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Free CD-Quality Music
Scaife writes "I make a video project for school each year, and this year we want to produce it on DVD and sell it. The only catch is that we don't have the time or money to get copyright permissions for the 100+ songs we use for it. I'm wondering if there is a large repository of CD-quality royalty-free music somewhere. Whenever I try and take one of the royalty-free MP3s available on the web and use it on a DVD, the quality is awful as it pops and hisses. I suppose this is because of the lossy compression. Any ideas?"
Lossy compression isn't what's causing pops and hisses - that's likely coming from a bad rip from the original source (not from the compression into mp3). FYI.
Do you have a band? Could they play some royalty free music? Perhaps some classic works?
Open Music Registry might have something you could use. Mp3.com might too, depending on what you consider to be "CD quality".
another problem is that, i don't know if you do this already, but it is a good idea to convert to wav with a good mp3 decoder before you import it into your video editing program, because they usually don't have the best mp3 decoders built-in.
I'd hit up all your up and coming local bands for cheap rights. They'll usually do anything for exposure, maybe even let you use their stuff for free.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
Don't confuse royalty free with free.
With most royalty free recordings, of any decent quality, will certainly cost you a bit. The point of them being royalty free is once you've purchased it, you are allowed to use it how you want, for as long as you want (and that does include for profit). That's why its usually more expensive, because you're not just paying for the music, but the ability to use it how you want, without worry of lawsuits, fees, fines, paperwork, etc.
If you just take music that's royalty free, as opposed to free (as in beer), you're probably still violating copyright law.
I assume the exceptions to this is if you obtain the royalty free music from a place that has already purchased it, such as your local library. Your local college may also have a library of royalty-free music you can check out, especially if they have a decent-sized TV/Radio/Film program.
You could also try checking out some local musicians if their music fits what you're looking for, and try to make a deal with them. In that case, not only are you helping to support local talent (as well as possibly giving them some exposure if you give them a credit), you'll probably make off with a low-cost solution that will be mutually beneficial.
And as others somewhat mentioned above, check if there are any internet resources that will give you free (as in beer) music that also happens to be royalty free.
Bad MP3s don't "pop and hiss". They warble, like as if played underwater.
There's an awesome dude called Master Zap. He's got some of the best techno tracks I've ever heard. I listen to his stuff all the time, and he gives it away for free at www.z4p.com and www.mp3.com. He also has CDs. He's looking for a job too. He's the kind of guy who can probably hook you up.
There are also tonss of college kids who make music with keyboards and PCs in their dorm rooms. I know of about 5 just in one or two colleges, I'm sure there are tons more elsewhere. Just find one of them and have them help you out. Even better, just head to a local dance club and talk to the DJ after he's done, if you like his stuff.
If you want rock, find a place with a live band. Or find one of those shitty cover bands and have them play shit for you. They'll do anything for a little bit of green.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Freeplay is not royalty free.
There are no up front fees.
They make their money from the ASCAP/BMI/etc.. royalties.
Take a look at their terms of use.
1. make DVD
2. ???
3. profit
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
I'm pretty sure you don't need to pay royalties if it will only be used for school credit.
What about the Guitar class or some bands at your school? Yeah, they may suck but you get A. Free Music, B. They get exposure, and C. it is just something "nifty" to do.
;)
The other option would be my favorite
-- www.acidplanet.com (yeah they may all kinda sorts sound alike, but it is still fun)
You may even be able to get permission from some of the old skool MOD authors at www.modarchive.com for their MODs
Another option may be to use a MIDI file with a real good sound bank.
I'm going to assume you're doing this on a Mac because I had this problem there, but it might be a PC problem too.
Importing an mp3 directly into, say, Final Cut Pro, or DVD Studio Pro, will cause pops and hisses, I think it has something to do with the fact that it has to convert from mp3 to wav and from 44.1khz to 48khz at the same time, but it always screws things up. I know it sounds like I dunno what's causing the problem, I don't; I only know how to fix it.
Convert the mp3s to wav using an mp3-to-wav converter of some sort (Quicktime Pro will do this) BEFORE importing them into the project. Then import the wav instead. If you can, create 48k wavs instead of 44.1k wavs, that'll make it easier.
How long is this DVD, 15 hours? Why on earth are so many songs needed?
It's very difficult to know what to suggest, since we are given no clue as to what kind of music is required, and why there is such an extaordinarily high number of songs involved.
There are 2 people who you have to pay to legitimately use music, the performer and the composer.
So, if you are looking for specific songs, you are out of luck, as you would still have to pay the composer of the music even if you do find a 'free' performance with no mechanical rights fees to pay.
Classical music is (usually) out of copyright because it is long enough after the composer's death, but you still have to pay mechanical rights for the particular recording you are using, you can usually cheat your way past that by fending off anyone chasing for money by saying it's not their recording you used - a defence that would be almost impossible to deny if there are dozens of recordings of the work in question.
I would suggest getting the school music department to come up with something for you.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Amazing that no one here has mentioned etree. They offer thousands of live recordings done with the permission of the bands. Recording is done on DAT, then converted to a lossless file format 'shorten'. Those files then can be converted back to CD-audio using tools offered on their site. Great stuff, go have a look!
Sorry, but pops and hiss are not caused by lossy compression in the MP3 format. Most likely you're forgetting to convert your 44.1KHz audio to 48KHz (which is what a DVD uses..)
If your video/audio editing software was decent, it should have done this for you automagically.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
If you're willing to take the indie route, there are quite a few sites I could recommend where you can download good quality music for free. Sites like SonicAwareness.com, Ampcast.com, Indielaunch.com, ...there are others, just can't think of them off the top of my head.
You'll have to do a little browsing in order to find music that works well with your film's content, but you're bound to find something.
Here's a suggestion...go to Sonicawareness.com and in the main search engine, in the field that says "influence", enter the name of the band whose music you like, or would like to include in your film. So let's say you would like music by U2 in your film....type U2 into the "influence" filed, and hit submit. The site will display all the bands influenced by U2 on site. This is a good way to find music that sounds like the music you want.
I know that may be second best, but you most likely won't get a call from the industry, demanding royalty payments. Then again, I could be wrong. I just figure that indies would want their music in movies.
Most of the recordings circulating in the etree community are for personal use only. Very few grant blanket permission for commercial use. If the recordings that are released wind up in commercial projects bands will likely withdraw taping permission at their shows, so rights should always be checked.