Do you have a corporate video or marketing campaign you’re working on? If so, getting the music right will be one element to consider carefully. Putting together the rest of the video is super important, however, many people seem to underestimate the importance of the music and the impact it can have on pulling the whole project together and enhancing the video content.
Don’t let this be you! Perhaps you are considering and have already maybe started looking online for royalty free music to use in your marketing video. This is certainly an ok place to start to get ideas for what you like the sound of and what you feel could work for your video. However, there are many reasons why you may want to re-think this approach and explore other ways of getting music for your video.
As a freelance composer, I would recommend that you consider original, custom music if you can afford it. Assuming you work with a composer that truly understands your needs, it will be the best, most efficient and effective way to have music that fits in with your vision, brand and marketing campaign. If, however, you’re still considering using royalty free music, take a look at these 6 things to be aware of…
1. It’s a minefield
There is so much music out there available for you to choose from that in some ways it is truly amazing, but in other ways it can be quite overwhelming. If you enjoy listening to tonnes of music, reviewing what’s good and bad, and have the time available to find what you’re looking for then go for it. Lots of production music libraries and royalty free music libraries can offer you music to license at a very low cost. Otherwise, if you want a more focused and less overwhelming approach, find a composer to work with who can take the time to understand what it is that you need and want, and deliver that exactly.
2. Sieving through royalty free music is hugely time consuming
As mentioned above, as well as being simply overwhelming, it can also be considerably time consuming. You can end up spending hours, days, months searching for the perfect track, whilst you also have no guarantees that the perfect track will be there at all. Some people can find this a real drag and not a great use of one’s time since you could certainly be doing other things.
3. Quality control is quite loose
The reason why it can take so long to find what you’re looking is probably two-fold. Firstly, the quality of royalty free music out there can vary considerably across the different music libraries. So, on one site you may find some great sounding music, and on others the quality of the music composition, sound and instrumentation could be pretty bad.
4. Royalty free music libraries cater for the mainstream audience
The second reason why it may be hard to find what you’re looking for is if you’re looking for something specific. Most production music libraries will have specific categories and styles of music available to license. They’ll usually go for whatever seems to be most popular across the different industries that they specialise in – whether it’s games, corporate videos etc. However, it is very possible that what you want is a slightly different, more fresh, less generic sound. These will be much harder to find through the usual avenues and you’ll be better off getting custom music to suit your specific needs.
5. Others have access to the same music
This may sound obvious, but the whole purpose of royalty free music is to make it available to the masses. So, what it means is that if you find a track that you like, you are most likely not the first person nor will you be the last one to like it or use it. People who see your content may recognise the royalty free tunes from somewhere else and I often find that this can diminish your creation.
6. Lack of flexibility and therefore suitability
Royalty free music often comes in a fixed format and the track will usually be a fixed length. There may be a few options for you in terms of choosing a shorter or longer version, or versions with different sets of instrumentation; however, the amount of flexibility you’ll have will always be limited. You will probably need to spend time adapted the track to fit your needs. Sometimes this can be done well but other times it can be tough to workaround.
So there you have my 6 reasons why you might want to think twice about using royalty free music for your marketing videos or commercial adverts.
Want help with music for your marketing video?
If so, I'd be glad to see if I can help! Check out my corporate music page for some ideas of what might be possible and drop me a message to start the conversation now!
About the Author:
Ninichi is a freelance music composer based in the UK. She works with clients across the world on multiple projects including supporting marketing campaigns, videos, commercials, games and films with her compositions and music. To explore commissioning her for your project, contact her now.
