Choosing Music for My Media Project

If you haven't already read it, I highly encourage you to read my earlier post, What Is Royalty-Free Music? That post lays the foundation for some of the things discussed in the post below.

You can find that post here: http://drtwaudio.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-royalty-free-music.html

I also recommend another earlier post entitled, What is Stock Music? which is found here:

http://drtwaudio.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-is-stock-music.html

As for choosing music for your media project, let's address some common questions in this area:

1. Should I use my own music for my media project?

Let's first define what is considered "your music." If the song or music track is your original composition, then you should be fine. However, if even part of your original includes something that is copyrighted, then you need to get the proper permissions in order to include that. On the other hand, if your music is entirely yours, you should be fine. The next decision to be made is this: Is my music good enough to match the excellence of my media project? That may be a tough one to answer on your own, and I encourage you to get some input from other (objective yet not overly critical) qualified people, just so you know where things stand.

2. My friend makes some great music tracks, and has offered to let me use some of them. Is this ok?

This is in some ways similar to the decision about your own music, except that it's a bit more complex. Once you begin to use someone else's music, there needs to be some sort of agreement, just so that things don't become problematic later. Sometimes a simple gentlemen's agreement is sufficient. However, if your project becomes wildly popular and begins to bring in lots of money for you, then your friend may begin to see the original agreement differently. Worst case, you'd hate to have to pull down a great project simply because your friend suddenly changed his mind on things. Even between friends, contracts created up front are helpful and wise.

3. Can I reuse stock music for other projects?

Probably. More specifically, you can reuse a given audio track as long as the purchase agreement or license says so. For many stock music tracks bought from the web, reuse is just fine, and no one will care, at least from a legal perspective. In most cases, the only thing you can't do is resell that audio track in its original form, separate from its role in your media project. Note: If you licensed a track for a specific need (say, pressing 1,000 CDs) then you will want to be careful how you proceed. Your next project might need a separate purchase of the same audio track, depending on the agreements involved. When in doubt, check the fine print and/or ask the seller site's support crew.

Speaking of stock music sites, I'd love to have you check out my music on the popular site AudioJungle. http://audiojungle.net/user/drtimwaters/portfolio?utf8=%E2%9C%93&order_by=sales

I also have sites of my own that feature royalty-free music tracks, so please drop by!

https://wisdommedia.selz.com/

http://drtwaudio.com

And feel free to email me if you'd like, at drtimwaters @ gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!

What Is Royalty-Free Music?

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!

https://wisdommedia.selz.com/

http://drtwaudio.com

And feel free to email me if you'd like, at drtimwaters @ gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!

What is Stock Music?

In this brief post we'll cover the basics of stock music, how to find it and when it's a good idea to use it.

Before we tackle our topic, let me first explain & then tie in the concept of stock photos. These are photos that can be bought and used in your newsletter, brochure or other media project. Many in media have used stock photos for a long time.

However, the concept of stock music, at least as we know it today, is new in some ways. You see, there's always been a need for music that could be licensed for video games, TV commercials, and other media. However, many of those music tracks were priced too high for smaller projects. It's hard to justify the cost of a higher-profile music track that may have been composed for wide-scale distribution when your given project may be smaller in scope and budget.

Enter stock music, which is the audio equivalent of affordable stock photos. The recent explosion of new media has created a demand for lots of new music. And because there's a growing need for new, original music that is free of copyright hassles, we now see an abundance of web sites that offer royalty-free stock music. The concept is rather simple: Once you hear a music track (or sound effect track) that you'd like to use, you can either buy a copy of that track (usually at a low price) for immediate download, or you can opt to license that same track, depending on the need. I'll save the whole licensing side of things for another post. But for now, know that most stock music sites will make a distinction, helping you know which pricing level or purchase vs. licensing is best for you.

The downsides to stock music are few: the music could be bought and used in someone else's project, meaning that you could hear it somewhere besides in your project; because the music wasn't composed specifically for your project, there may be some adjustments needed to make things fit just right. Otherwise, using stock music makes a lot of sense for certain projects. There are lots of stock music sites out there, and a simple web search should get you started.

More posts to follow!

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 for purchase. And it's all royalty-free!

https://wisdommedia.selz.com/

http://drtwaudio.com

Also feel free to email me if you'd like, at drtimwaters @ gmail.com.

What is Stock Music?

What is stock music? You've probably seen web sites for stock photos, where you can buy and download various kinds of pictures. These image files are perfect for dressing up business cards, fliers, or for sprucing up a website. Similar to stock photos are what are known as stock music tracks. These tracks are music files (MP3, WAV, etc.) that can be bought, downloaded and then used in your own projects.

The explosion of media outlets over the past few years has created a huge need for all kinds of original music, pictures and video. But while stock media has been around for some time, the difference lately is this: You don't have to spend lots of money to get great music or images for your projects. Further, you don't have to necessarily jump through all the licensing hoops that used to discourage people from pursuing stock media options.

The upside these days is that you can quickly & inexpensively acquire great music that is royalty-free (meaning no copyright strings attached). For example, let's say you need some high-energy rock music for a video project you're working on. A quick web search will show you lots of great sounding musical options, and many sell for under $20. But be careful that the website you're buying from states clearly that its music can be used freely and without copyright constraints.

For a quick taste of the kind of stock music I create, feel free to visit my site and get the free music track at the top of the home page.

http://drtwaudio.com

–Dr. Tim Waters

@drtwaudio

drtimwaters@gmail.com