Royalty Free Music Blog

In Part 1 I covered the basics of music licensing, giving you some simple but important concepts and definitions which form the foundation for understanding music licensing for video production. If you haven’t read it I suggest you start there before going on to Part 2 as Part 2 will make some references to it.

» Read the entire Video Scoring Tip: Music Licensing - Part 2 article

For the typical videographer music licensing can often be viewed as a distraction to what you really love; shooting and editing good picture. Since music licensing has legal implications for you and your videos, it is important that you at least understand it sufficiently to make sure you don't wind up on the wrong side of it at some point.

» Read the entire Video Scoring Tip: Music Licensing - Part 1 article

Russell Crowe in "Gladiator". Music score by Hans Zimmer.

Last month we explored the creative impetus behind where to start music in your movie or video. Of course once you have music playing in your video, it forces a new question upon you: Where should I end this?

» Read the entire Video Scoring Tip: When To Use Music In Video, Part 2 article

In a previous Video Scoring Tip we discussed how to score change in a dialogue scene. In this installment of Video Scoring Tips we are going to be talking about when to put music into a scene in general. We’ll give you the elemental tools that professional filmmakers use when they determine where music should start in a scene or sequence. It’s the music version of the old classic acting line: “What’s my motivation?” Finding the right moment to put music is a filmmaking skill that anyone can develop. Here are some key techniques you can use ...

» Read the entire Video Scoring Tip:
When To Use Music In Video article

One of the hardest things that many filmmakers grapple with is what to do with music during dialogue. A good argument can be made that dialogue needn’t have much music. However, to the extent that there are important plot points during a dramatic or comedic film, or important emphasis points in a corporate or promotional film, that happen during dialogue or narration, the filmmaker is missing out on the opportunity of highlighting these important moments for their audience and moving their story to the next phase.

» Read the entire Playing Change In Dialogue article

When we talk about “density” in audio we mean how much aural or sonic space a dialogue track, sound effect, musical instrument, orchestra, etc., takes up in the available aural space. This is not volume (loudness) but represents the sonic “thickness” taken by that item. Some sounds are denser than others.

» Read the entire Audio Density In Video article

"Spotting" is a technique used by professionals in film and television wherein certain key creative people involved in the project, typically the producer, director, editor and composer, review the film or show, scene by scene and determine not only where music should begin and end in each scene (to the frame), but also what it should evoke, emote or communicate to the audience and even how much music the project should have in general.

» Read the entire Spotting article