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Working with Royalty Free Music
When creating Multi-Media Content, Flash or Video Clips for a
client's web site or CD Rom Project, the last thing you want is
to get him in trouble with the law. If there's a need for music
in a project, using royalty free music is essential.
Here are some general music tips that you may find useful:
1) Finding the right kind of music
There are hundreds of choices when it comes to royalty free
music and making the right decision can be hard. After all, most
TV production companies have music supervisors on staff whose
only job it is to select appropriate music for projects.
Selecting music is an art in itself. In general, you will find
that your clients would prefer to use something they heard on the
radio, something from their favorite album etc. Unfortunately,
that's copyrighted stuff and licensing an N Sync song for your
next 'how to' video or CD-Rom may cost you a fortune. What you
want to do is find buyout music that sounds similar to today's
popular music. It's a little harder to find than your typical
'canned' music. A lot royalty free music may sound like music
from a 70's sitcom or worse, a cheap porno flick.
A good place to check out is http://www.buyoutmusictracks.com All their tracks are
created by established record producers with grammy and gold
record credits so you get music that sounds as up-to-date as what
you may hear on the radio.
Our tip: Always use music that sounds just a little more
energetic than you think you may need. You may listen to the
music over and over while you're putting together your project
while the end user may only hear it a few times.
2) Less is not more in production music
When you are looking for background music for a project,
choose music with some impact. I know it is supposed to be
background music but if you choose high energy tracks, your whole
project will leave more of an impression. Listen to a sampling of
today's TV commercials and you'll find that most of them use very
powerful music. You want your work to create an impact and keep
viewer's attention and a strong, powerful soundtrack can do
that.
3) When 'legal' music is not legal
The usage license on your buyout music CD may be very liberal
but it is not a license to steal. You can use royalty free music
on all of your projects and as you have the legal right to use
the music, your customers can be assured not to get into legal
troubles.
However, that license is only extended to you, the purchaser.
You cannot transfer that license by copying your CD and giving it
to somebody else or by selling the CD. This may be news to you
but there's no such thing as a 'used buyout music CD' If you
don't purchase the music from the producers of the music, it
won't be legal still. So, next time you browse Ebay for royalty
free music, make sure you are buying a new CD, not a used one or
it will be useless to you.
4) You get what you pay for
While we're on the topic of Ebay: You may find offers for
entire 4 or 6 CD libraries for $75 or other ridiculously low
prices on Ebay. The truth is, these CDs may not even be worth
that low price.
One good quality royalty free music CD will cost you between
$29 and $69 (some even more) If it's less than that, here's what
you are likely to get:
- Discontinued titles that have been around for 10, 20 or
more and not only sound dated but may also have already found
its way unto hundreds or thousands of other projects during the
years to make your own project sound dated.
- Homegrown CDs that are created in somebody's bedroom
studio. You can easily recognize these CDs as they usually
don't have any 'real' instruments on it, only synthesized
stuff. You can clearly hear the difference between those CDs
and something produced in a real studio with real musicians.
Our tip: Check out http://www.buyoutmusictracks.com for music.
Each of their CDs is only $29.95 and each title contains
between 30 and 48 real studio recorded tracks.
5) CD or Download?
With the event of high speed internet, you don't really have
to wait anymore to receive your Royalty Free Music CD in the
mail. If you need tracks fast, you can now download buyout music
from the net. You can choose only the tracks you need and get to
use them within minutes. Single downloadable tracks usually cost
a little more money per track than buying a whole CD. On the
other hand, you don't have to buy a whole CD if you only need one
or two tracks.
My advice, if you are buying music to 'keep on the shelf' for
future projects and for your customers to choose from, buy
physical CDs. If you need just one or two 'perfect' tracks or if
you are on a deadline, downloadable purchases may be perfect for
you. I don't know if I have to mention it, but purchasing a
Mariah Carey track from Itunes or Napster for a buck does not
entitle you to use the music. You have to download your music
from a buyout music company so the track is licensed to you.
6) Make your own
You may think, 'are you crazy? I'm not a musician' You don't
have to be a music genius anymore these days. Programs like Acid
and Apple's Garageband allow you to create original music by
using 'loops' Loops are pre-made musical chunks of drums, bass,
guitar, strings, whatever, that you can put together like a
mosaic to create your own music soundtrack.
The advantage is clear. By creating your own music with a
loops program you can make absolutely sure that nobody else is
using the exact same music on their project. This will give you
'original' music at Buyout Music Prices. All you need is a good
musical ear and a couple of loops CDs to get you started. You can
find lots of loops CDs and more info at http://www.acidmusicloops.com Their Groove
Construction Kits are a great way to get started with music
loops. And here's the best news, you can download the Acid
program for free. Just visit http://www.musicleads.net/articles/freestuff.html for
free (and legal) downloads of Acid, Protools and many other great
music and sound tools.
I hope that these tips were useful to you. You are free to use
or re-print this article in your newsletter, ezine, or on your
web site.
About The Author
Alan Steward - www.musicleads.net
Alan Steward is a producer and engineer with many credits in
the Music, Video and Television production world.
MORE RESOURCES:
Board approves video streaming in classroomWadena Pioneer Journal, MN - Nov 19, 2008District 2155 Superintendent Virginia Dahlstrom recommended that the school board approve video streaming as a teaching tool for use in the secondary school ... |
Video-Streaming - Google News
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