NoCopyrightSounds, also known as NCS, is a United Kingdom-based music organization and record label that releases copyright-free music.

History

NCS was started as a YouTube channel by the founder, an "avid gamer" named Billy Woodford, in 2011. The label was described by Forbes as "a YouTube-first label that allows indie creators to use and even monetize its music freely as long as they give due credit back to the content owners."

In 2017, NCS has achieved a milestone of having over a million sales of digital downloads, despite releasing music for free. The label manager Daniel Lee said "Similar to services with a freemium model, NCS provides both the option to enjoy music for free but at the same time also enables fans to support the music across paid services," asserting that the label releases music for free and also sells them. Woodford, about the milestone, stated "I’m immensely proud to have reached 1 million paid downloads, and believe this shows the growth and strength NCS has built over the years." He also commented that "The demand for fresh original music from Creators is enormous and growing daily."

As of December 2017, the label has received over 13 million subscribers on YouTube.

Artists Aero Chord Alan Walker Alex Skrindo Ash O'Connor Axol Beatcore Brooks Cartoon Codeko Curbi CØDE Deaf Kev Debris Defqwop Desembra Desmeon Different Heaven Disfigure Distrion Diviners Dropouts Egzod Electric Joy Ride Electrolight Elektronomia ElementD Floatinurboat Friendzone Futuristik Glude Halcyon High Maintenance Inukshuk Itro IZECOLD Janji Jim Yosef Jo Cohen Johnny Third Jordan Schor JPB K-391 Kasger Killercats Kontinuum Krys Talk LarsM Lennart Schroot Lensko Matthew Blake Mendum MYRNE OLWIK Oneeva Our Psych Paul Flint Phantom Sage Prismo Raven & Kreyn Razihel RedMoon RetroVision Sex Whales Ship Wrek SideB Spitfya Subtact Syn Cole Syndec Tobu TULE Unknown Brain Uplink Vidya Vidya Waysons William Ekh References ^ "Exclusive Interview: Billy Woodford - Founder of NoCopyrightSounds (NCS) - RouteNote Blog". RouteNote Blog. 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "NCS". ncsmusic.com. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d "NoCopyrightSounds Demo Submission, Contacts, A&R, Links & More". labelsbase.net. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d "This EDM Label Just Hit 1 Million Sales Despite Giving Away Its Music Free". Your EDM. 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ Stevo (2017-11-09). "Copyright Free Music: These Labels Are Changing Up Royalty Free Music". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "Young Entrepreneurs: Billy Woodford, NoCopyrightSounds". Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas. 2015-03-18. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "NCS Celebrates 1 Million Paid Downloads, Despite Giving Music Away for Free: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ Hu, Cherie. "How YouTube Entrepreneurs In Their 20s Are Disrupting Traditional Record Labels". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "NoCopyrightSounds has 13.8m subscribers... and 1m paid iTunes downloads". influencerupdate.biz. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "Alan Walker's success is owed to this label and it just reached a major milestone". We Rave You. 2017-12-18. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b "YouTube record label NCS hits $1 million in sales". Dancing Astronaut. 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ Stevo (2017-12-15). "Popular YouTube Label Reaches One Million Sales Despite Offering Free Downloads". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b "EGZOD - Wake Up (feat. Chris Linton) ". Your EDM. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f g h "NCS: Infinity by Various Artists on Apple Music". 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "NCS: Uplifting by Various Artists on Apple Music". 2014-12-07. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f "NCS: The Best of 2015 by Various Artists on Apple Music". 2015-12-18. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j "NCS Is Love, NCS Is Life, Vol. 1 by Various Artists on Apple Music". 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "NCS: The Best of 2016 by Various Artists on Apple Music". 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "Elektronomia - Disco Boy (Original Mix) - Dancing Astronaut". Dancing Astronaut. 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ Stevo (2017-10-30). "Our Psych Releases The Bass Heavy Single Titled 'Purge'". EDM Sauce. Retrieved 2018-01-26.  ^ "Raven & Kreyn - In The Air ". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2018-01-31.