Royalty Free Music

    Ok, you are looking for royalty free music, great!  Let me ask you this, what are you looking for? When I ask what are you looking for, I’m not talking about tempo, style, or genre (we will get to that later); the first question is, are you looking for free music?  If the answer is yes, or maybe it’s, I wasn’t thinking about free until you mentioned it, then royalty free music isn’t what you really need.

     Royalty free means you have paid a fee to secure the use of a song in any way you feel necessary. So you paid once, and now you can use it as many times as you want, when you want, and where you want. So here is a popular scenario, you find a great piece of music that will be a perfect intro to your presentation, or a nice change of pace in that YouTube video you are looking to post. How can you use that music without any copyright infringement and running a risk of having the post deleted? Royalty free music is the way, but remember, royalty free just means it is free of royalties not necessarily free of cost. Basically the owner of the music has decided to take the money in a one time payment rather than payment per use. After you make your initial payment, feel free to use it as much as you want. You paid for it, so get the most out of it. It’s not a bad deal for both parties; the songwriter gets credit and money and the customer gets to use the music without any restrictions. Royalty free music is relatively easy to obtain and the songs (good songs) are used EVERYWHERE. I hear some royalty free music used on commercials and television shows. If you you are looking for something unique, another option is you can find someone to write a song that fits exactly what you need. Customized music can add extra spice to a film, or any other work, and keep it original and refreshing.

    As a composer/songwriter, there is nothing more exciting then when a customer wants something new and has an idea of what they need. My initial question is always the same for a potential customer, “Tell me what kind of song you are looking for.”  I’m never sure what experience the customer has with music when I ask that question and I get a variety of answers that can be extremely confusing for a songwriter.  I’m going to go over a couple of things a composer may like to know to help you get the music you are looking for.



What’s the mood? Is it going to be used throughout a film, background, intro or any of the many ways you can find a spot for music? You know the mood of the scene because you are involved with the film; paint that picture for the composer.  Letting the composer know what the mood will be with their music can make the creative process go smoothly and prevent you from asking for a different song to fit a scene.

What genre and tempo are you looking for? This can be tricky, but there are ways to make it easy. For example, as a movie goer, I may say I want to watch a comedy.  You may have a romantic comedy in mind, but I may be thinking satire. The same problems exist in music genres. Saying I want a pop song isn’t good enough because pop, along with many other genres, can go in many directions. Here is your solution: have a reference track. If you aren’t sure exactly what you want, tell the composer what songs you’ve heard on the radio or commercial that will fit. This will take care of knowing what genre you are looking for.

Tempo is the glue that connects the music with the film. This is why it is important to inform the composer how their music will be used in the scene. For example, if the music is being used as a build up to a climax in the film, the composer would want to match that transition in their composition.   



These few tips should help you give the composer a good starting point to help complete your film with great music. Pass on as much information to let the composer produce great music that will compliment the film no matter if it’s royalty free music or not.