Audiio is designed to provide royalty-free music to video makers all over the world. If you’ve ever been worried about getting pulled up for music copyright after using a track – Audiio.com is for you.
It’s great for musicians as they benefit financially from the exposure that track placement on a high-profile ad or movie could get them. Musicians also get a cut every time their track is used – it’s not just exposure alone!
Read on for an Audiio.com review that should help you make up your mind on the platform with impartial pros and cons for users!
What Is Audiio?
Audiio is an exciting new online music licensing library, providing strong competition to the likes of Artlist and Soundstripe.
Based across both Delaware and Nashville, the company has attracted some serious music talent from labels, indie artists, and commercial composers to its platform. It also has an unusual payment model, which sets it apart from competitors.
Audiio offers an annual subscription (not monthly) to its music and SFX (sound effects) library. But, unlike competitors, also provides Audiio lifetime membership packages.
Due to the fact that the platform only provides perpetual licenses, even canceling a subscription would enable you to continue using the tracks that you already have downloaded.
However, if you know you’re going to be a content creator for the next two years or more, Audiio Lifetime membership could be a real bargain!
What Does Audiio Do?
Audiio is essentially a big library with sound effects, vocal tracks, and instrumental tracks that you can browse for free online.
The company has pledged to add at least 400 new songs to the library every month and curates new and existing playlists (defined by mood or occasion) weekly.
Who Is Audiio For?
Arguably, Audiio is for anyone who wants to use licensed music in content they create. At the moment, early adopters have been brands, such as Toyota, Netflix and NBC. As well as filmmakers, YouTubers, and advertising agencies.
Audiio’s interface is highly intuitive with a clean display. Akin to popular streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, users can create their own custom playlists, favourite tracks, browse with filters or browse through curated playlists.
Pricing
Audiio has one of the simplest pricing structures of any major music licensing platform.
Its standard package is an annual subscription at $199, or £145/yr. This allows users to gain licenses for all music and SFX tracks in the growing e-library.
Unfortunately, for short-term users (ie a one-off project) there is no monthly fee. The annual membership, however, adds up to less than most competitors’ subscriptions over the year.
In March 2020, the site offered Music Lifetime membership at $199 (a one-off payment). Now the cost is $100 higher. So, it is very possible that lifetime membership costs may rise higher as the platform becomes more established.
With Audiio’s perpetual licenses, any tracks you download will be licensed for you forever. At present the lifetime membership costs are as follows:
- $199 SFX Lifetime (one payment)
- $299 Music Lifetime membership (one payment)
Alternatives
Older Audiio competitors such as Epidemic Sound are harder to navigate due to the usability of the interface and the lack of a vocal/instrumental filter.
In general, the usability with Audiio is really good. But a crucial feature is missing – the ability to sort music by track length. While admittedly some competitors also lack this filter, Audiio has one distinctive failing compared to Artlist and Soundstripe – its lack of stem files.
On several other large royalty-free music platforms, users can take stem files (individual parts of the track, e.g. bass or guitar melody) out of the mix and use one or a combination of them. This is great if you want to build the music at your own pace for a project.
However, the fact Audiio does not have this or a track length filter means that it may be harder to ensure the music will suit your needs.
However, in its first year, Audiio has had incredible reviews and built up close bonds with music publishers, labels, and independent artists. The quality of music on the platform has been widely praised.
It’s worth noting that even at its current rate of adding 400 tracks to the platform every month, it is still unlikely to rival Epidemic Sound’s 30,000 track library any time soon.
With that all being said, let’s summarise some of the key differences between the major royalty free music providers.
Artlist
Pros Of Audiio
- Arguably higher quality tracks
- Clear interface
- Simple costing structure with an option for a lifetime membership
Pros Of Artlist
- Has stem files
- 8000+ tracks
- You can search by bpm and track duration
- Video library as well as audio and SFX
- Monthly subscription option.
- Artlist cost = £147/yr
Мusic Gateway
Pros Of Audiio
- Easy to navigate through the library
- The library is constantly growing
- Clear costing structure
Pros Of Мusic Gateway
- Sync licensing specialists for commercial production
- Has the ability to commission music for your project – not just stock music!
- Centralised tool to receive track recommendations and demo submissions
- Competitive pricing
- Our library is also constantly growing and has a very wide, varied range of music, from pop to the smallest niches.
- Мusic Gateway cost = enquire for a quote/project dependent
Would you like to get in touch with Music Gateway to see how we can help you? Then please use this link to get in touch with us to discuss any opportunities such as Sync Licensing, Music Licensing, Music Clearance, Sync Libraries or Music Libraries, etc., you may want to take further.
You can book a call with Sam – Head of Sync Licensing – as a potential lead. We are always happy to talk to musicians like you. Please do get in touch.
Soundstripe
Pros Of Audiio:
- Great quality library
- The library is constantly growing
- Clear costing structure
- Perpetual licensing
- Option for one-off payment lifetime membership
Pros Of Soundstripe:
- Great quality library
- Has stem tracks
- 5,000+ tracks
- Can search by bpm and track duration
- Monthly subscription option
- Has 50,000 track SFX library, but operates on a single-use perpetual license
- Soundstripe cost = £97/yr
Epidemic Sound
Pros Of Audiio:
- Great quality library
- Clear interface
- Clear costing structure
- Genuine perpetual license for use across any project
- Lifetime membership
Pros Of Epidemic Sound:
- All 30,000+ tracks in the library can be downloaded as stem files
- Genuine free 30-day trial process
- You can find the right music with the ‘Similar To..’ navigation option
- Monthly subscription option
- Unlimited license but license ends when subscription becomes inactive
- Epidemic Sound cost = £96/year (personal), £239/year (commercial)
Summary – Is Audiio Worth It?
Audiio.com is still in very early days but looks on track to do really well in this space.
Adopting membership – especially lifetime membership – is a good investment we reckon! This is particularly true if you aspire to be a content creator for some time. The downloads and library access will just keep on giving!
If, however, you are a bigger brand/production company hoping to use music for a TV broadcast or a show that is available on Hulu, it really depends on the quote you’re given whether Audiio is worth your time.
For most users, however, Audiio’s clean interface and conveniently simple pricing plans make finding royalty-free music hassle-free. Without a doubt, we recommend it!
Have you ever used Audiio.com? If you have, let us know about your experience in the comment section below! We would love to hear your thoughts! You can search for a BPM to understand more by using the BPM Tapper tool on Music Gateway. Try it today.
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