When creating your own movies or just making videos for YouTube or a Facebook post, you will certainly need to add some background music. Be careful what music you choose: YouTube and Facebook can shut down your video for copyright infringement.
This happened to me when I created a memorial video that was posted on Facebook. Somehow they ‘knew’ that the music I was using was copyrighted. They did not allow the post to stay up. I solved the problem by searching for royalty free music on the web. I was able to use this music simply by adding a credit to the end of the video. Like everything else, it was a learning curve to find this ‘public domain’ music and then search through the tons of junk out there.
It’s hard to find music for which you don’t have to pay royalties. Many sites offer that type of music, the problem is that they offer quantity over quality. Most of the sites are difficult to navigate and the music is cheesy. Worst of all, some charge an upfront fee to download their songs. You can find quality music for free, but since every film project is unique, so is the music. Finding music that matches your vision can be time consuming.
Royalty-free music can take a lot of hassle out of creating your videos. You may not get a ping right away, but chances are if you’re using copyrighted material someone will find out and insist that you ‘cease and desist’. For the average Joe, a Creative Commons license is perfect for getting music without paying a license fee.
For corporations and businesses that want license protection, a standard license, available for as little as $25, allows you to use a song for things like music on hold, radio spots, or corporate introductions where you don’t want or can’t give proper credit in writing. Why hire someone to write the music or pay a royalty if your budget won’t allow it?
I highly recommend looking for a website that is set up in multiple categories to help you quickly navigate to the music you want. Choose the genre of music, such as hard rock, country, or orchestral. From there, it’s much easier to try and download songs or just read the short description under each song to get a quick “feel” for what might work for you. Some sites even provide a photo for a “visual representation” of each song.
Another good feature to look for is songs that have both a vocal and a non-vocal version. One of the advantages of having both versions of a song is that you can combine them throughout the movie and use them as a recurring theme without repeating the exact same thing over and over again and sounding monotonous.
For those who wish to have a completely original soundtrack, many sites offer music services such as score composition and soundtrack editing to make your movie unique.
One important thing to remember when looking for your music: be specific. “alternative copyright-free music” will give better results than just “copyright-free music”.