Welcome to Classical Music Guide
NEW! Classical Music Videos
Canon Classical Music Article
How to Select Quality Royalty Free Music
Scott Johnson
Purchasing music for use as production music for film,
television and video projects, or as background music for
different projects and companies as well as music on-hold for
personal and professional telephone systems can be a
time-consuming and very expensive endeavor. Because many
businesses do not have the money to spend on on-going music
royalties, many are turning to libraries of royalty free music
to fulfill their many musical needs.
While royalty free
music is certainly a convenient and inexpensive option for
those in search of bulk music for their restaurants, not all
royalty free music is created equal. Music from major providers
such as Award Winning Music is an affordable and premium music
choice for all types of professionals. The following are five
characteristics to look for in high quality royalty background
music, production music, and music on-hold to help insure it
will enhance a business' or project's mission and communicate
its purpose and style without reducing its value:
1. Good - make that excellent - sound quality. The sound quality
of the music you are listening to will be the first and most
noticeable element. If the music has been recorded under optimal
conditions, you will hear a perfect balance between bass and
treble, as well as consistent sound and texture regardless of
the volume at which you are listening to the music. Similarly,
you will be able to pick out the individual sounds of different
instruments as they blend to create the whole piece.
2. Instruments that sound true-to-life. Similar to excellent
sound quality, the best royalty free music ideally uses real
instruments and not those that are synthesized. And if they must
be synthesized, they should sound just like their original
instruments and not like hollow versions of themselves. Most
people have at some point heard instrumental pieces in the
grocery store, in an elevator or used as on-hold music for major
companies that sound no more textured than a sub-par demo on a
low-end keyboard. The best royalty free music will have depth to
it, and will demonstrate the many capabilities of the violins,
cellos, percussion, electric guitars or brass instruments it
incorporates.
3. Original musical themes that still evoke familiar tunes. One
of the many benefits of royalty free music is that is an
inexpensive way for film producers and directors to use
original-sounding production music in their films, television
programs and video projects. But, not all providers of royalty
free music enlist the best composers and musicians (or, if it is
purely digital, any trained composers or musicians at all!) to
create their repertoire. First-rate royalty free music will
sound original, yet be reminiscent of favorite songs.
Stylistically and technically, it will make sense and fit into
the grand scheme of a project while still making it unique. It
will have rhyme and reason to it, and will therefore sound as
though someone composed it for the specific film or project and
will resonate in the minds and hearts of each listener and
create a true emotional response.
4. Well-composed music by musicians and artists with real
credentials. Great royalty free music sites will provide
credentials for the composers and performers they enlist, and
their artistry will shine through in the finished product. A
purveyor of beautifully and carefully crafted background music,
on-hold music and production music will be able to give the
history of the artists involved in the design and production of
the music, and this history will include collaborations with
major artists in the genre of the type of music being composed.
5. A diverse yet still versatile music library. The best royalty
free music will offer diverse styles that run the gamut of
musical tastes. Genres of music might involve classical, jazz,
different types of rock and roll, New Age and some progressive
styles such as Hip-Hop and techno/dance music. But even within
the more traditional styles of music, such as classical, there
will be selections that appeal to younger listeners with
typically more "modern" musical tastes, just as within the more
cutting-edge styles, there will be pieces that can be enjoyed by
even those that would not normally listen to techno and Hip-Hop.
Looking for these basic characteristics when shopping for
royalty free music will help discriminating professionals select
the perfect production music, music on-hold or background music
to suit their very specific projects. Award Winning Music is an
excellent source for royalty free music that far exceeds the
standards. If you would like to take a look as what they have to
offer, their website is at http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com.
About the author:
Scott Johnson is a writer who enoys sharing what he has found on
various topics.
Canon Classical Music News
Andre Rieu's music is a great polariser - The Australian
IN interviews, Andre Rieu demands that he be considered a musician, not branded as showman, entertainer, or populist. Love or loathe him, there are many parts to the man, the music and the myth. Rieu insists that musical categorisation is meaningless ...
Read more...10 minutes with Gustavo Dudamel - Orange County Register
You get ten minutes, take it or leave it. I took it. I called at the appointed time. Sorry, we're running behind, please call back in 20 minutes. OK. I went and did the dishes, then called back. Can you hold for three minutes? OK. Then Gustavo ...
Read more...Rock the halls - Calgary Herald
For Christmas cheer this year, look for the wreath with the skull and crossbones on it. It's the album art for A Heavy Mental Christmas, Helix's contribution to the Christmas canon. "They make a great stocking stuffer,'' says Helix founder Brian ...
Read more...Fiddler off the grid - Boston Globe
A couple of years ago, an eight-minute video on Youtube lit up the online classical music world. Still up on the Web, it shows a casually dressed violinist performing an outlandishly genre-bending cadenza to Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3. Instead of ...
Read more..."Rolling Stone" Gets (Somewhat Predictably) Vocal - Idolator.com
Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone , Blender , Vibe , and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who's contributed to many of those magazines, as well as a few others ! In this ...
Read more...Teachers fight to save Shakespeare - Stuff
Shakespeare's plays and other great works of literature considered too difficult for some pupils will disappear from classrooms under proposed changes to the curriculum, alarmed principals say. There are also fears that basic content in maths ...
Read more...