music

Joy Lyn Shaw · Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006, 23:09 (GMT) Post subject: music

I'm excited about this forum.

I've had a few clients ask me about background music. I looked into copyright laws to see what I can and can't use legally for on hold messages etc. and from what the experts say, I have to pay royalties.

Can anyone give me any insight on how they've used music and what kind of fees if any they've paid? Do I need to invest in a royalty free music library? When I worked for radio stations, the music was all paid for. Thanks for your feedback ahead of time!

Joy

Michael Minetree · Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006, 23:43 (GMT) Post subject:

Royalty free music is the way to go.. Many times clients will try to "Squeeze" a little extra value out of your product by getting you to sequence it to music, which by the terms of many royalty free agreements you must do. You aren't allowed to give it avay.

It's a good thing to keep a modest library around in the event someone demands it. It might help you land the gig and you can always charge a little extra for the music..

Enter "Royalty Free Music" in google and you will be busy for a while with all that is available.

Michael Minetree
MineWurx Studio
www.minewurx.com

Blake Williams · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006, 01:05 (GMT) Post subject: Background Music

If you are getting enough business, purchase a production library. It pays for it'self down the road. There are a lot of options available.

Blake Williams
VBW Productions, Inc.
Moriarty, NM 87035
amfmrx@lobo.net

Louis Tristan · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006, 03:33 (GMT) Post subject: Free the music. com

Anything you get from http://music.podshow.com/index.php
doesn't have restrictions for audio or video when you go public.

Watch n learn!

http://img669.libsyn.com/img669/01828fc4e099e8d02e7f61b700f50510/45401d98/2724/1336/izzyvideo16.mp4

Remember: Brother Love, Loves's U!

Wally Little · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006, 03:55 (GMT) Post subject: Background Music

That is too weird - I sent an email to Customer Service Monday asking that exact question. I haven't heard anything back yet, but that was weird. Anyway, I'm lacking the same thing and want to know where to get it, hoping I could find it on a CD or something. I'll check out the response sites above and see what I can find. Please let me know if you find the 'jackpot' laola

Freddie Molina · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006, 14:42 (GMT) Post subject:

I agree with Michael

Julia Sanders · **Voice123 Team Member** Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 3

Hello Wally,

I'm sorry for the answer that you haven't gotten. It certainly concerns me a lot. We are processing everything in less than 24 hours and I'm amazed you didn't hear from us.
Could you please give me the ID of your message to track it and know what happened, please?

About the Royalties I totally agree with Freddie and Michael. Looking on search engines using keywords as "Royalty", "Free", "Music" will give you good places to have fun at Wink

You can even find places that have both Royalty free music and libraries available to buy and download.

Thanks!!! Smile

Julia Sanders
Customer Relations and QA Manager

Stacey Byrne · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006, 21:03 (GMT) Post subject: Free music samples

I agree with some of the posts that there are many royalty free CD's available - that means you pay for them upfront (they aren't free) but then you do not have to pay any additional royalties for each use. You can find with the search words "royalty free music" and there are many.

For those on a serious budget for now who don't want to spend extra money on music yet because let's say they need to pay off that expensive mic they invested in - flashkit.com has lots of loops available for free. Each loop is different so some may let you use it for free but they want to know where it's being used so they can tell their friends and clients about it - also some do require payment although it's usually minimal.

And there are many that aren't worth listening to so it's a little time consuming to sift through. But overall - good for the money.

Also, the loops tend to be very short so you should have an editing program so you can make them longer by doubling, tripling etc...I use the free version of WavePad although I will be purchasing the full software version when I can afford it so I can use some of the additional features - but for now - it works for me and I can wait until I get more work before I continue to spend spend spend. I prefer to spend on classes and coaching for now.

Ciao! Stacey

Joy Lyn Shaw · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006, 05:22 (GMT) Post subject:

Thanks for the great advice all. I will be looking it all up. I have one question for Blake, and that's where would I find a sweet deal on an entire production library? And what would you pay tops?

Chris Holcombe · Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2006, 16:44 (GMT) Post subject: flashkit.com

Stacey,

Great site. http://flashkit.com

Time consuming, yes, but when in a pinch should be able to find something here.

How about Sound effects? Anyone have some favorite sites they visit to collect?

Any preferred CDs, or Production Libraries? I have done the google search on Royalty Free Music, and as you may know there is a myriad of sites to choose from. Prices range from the 100s to the 1000s. Whatever happened to the $9.99 sale? : - )

If you have any suggestions of a inexpensive CD with sound effects and royalty free music I would be very interested in your response.

Thanks,
Chris.

Nikki Saco · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006, 02:42 (GMT) Post subject: Production Music Options

You can obtain a decent library from Lazertrax.Com, 14 CDs in a variety of tempos with a buyout license. There are some services that provide pay-as-you-go (needle drop) licenses which can be cheaper but are going to slow you down in production (if you have to stop to purchase). It's definitely nice to have a few CDs with music you're most likely to use for the work you do. The Music Bakery and Flying Hands Royalty Free Music have stunning music and you can buy by the clip, which I have from time to time. Really, I love their stuff though they're a bit pricier. Definitely review their licensing. But Lazertrax is great and I use them for a lot of on-holds. They aren't loop mixes. You don't want that for the price the CD buyouts will generally run you (varies).

That's not to say loops are bad. They can be boring and repetitive unless you find someone who really knows how to put them together or you learn yourself. If you have Adobe Audition (I have 1.5), you can put loops together and really come up with nice compositions. You'll also be happy to know it comes with a loop library ("Adobe Loopology" - http://www.adobe.com/special/products/audition/loopology.html). The loops work great with Audition's multitrack system.

A loop is basically just a clip of music that can be looped (hence the name) so that you can drag it out on the multitrack for as long as you need the sound to repeat (loop); in Audition you can also change the key and tempo. As you can imagine, with this kind of functionality, you can create tons of music beds and avoid having to buy any CDs (if you have the time to put them together). If you know even a little music theory, this method may work best for you; but you don't need to know music; a good ear can be enough. You can make literally all your background music from these loops. They have tons of categories. If you have Audition, you'll definitely want to get the Training DVD which is taught (very well) by Jason Levine, the guy who did most if not all their loops.

The other great thing you can do with these loops is create some interesting audio for imaging. Attached is a clip I threw together just playing around. It also contains a vocoder of me saying "serious beauty." I love vocoding.

The Lazertrax is really decent, but definitely listen to some clips from The Music Bakery (http://www.musicbakery.com/royalty-free-music-download-wav.htm). You'll notice you get full orchestration, not computer-generated midi sounds. There's software out there, like Finale 2006, that comes with a virtual orchestra, The Garritan Orchestra. I bought that and it was BIG bucks; but the sound is unbelievable. I can play the violin without ever picking up a bow. Again, if you know music theory, the Loopology and Finale options may work better for you. And with Finale, you can create compositions you can turn around and sell to other VO talent for their music beds. Sweet, as Tristan would say!

Chris Holcombe · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006, 04:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Nikki,

Great information. Man, that is my struggle we have so many choices. I have played with Sony's Sound Forge and Acid loops and see the potential.

Thanks for the excellent information

Chris. Cool

Nikki Saco · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006, 14:13 (GMT) Post subject:

You're welcome, Chris. Yep, lot's of choices. Love it!
jump

Gary Johnston · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006, 05:12 (GMT) Post subject:

Joy,

The advice you've been given on royalty free music is definitely correct. I picked up a couple of Production Music Libraries on eBay for around $200 bucks and a great SFX library for about $50. This means I can offer cold reads or full production depending on the client or purpose. As Michael pointed out the music is royalty free for me as the owner of the library and clients can only access it as a service through me.
One word of caution...there are some pretty cheesy libraries out there!

Chris Holcombe · Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006, 15:02 (GMT) Post subject: Infringement on copyright

So, kinda of changing the topic, but still about background music in the commercials you may produce. I heard that you could use copyright music for 30 seconds or less? I guess that would not apply to background music of a commercial?

Example: I use the guitar licks of Bare Naked Ladies, if I was a millionaire in the background of a 15 second commercial.

Would I be violating the copyright? I hear others demos of commercials they have done and you hear copyright music in the background.

Just have to be curious what our legal limitations are.

Chris. Cool