Save Money on Great Stock Music
What exactly is stock music and how can it help you save money on your next project? If you’re a person or organization who finds need to use music for a video, application, website or other project but doesn’t want to pay astronomical licensing fees simply to incorporate some music, you should consider stock—which falls under the blanket category of “royalty-free”—music.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of royalty-free music, you’ll be surprised to know that you probably hear it many times every day, without even realizing it. While “royalty-free” is a broad term that encompasses many different types of music used in many different applications, it refers to music that is licensed on a special scheme that is free of royalties. Those hoping to find great music for their projects without spending a lot of money would do well to learn a bit about stock music.
The first thing you should know about stock music is that it is not necessarily the same as royalty-free. Music that is “stock” is often royalty-free, because of how it’s licensed, but “royalty-free” music may refer to music that is not stock. Calling music “stock” simply means that it’s not custom-made for a project, it’s music that was made and can be bought and adapted to the project you need it for.
For an example of what stock music is, consider the following scenario. You’re producing an independent film and you need to find good background music to use in it. You want your music to fit the different moods of the film, so some of it will need to be light while other parts of it will have to convey a darker tone. If you were to show a rough cut of your film to a musically inclined friend, and they then were to write and produce music for it, that would not be stock, because it was made especially for you. If you agreed to pay your friend a flat rate to use the music they made without promise of future earnings, then the songs would be royalty-free, even though they’re not stock.
However, if you were to go online and find a website that sells music, and you were to browse their library of music and purchase songs to use in your film, those would be considered stock music because they were “in stock,” or carried on-hand by the website you bought them from. This is music that anyone can buy, and you may hear it in commercials, other films, video games and so forth. Some people are under the impression that this makes the music less desirable, or somehow of lower value than other recorded music. This is simply not true. Music from a stock library is just like any other music. Some of it is poorly written and produced, while some of it is really excellent. This is why it’s important to find a good online library like Premiumbeat.com, so you don’t have to browse through thousands of poorly produced music to find what you’re looking for.
The fact is, there are many very famous television shows, movies, video games and other works of art that feature stock music very prominently. One well-known example is the hit television show on FX, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” One of the key characteristics of the show is the 1950s-style orchestral music, which is featured in the opening and closing credits, as well as throughout the show. The music has become so iconic to fans and so central to the program’s aesthetic that it would be hard to imagine it wasn’t made specifically for the show. However, it is actually stock music that was written and recorded decades earlier. In fact, the show’s well-known theme was even used in a 1981 episode of the television show "Taxi."
As you can see, stock music doesn’t mean “inferior music,” it’s simply one of many ways of obtaining music for a production. Its simplicity and cost-effectiveness have made it one of the most popular and enduring means of purchasing music. Give it a try, you’ll like what you hear!
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