Get started

Prerequisites

To use the Epidemic Sound API, you need access to the Epidemic Sound Developer Portal. If you don't have access yet, please reach out to us to discuss a partnership. Once your partnership agreement is in place, your technical team members will be added to the portal and will receive an email with instructions on how to obtain your API credentials.

Workflow steps

Authorize your app with your API key
List collections with their tracks
Download a track

Authorize your app

All calls to the Epidemic Sound API require authentication. The recommended method is API Key Authentication — use your API key directly as a bearer token in every request.

Using an older integration?

If you have an existing integration using Partner Token Authentication, see the Authentication guide for details, and the migration guide if you'd like to switch to API Key Authentication.

Get your API key

Your API key is found in the Epidemic Sound Developer Portal under Authentication settings → API keys. See Prerequisites above for access details.

Security

Never expose your API key in client-side code. Store it in an environment variable or secrets manager on your backend only.

Make authenticated requests

Add your API key as a bearer token in the Authorization header of every request. For requests on behalf of specific end users, also pass the x-partner-user-id header:

Authenticated request
curl -X 'GET' 'https://partner-content-api.epidemicsound.com/v0/collections' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer your-api-key' \
  -H 'x-partner-user-id: user-abc-123'

GDPR note

Use a stable, anonymised identifier for x-partner-user-id — not a name or email address.

For a complete reference of all authentication options, including Connect (OAuth 2.0) for ES subscribers, see the Authentication guide.

List collections with their tracks

The collections and tracks available to your app depend on your content access level, which is negotiated as part of your partnership agreement. See the Fundamentals for details on content access levels. You can manage your collections in the Developer Portal.

Use the collections endpoint to list your collections and the first few tracks of each collection.

Performance Optimization

For better performance, especially with large collections, use excludeFields=tracks to list only collection metadata. You can then fetch tracks for specific collections separately using the collection details endpoint.

Listing collections
curl -X 'GET' \
  'https://partner-content-api.epidemicsound.com/v0/collections' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer your-api-key'

Example collections response
{
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "7a84d049-057a-46fb-93d1-eace263d8973",
      "name": "Lounge",
      "tracks": [
        {
          "id": "Mj0MGDIRZm",
          "title": "Solaris",
          "mainArtists": [
            "Marc Torch"
          ],
          "featuredArtists": [],
          "bpm": 110,
          "length": 178,
          "moods": [
            {
              "id": "epic",
              "name": "Epic"
            },
            {
              "id": "hopeful",
              "name": "Hopeful"
            }
          ],
          "genres": [
            {
              "id": "2010s-rock",
              "name": "2010s Rock",
              "parent": {
                "id": "rock",
                "name": "Rock"
              }
            },
            {
              "id": "post-rock",
              "name": "Post Rock",
              "parent": {
                "id": "rock",
                "name": "Rock"
              }
            }
          ],
          "images": {
            "default": "https://cdn.epidemicsound.com/curation-assets/commercial-release-cover-images/4661/300x300.jpg",
            "XS": "https://cdn.epidemicsound.com/curation-assets/commercial-release-cover-images/4661/128x128.jpg",
            "S": "https://cdn.epidemicsound.com/curation-assets/commercial-release-cover-images/4661/300x300.jpg",
            "M": "https://cdn.epidemicsound.com/curation-assets/commercial-release-cover-images/4661/600x600.jpg",
            "L": "https://cdn.epidemicsound.com/curation-assets/commercial-release-cover-images/4661/1050x1050.jpg"
          },
          "waveformUrl": "https://pdn.epidemicsound.com/waveforms/1600/331261.json",
          "isExplicit": false,
          "hasVocals": false,
          "added": "2020-02-12",
          "isPreviewOnly": false,
          "tierOption": "FREE"
      }
  ],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 10
  },
  "links": {
    "next": "/v0/collections?limit=10&offset=10",
    "prev": null
  }
}

Download a track

You are now just one call away from downloading the audio file. Use the trackId from the previous call to get a download link to the actual media file from our CDN.

Download a track
curl -X 'GET' \
   'https://partner-content-api.epidemicsound.com/v0/tracks/{Track ID}/download?format=mp3&quality=normal' \
   -H 'Accept: application/json' \
   -H 'Authorization: Bearer your-api-key'

Example track download response
{
  "url": "https://d37sjn4j2x9ce8.cloudfront.net/ES_ITUNES/Solaris/ES_Solaris.mp3?Expires=1666691372&Signature=eUU4M5v…XKQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K344YJTI5162TY",
  "expires": "2022-10-25T09:49:32Z"
}

The returned URL link is set to expire. The user has to start the download before the link expires.

Available quality options:

normal (128kbps) - Default, sufficient for most use cases
high (320kbps) - For content requiring higher audio quality

Note on isPreviewOnly

If your partnership agreement grants full catalogue access, tracks discovered outside your collections (e.g. via search or mood/genre browsing) may have isPreviewOnly set to true in the metadata even though they are downloadable. See the Fundamentals on content access for more details.

Prerequisites​

Workflow steps​

Authorize your app​

Get your API key​

Make authenticated requests​

List collections with their tracks​

Download a track​