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“Public Domain” and “Royalty-free” music IS music that is not protected by copyright laws. To find out more
about protected or royalty-free music and images, go to:· http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/public-domain/
Pod Free Music
http://www.publicdomain4u.com/
Royalty Free, paid and un-paid
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/
Award Winning Music can provide music for films, from around the globe, to accommodate the needs of the most discerning producers. Or, if your needs are more specific, and budgets are less of a concern, we can produce original music scores, source music, cues, etc..., utilizing the best musicians and facilities in the music industry. Musicians whose credentials and discographies include hundreds and hundreds of gold and platinum recordings, countless film and television scores, commercials and jingles you hear, in theatres,on television, and on the radio, around the world, every day.http://mobygratis.com/film-music.html
i'll keep this brief.
this portion of moby.com, 'film music', is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short.
to use the site you log in(or on?) and are then given a password.
you can then listen to the available music and download whatever you want to use in your film or video or short.
the music is free as long as it's being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short.
if you want to use it in a commercial film or short then you can apply for an easy license, with any money that's generated being given to the humane society.http://www.musicloops.com/
Royalty free music loops and full length tracks for preview and immediate download. Full resolution stereo WAV files, no cue sheet, no hassles. Search by category, style or keyword. Add the music you like to your cart. Pay with any major credit card, download and add to your project.http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
Is this music free to use? Yes. An optional donation of $5 per piece used is suggested - and highly appreciated. You do NOT need a PayPal account to make a donation! Just a credit card.http://www.royaltyfreemusicmp3.com/
Filmtv-tracks.com offers inspired & original Royalty free music specifically designed to enhance your imagery.Our royalty free music and background music library features excellent selections of music representative of every imaginable genre and style of music. We offer selections of every type of music, from classical music to the more urban and rock music and all the way to the most innovative New Age music. Each track is tastefully composed, arranged and performed, making these instrumental selections of royalty free music, background music and music on hold unique in the industry. Filmtv-tracks.com is the best source for production music, film music, television music, video production music, background music and royalty free music that is of the highest quality.http://www.tracksounds.com/specialfeatures/free_music/free_music.htm
Here you will find a list of sites that offer music in a variety of ways: sound clips to streaming tracks to fully downloadable and free tracks! You will likely find some great music out there that you could not buy, even if you wanted to. You may discover a new talent that might lead you to buying other music from the composer. You will inevitably find some new treasure to bring hours of entertainment to your ears. . . and all for free!http://www.shockwave-sound.com/
SFX
http://www.sfxsource.com/
Downloadable sound effects and royalty free production music library. All professional quality samples, music loops, and sound clips available as wav, aiff and mp3 download. Audio ready for use in video, animation, flash, game, and multi-media productions. Enjoy!
Free Production Music!
If you desire an easily recognizable song for your video, but you don't have a budget for using copyrighted music, you might want to consider music from the public domain.
For more information about the public domain, a list of songs in the public domain, and links to other related sights, go to: http://www.bright.net on the web. The site contains a wealth of information. If you still have questions after reading all the information available, you can always leave questions via e-mail.
Putting music in your film can be potentially very complicated. There are several ways to go about this, but each depends on your skill, experience and budget. It is important to note that most professional composers will charge a lot of money for you to have their music in your movie. Many people do not understand just how important music is so you definitely need someone with experience.
- What kind of film are you making, and what kind of music would fit in best?
- How long does the music need to play during the scene?
- How loud should the music be? Should it drown out any dialogue, or should it be strictly in the background?
- Should it be constant?
- What effect are you trying to convey?
Facing The Music
The professional
Hiring a professional composer would probably be the easiest option in your array. These people know exactly what they are doing and have resources at their disposal. See the list of popular film composers in Wikipedia's Film Music. The downsides are that you must choose a composer who has experience in the genre you want. If you want orchestral music to play through your chosen scene, Trent Reznor would probably not be the best choice. It is possible that you may not be able to find a professional who will be willing to work on your movie without blowing most (or all) of your budget, however.
Doing it yourself
There are many ways for filmmakers to create a musical score on a personal computer.
1. Live Musical Instruments
One way to create a film score is to use a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) with live musical instruments.
2. Midi Sound Modules.
Another method is to use MIDI with Midi sound modules (audio hardware) which is then recorded into a computer with DAW software.
3. Software Musical Instruments
Yet another ways is to do the film score totally digitally using software instruments inside the computer and controlled by a MIDI controller.1. Old-fashion Analog = DAWs
You can create a film score with a live musician playing a real musical instrument. Recording live musical instruments is very straight forward.
Multitrack recording When a motion picture is scored by the London Philharmonic, the orchestra conductor watches the movie screen and conducts the musicians who play real musical instruments, live and in sync with the action on the screen. This music is recorded via a microphone into a computerized DAW which works like a multi-track tape recorder. Later, all the tracks are mixed down and added to the film's sound track. This is very fast but expensive. Fortunately, you can do the same thing in a very simple way using your personal computer... if you have the correct software, a quiet computer, a professional-quality microphone which is connected to your computer usually through a tiny mixing board (or microphone preamp) which connects to the computer via USB, FireWire, or analog connection.
Using almost any computer (Windows or Macintosh), you can turn your computer into a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) which is a very powerful multi-track tape recorder inside your computer. As an example, all Macintosh computers come with a free digital audio workstation program which is disguised as a music program called GarageBand. Try it!
Basically, all you need to turn your computer into a multi-track recording system for film scoring is a computer program, a professional quality microphone, and a preamp.1. The Software
The computer program must be able to play a movie clip (usually just one scene of your movie as a QuickTime movie or a AVI movie) while the program records a single track of audio. (Most modern music program are DAW programs. Older programs only worked with MIDI but now audio recording features are included in almost all music programs.) An example of a very simple music program is Apple's GarageBand.2. The Preamp
This can be a preamp or tiny mixer board which connects to the computer via USB, FireWire or directly to the analog audio input of your computer. A good example of preamp is M-Audio's low-cost USB device FastTrackUSB. This works with Apple's GarageBand and is sold at the Apple Store. However, the reviews of this product at the [www.apple.com/store Apple Store] are not all favorable. Similarly the M-Audio MobilePre USB Audio Interface also has unfavorable reviews at the [www.apple.com/store Apple Store]. A more expensive interface for FireWire is M-Audio's FireWire410. A typical analog mixing board is the Behringer Eurorack UB1202FX Mixing Board.3. The Microphone
And finally you need a professional microphone with XLR connectors. See Wikipedia's Microphone. Musician's Friend has a microphone buyers guide. At the Audio Engineering Society's convention, you can listen to many different microphones. The next AES Convertion is in San Francisco in October.One track at a time. Unlike the London Philharmonic which has a hundred musicians, you will probably have only one musician. Hopefully, that one musician can play lots of instruments, one at a time. So rather than record all the musical tracks for a scene at one time like the London Philharmonic, you will record one track with each pass through the scene until you build up a complete musical score. Each time you record a new track, the musician listens to the previously recorded tracks plus the audio from the movie and adds one more instrument to the mix.
Side Note
If you are a filmmaker with no skill with a musical instrument, try creating a humming score. Set up your computer so you can record audio in sync with your movie. You can use programs like GarageBand, Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro to record audio in sync with a movie. iMovie also works but it can record only one track. To create a humming score, you watch your movie and make musical sounds with your mouth... including humming. If you follow the usual procedures for creating a film score via a multi-track recorder, you will be amazed how good a humming score you can create. To do this, start by recording a track with the melody. An alternative is to start by recording a rhythm track instead of a melody. Then simply watch the movie over and over again, adding more and more tracks as you make music with your mouth. I know this sounds really dorky but it actually works well for a temp track and a guide for your film composer.2. Midi Modules = External Hardware
External midi sound modules were very popular at one time. Unfortunately, the sounds produced by these modules (such as the Proteus) were not natural and the external hardware took up a lot of space. Now e-Mu sells a replacement for the Proteus which is software.
3. Midi with Software Instruments inside your Computer
Thanks to the advancement of technology, it is entirely possible to simply create a digital musical score yourself using musical instruments that exist only inside your computer. The cost of this method depends on what instruments you want to have in the music. As and example, GarageBand is free with all new Macintosh computers.
Digital vs. Analog vs. MIDI
Remember that while digital music is very easy to accomplish (using a midi keyboard and a guitar software instrument), if you wanted to have 'real' guitars or good-quality singing in your song, for example, you would have to purchase a USB interface, which would allow you to link up your guitar to the computer through it. You would then require some recording software such as Cubase. But also realize that another alternative is connecting a midi guitar to the computer via a midi interface (not analog) and use a software instrument which has the sound of guitar inside your computer. You have lots of choices.
If you wanted to mix digital elements in with this, or even create an entirely digital song, you would need a program such as Reason and a Midi Keyboard. This method, while much cheaper than the previous, will still cost a fair amount of money - for a copy of Reason, Cubase, a USB Interface and a Midi Keyboard you could expect to pay around £580/£1097, Apple computers are costly as well. Like most things, however, a lot of money could be saved by not using things such as Logic Pro (which is the industry standard). There is no use having brilliant music if your film is terrible, as it is most likely to be after spending your budget. (Note: Apple's Logic is designed for musicians... which is great but filmmakers who are not musicians will find it awkward to use. Robert Purser in Digital Puppet magazine (Winter 2006) found Logic Express (the lit version of Logic) to be extremely poor for anyone who is not an experienced musician with electronic gear.
Fortunately, all Apple Macintosh computers come with iLife software which has good resources, too, for digital music making and also for video editing. With GarageBand in iLife 06, you can create digital music using the built-in software instruments and your music will be in sync with your movie which you watch on the screen as you create your film score. One advantage of GarageBand is you do not need a MIDI interface or a MIDI keyboard. With the feature called "Musical Typing", you can use the Macintosh computer's keyboard (which is not velocity sensitive) as you play and record the music, one track at a time, and then later go back and adjust the velocity of each note (still in GarageBand). While this seems extremely awkward for musician, computer nerds who are filmmakers will find it rather easy.
Note: Robert Elliott of Wikiversity's free course in film scoring for filmmakers recommends getting the optional Jam Pack: Symphony Orchestra for GarageBand from Apple Computer. The natural musical instruments of the symphony orchestra are great for making musical sound effects which sound like a real film score. (There are similar packages from other manufacturers such as Mark Of the Unicorn.)Film Scoring Theory
The purpose of adding music to a scene is to create a mood. That is the purpose of music in a film -- to create the moods that the director wants the audience to feel. Without the audience realizing it, your job is to get the audience to react to the movie as the director wants.
Special Note - Music from Speaking Voices
Every dramatic scene has music in it, long before you add a musical film score. The actors' spoken words have music in them. If you do not believe me, try reading a script in a monotone voice. Gifted actors will have a three octave range in their speaking voices. Therefore, for many scenes with dialog, you do not need any music, as long as the actors create the proper mood with their speaking voices.Look at very old classic movies which have no musical score such as Angels with Dirty Faces. When you hear James Cagney and Pat O'Brien speak, their voices are very musical... almost like stage voices - both beautiful and melodic. Listen to how many octaves their voices range in a single sentence. Then look at more modern motion pictures which have a more natural style of speaking. With the old classics, they do not need any additional music. But with modern movies with more natural speaking voices, much of the music of the speaking voice is missing... so much of the necessary mood is missing. The mood can be added only by having a film score.
Correcting the Mood Also be aware that sometimes, the actors' dialog creates a mood... but it is the wrong mood. As an example, an actor might pretend to be happy but, in reality, he is crying inside. The words of the actors are the opposite of the mood the director wants in the scene. You must add music (or musical sound effects) to correct this and to create the proper mood. Your music tells the audience what the real mood is. Without your music in this scene, the audience can be confused.
Music Can Be Just Sounds
The most important thing to understand about film scoring is the music can be just sounds that create the mood. That is Musical Sound Effects. Music does not need a melody, a rhythm, or anything special. Since the music's only purpose is to create the proper mood, just one, two, or three notes is all you need most of the time. Try creating the mood with musical sound effects which has the same impact but a whole lot cheaper.
Try using GarageBand and Apple's Jam Pack: Symphony Orchestra to create moods. As an example, you can add a violin trill to a scary scene which give the feeling of danger, doom, and dread. Just one note played expressively creates all the mood you need.
Music Must Follow The Mood
The second most important thing to understand about film scoring is the mood in a scene changes from sentence to sentence. When two people are talking and new information is being introduced rapidly, the mood is continually changing. When the mood changes, the music must change to match the mood. Songs cannot do this because a song has only one mood.
Songs = One Continual Mood
When there is a conversation, you cannot use a song for film score. Songs have only one mood. When the mood of the scene changes, a song cannot follow the mood changes.
There are only two times when songs are appropriate for a film score. If you have an action scene (with no conversation) or a montage scene, the film score will need only one mood for the entire scene. In this case, a song is ideal. So if you wish, you can hire a local band or you can use pre-recorded songs... if you can afford it.
Scoring for Background and Dialog
There are basically two kinds of music in a scene which has dialog -- background music and narrative music. Background music enhances the mood of the scene. Background music must be very soft and thin. It is heard faintly in the background. Warning: If you write loud music for a scene with people talking, when it comes time to mix all the audio together, someone (usually the director) will turn down the volume of your music and no one will hear it clearly. So when you write background music, make sure it is very simple (i.e., a single melody which is simple with no counter melodies and no strong rhythm such as drums). For background music, it must be just a simple melody played by only one or two instruments.
Narrative music is music which tells a story (think "Peter and the Wolf"). Therefore, narrative music must be inserted between the dialog of the actors. Normally, the only way you can do this is to add gaps between the dialog when you edit the scene.
When people are talking, your music must NEVER step on the dialog. The dialog is the most important part of the movie so when there is dialog, the music must be in the background. So if you want to add music which helps tell the story, there must be gaps between the dialog for you to add the narrative music. These gaps are usually only one to three seconds long. Once they are filled with music or musical sound effects, the audience does not notice the pause in the actor's dialog. It all seems natural. The music seems to become part of the conversation.
Therefore, it is best if the editor and the composer are the same person. With personal movies, this is not a problem. The same computer which edits the movie can help create the film score for the movie just by using different software.
Practical Experience in Film Scoring
Currently, there is no easy way to practice film scoring. You cannot go to a web site and download a scenes which needs a film score you so you can practice film scoring.
Today, many motion pictures are edited with Final Cut Pro or other editing software for personal computers. It would take only ten minutes to render a scene without music for people around the world to practice creating film scores with computer programs such as GarageBand.
This has never been done, even though it would be terrific publicity for a motion picture. There could be a dozen scenes on a DVD-Video disk. When budding film composers have completed a film score, they can post it on a web site for other people to listen to and compare with all the other film scores for the same scene.
There is, however, an annual competition open to composers aged 18-35, in which anyone can download a one minute scene from an old silent film and practice scoring. This is obviously not exactly the same as practicing working around dialogue and foley, but can be a good place to start. The prizes aren't bad either! http://www.turnerclassicmovies-yfcc.com/
Creating your Demo Reel
If you want a job in film scoring, you need examples of your film scores to show film producers just how good you are. That makes perfect sense. How can you get hired doing film scoring of movies if you do not have any great scenes for your demo reel?
Currently, there are no web sites where you can order scenes from television dramas and motion pictures that are all ready for you to score and then to put on a DVD-Video disk for your demo reel. There should be dozens of film distributors who offer this service. And since you are promoting their motion picture, they should offer this service for free.Film Editing vs. Film Scoring
The editing of a scene and the scoring of the scene should go hand in hand. If you are curious about doing film scoring and film editing together, Star Movie Shop also sells a disk called "Blindman's Bluff" which shows how two scenes where edited and scored using just musical sound effects. The second scene on this disk is extremely short. By adding gaps between the dialog and adding narrative music, the entire mood of the scene changes and the scene becomes twice as long, yet all the dialog remains the same.
Local Bands
This is more of a sub-method than anything else. If you have no real musical talent, many local bands would be more than happy to write, record and perform music for your film in exchange for credit and a small amount of money.
Public Domain
Finally, it is possible to, like Ed Wood, use music that is in the public domain. This includes music from films or songs that were copyrighted before 1923. This site is a good read.
Spotting Session
When you are hired as a composer on a motion picture, you will probably sit down with the director and/or the producer who will tell you what emotions they want in the movie. This is called the spotting session. Never rely on what the actor's say in the movie. The underlying mood is usually something different from the dialog. Only the director can tell you what moods you need to create.
The biggest problem that a composer has with the director (and vise versa) is the lack of communication. You need to ask the director what mood the audience is supposed to feel. Don't be surprised if you get a blank stare and the comment, "Isn't it obvious?". Directors have been working with their vision for the movie for the last three to five years. They assume that you automatically understand. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Take a few minutes to find out EXACTLY what the director wants the audience to feel for each piece of dialog in the movie.
Usage of music
Okay, so you have your materials, your band is waiting and ready, your fingers are poised on your midi keyboard. What now? Well, before putting music into a scene it is important to think about what you want the audience to feel. Do you want them to be scared? Excited? If, for example, you have an action scene in which a juggernaut is speeding down a highway towards a roadblock, you would not usually wish to accompany this with soft classical music. A good idea when planning the inclusion of music into a movie is:
- Watch the movie all the way through.
- Stop the movie when you see parts that require music.
- Note down the number of the starting frame.
- Plan how long you would like the music to last.
- Note down the number of the frame where the music stops.
- Plan what kind of music you would like and how you would like it to behave - should it be low and constant, swirling in and out of earshot? Should it be loud, aggressive, constant?
- If you get stuck on how the music should behave, go rent out some critically acclaimed movies and study how music is used.
Cue the Music
By Simon Power
Part One – Using Copyrighted Music
"Cue The Music" is a three part series examining the options available to amateur and semi-pro audio/visual producers who wish to incorporate music in their productions. Part one examines the process of clearing copyrighted music. Part two offers 5 alternatives to using copyrighted music. Part three examines the
Introduction
There’s a whole wealth of music out there that could really enhance your audio/visual projects and impress your customers. But there’s a problem. Literally everything you hear on TV, radio, cinema and in bars and nightclubs is protected by copyright. And you will face a wall of expensive bureaucracy trying to gain permission to use it for your own ends.
But if you really, really think it’s the only option you have, this article aims to give you some insight into the process of using copyrighted music on a low budget project.Let’s Suppose
Let’s suppose you get a job to produce a DVD about the fashion industry. Some of the footage features a catwalk show filmed at the Fashion Institute.
On the night, the PA system is pumping out Dr. Dre’s ‘Still D.R.E.’ at full volume. That’s fine. It adds a real hard edged atmosphere and sounds great as the models strut down the catwalk.
But here’s the thing. The venue will be covered by an annual blanket performance license that allows them to play copyrighted music whenever they like. Unfortunately, your DVD copies won’t be covered by the same license. If you leave the soundtrack as it is you will be breaking the law. Even for a small run, you need express permission to use a published works, even if it’s in the background. And let’s be clear. Gaining clearance to use copyrighted music on a low budget short run DVD project is quite an undertaking. In fact, that’s something of an understatement. Running into a minefield blindfolded would perhaps be a more accurate description! There are so many pitfalls and gray areas that it’s difficult to see why anyone would wish to even attempt such a thing in the first place.
Some people don’t get permission, of course. They just go ahead and use it anyway without asking. Chances are no one will see or hear their work, so they figure ‘why not?’. Well, that’s fine if you’re foolhardy enough to risk a massive fine or in extreme cases imprisonment. But if you’re serious about making a long and fruitful career out of audio/visual production you will need to address these issues head on.
So what I hope to do in this article is at least remove the blindfold, giving you a fighting chance in that minefield. Or perhaps even offer some of the options that are available that you may or may not have considered as alternatives.
The Grim Truth
Let’s start with the facts. The copyright on all published works is shared between a number of different institutions and individuals. Each of these parties will wish to be informed of your intension's before they decide whether to grant permission to use their copyrighted material.
You may think that obtaining permission will be the end of it. Not really. Each of these individual parties will want to be paid large sums for allowing you to use their copyrighted material for your own ends. And this is where the fun starts. You could find a very substantial amount of your narrow profit margin being siphoned off by unbelievably disproportionate advances and subsequent royalty payments to publishers and record companies attempting to claw back the large amounts of unrecuperated production costs.
Remember, their business is all based on economics. They will be completely oblivious to any point of view based simply on artistic or intellectual grounds. In other words, it doesn’t matter if the music looks and sounds great on your project. You won’t be able to use it legally unless they say “yes”. They own the copyright and that’s that.
A Glimmer Of Hope
I don’t wish to make it sound all doom and gloom.
What with the enormous amount of turbulence in the music market lately, institutions have had to wake up to the fact that they may have to act quickly to make some radical changes to encourage more income from a variety of sources in matters related to the usage and distribution of published works. In other words, they are trying to make it easier to gain access to their vast back catalogues for sync usage on various projects from major films to short run audio/visual projects like the one we have in mind here.Take into account the new range of ‘blanket licenses’ issued by the UK’s royalty collection agency, MCPS. (more on that later). But it’s tiny steps not giant leaps. There is still lots and lots of bureaucracy involved, especially on behalf of the record labels.
Having said that, if you’re still determined to use copyrighted material by artists like Dr. Dre on your DVD project, let’s take a look at how you go about it.
First Contact
First you’ll need a copy of the track, so dig out your copy of Dr. Dre’s ‘2001’ album. Look at the printed information on the recording. Somewhere in very, very small type there will be the name of the publisher attached to the familiar ‘c in a circle’. This is who you need to contact to get permission to use the composition itself (the synchronization rights). The lyrics, the instrumentation, the musical score. Sure, the songwriter(s) owns the rights to the song, but generally they grant those rights to a “music publisher" to administer them, and that’s who you need to contact.
OK, so we have found the name of the publisher. Right next to that there will be a letter ‘p’ in a circle followed another company name. This refers to the physical sound recording of the composition. That copyright (the master rights) is owned by the record label. In this case Interscope. If you want to use a specific recording of a specific song, you will need permission from the publisher of the song ‘Still D.R.E.’ and the owner of the physical recording of that song, the record company, Interscope.
You will also need the title of the song (Still D.R.E.) and the name of the composer. In this case Andre Young (Dr. Dre’s somewhat less imposing birth name).
Armed with this information you will first need to find contact details for the publisher. The easiest way to track down music publishers is through the performing rights society. All songwriters and publishers need to be a member of that society in order to collect royalties. Unfortunately, the performing rights societies will only give out the publisher information for the writers they represent. Therefore, if you want to use a song written by writers from different societies, you will need to go to each society's web site to find all of the publisher information.
However, once you have tracked down the publishers contact details you will need to approach them directly to ask for permission. For this you will need to send a letter or email. Use the term ‘Independent Film Request’ or ‘Low Budget Project’, something that immediately outlines your situation and intentions. Reference the title of the song and songwriters, then the name of your production. Tell them briefly about the production how the song fits in, as well as the duration of the music and a description of the accompanying visuals. They will also need to know the territories in which your product will be available and the amount of copies earmarked for the initial run.
As for approaching the record companies, The bigger ones use central offices that deal with these kind of queries. But the smaller record companies are much easier to find. Generally their web sites have all the contact details you will need. Once you get these details, approach them in a similar way to the publishers.
Licensed To Ill
With that thought in mind, Royalty collection companies such as ASCAP (USA) have recently introduced ‘blanket’ licensing schemes that allow copyrighted music to be transmitted unconditionally in certain circumstances. Although these kind of high end licence deals are way beyond the likes of you and me, a similar approach is beginning to immerge to help smaller businesses, too.
Take for instance the AVP (Audio Visual Product) license offered by MCPS in the UK. This is targeted at small budget short run video/DVD productions where music is used, but is not the primary theme of the product. A class that they term ‘non-music’. (A fitness video, a sports event or a drama is OK. A concert or music chart show is not OK.). Our ‘fashion show’ project should fall into the category ‘non-music’, because music is not the primary theme of the presentation. It’s a fashion show using music as enhancement and not as the main theme. So in this case, an AVP license may be suitable.
The license removes the need for separate sync payments on each individual piece of music, favoring a ‘blanket’ license covering the whole project. But take into account that this license refers to the copyright of the composition and NOT to the sound recording itself. (As we’ve already determined, the physical copyright is owned by the record label). Take into account also that under the terms of the license agreement and for granting usage of their part of the copyright, MCPS will still want to skim off a whopping 8.5% of the highest published dealer price. So you kind of inherit a cash-hungry business partner as well as a license and that’s gonna eat into your profits in a big way. As a footnote, other royalty collection companies may have their own similar blanket license agreements. The AVP license is merely an example.The Waiting Game
So you’ve sent out your letter or email to the publishers and the record company requesting permission to use their copyrighted material in your project. Getting a response to your initial query is going to take time. Especially in the case of the record company. Permission for small time usage is pretty low on their list of priorities and this is often reflected in their response. It may take ages and ages for them to say “no”. Or simply come up with some ludicrous figure of tens of thousands of bucks that you couldn’t possibly even consider.
On the upside, the chances of the publishers granting permission is marginally higher. This is after all their reason for existing. To license and promote the work of the artists that they represent. And in the case of the AVP license mentioned above, you are able to apply for permission relatively painlessly using an online application form.
What Happens next?
You will certainly need to follow up your query. But leave it for at least 14 days before you do. Beyond this point I’m afraid it’s in the lap of the Gods. You have followed the procedure that begins the process of clearing rights to use copyrighted music on a small-run DVD project. The outcome is entirely dependent on all parties agreeing to grant permission. You’ve got a reasonable chance of gaining rights from a publisher to use a composition. But precious little chance of being granted rights from the record company to use that specific recording. And no chance at all of being able to carry out all this administration before your deadline. If I were you I’d be investigating some alternatives. And that’s just what we’ll be doing next. Looking at all the options available to you when substituting copyrighted music with licensed music on a low budget short-run audio/visual project. All coming up in the next part of Cue The Music.
To summarize
To use copyrighted music on a low budget short-run DVD project you will need to apply for permission from two sources. The music’s publisher and the copyright owner of the physical recording of the composition (normally the record company).
Many royalty collection agencies now offer blanket licenses that provide easier access to synchronization rights. The license cost may be negligible, but the royalty demands will narrow your profit margin. Rights to use the physical recording will be the hardest to obtain and may be accompanied by a request for a large advance plus subsequent royalties.Resources:
ASCAP: The American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers
MCPS: The UK’s mechanical Rights society
Comprehensive international list of royalty collection agencies
Where Do I Start?
There is an ever growing number of alternative sources of music available to the amateur and semi-pro audio/visual producer. Web sites are falling over each other to exploit music budgets by enticing producers with a variety of deals and bundles. But the choice can often be bewildering, and the quality, price and usability can vary wildly.
Hopefully this article will help make some sense of exactly what is on offer. And how you can get the best possible value from your music budget.
So let’s look at the alternatives as we count down the Top 5 Music Resources On A Budget.
By the way. I’ve used a star system here whereby each source is marked out of 5 for convenience, expense and usability. The higher the star rating, the better it performs in that category.5. Music Software & Programs
Many of the leading music software packages come bundled with comprehensive selections of music loops & kits. In GarageBand for instance, there are a huge number of loops featuring high quality instrumentation. And many of the virtual samplers like Halion, Reason and EXS24 offer simple solutions for music creation that are highly intuitive and easy to use.
However, you have to buy the software to access the loops. If music production isn’t your primary business, you may end up paying over the odds for a wealth of music software that you can’t use for any other purpose than gaining access to the bundled music. Then of course you have to arrange the loops and process them to suit your needs.
Some music software programs offer bundled music loops
There are also dedicated video production businesses that now offer buy-out music as part of their service. Many of these offer every conceivable tool for visuals, from stock footage and animation, to graphics, sound FX and yes, royalty free music loops and kits. Although these are rarely sold as entire compositions, favoring instead 8 and 16 bar loops necessitating the need for a command of music sequencer programs to edit to your needs. And beware. The quantity of loops available often out weighs the quality. My advice would be to preview the entire package to gauge its usability before making a purchase. Although many of the compositions sound highly polished on first listen, you may find subsequently that they just don’t cut it when used as an underscore on your audio/visual project.
Convenience **
Expense *
Usability ***4. Sample Collections
Sample collections have improved immensely in recent years as more and more established music producers make their self produced samples and loops available on commercial releases. Quite often they will offer entire ready-mixed tracks that can be utilised as music beds with little adjustment. The loops are normally categorized by genre, tempo and key which would certainly help to find suitable music that needed to be of a strict predetermined speed or duration.
However, the ability to manipulate these loops or create your own music beds will require a degree of musical know-how and the ability to operate dedicated music software. You will need to have a sound knowledge of composition, mixing and layering to get the best results. Playing around with loops and samples may be the last thing you need to be doing if you’re on a tight deadline.
Another negative aspect may be the cost. Gaining access to elite collections of samples doesn’t come cheap. Physical CD’s can cost anything up to $200 and you still may not be able to guarantee finding a suitable music bed.
Also beware of copyright. Despite the initial expense, the producers still maintain ownership of the music. In most cases, you’re merely buying a restricted license to use their work. So sample collections can often be a pricey and unwieldy way of finding a solution.
Convenience **
Expense *
Usability ***3. Production Music
Production Music, or Library Music as it’s commonly known has been around for a long time. In fact it was introduced back in the days of silent movies and has been an abundant resource of ‘synchronized’ or licensed music ever since. Lately, though the business model has started to look decidedly creaky. A lot of Production Music libraries ask for exorbitant up-front fees plus subsequent royalties that put the music out of reach for producers working with a limited budget. Some Production Music companies have addressed this issue by adjusting their business model to suit today’s needs. While others hold on to their values, seeing the alternatives as quirky fads that will soon fade away into obscurity. Sure, you will find high quality music from experienced musicians and composers, but the business model errs more towards TV and film production rather than the low budget producer who is the subject of this exercise.
Convenience **
Expense *
Usability ****
2. MIDI Files
Musical Instrument Digital Interface or MIDI for short was invented in the early 1980’s to allow communication between digital synthesizers, sequencers and computers. Since then it has become the industry standard protocol for computerised music. Even to this day all music software packages interact with controller keyboards using MIDI interface, although wholly ‘in-the-box’ sequencers have somewhat reduced it’s sovereignty over sequencer control. GM or General MIDI was introduced as a secondary protocol so that MIDI data could be interpreted by the same standard on every synthesised instrument. (A predetermined MIDI channel for a piano, a bass, drums and so on). GM was consequently introduced to soundcards and computers internal synthesis programs and functions. Hence the popularity of MIDI files for all sorts of applications from karaoke to games music.
This popularity and standardisation has led to an enormous industry based on MIDI files of popular songs. Any number of sites will offer tracks as MIDI files that utilise General MIDI that will prompt your soundcard to play a song faithfully when imported into your digital sequencer.
However, let’s take an example. Say you downloaded a MIDI file of ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’ by Foreigner, recorded the MIDI data as audio and inserted it on your audio/visual project. This would be a copyright infringement and result in legal proceeding should the publisher decide to sue. These are copyrighted songs that are on offer, not original compositions. You will need permission to use them, much in the same way you would to use a specific recording. (Although in this case you wouldn’t require permission from the owner of the physical recording of ‘Waiting For A Girl Like You’ by Foreigner, just the synchronisation rights from the publisher).
Having said that, there are sites that offer original MIDI recordings by their own staff composers. In other words, ‘royalty free MIDI compositions’. This may be a cheap and effective way to produce original (albeit non-exclusive) music beds for your project. Of course, this requires a degree of knowledge in manipulating digital recordings and the results will be determined by the quality of the sounds on your soundcard or choice of VST instrument. But all in all it’s a reasonable, cheap solution, bearing in mind you need to factor in a certain amount of time to get the desired results.
Convenience *
Expense ****
Usability ****
1. Royalty Free MusicThe royalty free music business model came out on top for a number of reasons. Of course the quality varies and some sites are better than others, but overall the process involved was the smoothest and most convenient.
Bearing in mind that the music on offer is non-exclusive, gaining access to highly useable tracks, MIDI and SFX is easy, cheap and fast.Matched up against production music and sample CD’s, royalty free music scored high on economics, being currently the cheapest way to access good quality music. And for usage possibilities it scored well against software loops that still don’t as yet offer as much variety as royalty free music. For convenience, too. You don’t have to be a musician or digital music producer in order to prepare a track for your project. You just download it and import it straight into your Movie Maker without much fuss at all.
Perhaps things will change. We are currently seeing a great rift appearing between royalty free sites that are slashing prices, while others are charging higher fees to use their music. Eventually the higher quality compositions may become more in line with production music, pricing themselves out of the reach of the ameteur and semi-pro multi media producers. While the one’s slashing their prices will be exposed as offering ‘poor quality’ music. But currently times are good for the consumer, and there is an opportunity to build up a vast selection of credible music via royalty free libraries. Right now it’s the best way to access effective music solutions for low budget audio/visual projects when you’re up against a stiff deadline.
Convenience ****
Expense ****
Usability ****Resources
GarageBand software for Macs
dewolfe: The original production music company
Sample collections
Royalty free MIDI music
Royalty free music at shockwave-sound
Comprehensive international list of royalty collection agencies
Need free and legal soundtracks for your video editing projects?
Updated December 5, 2007
Almost all my video editing projects involves adding soundtrack. Soundtrack does a lot to engage the viewer emotionally. After years of making movies for friends and family, I found that I was reusing the same soundtrack a little too often. How to tell? When even your friends and family notice. But it’s not easy to find new soundtrack that is free and that I can use legally.
I was very happy therefore to discover www.SpliceMusic.com. Every sound on Splice is automatically covered with the creative commons attribution license. What this means is that as long as you give credit back to where you found it on SpliceMusic, you can legally use it for your video editing projects for free. All you have to do is give credit where credit is due and you are in the clear.
Once you find the free soundtrack you want, you can download it as an MP3 file. You can then use a video editing software] to add the MP3 file to your movie projects. If video editing is new to you, an excellent free video editing software we recommend is Windows Movie Maker by Microsoft.SpliceMusic is more than a collection of free soundtracks. It’s a free online sound mixer as well. You can start with a soundtrack, trim it, repeat it into a rhythmic pattern, add more soundtracks and compose a unique sound effect for your home movies.
You can even compose your own music on the site.
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