Every year, the barrier of entry for creators gets more complex. The first YouTube video was a 19-second clip of founder Jawed Karim standing in front of elephants at the zoo. Today, even new channels are expected to add music and editing to get traction. Using music you don’t have the rights to can get a strike on your content. Licensing music for your projects can be very expensive. However, Moby is here to help.
The DJ, activist, and songwriter behind hits like “Southside” recently launched mobygratis — a free service that provides over 500 songs of royalty-free music to use in your videos. Naturally, there are a few rules you’ll need to follow. However, for new creators searching for music to enhance their latest projects, the service is a blessing. Here’s everything you need to know about using mobygratis.
What is mobygratis?
mobygratis is a free to use source for creators looking for instrumental music. While we’re going to focus on video creators here, mobygratis isn’t just for TikTok and YouTube. Filmmakers, students, dancers, remixers, gamers, and all other creatives are welcome to use these assets.
The mobygratis library currently offers 500 songs, with more planned for the future. Tracks are available for download in stereo MP3, stereo WAV, and multitrack WAV formats.
What are the rules of mobygratis?
Moby is a leftist, here to redistribute his works for the greater good of creators. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t set some guidelines for his work. Here are the rules you need to follow to use mobygratis tracks.
1) Do not mention Moby, only mobygratis
Just because you’re using songs from mobygratis doesn’t mean you can tag Moby the artist. Do not credit Moby as an artist, producer, or performer on your track if you upload a song using mobygratis assets.
That means if you post a remix of a song on Spotify you can’t tag it as as “Your Band featuring Moby.” If you use a song in your short film, you cannot advertise it as “featuring music by Moby.”
Instead, the service asks you credit “mobygratis.” The site suggests using the following credit format: Music: [Track name] provided by mobygratis.
You can use the hashtag #mobygratis in your credits if you want to share your work with people seeking out creations utilizing mobygratis tracks.
However, if you upload the track to a streaming service, you need to make sure you credit Moby as a Songwriter. This will ensure Moby gets paid if your track crosses the fair use threshold. We’ll get to that in a minute.
2) Do not use mobygratis for right-wing politics
Moby’s political leanings have been public knowledge for decades. You should not be surprised mobygratis explicitly states that you cannot use any of its music for right-wing causes. However, if you’re new to the world of Moby, let this be your notice.
3) Do not use mobygratis to promote meat, dairy, or other animal products.
Moby has a tattoo on his neck that reads “VEGAN FOR LIFE.” His arms are tattooed with the words “ANIMAL” and “RIGHTS” on his right and left arms, respectively. Animal rights have been an important cause to the artist for his entire career. Understandably, mobygratis publicly states you cannot use any of its songs to promote any product made from an animal. That includes you too honey farmers.
4) There is no approval process, so be honorable
One of the coolest aspects of mobygratis is that no one is required to get approval before using its music. However, with great access, comes great responsibility. You are still bound by the licensing rules posted on the site. That means if your short film or remix blows up, you’re going to need to to reach out to set up a license.
5) Most of the music is for non-commercial uses only
As creators, we naturally want to make a living someday with our art. However, if you want to use mobygratis music for commercial projects, you’ll need to get a license. Most of the tracks on the site are free to use for any non-commercial project. There is a small selection of “restricted tracks,” however, that always require a commercial license. You can toggle the site to hide these restricted tracks when you’re looking for music.
What is the difference between restricted tracks vs. mobygratis tracks?
There are two kinds of tracks on mobygratis, “mobygratis tracks” and “restricted tracks.”
Creators can use mobygratis tracks and modify them however they like within the rules of the system. You can’t remix them to be about how much you love beef jerky, for example. But you can use them for any non-commercial project.
Restricted tracks are more complicated. These are tracks that are exclusively available to be licensed by independent filmmakers for non-commercial projects. That means non-profits, charities, left-leaning political campaigns, and small filmmakers are welcome to use them after obtaining a license.
These restricted tracks cannot be modified. That means no remixes, adding vocals, or other forms of manipulation. They are to be used as they are.
When Do You Have To Pay Moby?
Many creators want to profit someday, but that day is far in the future. Maybe you’re still building your channel and following. We’re not here to judge. Neither is Moby, it turns out. You are allowed to use mobygratis music for projects that might turn a profit someday under what’s called a de minimis (aka limit) commercial use.
De minimus use acknowledges that even if you want to profit someday, many projects do not earn money and are not commercially significant. Accordingly, you can use mobygratis songs in YouTube videos, podcasts, or other projects without a commercial license. However, there is a catch.
Here is when you need to contact mobygratis about getting a commercial license:
- The project is streamed 10,000 times in aggregate
- If your video gets 50,000 views in aggregate
- If your work becomes otherwise commercially significant
For the uses of mobygratis tracks, in aggregate means in total. Here’s how it works. Lets say you post a song sampling a mobygratis song on Spotify and Apple Music, and the song gets 5,000 streams on each platform. In aggregate, that is 10,000 streams. That means you’ve crossed the threshold required to get a commercial license.
Similarly, say you post a video using a track from the site on YouTube and TikTok, and it gets 40,000 views on YouTube and 10,000 views on TikTok, respectively. That equals 50,000 views. You now need to contact mobygratis about getting a commercial license.
The commercially significant use exemption
Finally, there’s commercially significant use. This means that the work in question generates revenue outside of the stated channels. Say you make a short film to show exclusively at free screenings or film festivals that uses a mobygratis song. If you were given an offer to sell the film, you’d need to get a commercial license from mobygratis before making that deal.
How do you get a commercial license from mobygratis?
To apply for a commercial license from mobygratis, you’ll need to send an email. Contact mobygratis@moby.com with your full legal name, the name of the track you’re using, and your use of the track. Include all the commercial uses that may arise and how long you want to license the track.
What is mobygratis’ cut from a commercial license?
The specifics of commercial licenses for mobygratis songs are subject to change and covered on a case-by-case basis. However, they do provide a general baseline. If you are granted a commercial license for a mobygratis track, you should expect to pay 51% of the gross income earned from a permitted use. That means you would make 49% of the gross revenue.
There are a few things to think about here. First, it is possible that your project may get a better percentage. After all, they make a point of saying licenses are covered on a case-by-case basis.
Secondly, you should make sure you understand what gross income means. There are two ways of looking at business income, net and gross. Your net income is all of the money you make after expenses, taxes, and deductions. Your gross income is the total amount you bring in before deductions, taxes, and costs.
Think about it this way. MrBeast makes a video that costs $5,000,000 to make and brings in $8,000,000. The net income for that video is $3,000,000 after taking into account the $5,000,000 spent in costs. If he owed someone 50% of his net income from the video, he would owe them $2,500,000.
However, if he owed someone 50% of his gross revenue, he would need to pay them $4,000,000. That’s because the gross revenue doesn’t take into account any of the costs or deductions of the project.
Is that a steep cost? That’s a question you’ll need to ask yourself as a creator. Maybe you will get lucky, and when you request your commercial licens,e they give you a better percentage that isn’t listed in the terms and conditions. After all, licenses are addressed on a case-by-case basis.
Can mobygratis revoke my license?
Yes, mobygratis can revoke your license at any time, for any reason. The easiest way for this to happen is by using the music to promote harming animals or right-wing politics. However, “for any reason” means if they don’t like a joke in your video and don’t want to be represented by it, they can take the license whenever they want. However, the rules are clearly stated. If you can make peace with those compromises, this service is an incredible resource for free-to-use music.
