Smartsound FAQs

All Smartsound Albums and Singles include the Extended Music License. If you need licensing beyond what is covered by the Extended License, we can issue bespoke licensing on a per-project basis that can cover any additional distribution required. Please contact sales@smartsound.com with the details of your distribution and licensing needs to obtain a quote for a custom Widest License.

Smartsound music is unique in the fact that you can customize any song to the exact length you need it to be. Instead of downloading and storing a single audio file, you instead can create a custom audio file anytime depending on your specific needs. Our system can instantly deliver a professionally edited audio file at any given duration that you choose, each with multiple arrangement options (Variations) and mix presets (Moods). There are a few different ways you can access your purchased Smartsound music: Audio files can be downloaded directly from the website using our online web application. Choose your track and enter the custom parameters and download the audio as a .wav, .aif, or .mp3 files. By default, the source audio files are stored in the following location:

PC: C:\ProgramData\SmartSound Software Inc\Sound Files\
Mac: Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/SmartSound/Sound Files/

You can find this folder quickly by opening the Preferences menu, then selecting the Folders tab and clicking the Browse button. To store the sound files in a custom location, click the Add Folder button and select the folder to configure the new storage location. Use the Set Copy Destination button to set which folder new music should be installed to. You can then manually transfer the .sds files into the new folder and relaunch Sonicfire Pro and it will now locate the files from the new folder location.

Your licensing is valid and you are 100% authorized to use any purchased SmartSound music in monetized YouTube videos. Unfortunately this has been a struggle that all royalty-free music companies like us (that sell some non-exclusive content) have to deal with due to the way YouTube has created their Content ID system. The best composers usually don't want to license their music exclusively through only one company, but it is great quality content that we want to include in our library. We license the music from the composers to sell as royalty-free, but they are also allowed to sell their music through other companies that may not be royalty-free.

We "whitelist" all of our exclusive music - that is, music owned 100% by us. This music is in Content ID under our name, and no copyright claims will ever be initiated from our end. According to YouTube's Content ID guidelines, any music uploaded into Content ID must be 100% exclusively owned, but in practice this is not regulated and misattributed claims can often occur.

Usually these invalid claims can be most quickly removed by first disputing the claim through your YouTube account, and then contacting the claimant company directly. Most of them have forms or email addresses specifically for disputing YouTube claims. The system through YouTube is mostly automated, contacting the claimant directly and submitting a support ticket for review usually gets the claims cleared much faster. Include a link to the video(s) with the claims, the name of the music track used along with the composer and publisher information (if available). State that you have already purchased a valid sync license from SmartSound for the usage and request they promptly release the claim and that documentation can be provided upon request if required (it usually is not). For reference, the contact addresses for the most common claimants are:

for SourceAudio: support@sourceaudio.com
for AdRev: adrev@audiomicroinc.zendesk.com
for AdShare: claims@adshare.tv
for Getty Music: contentid@rumblefish.com

We made a video that has all of the relevant information and shows you right where to file the dispute, which you can view here: If the disputes are ever denied, let us know and we will back you up and can get involved to ensure they are released, but usually it doesn't come to this. If you have any trouble getting a claim released and have already contacted the claimant and been denied or haven’t heard back, please send the same information above to support@smartsound.com.

Yes, all tracks licensed from Smartsound are 100% royalty free!

For European customers:
Certain albums will be designated as “PRO Free". This means that this music has been specifically created to exclude control by European and other foreign nations Performance Rights Organizations (PROs). Smartsound music, even without the PRO Free designation, is almost never flagged by the European PROs as Smartsound’s music license in general is very broad (see license). This "PRO free" option may be good for you if your focus (especially for use beyond the Internet) will be Europe or other countries outside the U.S. If required, the licensee should clarify the legal circumstances of the respective collecting society prior to the actual use of the compositions.

Smartsound PRO-Free music.

Our Sonicfire Pro 6 desktop software makes it easy to manage your Smartsound library, export customized audio files, and browse and purchase new music. Any new music that you purchase will be downloaded automatically into Sonicfire Pro when you next log in with your account.

The first thing to do is to open the Preferences and check the Playback Device setting on the General tab. Try setting it to the default Built In Output or Internal Speakers option if it was not already set there and see if it then is able to play the audio. If not, then try any other options that are available in the menu, and also re-select the original device to reload it and test it again to see if there is any change. If you still do not hear any audio, check the Sound settings in the Control Panel or System Preferences, and check the properties of the audio device you are using and make sure it is set to use a 48kHz (48000Hz) sample rate.

Aside from that, Sonicfire does not have any custom audio codecs, it will only try to use the audio devices that are currently configured on your system, along with any available codecs that are currently installed. Make sure your audio drivers and operating system are all up to date, and also try closing any other concurrently running software that might be affecting the audio which could potentially be conflicting with Sonicfire Pro.

The only settings to adjust the audio playback in Sonicfire Pro are on the General tab of the Preferences menu, anything else would be up to the sound settings on your computer, audio devices, or those being imposed by other applications. Hopefully this will help point in the right direction of the audio conflict.

Sonicfire Pro 6 syncs with your online account to validate and store your licensing, and any music that is showing in green with a "SmartSound" audio-tag means that either a) the music is not currently registered in your online account, so it is showing as a preview, or b) your database file has not been updated with your current licensing. This is not unusual, but we do want to get your online account updated accordingly with the music you have purchased in the past. Nowadays with Content ID and misattributed or false copyright claims, it is important to ensure your online account accurately reflects the music that is licensed to you. Please first follow these steps to ensure your library database is current and updated with your installed music. Then send a copy of the “Local.ssdb” file from the Libraries folder to support@smartsound.com and let us know the details of your situation, and we will work with you to get everything properly updated and accounted for in your online account.

Unfortunately 3rd party plugins for Sonicfire Pro 6 are entering legacy status and are currently provided “as-is”. It has been a challenge to maintain compatibility for multiple NLEs that over the years have increased the frequency of regular software updates and new features and architectures that vary greatly from product to product. The plugins will continue to function as long as the host OEMs continue to support the integration, but as an alternative Sonicfire Pro 6 includes a new “drag and drop” feature that allows you to render the audio file and drag and drop it into any other application or folder. To use the drag and drop feature, there are 3 icons on the right side of the main toolbar:

• Overwrite toggle (to either create a new file, or overwrite an existing file)
• Export (to render - to prepare the audio file for export in a temporary folder)
• Drag (to drag and drop the audio file into another application or folder)

Set the dropdown menu to "Complete Soundtrack", and set the Overwrite toggle to your preference, then click the middle Export icon to generate the audio, then click on the Drag hand icon and drag the audio into any other application or folder and release.