PremiumBeat

Podcasters who only need one or two tracks and prefer to pay per song rather than subscribe.

PremiumBeat (owned by Shutterstock) is one of the last big libraries still leaning into per-track licensing. Standard license at $49 per track covers podcasts. There's now a subscription option — 5 tracks/month for $64.95 — but the per-track model only makes sense for shows needing limited cues.

PremiumBeat is owned by Shutterstock and remains one of the last large royalty-free libraries that hasn't fully abandoned per-track licensing. The Standard license is $49 per track and covers podcasts; the Premium license at $199 covers broader commercial use including broadcast and ads. The catalogue is curated rather than crowdsourced, which keeps quality consistent across genres. In 2026 there's now a subscription option as well: 5 tracks per month for $64.95 monthly (effectively $12.99 per track), saving roughly 70 percent versus regular per-track pricing for active users. The catalogue is curated and the quality bar is consistently higher than crowdsourced marketplaces, but the per-track economics only make sense for shows that need limited cues — say, a theme song and 2-3 background beds reused across a season — rather than fresh music weekly. Where it shines is the no-subscription option. If you've got one specific cue need (a documentary score, a branded podcast intro), paying $49 once with broad podcast rights beats committing to a recurring subscription. Where it falls short is for high-frequency music use. A weekly chat show burning 4-5 tracks per episode hits a ceiling fast on PremiumBeat's economics. Library size also doesn't match subscription competitors like Epidemic or Soundstripe. Best fit for narrative podcasts, one-off branded shows, and creators who use a small handful of well-licensed cues rather than an all-you-can-eat library.