Are there any legal and royalty-free sound libraries to get sounds for iPhone applications?

Question

Problem: Great graphics, nice app. But no sound. I want sound.

UPDATE: All cleared now. Soundsnap.com does not exclude iPhone apps. Tasos Frantzolas responded that there are no copyright problems with sounds on soundsnap.com.

There has been a misunderstanding because a huge content provider of sound snap told me to not use the sounds in my apps. I think they made these things clear now.

Anyways: What are your sources for legal and royalty-free sounds? It's ok to pay for it, but I don't want to pay thousands of bucks for my free apps, and I don't want to run into trouble.

Answer 1

http://www.freesound.org/

Answer 2

If you're paying for Soundsnap, that's their problem. Their FAQ states "After submission, our team listens to each sound making sure they don't infringe anyone's copyright.", which puts the onus on them, not you. If you're acting in good faith and they're assuring you they're legal sounds, go for it.

As for someone telling you to not use them in iPhone apps, they can't do that. By posting them on Soundsnap, they posted them under Soundsnap's license, which clearly states (says their FAQ) "You can use them in any commercial or non-commercial application (movies, music, theater, video games etc. etc). However, your use has to comply with the Soundsnap license and our terms of use." If they don't want them in iPhone apps, they shouldn't be selling them under a license that permits them. You have every right to use them as permitted by the Soundsnap license.

edit: Ultimately, if one of your criteria is apparently going to be "sites where no individual content creator will tell you privately that the license as listed is not the actual license you must follow", no sites will ever qualify. The situation you describe could happen anywhere.

Answer 3

I would also look for sources that people producing movies would use - here's a large list of sound effect libraries including commercial options:

http://filmsound.org/sound-effects/libraries.htm

If you are concerned enough about potential infringement, then you really need to look at commercial providers and stop looking at the free options which may always have some question around the content they have (though Soundsnap seems pretty good).

Answer 4

Hello All,

My name is Tasos Frantzolas- I am the owner of Soundsnap.com.

I will say it loud and clear: Soundsnap.com sounds can be used on iPhone apps.

This is a response from someone who understands copyright and I am responsible for explaining the rules.

The only instance where it wouldn't be allowed is if the sounds are distributed (i.e. downloadable) by the app. But if you 're using them within a game or application you 're not infringing any copyright or having to pay any extra royalties.

From what I understand, the person posting this contacted one of our content providers and that person gave him the wrong answer (i.e. that he can't use them). They emailed me and I explained this to them as well.

The correct answer is YES, you can use Soundsnap sounds in your iPhone apps.

Also, fyi, the Soundsnap library has become pro, we 've cleaned it up and it now contains only high quality sounds from pros. We have very strict criteria from accepting a contributor. In fact, 4 out of 5 applicants get rejected.

Think about it: with all the traffic we have, wouldn't we get in trouble if we had "illegal" sounds..?

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers.

Answer 5

You may want to try AudioMicro.com's Sound Effects. They have over 125,000 sound effects all clear for use in iPhone apps