Incompetech

Indie podcasts that need free, podcast-cleared music and don't mind giving attribution.

Kevin MacLeod has released over 2,000 royalty-free tracks under CC BY 4.0 since the early 2000s. License is unchanged — podcasts covered with attribution. Tracks like 'Carefree' and 'Sneaky Snitch' are so widely used they've become almost stock cliches. The site is barebones, the value is real.

Kevin MacLeod has been releasing royalty-free music under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 since the early 2000s, and Incompetech remains the single best free option for podcasters who want license clarity. The catalogue runs to over 2,000 tracks across virtually every common mood — cinematic, comedic, dramatic, lo-fi, electronic, orchestral. The license explicitly covers podcasts as long as you credit MacLeod, with the standard attribution format being a voiced credit at the end of production or a clear written credit in show notes. There's no change to the license in 2026; everything remains CC BY 4.0. For creators who don't want to include attribution, MacLeod offers an optional paid license to drop the credit requirement on specific tracks. Where it shines is license clarity. Unlike FMA where you have to read license terms per track, Incompetech is uniformly CC BY 4.0 across the entire catalogue — predictable, simple, audit-friendly. The mood breadth is also impressive for a single-composer operation. Where it falls short is overexposure. Tracks like 'Carefree,' 'Sneaky Snitch,' and 'Local Forecast — Elevator' are used so widely across YouTube and indie podcasts that some have crossed into auditory stock cliche. The site UI is dated and tagging is functional rather than smart. Best fit for indie podcasters who want zero-cost, license-clear music and don't mind giving Kevin a credit line.