Where to get the music?

[LigiaD]

I have a question, please. Is there a particular place in the Internet that you would favor for getting the music for the slide show? Realize that some of my CDs are protected and not usable for the slide show. I found several sites that offer the Royalty-free music, but they are extremely expensive.

Would like to find a place that offers all sort of music, including classical. Would it be better to buy more CDs?

[bharkins]

I have used www.allofmp3.com. Great selection, buy by the album or the track.

Bill

[mhwarner]

It really depends on your useage. If the shows are for your own personal entertainment (and to show friends and family, etc.), using music from CDs you have purchased or songs you have paid for and downloaded is probably not going to get you in trouble. However, if you are creating shows to sell, you should probably stick with royalty-free music. I have purchased from both of these (both are cheaper if you purchase more than one CD)

http://www.pbtm.com/

http://www.music2hues.com/

Also, one of our forum members sells royalty free music on his site:

http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/royaltyfreemusic.htm

[LigiaD]

Thanks very much for the info. The show is originally intended on a non-profit basis. It might be seen by a large audience, however, I am not charging a penny.

I visited allofMP3.com; it looks like the perfect place. I am having problems with this site, though; I am unable to listen to any samples of their music. I tried on both, PC and Mac, but none of them allows me to listen to the samples. Is there a particular trick that I should be aware of? I have already signed up with them, I do not know what else I should do.

[sanewcomb]

Also you can use programs to record whatever your soundcard is "hearing" and save them as sound files on your computer. One program that does this is Audacity, often mentioned on this board as an excellent sound editing program. Just tune into your favorite internet radio station and start recording. The quality is not the same as a CD, but I think it works fine for most computer speaker systems. Also give credit to the musicians so if people like what they hear they can seek out further information/purchases.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Tune into your favorite radio station, set the input to Stereo Mix, which appears as a drop down list in the middle) and press record.

Cheers

Steve

Tucson, AZ

[bharkins]

Yes, sampling clips in allofmp3 doesn't work too well by just clicking on it, until you save it to disk - then you should get the full 90 second sample.

Bill

[lathompson]

Here's some more sources of music.

http://www.gregmaroney.com/royalty_free.htm

http://www.freeplaymusic.com/

http://magnatune.com/

http://www.mgmusic.ltd.uk/

http://www.music2hues.com/

http://www.uniquetracks.com/

http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

http://www.akmmusic.co.uk/catalogue.htm

http://www.davenportmusic.com/yourchoice_cds.html

Good luck!

lt

[alrobin]

Don't forget Guido's site, too:

http://www.guru.to.it/ .

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi Guys, Reference to some points about using music for public performances. In UK you need to be very careful with music etc. which has royalties, copyright etc. If you give a public performance you need a licence and whether the audience is paying or not, is neither here nor there. The question is, what is a `public` performance? I have given AV shows to railway and photographic societies for many years and although these are clubs with a membership (paying or not) it still constitutes a public performance as membership is usually open to members of the public. So I treat them as such and I can rest easy. A few years ago I was spot-checked to see if I had a licence at a railway club annual public exhibition where I was doing AVs - I did!

The organisation in the UK which deals with licensing is The Institute of Amateur Cinephotographers (IAC): http://www.fvi.org.uk/. They have a licensing pack especially for AV and amateur cine & video makers which costs about £40.00 per annum (which is good value) and they are most helpful and will give you very good advice. They also have a well-produced, glossy, quarterly magazine which you get free!

Another example: If a video is taken of a wedding in a church when the hymns, songs. etc. are recorded, permission needs to be sought from the church and if they do not have copyright clearance, that is a problem - which is why many churches have clearance from the relative church authority. The same could apply to someone who takes stills and records the music to make an AV sequence of the wedding.

Anyway forwarned is forearmed. Having knowledge of the problem means you can easily manage it and have peace of mind - like I do.

[LigiaD]

Thank you all. Great info, as usual!

Best, ------------------- Ligia