Epidemic Sound gives agencies faster soundtracking and greater creative control

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, the music-technology company Epidemic Sound is used the world over, with its catalogue being listened to over three billion times a day (yes, billion with a b). Its royalty-free roster is built for both discovery and deployment, helping teams move from idea to final output quickly and well. After all, for agencies balancing tight timelines, multiple projects and ever-expanding deliverables, endlessly searching for good soundtracks can quickly become quite a hindrance. Epidemic Sound also owns all the rights to its music, making licensing incredibly straightforward – a factor that’s key to its ethos. The company prioritises ease, accessibility and quality, seen in the high standards of its inventory, its straightforward and fair artists compensation, and the super smooth experience of putting motion to music. 

While the company is proud to offer total music licensing safety and peace of mind, as well as top-quality music and sound from some of the world’s leading artists, one of its most popular features, interim CPO Matt Sage tells us, is “game-changing, AI-powered soundtracking speed and creative control”. Studio and Assistant – AI-assisted features on the platform – were introduced in 2025 and updated in 2026, and across both features, studios and agencies are able to move faster while retaining full creative oversight, making the entire end-to-end soundtracking workflow more efficient. “It’s key to understand there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to soundtracking,” Matt says, explaining how Epidemic Sound looks to make the music search more intuitive. Under the pressure of tight deadlines and last-minute changes, finding the right soundtrack can be incredibly tricky and time-consuming – as well as differing hugely from project to project and between individual creatives. “It’s one of the reasons we’re so excited about the Epidemic Sound Studio,” he says. “It levels up the soundtracking process for all, bringing together our entire tooling suite into one smart workflow.”

Epidemic Sound’s ability to both match and place music and sound effects within a video is the first of its kind, allowing one to create a first draft in minutes when, before, it could have taken hours – a marked gain for teams working across multiple edits and formats. Its Adapt feature allows creatives to adjust a track – be it structure, length, mood or instrumentation – to best suit the video storytelling. Meanwhile, Epidemic Sound’s Assistant lets users chat conversationally about what’s needed and refine their soundtrack search in real-time, speeding up the discovery process when time is tight. “A good music workflow is one that is seamless, efficient, and creatively empowering,” says Pete Beeney, director of agency sales. “It should enable creators to quickly find the perfect sound for their project, license it frictionlessly, and integrate it effortlessly into their work.” 

Through the platform’s AI-optimised creative workflow, all of these elements are combined, and worrying about takedown notices or copyright infringement is eradicated. “While originally aimed towards the creator market,” Pete says, “we now find that many of these features solve pain points for creative agencies,” especially those under the pressure of delivering an increasing volume of high-quality videos. With that in mind, Epidemic Sound has designed the platform to integrate with a creative’s existing setup, featuring integrated plugins for Adobe Premiere, After Effects, and Audition, as well as DaVinci Resolve Studio. All to make the process as uninterrupted as possible, as per its desktop application that allows one to integrate soundtracks across any video editor.

Practically, this is a big step forward for content creation, as traditional processes of licensing and sourcing soundtracks have led to what Pete describes as “a significant bottleneck”, tearing creatives away from the most important task at hand: storytelling. “Epidemic Sound directly addresses this by integrating into their existing workflow,” he continues, giving its Adobe Premiere extension as an example of seamless coordination. “It allows editors to find, test, and license music without ever leaving their editing timeline.” 

A valid concern in the creative industry as a whole is the implementation of AI. “In a world where AI content is in abundance, it’s important to stand out, to be authentic and real,” VP of strategic music partnerships, Jesper Staffas, says. “Human expression, interaction and communication are deeply rooted in us as a species,” and AI can never replace that. Within Epidemic Sound’s platform, AI helps streamline the technical side of soundtracking and, in doing so, allows creative teams to focus on the important task of creating great work. Jesper notes that while AI provides an incredible baseline of technical perfection, the real opportunity for creators is to move beyond that “polished average,” as Jesper puts it. “AI gives us the efficiency to reach a professional standard instantly,” he explains, “but the value of the human creator now lies in adding that raw, human edge; personality if you like.” To this extent, Epidemic Sound utilises AI technologies to deal with the refining and perfecting, whilst they can handle the human side. “We can focus on the authenticity that actually makes people stop, watch and listen.” In practice, this means agencies can work faster without compromising on originality or intent.

It’s clear to Epidemic Sound we’re undergoing a monumental shift in contemporary culture, influencing the use of (and relationship between) sound and visual storytelling, and it’s the platform’s responsibility to best support its users. “It has never been easier to create and distribute visual content,” Jesper says, clarifying how the challenge now is in cutting through the noise via exciting, quality and original work. “AI will act as a powerful force multiplier, giving creators the tools to execute more sophisticated and ambitious visions than ever before,” Jesper notes. “It’s about using technology to push the boundaries of creativity – to match that elevated output, you need a soundtrack with the same level of intentionality and depth.” In that way, Epidemic Sound serves as the catalytic bridge connecting advanced AI tools and “premium, professional-grade music and SFX,” helping creatives make efficiently, effectively and extraordinarily.