you distribute a modified or remixed version of the audio itself, that derivative audio must carry the same license. Importantly, simply using an unmodified CC-BY-SA track as background music in your game does not make your game’s code a derivative work — the share-alike clause applies to the audio, not your project as a whole.
Avoid any license with an NC (Non-Commercial) tag for any game you plan to sell, charge for, or monetize with ads. “Royalty-free” by itself only means you do not owe ongoing royalties per sale or play — it does not automatically mean the track is free to download, nor that there are no other restrictions. Always verify the actual license terms on the original source page, not just the site’s marketing copy.
OGG vs. MP3: Which Format to Use for Looping Game Music
Always download OGG Vorbis for background music you intend to loop in a game engine. MP3 files encode a small silence at the start and end of the audio — a technical artifact of the format’s encoder padding — which creates an audible gap every time your track loops back to the beginning. OGG does not have this problem. Godot’s official documentation recommends OGG for all streamed music specifically because of seamless looping; Unity and GameMaker both support OGG natively.
Use WAV or uncompressed audio for short sound effects where low latency matters more than file size — jump sounds, UI clicks, and explosions. Most of the sites in this guide offer OGG and MP3 side by side; always pick OGG for anything that repeats. Soundimage.org labels its OGG files as game-loop versions explicitly, making the choice obvious.
Where to Put Music Credits in Your Published Game
If you use CC-BY tracks, attribution is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. Any one of the following satisfies it: a dedicated Credits screen inside your game, a credits.txt file bundled alongside your executable or installer, the game’s description or About page on Steam or itch.io, or a PDF manual. You do not need all four — pick whatever is natural for your game’s format.
Build a credits log from day one. Every time you add a track, record the artist name, track title, source URL, and license type in a plain text file inside your project folder. A simple four-column credits.txt takes less than a minute per asset and takes an hour of tedious archaeology off your plate at launch. A missing CC-BY credit at ship time is not just embarrassing — it is a license violation that can require pulling your game from sale until resolved.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Prefer CC0 when you can. It eliminates every edge case: no attribution, no share-alike requirements, no ambiguity about whether your game counts as commercial. Both OpenGameArt.org and itch.io let you filter specifically by CC0 license. Start here before reaching for tracks that require credits.
Do not skip the individual license page. A track found via a Google search for “free game music” may sit on a site that hosts mixed licenses, with a Non-Commercial restriction buried below the download button. Go to the original track page every single time, even on sites you trust.
Do not overlook chiptune and lo-fi tracks. They are plentiful on OpenGameArt under CC0 and on Soundimage.org, and they frequently fit puzzle, platformer, and RPG games better than generic orchestral filler — the retro character can become a deliberate part of your game’s identity rather than a compromise.
Add Kenney.nl (kenney.nl) to your bookmarks for sound effects. All audio packs on Kenney are CC0 — UI sounds, impact sounds, RPG audio, interface sounds — no sign-up or attribution required. It is a sound effects library rather than a music source, but it covers the non-music audio gaps that music-only libraries leave, and the consistent style makes different packs mix naturally.
free royalty-free music indie games FAQs
Can I use Free Music Archive tracks in a game I sell?
It depends on the individual track’s license. FMA hosts music under many different Creative Commons variants, including Non-Commercial (NC) licenses that prohibit use in any game you sell or monetize. Always click through to the specific track page, read the full license, and look for the NC tag. Do not assume FMA as a whole is safe for commercial games.
Do I have to credit Kevin MacLeod if I use Incompetech music?
Yes. All tracks on Incompetech are licensed CC BY 4.0, which requires attribution in any commercial or non-commercial use. A standard credit line: “Music: [Track Name] by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.” If your game has no credits screen, Kevin offers a paid license that removes the attribution requirement entirely.
What is the difference between royalty-free and CC0?
Royalty-free means you pay once (or nothing) to license a track and owe no per-sale or per-play fees — but the track may still carry restrictions on commercial use, attribution, or modification. CC0 is a specific Creative Commons designation where the creator waives all rights worldwide, placing the work effectively in the public domain. CC0 is always royalty-free; royalty-free is not always CC0.
Can I use Pixabay music in a commercial game?
Yes. The Pixabay License explicitly allows commercial use with no attribution required. You can include Pixabay music in a released, sold game without crediting the artist. The one restriction: you cannot resell or redistribute the audio files themselves as standalone products.
Does a CC-BY-SA audio license force me to open-source my game?
No. The share-alike condition in CC-BY-SA applies to derivative works of the audio itself — for example, if you remix or re-edit the track and distribute that modified audio file. Using an unmodified CC-BY-SA track as background music in your game does not make your game’s code or other assets subject to the same license.
Which audio format should I use for music that loops in a game engine?
OGG Vorbis. MP3 files encode a small silence at the start and end that causes a noticeable gap on every loop. OGG does not have this problem and is natively supported by Unity, Godot, and GameMaker. Download OGG versions wherever the site offers them, and use WAV for short sound effects where zero latency matters more than file size.
Is soundimage.org free for commercial games?
Yes. Eric Matyas allows commercial use of all music on soundimage.org as long as you credit him with a link back to the site. The OGG files are specifically encoded as seamless game loops — ready to drop into your engine without any audio editing.
Can I use CC0 or CC-BY music on the Apple App Store or PlayStation Network?
Standard CC-BY and CC-BY-SA licenses can conflict with DRM requirements on locked storefronts like the App Store and PSN. OpenGameArt.org offers an OGA-BY license specifically designed to permit use on DRM-protected platforms. If you are publishing to a locked storefront, filter for OGA-BY or CC0 assets on OpenGameArt to avoid compatibility issues.
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