Thanks for the info

I don't really do a lot of video work just thought it would be fun to screw around with some video of my original music. For 99 bucks it won't kill me if I don't like it.

WSS

Yeah you are totally right, and that's a good idea...

I didn't remember I made a couple of videos with stock footage, mixed with some original video too...


(from an album of english song covers that I made)

(from an album of spanish song covers that I made)

I have some original music I have to record too, but no time at all; this year I only write a couple of songs. Maybe instead of posting in forums 😜 I'll make some time for my music

I have subscribed to Videoblocks for several years now (basic subscription) and found it to be good value for money for my purposes. The quality of footage is variable, but there is an increasing amount filmed with the sort of resources that smaller players are unlikely to be able to afford. For consistent high end quality, places like Pond5 are good but pricey. I find stock footage a useful resource to for testing and learning about FX in Vegas.

The Videoblocks subscription also gives limited access to Audioblocks sound fx & royalty-free music. I have found the audio tracks to be quite useful for backgrounds to selected videos.

Member for over five years. Be very wary. A new subscription to VideoBlocks won't give access to AudioBlocks, that was a grandfathered scheme when the sites were one. The problem with VideoBlocks is getting out. They tried to put my subscription up to $149 a year but offered an early renewal for $99. I wrote to support twice about this, never received a reply so on the day my subscription was due decided to quit. They offered no way to do so short of phoning them. So I wrote another message to support saying I would have renewed for $99 but since I received no reply I was quitting and NOT to charge my credit card. Well they went and charged my credit card for $99. They didn't tell me this and I only found out after logging in just after Christmas. Not sure what to do but I guess I'll have to tell my credit card company not to process any more requests from VideoBlocks. Auto-renewals should be avoided. Also their search options are terrible.

Yesterday, I signed up for Audio Blocks. $49 for one year. I put a note in my calendar to cancel in a year. So far, I've already gotten a number of music tracks that I needed. One of the things that typically hangs me up when producing a YouTube video is finding music that I can use, at a reasonable price. I've even resorted to writing and recording some of my own pieces, a process that is time consuming. I feel, especially for the project I'm working on now, which requires Asian music, is benefiting from Audio Blocks. It's true that a number of pieces on the site are loops...repetitive chunks of music produce electronically. But there is enough that I can mix it up and not get too boring, musically speaking.

I've subscribed twice in the past 5 years during free trials.. downloaded a bunch and unsubscribed.

1. While I appreciate their offerings, I haven't found it very robust.. quite often, the same content is repeated 10 times but just with different color balances, something we can easily do in post.. so it appears there is more than there really is

2. I haven't seen it grow with high quality content much between my two visits

3. They are very aggressive about continued marketing after they've got your e-mail address.. just be aware of that.

I'm glad they are around, just whether or not it's worth your $99 is up to you to decide

Had a lot of trouble in the distant past with audio tracks from their sister company (Footage Firm) getting flagged for copyright infringement on YouTube. I did manage to get it all released but it was a bit of a hassle. Might be sorted now but something to bear in mind.

Nick....I've had the same problem with Smart Sound. I'm pretty sure the problem stems from audio and video producers submitting their products to multiple sites for sale. And I have a major beef with one track that was a classical (Mozart) piece, performed by the U.S.Navy Band. All U.S.goverment stuff is supposed to be in the public domain. I even downloaded from the Navy site. But some company has grabbed that piece and is selling it and claiming they own it. And when I wrote to defend it on YouTube, it still wasn't released, though they continue to let it play (and monetize it). I even sent the link where I got it. This was also done (though not my own experience) with NASA space images. Grrrrrr...

I only use legal music, and I'm willing to go through the process of defending my usage. My concern is when i do a video for some 3rd party client who might post the video on their own YT channel and then get that notice. Does not make me look good.

Well the copyright thing might just be automatic for YouTube or SoundCloud or any other public thing. I got a snarky warning from something that's my own music, they just may have flagged it randomly. I wrote back and explain and they dropped the gripe.

My CD manufacturer has tried to get me to pay Harry Fox for public domain songs which I refuse to do. I realize some artists will copyright a PD song but that only covers their own specific arrangement.

WSS

Speaking of copyright there's a company called Easy Song Licensing who I feel is much easier to deal with than Harry Fox.

WSS

There are a lot of bogus content ID claims on YouTube. The system is getting better now that they made some changes a few months ago. I was hit for content ID recently on music I created with acid music loops over 10 years ago. Other artists use the loops and have their CD's distributed and the Content ID is in YouTube's system. I went through the appeals process and some were released within 24 hours and some I had to wait the 30 days. If the content ID owner doesn't answer your appeal within 30 days, YouTube releases the claim and your work is monetized once again with all earning recovered during the waiting period.