Artlist’s sound effects are professionally recorded, royalty-free audio files designed to add depth, realism, and polish to your creative projects. From ambient nature sounds to cinematic hits, risers, whooshes, and foley, the extensive library helps you enhance videos, animations, podcasts, and more with immersive sound design. This article explains how to search, download, organize, and manage sound effects to streamline your workflow.
Why use sound effects?
Adding sound effects is one of the easiest ways to make content feel more polished and immersive. Artlist sound effects can:
- Bring visuals to life: Add realistic footsteps, weather, or environmental sounds
- Create impact: Use hits, risers, and booms to build tension or emphasize moments
- Support storytelling: Layer subtle foley sounds to make scenes feel more believable
- Polish edits: Smooth transitions with whooshes or swishes to guide your viewer’s attention
How to browse Artlist's sound effects catalog
- In the sidebar on the homepage, click Creative Assets.
- Click Sound Effects.
- Search by keywords, such as ‘whoosh’, ‘cinematic’, ‘nature’, in the top Search bar.
- Select a track and click play.
How to filter and sort sound effects
Artlist provides a range of filters to help you find the ideal sound effects for your project. Filters are categorized into Ambience, Foley, Genre, Musical, Realistic, and Transitions.
Ambience: This filter helps find soundscapes and background sounds that set the mood or environment for a scene. Select from environments such as ‘Forest’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Small Spaces’, and ‘Night’.
Foley: This filter focuses on everyday, human-made sounds typically added in post-production to match on-screen actions. Examples include ‘Explosions’, ‘Kicks’, ‘Shattering’, ‘Walking’.
Genre: This filter organizes sound effects by cinematic or creative style, matching the mood of your video. Choose from styles such as ‘Fantasy & Magic’, ‘Cartoon Voices’, ‘Sci Fi Machines’, and ‘Monsters’.
Musical: This filter highlights sound effects with a musical character or melodic element, such as ‘Melodic Loops’, ‘Acoustic Loops’, ‘Drum One Shots’, ‘ and ‘Vocal Phrases’.
Realistic: This filter narrows results to natural or unembellished sounds captured from real-world sources. Choose from sounds such as ‘Wildlife’, ‘Water’, ‘TV’, and ‘Business & Office’.
Transitions: This filter helps you find sound effects that make your edits feel professional, smooth, and impactful by connecting scenes or emphasizing visual changes. Effects include ‘Short Whooshes’, ‘Cinematic Impacts’, ‘Audio Logos’, and ‘Risers’.
Once refining search results with the filters, you can sort according to ‘Staff Picks’, 'Downloads’, and ‘Newest’.
Filter your sound effects:
- In the sidebar on the homepage, click Creative Assets.
- Click Sound Effects.
- Use the dropdowns to filter the catalog by Ambience, Foley, Genre, Musical, Realistic, Transitions.
💡 Pro Tip: Combine multiple filters to narrow down your search and find perfect sound effects faster.
How to sort your search results
Once you’ve applied filters, results can be sorted by Staff Picks, Top Downloads, or Newest.
To sort your search results, simply toggle the Sort by tab at the top of the search page.
How to search for similar sound effects
To search sound effects similar to a specific effect:
- In the sidebar, click Sound Effects.
- Click the similar sound effects icon to view a list of sounds with a similar style.
How to use Artlist’s ChatGPT to recommend sound effects
Artlist’s custom ChatGPT is an AI-powered assistant that includes specific knowledge, tools, and instructions to discover the right music, sound effects, footage, and templates, just by chatting. Write your prompt and let our custom ChatGPT help you with recommendations for the perfect asset.
How to download, favorite, add to an Artboard, and share sound effects
Downloading Artlist’s sound effects is simple and straightforward. Once you've explored the catalog and found the perfect effect, you can download it to your device, and add it to your Favorites and Artboards.
Select any asset:
- Click download.
- Click the star icon to save a track to Favorites.
- Click the more icon (three black dots)
- Click Add to Artboard to select or create a new Artboard.
- Click Share SFX and choose a platform.
Commonly asked questions
How can I tell if I favorited a sound effect?
You can tell if any sound effects you’re viewing in the catalog has been favorited because the star icon will be yellow.
How do I find the sound effects I favorited?
- In the sidebar on the homepage, click Creative Assets.
- Click Sound Effects.
- From the top menu, filter the options according to asset type.
How do I access my downloaded sound effects?
After downloading an asset, it is stored locally on your device, typically in your Downloads folder unless you've selected a different location.
In addition, you can view and re-download any asset you’ve downloaded in the past by visiting the Downloads section of your Artlist account. Your download history is tied to your account, not your device, so you can access it anytime by logging in from any computer.
- In the sidebar, click Downloads.
- In the navigation bar, select Sound Effects.
- Click the download icon on the desired sound effect.
- Select the preferred file type (AAC or WAV), to begin the download.
Do sound effects come with individual licenses?
Each sound effect has its own individual license. This license document proves you downloaded the asset under an active subscription and are authorized to use it in your projects as long as your subscription is active.
- In the sidebar, click Downloads.
- In the Navigation bar, select Sound Effects.
- Select Song License on the bar for the desired sound effect.
oes Artlist have curated sound effect collections?
Artlist has hundreds of curated collections and playlists to explore. For more information check out Using Artlist's Spotlight.
How do I find information relating to each sound effect?
To find information regarding a sound effect, open a sound effect page and all the information on all the filters and similar sounds will be found there.
What sound effect file types are available for download?
The sound effects file types available for download are AAC and WAV.
Can I request sound effects for the catalog?
To request a song for the catalog, contact us and share your feedback with our team.
How can I become a sound effect contributor to Artlist?
If you are interested in becoming a sound designer for Artlist and contributing to our sound effects catalog, please complete this application.
‘Still need help? Head back to the Help Center.