TJ has a GREAT post on music for virtual tours and such... a must read.
When you have it all shot and are ready to put it together there is no more important piece for your video than the music. Music sets the tone and gives emotion to your video. Without music video might as well be wall paper.
You begin by pulling out your ipod and find a great piece by Joe Satriani or Dave Koz. Maybe your a rocker and want to be edgy and more relevant so you select "Home" by Daughtry giving you great listenability. The music really makes your home sing.
You post your video, it's getting hits and you are showing the property to interested buyers.
It's perfect... till you get a notice from the legal firm of Cease and Desist informing you that you are in copyright violation for your use of music in advertising this property.
Now you are facing legal fees and fines from the RIAA of thousands of dollars and your business is in serious jeopardy. All this trouble for simply using a clip of music under your video.
This is reality if you attempt to use music by popular artists without gaining permission or paying expensive licensing fees.
Horror stories like this abound and effect businesses even when they are unaware of the issue.
A close friend of mine worked for a large national video duplication company where the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), fined the business millions of dollars for duplicating videos where the customer used music that was unlicensed. My friends business duplicated the video material without questioning content and was found liable for the violation. As a result the company had to file for bankruptcy and was out of business in a matter of months.
The lesson... Never, EVER, under any circumstances use music that you do not own to promote a property that you are representing. The consequences can be devestating.
So, how do you find music that is high quality, creates the correct feel and does not cost you an arm and a leg to licence?
The answer is royalty free music.
Royalty free music is a rapidly growing industry that has spawned hundreds of web sites. Web sites where you can search and find the perfect piece for your video. Whether you prefer jazz, acid rock, club music or country there are choices for your video that will bring it to life.
Royalty free is a term that is used within the music or video industry to indicate that you purchase the music or video footage once and it is yours to use as you desire. This means that whether you use it for the web or a national commercial you pay once and use it to promote your product.
There are a couple of ways that music is sold.
The first is through the purchase of a library or set of songs.
www.digitaljuice.com has a broad variety of music with lengths that are sold by style and are editied and ready for you to place in your video. On the site after selecting a style of music, you can surf to the gallery where the music is posted and preview the songs contained in the particular collection.
The collections are reasonably priced and if you check the site often you will find specials that give significant discounts on products on a weekly basis.
These songs come with a great utility called the Juicer that allows you to do some easy editing on the song to customize it for your use. The music is created in what Digital Juice calls stacks. Stacks seperate the drums, guitars, keyboards and rhythm instruments so that you can remove them from the song if they do not suite your taste or need. The software is easy to use and simple to load.
If you don't want to purchase a library or set containing numerous songs, www.freeplaymusic.com may be a great place for you. Now before I go any further, don't be decieved by the name, the music is not free. You must pay for songs. But, the beauty of this site is that you may purchase individual songs.
Similar to Digital Juice, Freeplaymusic allows you to preview songs that are edited to various lengths before you purchase. There is a great variety including classical and ragea. You can spend hours searching and finding that perfect feel for your video.
CAUTION... While there are several of these libraries available, make sure to read the fine print on the site to make sure that they are truly royalty free. In some cases there will be restrictions for their usage on a regional or national broadcast basis.
Here are some links to additional resources you can check out on your own... Have fun checking them out!
Unless otherwise noted, all content of this blog is the property of Lane Bailey, ©2012 Lane Bailey.
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