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Epidemic Sound vs Artlist - 5 KEY Differences To Know In 2023!

To sum it all up, Artlist is a slightly cheaper alternative and has a greater variety of sounds compared to Epidemic Sound. Artlist has an intuitive and easy-to-understand layout, making it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.

March 27, 2023
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If you're a YouTuber or content creator of any sort, you may have come across the two popular royalty free music platforms known as Epidemic Sound and Artlist. While both platforms have similar features, how do you decipher which one is best suited for you? Well in this article, we'll go over the similarities, differences, pros and cons of each non copyright sound directories to help you make a more informed choice before purchasing a subscription from either platform.

Artlist vs Epidemic Sound

Which is better? Artlist or Epidemic Sound? While both are great platforms for finding royalty free sound effects and music, we believe Artlist is the most ideal option. Here's why:

Artlist homepage

What is Artlist used for?

Get 2 Months FREE On Artlist (Deal Ends March 2023)

Similarly to Epidemic Sound, Artlist is also a royalty free sound effect and music hosting platform targeted towards professionals who work with audio and video media. Artlist is a great epidemic sound alternative for those who are looking for more premium soundtracks. Not only do they have more variety and quantity, but Artlist is also cheaper and easier to navigate than Epidemic Sound.

What is Epidemic Sound used for?

Try Epidemic Sound For FREE Before Purchasing!

Epidemic Sound is used by millions of filmmakers, game developers and content creators worldwide. The platform has thousands of royalty free sound effects and music which can be used for commercial or personal projects. With an easy to use interface and categories for all types of sound, this platform is great for those who are searching for sound effects and music for different purposes.

Tabulated Side-by-Side Comparison Of Both Platforms

Epidemic Sound Artlist
Music Libraries 90,000 total assets made up of 30,000 full-length songs and 60,000 SFX. 12,000 tracks. Increases by 100 - 200 every 4 weeks.
Quality And Variety Of Tracks Average quality since most of the tracks sound like stereotypical non-copyright music with little to no effort out into making them sound good. Includes a wide variety from most genres including EDM, hip hop and pop. Excellent music listening quality. More specific sub-genres of music can be found on Artlist, such as country-pop and even progressive house.
Rights and Restrictions Two separate licenses for personal and business purposes. Read more in the “Rights and Restrictions” below. 1 single license to access their entire library which you can use forever.
Pricing Basic plans start at $9.99/month and go up to $49/month and beyond if you choose a custom ‘enterprise’ plan. Get two months for free if you’re a first time user, otherwise basic plans will start at $9.99/month - same as Epidemic Sound.
UI & UX The visual aspect looks aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly. Some filtering options do not let you select more than one filter at a time which is inconvenient when searching for specific tracks. The design is a lot cleaner than Epidemic Sound and the menus are user-focused. Browsing the library is a simple and straightforward experience.

Comparison Of The Music Libraries

epidemic sound music library

Epidemic Sound

As of January 2023, Epidemic Sound has approximately 35,000 songs and 60,000 SFX tracks available in their database. Regardless of which subscription you choose, you'll have access to all 95,000 of these sounds.

Artlist.io

Artlist includes over 12,000 full-length music tracks on their platform. The best part is, once downloaded, you are legally allowed to use the tracks on personal projects forever!

WINNER - EPIDEMIC SOUND

Quality And Variety Of The Music Tracks

Artlist.io music library

Epidemic Sound

Epidemic Sound works with a huge collection of music producers to create original music in a wide range of genres, including pop, rock, EDM, rap, and orchestral. You can sort tracks by various characteristics such as bpm and duration. The quality of said tracks are 320kbps and lossless, meaning they're fully compressed yet they still sound crystal clear. You also have the option to download in multiple audio formats including MP3, WAV and FLAC.

Artlist.io

Similarly to Epidemic Sound, Artlist also has music from every genre, BPM, key and duration. From our experience, we've found the quality of the tracks on Artlist to be much better than Epidemic Sound, though this may be due to personal taste. Another important factor we should mention is that the music available on Artlist just sounds better in general. The producers on this platform are probably more experienced, or they're just better at satisfying most people's musical preferences.

WINNER - ARTLIST
P.S The link above also give you 2 whole months for FREE on Artlist.io! Get it while you can before it expires in March 2023!

Rights and Restrictions

Artlist music licensing policy

The usage rights and restrictions are similar between Artlist and Epidemic Sound. With a basic/personal subscription, users are allowed to add music to social media content, including but not limited to YouTube, Tiktok and Facebook. Users of either platform are not allowed to use licensed sounds in adult content, nor can they claim ownership and re-distribute them.

With an Artlist basic subscription, you're also allowed to use music in monetized website and podcast content, however they do not allow you to use their tracks in mashups or remixes. Similarly, Epidemic Sound also does not allow users to edit or remix the sounds available on their platform. Penalties may apply to those who violate these guidelines.

WINNER - EPIDEMIC SOUND

Pricing Comparison

The pricing range between the two platforms are almost identical, but if you require music to be used in client projects or advertising, Artlist.io would be the better option as it is slightly cheaper.

Epidemic Sound

Epidemic sound pricing table

Epidemic Sound pricing starts at $9 (USD) per month for a personal plan, but that's only if you choose to pay yearly. If you wish to purchase a monthly subscription, the same plan will cost $15 per month. The next available plan is the Commercial Plan, which costs $19 per month when paid yearly, or $49 per month if paid monthly. In the commercial plan, you'll also have the rights to use music from the Epidemic Sound library in projects for clients and adverts. The most comprehensive plan available on Epidemic Sound is an Enterprise plan, where the pricing will vary depending on your requirements.

Artlist.io

Artlist pricing table

Artlist.io has a more user-oriented pricing system, allowing you to pay for only what you need. Starting at $9.99 per month billed annually or $14.99 billed monthly, the basic plan provides you with the rights to use sounds in social media, website and podcast content. If you need to use licensed music commercially, it will cost you $16.60 per month paid annually with no option to pay monthly. If you're also looking for stock footage, it's important to consider that Artlist also offers 'bundle plans' where you can pay for both royalty free sounds and footage together for a lower combined price.

Unlike Epidemic Sound, Artlist also has a 'Teams' plan for groups of up to 7 people. In this plan, pricing starts at $28.20 per month for 2 members. Another key pricing factor to know about Artlist is that you can also get your first two months free if you're a first time user. Making the total monthly cost come down to only $8.30 per month!

WINNER - ARTLIST

5 things Artlist.io does better than Epidemic Sound

  • high quality 320kbps sound
  • more variety
  • easy to browse
  • offers stock footage as well
  • less expensive

5 things Epidemic Sound does better than Artlist.io

  • more popular than Artlist
  • well-categorized sounds
  • has music for all emotions
  • modern interface
  • frequently updating

Artlist Reviews Vs Epidemic Sound Reviews

In this video, we will look into the main features of Artlist and examine how it distinguishes itself from Epidemic Sound in terms of quality and value for money. We'll go over the comprehensive overview that we featured above in this article. From watching the video, you'll see the reviews left by users of Artlist and Epidemic Sound which will help you make an informed decision on whether Artlist is right for you.

Artlist.io vs Epidemic Sound Reddit

If you're still unsure whether you should choose epidemic sound or Artlist, here is a reddit thread which involves discussion and genuine feedback from the users of each platform.

User u/Emanuel0305 mentions in the comment section that Artlist is best for those who implement royalty free sounds in work for their clients. We agree with this statement as Artlist has a much better copyright handling system and customer support.

Quick Answer - Which Is Better Epidemic Or Artlist?

Artlist is much cheaper and has a greater variety (but not collection) of sound effects and music. Here's why we considered sound quality to be an important factor when deciding upon Artlist to be the winner.

Quality Vs Quantity

Like we mentioned in the "Quality And Variety Of The Music Tracks" of this article, the tracks on Artlist.io are far better quality compared to a majority of the tracks on Epidemic Sound. Even though there are less tracks on Artlist, we still think it's a better option since music quantity isn't important. Here's why:

  1. 35,000 tracks on Epidemic Sound make filtering and finding the perfect song a more difficult and time-consuming process. Most of these tracks sound like the stereotypical non-copyright music that can be found for free on YouTube.
  2. The 35,000 music tracks in Epidemic Sound's database is very excessive. Even if each and every one of those 35,000 tracks on Epidemic Sound were desirable enough to be used in your videos, you won't even need to use that many.
  3. The 12,000 tracks on Artlist are all enjoyable and are produced to a high standard. After a few searches and a little bit of filtering, the perfect track for your video can be found within seconds.

Overall, Epidemic Sound is a great option for those who frequently look for a range of sound effects for their videos, but we think Artlist is the more desirable option.

OVERALL WINNER - ARTLIST