Stock music can be frustrating: close to what you are looking for, but not precisely right. In our dream scenario we would always have the budget to pay for a full fledged composer, but sometimes that just isn't possible. Filmstro is one popular solution to this dilemma that we've looked at a few times over the years.
Filmstro allows for customizing and keyframing certain elements in its specifically developed stock footage library in sync with your picture. With plugin panels for Premiere, Final Cut Pro X, and even a mobile app for social video creators, Filmstro has offered a lot of appealing options. The service has also been great about short-term licenses (no need to pay for a years subscription when only doing a single job), but there was always a cost.
Credit: Filmstro
Now, that changes, as Filmstro has released a large library of their music for free. Over 1000 tracks, in fact. Filmstro founder Sebastian Jaeger had this to say: “We had originally started Filmstro because we wanted to build empowering tools for filmmakers and that ethos hasn’t changed. We’re inspired by companies like HitFilm to create some real value for our community and we think that it’s about time that ‘Freemium’ offerings came to the music industry, and we’re excited about being the company to do that!”
Credit: Filmstro
Of course, Filmstro is still a business that has to make money, and thus requires that if you are doing for profit work that you pay for licensing, which seems more than fair considering the variety and flexiblity of the library. However, for your online reel, for personal projects, even for monetized YouTube videos, all of that is fair game under the new model. The plan seems to be to get users addicted to the power of a robust customizable stock footage library and then they'll come back to use it again when working with paying clients, which is a great way to help indies out while giving more people a chance to get to know your platform.
Credit: Filmstro
Check out all Filmstro has to offer at its music site, which includes an online preview tool for music customization.
Features
- Premiere Pro and FCPX Support
- 24 bit, 48 kHz audio
- Momentum, Depth and Power parameters associated with keyframes
- Various rights options including non-profit and educational
- More than 1000 free tracks
