While we often think of film and music genres as set in stone scripture, it’s always nice to be reminded that new genres and styles of video content are springing up all the time. It’s also cool to see how these new genres are being spurred and championed by the next generation of creators, who are looking for new ways to explore their creativity and express their thoughts and desires.
It’s even more uplifting to see that one of the new budding music and video genres online these days is something called hopecore. Like its name implies, hopecore is a hopeful and uplifting genre that incorporates all types of media and sub-genres.
But what is hopecore? And, more specifically, how can you create hopecore content of your own for your channels, streams, videos, and other multimedia projects?
Let’s go over this new hopecore genre and explore everything you need to know about it, plus give you some hopecore-esque royalty free music tracks to provide the perfect soundtrack for your hopecore content.
What is hopecore?
As we mentioned above, hopecore is precisely what it sounds like. Hopecore is a new genre of music and video content that can be found on the internet across all different social media platforms and channels.
Hopecore content is intended to be hopeful, uplifting, and inspiring, and is typically created to evoke a nearly dream-like state of good vibes and positivity. If you’ve heard of and are familiar with the term' doomscrolling,' then you can think of hopecore as the antithesis of those feelings of doom, gloom, and hopelessness.
Hopecore content comes in many different shapes, sizes, and media. From Instagram image carousel posts to TikToks and YouTube videos, hopecore doesn’t have a set style or look; instead, it is recognized by a feeling, often accompanied by a hashtag or comment in the post designating it as such.
Where did hopecore come from?
As for the origins of hopecore, tracing them can be challenging. As internet culture has been around for several decades, there are early examples of hopecore-esque content found on the oldest webpages over the years.
However, as far as current trends go, hopecore has become a more popular tag on short-form vertical video platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram Reels, over the past year or so.
If you search the hashtag “#hopecore” in apps like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter/X, you’ll find plenty of examples of cute animals, engagements and weddings, beautiful and peaceful locations, hugs with family members, and general acts of kindness.
Best royalty free hopecore music tracks
One thing that you can find with all hopecore content these days, though, is music. While many viral music tracks can be found in a lot of hopecore content, there are no specific songs or music tracks that must be used for hopecore content.
Instead, hopecore music is often known by the same feelings and themes. As such, there is a wealth of music to explore for your hopecore videos and posts. However, with that being said, if you’re looking to create hopecore content for the first time, you’ll want to make sure you’re using music that has been properly licensed or else your content might be liable to be flagged, muted, or taken down—something that isn’t very hopecore.
To help you with your own hopecore content creation journey, we've curated a selection of positive music for videos—royalty free tracks that are ideal for uplifting your content with feel-good, hopecore songs.
1. Coastline Honey by Dr. Delight
- Description: A medium-energy, pop song that is best described as happy and fun.
- BPM: 105
- Key: G Minor
- Listen and license here
- Description: A low-energy, corporate song that is best described as happy and fun. Guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 80
- Key: E Major
- Listen and license here
3. Blue Light by Aaron Sprinkle
- Description: A medium-energy, rock song that is best described as hopeful. Guitar and electric guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 110
- Key: E Major
- Listen and license here
4. Under The Moonlight by Matt Wigton
- Description: A high-energy, electronic song that is best described as inspiring and hopeful. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 127
- Key: Bb/A# Minor
- Listen and license here
- Description: A medium-energy, electronic song that is best described as happy and fun. Synth and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 118
- Key: F Major
- Listen and license here
6. Licorne De Minuit by Lune Électrique
- Description: A medium-energy, pop song that is best described as happy and fun. Organ and bass are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 115
- Key: A Minor
- Listen and license here
- Description: A medium-energy, score song that is best described as inspiring and hopeful. Drums and electronic drums are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 100
- Key: Bb/A# Major
- Listen and license here
- Description: A low-energy, score song that is best described as inspiring and hopeful. Strings and the violin are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 90
- Key: D Major
- Listen and license here
9. Brisa Dorada by Rocksteady Revival
- Description: A medium-energy, pop song that is best described as hopeful and happy. Horns and drums are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 90
- Key: C Major
- Listen and license here
- Description: A very low-energy, acoustic song that is best described as hopeful. Guitar and acoustic guitar are the primary instruments in this track.
- BPM: 59
- Key: G Major
- Listen and license here
Of course, these are just a few selections. There are thousands more to explore in the Soundstripe music library.
What is royalty free music?
We’ve mentioned the term "royalty free music” a few times now, which if you’re not familiar with it can sound a bit odd—but it’s really quite simple. Here’s a great read on what royalty free music means.
To understand how music rights and royalties work, you must understand that all music has basic copyrights. These copyrights extend to both the composer of the music and the musicians who recorded it. And if you want to use any music in any videos, you’ll need to obtain permission from the copyright owners.
Royalty free music can be an excellent option for all your explainer videos, simply because it’s easy to find and use. Soundstripe’s music is composed and recorded by Grammy-winning artists who know how to make great music for all types of films and video content.
Best hopecore music playlists
Along with the hopecore royalty free music tracks above, we also have plenty of curated playlists that are jam-packed with plenty of hopecore-esque positive songs and music tracks. Check out these playlists below and see if any have the right hopecore music that would be right for your projects.
Description: Compilation of lyric-driven tracks that inspire and uplift.
Description: Life is short. Live it loud and carefree. Adventure is waiting!
Description: Feel good tunes to celebrate the good times with the friends that mean the most.
Description: Tell a story of hope and joy. Inspiring melodies and a whole lot of powerful vibes.
Description: Try to hear these songs and be sad. I dare you. No, I double dog dare you.
Description: Hopeful Acoustic tunes are trending among our vloggers and social media content creators.
There are also plenty of other royalty free music playlists to explore on the Soundstripe app, which you can find here.
Tips for creating hopecore content
Now that we’ve covered some definitions and shared some royalty free music track recommendations, let’s review some basic tips and tricks for creating your own hopecore content. Here are some helpful points to keep in mind.
- Consider downloading preview tracks to use as placeholders in your edits before deciding if a track is right for your project.
- Explore our library of royalty free sound effects to add extra energy and action to your videos.
- Try out Soundstripe’s AI Song Editor to instantly edit your audio track to match the length of your videos.
When it comes down to it, hopecore isn’t a genre that requires strict rules or formulas. Instead, it comes from within—centered around a mindset of hope, joy, and creative expression. If you’re still asking, 'What is hopecore music?', the simplest answer is this: it’s music that makes people feel good, and content that reminds us there’s beauty in the world.
So, avoid the doomscrolling and instead try out this hopeful new genre today.
