For many content creators, music licensing can be a complex and confusing legal minefield with potentially serious consequences. Traditional licensing often involves negotiating with multiple rights holders, understanding copyright laws across jurisdictions, and paying large fees or royalties. The process is particularly difficult for independent creators who lack legal teams or major budgets.

Enter Epidemic Sound. Founded in 2009 by TV producers making shows like “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and “Wallander,” along with acclaimed musicians with over 220 entries on the U.S. Billboard, the Swedish company’s solution was creating an entirely new digital rights model that serves both content creators and artists. By balancing between protecting musicians’ rights and enabling creators to use high-quality music legally, Epidemic Sound helps enhance millions of YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, and TikTok clips that garner billions of views.

“We make the process super safe, simple, and fast, which is something that has traditionally been very complex and time-consuming,” explains Marcus Lewold, Chief Strategy Officer at Epidemic Sound, who also spent years creating content professionally and knows the pain points. “At the same time, we help artists get huge global reach through content as well as providing a way to thrive creatively and financially in the industry.”

Despite the common risks of demonetization, takedowns, or lawsuits, Epidemic Sound’s research indicates that over 90% of creators now feel confident about music licensing, suggesting a growing awareness of the importance of proper licensing and the availability of solutions like theirs.

What separates Epidemic Sound from traditional music libraries is its ownership model. “The core differentiator is that we own all rights to our music,” Marcus states. “This provides total licensing peace of mind, because creators just need to clear the rights with us – one subscription and a creator is set.” This approach, which works across platforms, allows creators to use music across various platforms and territories without worry, which Marcus notes is “crucial for them to be able to thrive in the modern creator economy.”

Beyond Licensing

Epidemic Sound has expanded beyond its initial focus on licensing, becoming an audio platform that addresses the diverse needs of creators. “Alongside over 50,000 tracks, creators get access to over 200,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects and a whole host of tools that make the soundtracking process super easy,” Marcus explains.

These tools include AI-powered discovery features that solve what Marcus calls the “cold start problem” by helping creators find music relevant to their specific videos. Their platform also offers advanced adaptation features that enable quick adjustment of track length to fit content needs precisely, eliminating the time-consuming process of manual editing. Most recently, they’ve launched an AI Voiceover tool that brings professional voice performances to creators through AI technology.

One of the company’s core developments focuses on workflow integration. “One of the big opportunities we see to make a real difference for creators is getting the soundtracking process even closer to their video editing workflow,” Marcus notes. This has led to the development of plugins for popular editing software like Adobe and Da Vinci Resolve, allowing creators to access the Epidemic Sound library directly within their editing environment, saving time and maintaining creative flow during the production process.

Music Distribution and Artist Success

The scale of Epidemic Sound’s reach shows how content performs across the internet. “We know what the internet sounds like as we have unparalleled data insight on music performance online,” Marcus explains, noting that “videos including our music get over three billion views every day.” This extensive distribution network not only helps creators find proven music for their content but also provides significant exposure for musicians.

In turn, this exposure can change artists’ careers, as demonstrated by Katori Walker’s experience. After his music was featured throughout seven episodes of content by British YouTubers The Sidemen (who have over 20 million subscribers), the results were notable. “His track ‘Himothy’ saw more than 100% increase in Shazams, a 1600% week-on-week increase in streams across music streaming platforms, and Katori himself started gaining thousands of new listeners daily,” Marcus shares.

These insights also support the company’s soundtracking tools. Features like “search by video” use AI to analyze visual frames and recommend tracks frequently used in similar content, helping creators make more informed music selections based on proven performance data rather than guesswork.

Creating a Sustainable Ecosystem for Artists

At the heart of Epidemic Sound’s business model is a commitment to supporting musicians in ways traditional industry models often fail to do. “Our collaboration with artists is all about supporting them to thrive creatively and financially,” Marcus emphasizes. 

This support structure rests on four pillars: distribution through their ecosystem of billions of views and listens, development through guidance from music experts, collaborations with leading creators, and equitable compensation.

The financial model for artists includes fixed fees ranging from $1,775–$8,000 per track, a 50/50 split of all music streaming royalties, and participation in their $3.5 million Soundtrack Bonus program. “On average, our artists earn over USD $60,000 per year, with top earners taking home more than USD $200,000,” Marcus reveals.

This artist-friendly approach has attracted a large roster of talent. “Our ​​artists have millions of streams and fans around the world, we work with Grammy winners like Jordin Sparks, stars like Honey Dijon, and collaborate with industry legends like Johnny Marr,” Marcus points out.

Adapting to the Growing Creator Economy

Having launched in 2009, long before the term “creator economy” entered common usage, Epidemic Sound has witnessed and adjusted to the changes in this digital ecosystem. “One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen is music’s role in the creator economy and content; from the early days of YouTube to now, it’s wildly different,” Marcus observes. “It’s gone from non-existent to an afterthought to a key part of the creation process.”

This progression influenced the company’s own development path. They were the first to offer a subscription product specifically designed for YouTubers to license music for their videos. Then, as viewer engagement with the music grew, they expanded their model. 

“We started to see lots of comments asking where they could listen to the tracks. This was around the same time that music streaming platforms were becoming more popular, so we began distributing our music there for standalone listening, and launched our 50/50 royalty split for artists,” Marcus explains, calling this “a key moment in the company’s history and the foundation of our mutually beneficial ecosystem for artists and creators.”

Embracing AI as a Creative Partner

Like many companies in the creator economy, Epidemic Sound is working with the potential of artificial intelligence while maintaining a focus on human creativity. “Our approach to technology has always been that there’s huge power in combining it with human creativity, so AI is a natural extension of that,” Marcus shares. “It’s an excellent tool to help supercharge creativity, but never replace it.”

The company has implemented AI in three key areas. First, AI-powered music discovery and recommendations help solve the “cold start” problem many creators face when searching through thousands of tracks. Second, their adaptation tools allow creators to easily modify track lengths without manual editing. Finally, their new Voiceover tool, Voices, brings high-quality performances from professional voice artists to creators through AI technology.

Epidemic Sound’s approach to AI voice technology demonstrates their commitment to ethical implementation. “We’ve worked directly with professional voice actors to develop this, created a new remuneration model with upfront payments and ongoing bonuses, and provided new discovery opportunities by enabling global brands and creators to connect with them for external voiceover work,” Marcus explains.

Industry Impact

When it comes to the future, Epidemic Sound is focused on practical improvements that serve their dual audience of creators and musicians. “We’ve soundtracked the internet and we’re on a mission to soundtrack the world,” Marcus states. With the creator economy expected to nearly double in size by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs, the company sees strong growth potential as the connection between audiovisual content, brands, and culture continues to deepen.

Recent developments include their “Extra Version” remix series, featuring collaborations with global music stars like Honey Dijon to create tracks for their catalog. The company continues to develop plugins and integrations with popular editing platforms, seeking to make the soundtracking process more seamlessly integrated into creators’ existing workflows.

The Practical Value of Music in Content

Epidemic Sound’s research highlights the tangible benefits music brings to digital content. Their “Future of the Creator Economy Report” found that 47% of creators say music drives audience engagement, while another 47% believe it boosts discoverability. Additionally, 61% of creators report that music helps strengthen brand relationships, highlighting its commercial as well as creative value.

These benefits translate to real efficiency gains for content producers. “It’s not about creating one great piece of content, it’s about consistently publishing excellent content,” Marcus points out, emphasizing how streamlining the soundtracking process helps creators maintain quality while meeting demanding publication schedules. The company has helped brands like FabFitFun make their post-production 2-3 times faster and saved ATP Media an hour per production, demonstrating concrete time savings that directly impact creators’ bottom lines.

For professional sound design, their acquisition of Hollywood-grade sound effects platform Soundly has expanded their offerings beyond music. “Sound effects are the unsung heroes,” Marcus notes. “They help bring depth to content, increase believability and audience immersion, can help play with mood and tension, and are a really powerful tool to harness.”

The Future of Creative Sound

The future of Epidemic Sound lies in its growth as both a technical platform and creative partner. “The creator economy, at its core, is about storytelling,” Marcus reflects. “Music is one of the most powerful tools creators have at their fingertips to create compelling content.”

Through its dual focus on empowering creators and supporting artists, Epidemic Sound has established itself as a significant service provider in the creator economy.

“There are entire platforms – such as TikTok – that have grown to prominence based on the interaction between audio and video,” Marcus observes, highlighting just how central sound has become to digital content. As this integration continues to deepen, Epidemic Sound’s mission to “soundtrack the world” reflects their understanding that great content isn’t just seen—it’s heard.

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