What is the difference between Incompetech and Artlist for Commercial Use?

Incompetech (Free (CC BY 4.0)): yes. Artlist (Social): limited.

What is the difference between Incompetech and Artlist for Redistribution?

Incompetech (Free (CC BY 4.0)): limited. Artlist (Social): no.

What is the difference between Incompetech and Artlist for Client Work?

Incompetech (Free (CC BY 4.0)): yes. Artlist (Social): no.

What is the difference between Incompetech and Artlist for Survives Cancellation?

Incompetech (Free (CC BY 4.0)): yes. Artlist (Social): limited.

What is the difference between Incompetech and Artlist for Refund Policy?

Incompetech (Free (CC BY 4.0)): no. Artlist (Social): limited.

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Incompetech vs Artlist

Side-by-side comparison of licensing terms between Incompetech and Artlist.

License Comparison

Hover or tap any field name to see what it means. Highlighted rows indicate differences.

Field	Incompetech Visit Incompetech	Artlist Visit Artlist
	✓	✓
	✓	~Commercial use is limited to monetized social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). Not licensed for ads, broadcast, or corporate use.
	✓	✓
	Not required	Not required
	✗	✗
	~Cannot redistribute raw music files as standalone tracks. Can use in synced productions.	✗
	✗	✗
	✓	✓
	✓	✗
	✓Published	✓Published
	✗	✗
	✗	~

Prices may vary by region and are subject to change.

Incompetech:

Artlist:

Incompetech

Free (CC BY 4.0)

Visit Platform

Artlist

Social

Visit Platform

Price

Free

$9.99/mo

Prices may vary by region and are subject to change.

Download

Yes

Commercial Use

Yes

Commercial use is limited to monetized social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). Not licensed for ads, broadcast, or corporate use.

Editing

You can use tracks in your projects, sync to video, loop, and trim. Cannot remix into new standalone music.

Yes

Attribution

Exclusive Rights

Redistribution

Cannot redistribute raw music files as standalone tracks. Can use in synced productions.

Print Use

Music tracks - not applicable to physical print. Cannot be used in physical products or broadcast media on this plan.

Digital Use

Yes

Client Work

Yes

Survives Cancellation

Forever

Only content downloaded and used in published projects during an active subscription retains its license after cancellation.

Incompetech:

The free license requires specific attribution format: 'Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)' with the CC BY 4.0 license referenced.

Failing to provide attribution under the free license is a copyright violation.

Kevin MacLeod's music is extremely widely used - your content may sound familiar to viewers.

Artlist:

Content licensed before November 2020 falls under different terms - those older licenses covered all use cases under a single plan. Current plans are more restrictive.

License does not survive cancellation for most plans - you must maintain an active subscription to keep using downloaded content.

Key Differences

Fields where these platforms differ

Commercial Use

Incompetech:✓

Artlist:~Commercial use is limited to monetized social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). Not licensed for ads, broadcast, or corporate use.

Redistribution

Incompetech:~Cannot redistribute raw music files as standalone tracks. Can use in synced productions.

Artlist:✗

Client Work

Incompetech:✓

Artlist:✗

Survives Cancellation

Incompetech:✓Published

Artlist:✓Published

Refund Policy

Incompetech:✗

Artlist:~

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Informational Only - Not Legal Advice

LicenseOrg provides informational summaries of platform license terms for educational purposes only. This is not legal advice. Always consult the platform’s official license page and a qualified legal professional.

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