Music

Have you ever seen a cut of a particularly powerful film that doesn’t have the musical soundtrack edited into it yet? Sometimes you can get hints of this watching special features to a film, but it’s much more  powerful to see a whole movie without a note of music laid in.

It changes the experience of the film. Music adds a palpable emotional element that lessens the entire story by not having it present. Scenes that create the need for an entire box of Kleenex seem flat and boring without the soft swell of violins in the background.

Music matters.

And it might matter to whatever sort of audio product you’re creating. At the very least, finding and using a “bumper” (a very short bit of music that is typically used at the beginning and ending of a segment or product) can create an identifiable musical signature for your brand.

A good one can subliminally put your audience into a positive state of mind as they begin listening to your product.

A bad one … well, we’ll assume you don’t choose a bad one.

Finding Your Music

I’m going to assume that you’re not a composer or professional musician. And if you’re not one of these – or married/living with/have indentured to you one of these folks, you ought not make your own from scratch.

So where do you go?

Well, if you know a musician, you can ask her or him if they have something you could license for use on your audio products. Most musicians will jump at this, because most musicians don’t have fat record contracts paying their bills.

If you go this route, be able to play for your musician acquaintance no fewer than four or five examples of the kind of music that you think fits your personal groove. This gives your musician/composer someplace to start. Heck, you might get lucky and she’ll have something already done that will work perfectly for you.

Another path is to license something from one of the plethora sites that are out there on the internet.

One source I’ve come to really like is called Magnatune. These folks work with indy musicians, offering up some really incredible music at reasonable prices. Even better, you can listen before you buy, and they have appropriately-priced licensing agreements for commercial use (which is what your audio product is).

With this sort of source, you’re going to be pulling no more than 45 seconds out of a larger piece of music to use as your bumper. If this is something you’re uncomfortable doing, you can license the music and ask a sound editor to help you find the right bits.

There are also sites that specialize in bumper music … small musical bits composed specifically for this use. One site I know of in this vein is Royalty Free Music. One nice thing about this site is that you purchase the license, but don’t have to continue paying royalties for sales you make against the music.

Whatever you do, Just Don’t Steal

Whatever path you take to adding a bit of musical pizzaz to your audio products, just don’t “borrow” music without paying for it. Just as you want and expect your audience to honor your creative rights to the content you produce, so too do the musicians who create really amazing music.

I know it’s hard to remember this sometimes, given the fact that you can find anything just hanging out there on the interwebs, waiting to be downloaded. But it’s not cool. Ever.

Plus, if you’re stupid and steal from the wrong person, you’re looking down the wrong end of a lawsuit.

The Point

Music can and will add an intangible something that helps your audio products hang together more than they do with just the dulcet tones of your own voice. Add some music and make it your own. The identifier will strengthen your brand, and help your audience instantly engage with every new product they purchase from you.

Do you have sources for purchasing bumpers? Share in the comments. It helps everyone.