Respond to Jay

"I catch your drift" - Well, as you say it is not relevant then maybe you don't get my drift and my observation needs a bit more explanation from me to get across my flimsy comparison. I'll have another go. 

Much video is shot and can have immediate, intrinsic value- shot well; edited well; have clean audio resulting in a narrative being economically communicated to the viewer. If this is done then there can be a value, monetary value applied to it. This can be low, modest or can command a high value to it. In these days  a  "good" video doesn't necessarily belie the pecuniary value/cost of the piece. OK . . . 

When it comes to interesting, appropriate, relevant, inspiring, intense and everything that you and I regard as "good" being applied to RF music then we apply the exact same range of criteria to it as we would when we rate a video. OK . . .

Here's the thing: If there WAS a pool of excellent RF it would have to be priced and generated with the values, I'm guessing, you and I share. However, and it has been alluded to above, generally RF music has to respond to the simplest of formulaic and generically accessible RF that is possible. 

And that, Jay, is how and why much RF music is as what you say it is: High standards in appreciating video can't be then be applied to quality RF without being terribly disappointed.

Grazie

I'm surprised no-one here mentioned Sony's Cinescore (or maybe I missed it). Some of the themes may suck, but many of them are really good. It's really easy to create quality music tailored to the length you desire. It's too bad that no-one gave it the time of day, or there would be more themes to choose from and it wouldn't only work in the 32 bit versions of Vegas.

VP! Sussh! Don't let the cat outta the bag. Maybe it wsn't mentioned 'cos of what one can do with it. Exclusivity with something like RF music is what is kept high on the list of "special".

CineScore, if deconstructed and remixed has, for me, provided much of what I want. The other source is. . .

Grazie

Geez, DGates, you can roll your eyes back into your head. Did you read the message I was replying to?

"If it was any good, they probably would want to charge you for it."

I assumed he was talking about free music that is floating around the internet. And yes, most of it stinks.

But, quite a bit of the RFM out there is pretty good stuff. I have licensed: "Aircraft Music" that was paid for quarterly at a rate based on use and market; Signature Music Library ($2000 for about 40 CD's, kinda dated now, but some of it is still pretty good); SoperSound Library, which has many excellent acoustic selections; When I need a single cut here or there I license from SoundDogs (which now sells SoperSound); and most recently I picked up on a great deal from Stock20.

Killer Tracks is also an excellent resource, but rather than offer "RFM" they license based on the old "needledrop" format (they call it "laserdrop") and is very restrictive as to reuse and documentation. Years ago, I used a package called "Network Music" that used the same process.

Jim

"... generally RF music has to respond to the simplest of formulaic and generically accessible RF that is possible."

This is why I said what I did in my first reply to your question. I don't see RF video as being "formulaic and generically accessible". I guess you're looking at a piece of RF music as I look at a complete video, as opposed to a RF shot. I've never considerd a piece of RF music as standing alone as a finished work, but I can see how they could.

Smartsound I feel is excellent

I thought I would show this. :) don't hate me.. but I made it with RFM and I think it is some of the most stunning footage you will see. especially in HD.

needle-drop is not case-specific, its genre-specific; its not gonna sound the same as musicians sincerely playing... music for film/video is expected to be somewhat faceless; most often it should not dominate the viewers interest.

and $48 is cheap. people sell video backdrops and charge the same or more; ur dealing with "how much art should i get per square yard" syndrome. pick a result not a bargain. (that sounds so corporate; it'll be branded rsn)

most needle-drop houses have a try-before-u-buy setup. i've used 5-alarm; some of their libraries are good (or more accurately, some of them i like)

"needle-drop is not case-specific, its genre-specific; its not gonna sound the same as musicians sincerely playing"

Not exactly sure what your statement means, but "needle-drop" is a type of license scheme -- it has nothing to do with the content or quality of the music itself.

Jim

Royalty Free music is as good as you want to pay. Pay $20 and you get average, generic background music. Pay $200 and you'll something a lot better. Pay $2000 and you'll get a good short original score.

It's astounding this question is even asked.

What sort of video will you sell for $20 ? And imo a 30-second stock music clip, no matter how generic, will generally take a lot more time to put together than a one-shot upload of a 30-second stock video.

Most people who upload to stock music sites will never make their money back on the time they spent composing. On that basis it's a bit churlish to criticize. If you don't like it, pay some decent bucks for decent music.