How can I make my own song for free?

Free music creation apps

An increasing number of free apps allow aspiring musicians and producers to easily create their own original songs on their computers or mobile devices. According to research, the global market for free music making software is projected to reach $12.1 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 21.2%. This growth is being driven by the popularity of apps that provide user-friendly interfaces, customizable sounds and loops, and advanced editing capabilities without requiring expensive equipment.

Some of the most popular free music creation apps include:

• Soundtrap: An online DAW that allows collaborating with others, using loops, editing audio clips, and exporting songs.
• BandLab: Offers a huge library of loops and effects with unlimited song storage and customizable interfaces on mobile and desktop.
• Garageband: Comes free with Mac/iOS devices and provides virtual instruments, presets, and intuitive editing tools to build songs.

These apps enable composing original compositions across various genres like pop, hip hop, EDM without needing to buy expensive hardware or licenses. They provide all the core functionality of advanced digital audio workstations, lowering barriers for aspiring musicians to unleash their creativity.

Copyright and fair use guidelines

When using copyrighted material in your own creative works, it’s important to understand copyright law and the fair use doctrine. The fair use doctrine outlines specific situations when copyrighted works can be used without permission. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, fair use promotes freedom of expression by allowing unlicensed use of copyrighted works under certain conditions.

In relation to sampling music, fair use usually allows using short samples of copyrighted songs without permission, especially if you manipulate, remix, or transform the sample to create an entirely new work. However, longer verbatim samples likely require permission. Ultimately, judges determine fair use on a case-by-case basis by evaluating factors like the amount sampled, its prominence in the new work, its transformation, and the commercial impact on the copyright holder.

When in doubt over fair use, it’s recommended that permission be obtained from copyright holders before sampling substantial portions of their work. Additionally, properly crediting the original artists is important.

Finding Creative Commons Music

When creating your own songs, you generally need permission to use other artists’ copyrighted music. However, some musicians choose to offer their music under a Creative Commons license. These licenses allow you to legally share, remix, or sample these works to a certain extent. As of 2016, there were around 1.2 billion CC licensed works available, including music (Creative Commons Statistics from the CC-Monitor Project).

When sampling, remixing, or incorporating Creative Commons-licensed music into your song, be sure to follow the specific license requirements, such as properly attributing the creator. Some best practices that are good to follow:

• Check the specific CC license to understand permissions for commercial use, adaptations, etc.
• Credit the original musician and link to the source music file.
• Indicate what changes and derivatives you made in your work.
• Share your song under a compatible CC license allowing others to also reuse your work.

Sites like Artlist, Jamendo, ccMixter, Free Music Archive offer a wide variety of Creative Commons music that you can use legally for free in your own songs, as long as you follow the license requirements.

Learning music production skills

For those interested in learning how to produce their own original music for free, there are many online resources that offer music production tutorials, courses, information and tools. Online learning platforms like Coursera and edX offer free online courses including introductions to music production, mixing and mastering, using music production software, and more. YouTube channels from music producers are also a great free outlet to learn, with video tutorials on using programs like Logic Pro, FL Studio, Ableton, and GarageBand.

There are also free online digital audio workstations such as BandLab, Soundation, Audiotool, and Waveform which provide built-in effects, sounds, and tools to start producing tracks from scratch without purchasing expensive music software yourself. Tutorials are readily available for these DAWs as well. For access to royalty-free loops, hits, melodies, synth patches, and stems to use in your productions, websites like Freevsts and Looperman are great.