The following post explains what royalty-free music is and how it can be used in your media project. We will also briefly cover some items that should help you play it safe legally with copyrights and related issues.
First, let me explain copyrighted music. Any artist who sells music on iTunes, Amazon or in other market venues will usually be selling music that is copyrighted. This artist is paid based on royalties, which means getting a percentage of sales of his or her album each time it is purchased.
This royalty system also goes beyond music intended for personal consumption, and extends to music that is used for TV, film and other media uses. But these days composing new music for media has become even more competitive than it already was, and some creators of music (and other media) are willing to skip getting royalties if it means having a better chance of getting their music into your film, TV, radio or web projects. This situation is not ideal for composers and song writers whose income is based on royalties, but if a given music track were to sell lots of copies, the idea is that this might make up for the loss of those royalties. This, then, is what we call royalty-free music.
So then why do we as media producers need royalty-free music? If I own a music track that I've purchased, then aren't I ok? Well, it depends on your plans. You see, any music you purchase from iTunes or Amazon belongs to you, to a point. You're free to listen to these music tracks as you exercise, relax or just drive around in your car. In other words, this music is for personal consumption. What is assumed between you and the people who sold you that music is this: "You can't use our music for anything beyond your personal life."
This means that the great rock tune you bought for yourself can't simply be used as a music bed for one of your video projects. Technically, if that video project were only for educational purposes, and you and your teacher were the only ones viewing the results, most copyright owners would tend to look the other way. However, if that same purchased rock track were to be used in your project and the final product would be for public consumption, then this changes things entirely.
But before we go further into that area, let me clarify something here. You may be aware of music that belongs in the Public Domain (PD). In other words, either the music at hand was never copyrighted (say, an old folk song) or the music is so old that earlier copyrights have expired (The Star Spangled Banner). While it's great to find music that resides in the Public Domain, this is where you the media producer need to be careful. You see, regardless of the composition's PD status, artists who record that music still own the rights to their recordings of the music. So, though the composition Silent Night is free to use by anyone without copyright permission, you can't simply use an iTunes recording of that song in your project without first getting permission, usually via a license.
Please note that both iTunes' and Amazon's music stores do offer certain tracks that are sold as royalty-free (and thus, copyright-free). However, you as the purchaser must be very careful to find music that states this clearly. If an album or track doesn't feature any words telling you it's free of copyrights, you must assume that this particular item is fully protected by copyright. This doesn't mean you have no access whatsoever to using this music in your project, but it does mean jumping through a few extra hoops if including this music in your project is your eventual goal.
For more on this topic, watch for my upcoming post entitled, Choosing Music for My Project.
In the meantime, I'd love to have you drop by a couple of websites that feature my music. There you'll find some free sample tracks and some tracks for purchase. And it's all royalty-free!
And feel free to email me if you'd like, at drtimwaters @ gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!
