Define Your Multimedia Project
Your first step in finding great digital content for your project is to really
sit down and define what your project actually is. Is is a home video?
Is it a major motion picture release? Is it a powerpoint presentation for
work? Is it a childrens toy? Maybe you've created an interactive website
or video game. Whatever it is, write down what you actually are making.
This will help you later. Again, double check your royalty
free music site and make sure you can actually license the tracks on that site for your
intended use. Nothings worse than finding a great track, paying for it,
and then discovering you can't use it.
Ok, so you're good to go. Now you need to figure out what function your new
royalty free track will serve. Decide whether it's background music, a
main theme, a sound effect. Maybe you need a piece of music to grab attention
or highlight a specific point. It could be for a transition. It could be
something you need to loop over and over for an extended period of time.
Also, now would be a good time to consider your primary audience.
Once you have decided on function, then you can decide on style. For example,
if you need a short effect or a 15 second transition, you can rule out
lengthy orchestral songs, or slow moving beds. What you would need is a
short piece, with energy and motion. If your audience is youthful, you'll
probably want something more electronic or rock/pop in nature. If your
audience is older or more refined or conservative, maybe leaning towards
something classical or easy listening would be better. If you need an extended
piece, look for pieces that mention that they are loopable, or are beds.
Run a Search
Productiontrax.com has great searching capabilities. With over 15,000 royalty
free music tracks online, you can bet that they've put a lot of thought
into making finding the right track easy and quick. You can find their
music search page here, or try an advanced search to narrow down by length,
category, or other items like emotions or intended uses.
The most important part of your search is entering good keywords into
the search box. Start with the style you've come up with. Let's use the
classical example, aimed at an older audience for a business presentation.
First try a search for royalty
free classical music. (If you click that link, it will take you to
a page of search results for the term "classical" on Productiontrax). Your
results will be listed by relevancy from greatest to least relevant. Need
to narrow it down a little? Need music with a choir singing? Type in additional
keywords like "classical choir."
The important part here is to take your time and most of all, listen
to your selections before you buy them. Most royalty free sites will let
you preview the tracks (either with a low resolution preview or with an
audio watermarking or hiss) so that you can get a good idea of how it will
sound. Take this time to run a search of your own. Below, we've listed
several good searches to get you going. Pick one, and enjoy listening to
the music. On the next page, we'll discuss selecting the correct audio
file format to order for your project.
Popular Searches:
Royalty Free Christmas Music
Royalty Free Classical Music
Scary Music and Sound Effects For Halloween
Romantic Music and Love Songs
Action/Thriller Music
Electronic Music Loops
Piano Solo Music
Go to page 3 - About Audio File Formats
