All music has a copyright from the moment it is recorded. There is music in the public domain that was recorded in the early 20th century, but that's probably not the sound you are going for. What you are looking for is music that has a free license and is royalty-free (so you don't have to pay for each performance). If you Google around you can find some royalty-free music sites, but they all charge a fee per song for licensing (which is only fair to the musicians and composers). This site has royalty free music, but it costs $10 a track, which is about the cheapest I've seen: http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/ If you want to use a popular song, you'll have to pay both the licensing fee and a royalty for each "performance". You can contact artists directly to get permission to use their music - if you go to Myspace, for example, there are a lot of young artists who might be willing to let you use their music for promotion from you. Alternatively, you could make some original music yourself using Garageband or other music software.
Very nice! Browsing through some of the material there, it's clear that you will have to read the license information for each item before using it. Some are in the public domain, but a bunch of the music appears to be under a Creative Commons license that doesn't allow commercial use or creation of derivative works.
i saw so many videos in youtube with some smooth music in background, have they also paid for that? i think no.
They may not have paid, but if they are legit they got permission from the copyright holder. And that's the key - a license or explicit permission. If you find music you like you can ask to use it. Or if you are musical, or know someone musical, you can use an original composition. The risk of using music without permissions can range from having your videos taken down to being sued for copyright infringement. It seems to me like it's worth a few bucks to avoid that.
You can use podsafe music in videos. Podsafe music refers to music specifically for podcasters or video producers. The music is licensed in such a way that podcasters can purchase a license to include the music in a podcast/video without incurring additional fees or expenses. In order to use traditional music that is heard on the radio in a podcast, podcasters may have to pay royalties for each time the song is played. Some music files licensed under public domain or creative commons are exempt from royalties and these songs are available for use in a podcast, but generally when searching for music to include in a podcast it is probably best to stick with music that is specifically designated as "podsafe". How and Where to Locate PodSafe Music - http://www.feedforall.com/how-to-locate-podsafe-music.htm HTH
Have a look at http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ - but remember to check their terms & conditions and see if what you're planning to do falls within them.
AudioJungle has a lot of royalty free music, and it is all pretty cheap (less than $10). Here's my portfolio.
Try Playlist.com They have a large list of free listen-able music, but make sure to read the EULA/Terms