Freeplay and Weed - 2 questions

MNJ wrote on 12/28/2003, 5:38 PM
Many times people have mentioned Freeplay for royalty-free music, but for the use I have in mind (music to go with wedding photos) it requires a signed license. Has anyone here gone that direction, is it much time/effort to get a license and is it costly?

Also, SPOT's "Copyright caveat" article toward the end links to WeedMedia at Tonetile.com. I looked there but found nothing regarding use of the music for commercial purposes. SPOT, is there something you know about this.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/28/2003, 6:32 PM
MNJ,
My apologies. I wasn't aware that WEED had not started their licensing deals yet. My error. It is coming....
www.sounddogs.com, www.lazertrax.com, www.freelibrarymusic.com has buyout music, so do several other sites. I haven't researched this part of the issue as much as I should, simply because I rely a great deal on ACID for quick jobs and anything else I either compose, or hire out to friends I know.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 12/28/2003, 8:48 PM
Also check out http://www.magnatune.com/

They will give you a price quote for one of their songs right on the website.
I just did an estimate on using the most popular classical song for 10 copies of a wedding video and the liscence would be $30. Not bad i think.
MNJ wrote on 12/28/2003, 10:01 PM
Friar - that's a great site. I have some major exploring to do... I wish there were sites more like that!!

Could you tell me what song(s) you use for your wedding videos.

I was looking for "Canon in D minor" by Pachelbel but magnatune doesn't have a search function (i've e-mail them btw) Are there other sources besides magnatune you know of where I can get a license for this and similiar classical pieces.

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/29/2003, 7:05 AM
MNJ,
Do you have any kind of midi editing software, such as Sonar, Musicator, etc?
If you do, you can create your own mix of "Canon in D minor" by Pachelbel via downloading a midi file.
here's the argument;
The song itself is PD (public domain)
Any midi you download would be copyrighted to whomever performed the midi, but in doing a search, I found several copies of the work where the player had said "Use my work for whatever you wish" which is essentially the same as giving up copyright. That said, even if you used one that didn't have that message attached to the file, the owner would have a tough time saying that you commercially impacted them, unless they were selling midi's.
Anyway, open a midi up in your midi editor to get it to the exact sounds you'd like to use, and render as a wav file, and you'd be done.
Contact me privately if you'd like me to do a version for you. Wouldn't take but a few minutes.
MNJ wrote on 12/29/2003, 1:35 PM
Spot -- I only have ACID (and haven't had the time to learn it yet. I'll contact you privately (I assume the e-mail from the Vegas 4 book is the correct e-mail to use). Thank you.