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Music for free use
  • liquidifyliquidify

    Not sure if this is a good category for this idea, but the concept is to create a place where musicians can offer recordings for free use in people's motion pictures.

    I have many recorded songs that I would love for people to use. In addition, I am not opposed to writing and recording music specifically about a topic someone would request or specifically to suit a certain artistic feel. Most likely most people will simply post music here that people can apply to their movies as they see fit.

    I would suggest that anyone who uses songs posted here should give credit to the artist, and that if the motion picture that uses these songs should happen to blow up and make a bunch of money, then there should be some reasonable expectation that a deal should be worked out between musician and movie maker.

    I am also not clear as to what the best storage method should be for songs. Nearly all the songs I have recorded are in .wav format and would require a fair amount of space to store. It would also be nice to find a place to store .mp3's of the tracks so that people can listen to them and decide if they want to use the .wav.

    Also, this topic can be used as a place to discuss best audio formats for motion picture. I almost feel like this should be a category because there are many sub topics I could see branch off.

    Note 1. Bandcamp provides a HTML code that supposedly creates a player. The player does not seem to function on this site. Bandcamp does allow for high quality .wav storage and download, and allows you to set it up so that people can download for free, or name what they want to pay which includes 0.

  • 34 Replies sorted by
  • robertGLrobertGL

    Go troll through youtube and soundcloud and you'll find some great talents. I'd say give them a message and maybe work something out. I've come across a few great talents that just make music for fun.
    With cinema music you have the option of using as little or as much as you want. repeating cued themes are common, but so are long evolving motifs. I'd say it's a better overall option than canned music - not to say that it's bad, but you generally want to use something totally new and original

  • cbdphilcbdphil

    I was looking at this site because I like his music and have bought his CDs before. The 'Royal-Free Music' heading caught my eye and I downloaded and paid the two bucks because I know I can use it sometime. At this price, you can afford to build up a library. It is all his own work and superb quality. I emailed Al Marconi and suggested if he put more music like this on, then perhaps a great many video guys would buy it on spec! He may even get some soundtrack commissions out of it. Beautiful work and he deserves encouragement - http://www.almarconimedia.com/royalty-free-music.html

  • ahblezaahbleza

    Here's another musician who is offering his work for free in return for credit and maybe a donation. Some quite interesting stuff.

    http://soundcloud.com/missingpluto

  • MirrorManMirrorMan

    @Sephiroth7of7 I would read through the Creative Commons licensing terms. I believe 'for non-commercial use' means that the material does not end up in a commercial product of any sort.

    Of course it never hurts to contact the author directly. Anyone can make exceptions. I personally would not mind if some of my recordings were used in educational products.

  • bostonmikebostonmike

    I used two Jamendo tracks for a short film I did. Each artist has their own type of licensing guidelines..the tracks I used were awesome, sounded like something you'd hear on a major radio station. I used them for free because their licensing said as long as you're not going to make a profit it was okay to do so and credit them..the tracks are only about $25 each anyway even if you do have to pay.

  • Sephiroth7of7Sephiroth7of7

    @CRFilms, @MirrorMan- Do you all have a clear understanding of the various creative commons liscensing terms? Specifically, when they state 'for non-commercial use'.

    I have been tasked with creating a video for my company, which is entirely informative in nature- it doesn't sell a product or a service at all; rather, it increases awareness of some internal capabilities that we have (these capabilities would not lead to increased sales or anything, either). However, my company definitely is a 'for profit' entity; as such, I am not sure that using any soundtracks labelled as 'for non-commercial use' would be legitimate just based on who would be using the material.

    Anyway, if either of you knows any more details/has any experience on this front, I would appreciate it. If I could have a corporate video that says "Soundtrack by Trent Reznor" at the end, I would be able to die happy.

  • KihlianKihlian

    @CRFilms Really true!

  • CRFilmsCRFilms

    http://www.jamendo.com has a lot of free creative commons music and you can search by cc license and music style. The problem isn't finding free music...it's finding the RIGHT music for the scene or video. You can easily spend twice as much time trying to find a right music choice as it took to edit the video.

  • MirrorManMirrorMan

    As far as I know, music appears in every culture on the planet and is used for every occasion, just like food. One could still argue whether or not its as "essential" as food, but its certainly as prevalent. Wherever you find good food, you'll probably have good music. I wish people would stop framing the free/pay music debate only in economic terms, (as economics is looking more and more like a bogus science every day) and start thinking about it in much broader cultural terms.

    Anyway, back to the obtuse black and white modern world. For free stuff head over to: http://www.freesound.org/

    If you want good original music/scores, then pay good composers and musicians (or make it yourself).

  • karlkarl

    If I was a farmer who could produce food that could be replicated by everyone with very little effort, I would do so, and live the happy life of someone who solved the world's food problem for ever.

    Not only could I be sure of the thankfulness of those who, because of my replicatable food, escaped hunger, famines etc... I would also have lots of additional spare time that I formerly had to spend on farming (or working for food) myself. Spare time that I could use to produce something else...

  • peternappeternap

    @thepalalias Interesting rant and one I agree with. I only wish Black and White were that simple. I happen to agree that Family and self come first. Then one can give to the needy and that includes Filmmakers who will not make much on a project or just to advertise.

    Vitaliy_Kiselev makes a valid point except that as a farmer, I do give food away after I provide for the family. In addition to vegetables, I give away around 600 pounds of meat.

    I also do free video work for some that need it and can't afford it. The free advertising pays for itself sometimes.

    There is a happy meeting point.

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Liqudify I can empathize. Went through something similar years ago.

    Send me a personal message and I'd be happy to walk you through it sometime this weekend, depending on your video software. If you don't have anything, you could just download VirtualDub and do it with that really easily.

  • liquidifyliquidify

    @thepalalias Whats really funny is that my knowledge of video creation is so bad that I don't even know how to make a single frame video. On the other hand, I can operate pro tools, neundo, cakewalk, and ableton live, sound forge, wavelab, cd architect, and sadie systems all seamlessly. And, I actually know what I am doing technically too.

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Liquidify

    1. Fair enough. :)

    2. No worries. I think I'm starting to understand what you mean now, it just took me a while because of the confusion. :)

    3. I haven't tried it on this site specifically, so I hope you find someone that has experience with that. I think some people use the "single graphic video" compromise, but that doesn't seem ideal.

    Good luck and let me know what you come up with!

  • liquidifyliquidify

    @thepalalias,

    1. I think I have passed up on quality (not existence) of food to buy musical instruments before, but probably not to purchase recordings... so yes.

    2. I guess I didn't actually have any idea of the specific definition of luxury as it applied to survival. I think it is not an appropriate term for what I was trying to say.

    3. I will remaster it and re-upload. Any ideas on a working embedable player / host for personal-view site?

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Liquidify After ranting that much, I felt compelled to make time to listen to your song now, too. :)

    I like the unpretentious nature of the song. Definitely not over-produced. Has a lot of hear to it.

    There are definitely some production issues, like overly heavy in low-mids, especially when the voices spread. I'm not referring to the obviously intentional feedback from the delay, but more like the EQ for the guitar and voice wasn't properly separated and an effort wasn't made to either vary the EQ in the voice when the parts were added (or alternately, that the voice wasn't EQed to work as part of an ensemble initially).

    However, those issues could (to an extent) be addressed in mastering if needed, and most of my other production thoughts have more to do with stylistic preferences than anything else.

    Long story short, in terms of the song, it's quite likable. The sort of thing I could see myself enjoying in an indie movie if the production were improved. Good stuff. :)

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Liquidify, also I just realized you are using a definition of luxury that's a bit different from any I encountered before (though it could make an interesting addition to my repertoire).

    If you go to Dictionary.com (source for all the quotes below) not one of the definitions mentions survival. The closest they get is:

    • "free or habitual indulgence in or enjoyment of comforts and pleasures in addition to those necessary for a reasonable standard of well-being"

    "A reasonable standard of well-being" goes beyond survival. You can survive without maintaining a reasonable standard of well-being.

    Did you mean this one?

    "A material object, service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity."

    Because "necessity" still doesn't mean "necessary for survival" it means "something necessary or indispensable".

    And then of course necessary is defined as "being essential, indispensable, or requisite", etc., etc.

    I went through most of the words that came recursively several layers down and haven't encountered a mention of survival.

    So if you meant "it is physically possible to survive without exposure to music" and "there are things that can kill most people more directly or quickly than being deprived of music" then I would agree. But I still don't think music fits any of the dictionary definitions of luxury. :)

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @liquidify I understand where you are coming from but are you honestly telling me that you never spent less on, passed on or gave up food in order to facilitate making or buying music? :)

  • liquidifyliquidify

    @jodydb Have you been able to use one of the embeded players from bandcamp on this site? I can't seem to figure out how to actually embed a player rather than a link.

  • liquidifyliquidify

    @thepalalias It would be considered a luxury because in a strict sense, it is not necessary for survival. You cannot live without food and water and oxygen. But if you were forced to, you could easily survive without music.

    It is omnipresent because it is one of the most basic forms of communication. At the same time, communication and music are certainly not mutually exclusive.

    I am not trying to downplay the significance of music, it is frankly the basis of my entire life, but when it comes down to food or an album, I buy food. And that happens more often than not ... because I make my living off of recording and playing music. :-) Its a bit of a conundrum.

  • KihlianKihlian

    @dreamer like your music.

  • thepalaliasthepalalias

    @Liquidify I hope I can find time in the coming week to listen and provide feedback. As far as streaming players, SoundCloud is a frequent option.

    I started to respond to your comment about music being a bit of a luxury but I realized it might seem like another long rant. So here's my really short version. :)

    By almost any measure, music is not a luxury. Neither music performance nor music purchases are limited to a given economic class and musical traditions are present in practically every culture anthropologists have encountered to date. During the 20th century in the U.S., the public continued to buy music at fairly consistent levels during depressions and recessions while "luxury" purchases fell off drastically.

    The effects of music to influence mood, temperament, receptivity and general state of mind have been so widely proven in so many different walks of life that in many western cultures it is difficult to do anything from walk downtown to call a business without encountering music.

    In other words, if it's a luxury, how come it is (in so many contexts) omnipresent? :)

  • liquidifyliquidify

    @vitaliy_kiselev How is that applicable here? Food is something that everyone wants and needs. Music is something that is a bit of a luxury.

    Also wanted to ask you. How do you embed a streaming music player that only plays music?

  • dreamerdreamer

    Here a few of my background songs for free use. The website is in German. Choose the song and click download on the following page.

    http://www.audiyou.de/benutzer/kgerster.html

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    from the perspective of an artist who is unknown, I just want my music to be heard in any way possible.

    I always suggest guys who love to talk about free music and free software to replace author with farmer and music with food. And read their own post. It'll be fun.

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