
Shutterstock
The use of music to elevate any film or video project is something that is criminally overlooked and underappreciated. However, if the marriage of music and visuals is off, then your audience is experienced enough to see that instantly.
In other words, when it comes to selecting the audio for your production, be that an original score, sound effects, or the use of mainstream music, it is hugely important to do so successfully.
So, where should you get the inspiration for your soundtrack or score? Many people initially consider using great music they may have heard that they think will fit a specific scene or shot, while others may just love a particular track and will then look to push it into the narrative of their project. Neither of these approaches is ideal.
Matching Music to Your Project Is a Delicate Art
Ideally, when it comes to selecting the music or type of score you want for your project, you should do so in conjunction with your project. That means you shouldn’t have firm ideas on what to do until you start looking at the visuals you have put together; putting the cart in front of the horse won’t work well.
Your entire film or video project is likely to straddle many different moods and styles; that’s in the very nature of a completed piece that isn’t one-dimensional, so you should try to think of the music and visuals as two pieces of the same puzzle.
When you are putting together a feature film’s score, for example, there will be romantic moments in nature and will require a certain style or type of musical accompaniment. Similarly, if there’s a dramatic car chase, you’d elect for something more visceral and heart-pounding, as doing so will help to get your audience emotionally invested in what they are viewing.
Using Mainstream Music Isn’t Always Realistic
Unless you have an unlimited budget, or your name happens to be Quentin Tarantino, the option of using mainstream music to use in your film or video project isn’t likely to be an avenue you can realistically walk.
The cost of clearing just a single song will almost certainly cost more than the entire budget of your production, and on top of this, you may not get the permission you require in any case. That’s how fickle the music copyright game is.
Using a song just because it’s a song that you love, or sounds great, shouldn’t be enough for you to consider placing it in your project. Often you may find that the fit doesn’t work in practice as it may do in your head.
Fortunately, there is an alternative.
Why Not Consider Royalty-Free Music?
Royalty-free music is very much the smart choice when it comes to scoring your film or video project. This is not only due to the financial implications of trying to use existing mainstream music but also because using this resource gives you so much more options to select from.
The leading players in the royalty-free industry offer vast libraries of musical output and, in doing so, offer editors, producers, and directors a great wealth of options when it comes to effectively scoring their projects.
This range of content is available in well-organized databases that allow users easy access to precisely the styles and types of music they are after for a particular scene or ambiance they may be looking to achieve.
These libraries are updated regularly, meaning that users have a near-limitless resource to call upon, and clearly, this is most useful for those who are involved in the production of many film and video projects.
Royalty-Free music has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. We are in a time of content revolution, where the amount of visual content we digest is larger than ever before, where we are all mini-content creators of our own. Into this maelstrom, royalty-free music has become something of a lifesaver for many.
The number of companies in the royalty-free music market is growing rapidly, which has energized the music industry. The musicians, DJs, bands, and singers aligned to specific royalty-free music providers can now earn a steady income from this new revenue stream, and on top of this, they can also get the much-needed exposure that could lead to bigger than better things.
It would be fair to say that the large percentage of performers in the music industry do not earn a large sum; this is due to the fact that revenues streams (such as those that came from the sale of physical music; via CDs, records, etc. and live concerts) have become something of a barren wasteland in recent years.
Using Royalty-Free Music Opens Up Many Soundtrack Doors
Those who choose to use royalty-free music soon realize just how effective it can be.
Once you’ve signed up to a particular royalty-free music resource, you’ll get to know the interface offered, and pretty soon, depending on which company you’ve selected to join, you’ll know exactly where to locate the type of music you are after.
You may be looking to find the perfect musical choice or the best stock video footage for a tense scene in your film or video, and by selecting the relevant term or tag, you’ll be presented with a bank of options that you can then try out with the footage you wish to partner it with.
In this way, you are more effectively combining the music and the visuals in order to produce a more three-dimensional piece, which is a far more practical way of scoring your projects than simply hearing a track and thinking that at some point, in some aspect, it might go with what you’ve shot.
Pretty soon you’ll find the royalty-free music service you’ve selected will help save you time and money that can then be better invested in the overall production of your film or video project.