Summary

A musician shares free podcast music themes they created, explaining their motivation and encouraging others to use the music for their creative projects.

Abstract

The article titled "Why I’m Giving Away Free Music" is about a musician who has decided to share free music themes they created, specifically for podcast intros or other creative projects. The author explains their long-standing passion for music production, which started when they were 11 years old. They describe how they combined their love for music and content marketing to create these short themes, as they found it challenging to finish and polish their music due to time constraints. The author clarifies that there is no catch to this offer and that they genuinely want people to use their music. They mention that they considered gating the music behind an email entry but decided against it to make it as easy as possible to download. The music is electronic and experimental but has been produced with podcast intros and video music beds in mind. The author encourages people to use the music for any creative project and provides an example of how they used the themes as intros to their YouTube diary series. They also mention that they will never ask for payment or attribution and that people can chop up and tweak the music as much as they want. The author concludes by mentioning that they are creating new themes as often as they can and encourages people to sign up for their mailing list.

Bullet points

The author is giving away free music themes for podcast intros or other creative projects.
The author has a long-standing passion for music production, which started when they were 11 years old.
The author combined their love for music and content marketing to create these short themes.
There is no catch to this offer, and the author genuinely wants people to use their music.
The music is electronic and experimental but has been produced with podcast intros and video music beds in mind.
The author encourages people to use the music for any creative project and provides an example of how they used the themes as intros to their YouTube diary series.
The author will never ask for payment or attribution and allows people to chop up and tweak the music as much as they want.
The author is creating new themes as often as they can and encourages people to sign up for their mailing list.

Why I’m Giving Away Free Music

The title of this article isn’t clickbait. I really am giving away free music.

As you’ll note from the link above, this music isn’t the entire Pink Floyd back catalogue or the latest Top 100 from iTunes; it’s podcast music. They’re little ditties produced by yours truly which can be used for podcast intros or any other creative project where you need royalty-free music to spice up your content.

Why am I doing this?

Let me take you on a super-fast little journey, back to about 1992 when I was 11.

I’ve guessed the year — my memory is dreadful. Regardless, I just know I was pre-teen, so I’m probably not far off.

Having grown up in a hugely musical family (my dad had been a semi-pro musician since he was a teenager and would soon make the leap to full time), I’d developed a passion for music. That’s not unlike other kids of my age, I appreciate, but what set me apart back then was my desire to make music.

These days, my interest in becoming a bedroom producer wouldn’t be particularly unique; it’s now a common hobby among kids, thanks to ease with which virtually anyone can get their hands on powerful production software.

Back then, though, it was definitely a unique hobby, and it’s something I’ve largely continued into my late thirties (give or take a few years’ hiatus here and there).

I went through phases or writing my own EPs (I even put out an album), but as anyone who dabbles in music production will tell you, the time required to actually finish and polish your stuff isn’t readily available.

Then, about three months ago, I had an idea. Why not combine my love of creating music with my love of content marketing? It seemed to make sense; the music I’d created ad-hoc up to that point had only consisted of a few bars, due to the aforementioned lack of time.

However, when it comes to podcast intros and the kind of themes used for video content, a few bars is all you need.

This little project would get me making music again, help me experiment with sounds and production techniques and result in genuinely usable audio for both my projects and anyone else who needed it.

It sparked creativity and a rediscovered passion for making my own stuff once again.

Why is it free? What’s the catch?

There’s no catch. I considered gating the page on my website (i.e. forcing email address entry before anything could be downloaded) but decided against it. I genuinely want people to use these little themes and I want to make it as easy as possible to download.

A lot of the work I do involves video production and editing, and anyone who’s involved in a similar field will know how hard it is to find completely free royalty-free music. There’s some stuff out there, but on the whole, it’s dreadful.

You may not like my little themes, either, and that’s cool. It’s largely electronic and experimental, but has been produced with podcast intros and video music beds in mind.

What could I use it for?

It’s entirely up to you. The central idea behind giving these away has always been for podcast production, but you can use them for any creative project. For instance, I’m using these themes as the intros to my new YouTube diary series:

If you decide to download one or a few of my themes, I’ll never ask for a penny or any form of attribution, either. You can even chop them up and tweak them as much as you want. It would be cool to see where you’ve used my music, obviously, but I won’t be hurt or think any less of you if you forget to share the finished content with me.

Go forth and create!

If you’re new to the podcast world and need a theme to get yourself going and add some polish, I think you’ll find something in my list of tracks. Similarly, if you’re producing a video for a client and need a music bed, there should be something that fits the bill.

I’m creating new themes as often as I can, so it’s worth bookmarking and signing up to my mailing list (check the link at the bottom of the website).

Who else gives stuff away for free?

Lots of people. This is what makes the online content creating community so wonderful. You just need to look a little harder to find the genuinely free, usable stuff that has been created with nothing more than a passion for the content itself.

What resources have you found for free content? Drop your recommendations in the comments!

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