Production Music Licensing: The Why, The How, And The How Much

You may ask yourself: “So why can’t I use the guitar solo from Stairway To Heaven in this video I’m doing for Brand X Widgets and Sprockets. It would be really funny to contrast the dorky boss in his hard hat with something so intrinsically cool, and who is going to know about it anyway.”

Well, we hope you don’t think that way, because it completely ignores copyright law.

Not to get all Metallica on you, but music needs to be licensed for what are termed “synchronization” purposes, or the right to sync music to some type of video or film.  The reason there are so many production music libraries, (some, like the Organic Music Library, are awesome, some are not – like really, really not) is so that people like you – you being a producer, videographer, broadcaster, film maker or other media type, most likely very creative, a good dresser, and kind to your mom – can easily find and license very high quality music to enhance your work with complete confidence that you are legally cleared to do so.  When you hit the big time, the suits will make it very clear to you that this is a necessity. Nothing ruins a great premier like intellectual property violations. Think of your production music in the same way you would think of those groovy black jeans you are wearing; a commodity for which you shop and buy – you don’t just pick them up in the local GAP and run out the door when Skyler, the sales dude in the knit hat, goes into the back room to reprogram the Ipod.

Music licensing falls into that nearly impenetrable silo along with quantum theory, the secret to perfectly prepared steaks, and how did Ralph Kramden get a chick as hot as Alice. We’re here to decode the mystery….simply.

1: At one end of the spectrum, we have a traditional old school library, that offers great music with endless licensing options (and CD’s!!!) predicated upon this, that, the other thing, what you ate today, what you’re eating next Tuesday, the time of day, your blood type etc.. Each prospective usage scrutinized and labored over by teams of clerks in those weird visor hats and those things that make their sleeves all puffy. You will absolutely be sure of your rights – we think –but you, or your legal department may want to commit ritual Seppuku by the time you are done clearing the tracks.

2: At the other extreme, we have what we like to refer to as the “Production Music Sewer”. A grab bag, catch as catch can rat trap of unregulated, non-curated tracks sold for nominal amounts of money for any usage at all. Aside from the inherent risks of catching something toxic from these people, consider the endless aggravation of trying to sift through literally thousands of crummy pieces of “music” . Even the aforementioned Skyler can upload his oeuvre into these cesspools. (“Dude, I made it on my mom’s boyfriend’s PC”). The benefit of these places for those who don’t care about quality (we know that’s not you) is that they are generally completely Royalty Free – meaning you pay for it once, you own it forever and it’s legally clear.

Think of that: A Skyler original to underscore your latest work.

3: Then we have catalogues like the Organic Music Library, which tend towards the traditional model, but make legitimate licensing as painless as possible. This approach essentially defines the client and their types of usage when they register and creates an automatic license that accompanies each download.  This streamlined licensing protects the client forever, while still recognizing the rights of the writer and publisher of the music. It’s truly a win-win.

Got a question about licensing? We’re here to help.  Go ahead and ask us:

info@organicmusiclibrary.com

Organic Music Library Home Page

 

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“The Salahis have gone their Separate Ways” or “Don’t Stop Believing in Kidnappings”

Let us begin this emergency installment of the OML fail of the day by considering the apparent nearness of The End Times.  2012 purportedly brings with it some kind of cosmic uproar; but who could have imagined the rumblings would begin with the media emergence of airheaded sociopath and White House undercover penetratrix (that sounds so dirty-how appropriate!) Michaele Salahi and her scheve husband, Tareq.  To briefly recap for those who consider themselves above the reality TV fray: The Salahis became “famous” in the strictly Warholian sense, for sneaking into the White House as a part of a Reality TV show and actually hanging with the cool guy in chief. All this was set against a background of questionable business practices, unimaginable fashion improprieties, and generally uncouth behavior.

Essentially: they’re gross.

Over the past week, the Salahis have once again found a way to capture the attention of a weary nation.  Tareq put out the APB to the media world at large claiming “Michaele was missing” (if only) and had probably been “kidnapped”; this is the part of the blog wherein we would insert all those stupid internet acronyms like ROFL and LMAO if we knew what they meant. Well, it turns out the kidnapper was none other than our fellow musico Neal Schon, he of Journey and Santana fame.  Before we continue the evisceration, let the OML clearly state that no matter what we think of Journey as a whole, Neal Schon is a Badass and we love his playing. He’s a great musician and we should just end it there.

But we won’t.

Neal, seriously: WTF are you thinking dude? You’re Neal Schon. Sure you’re a bit grizzled at this point, and you were never too tall, but this chick is nuts. You could do better at any of the theme park cafeterias. We know, we’ve been there. Great Adventure waitresses rock.

In the meantime, Tareq has evidently “changed the locks” on the no doubt soon to be foreclosed upon family manse. Laugh if you will people, but the OML senses Michaeale will come slithering back very soon after Neal gets his prescription refilled.

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Production Music: More is not Always More


Michael Angelo Batio – Nitro Concert Clip (4… by Guitarf101

WOW! A four-neck guitar played by a warrior symbolically slaying the dragon with sheets of notes and riding off with the sonically exhausted virgin, his plectrum plunging through suspended steel as he grips not one, but four, count ‘em four, phallic symbols.  No….this is not an out-take from Spinal Tap. This is real. It is one of the best of examples we can find of today’s fail:  “More is More.”

How wonderful it must be to live in this world. Not a thought in your head about rhythm, melody or soul. Just a mission to grunt out pent up testosterone by playing as many notes as you can, as quickly as you can, switching from neck to neck with little tone variation AND….did you catch those pick-up configurations and cross arm moves? Kind of like having the loudest fart at a frat party. I suppose if the original Michelangelo had sculpted the Statue of David with the same attitude, David would have had a 12 foot erect member that would have smacked Lorenzo DiMedici on his royal thinker every time he walked through the Piazza on his way to the McDonald’s Di Firenze (we understand they Super- Sized the Cafe Lattes).

Pity the likes of poor Wes Montgomery who developed a style of expression with nothing but his thumb and his heart. If the man had four necks on his guitar (or at least three) and shredded like a cowboy, he would have doubled his income and been a shoe-in to bag Marylin Monroe. And,  just what was Neil Young thinking when he left his entire being on the line with his one note solo in Cinnamon Girl?  We demand a remix with a four neck guitar, really fast scales, and PLEASE… remove that soul immediately.

This concept of “more is more” is becoming much too common. Let’s look at the culinary world: Being the foodies that we are, we are perplexed by the necessity of things like putting cheese in pizza crust. Pizza Hut and their heinous ilk are guilty of many such crimes. We’re currently debating in which ring of Dante’s Inferno to place them. Their thought process: Cheese is good on pizza so, let’s shove it in the crust. We wouldn’t want any complexity in our flavors. A bite with cheese, toppings and sauce with a nice crusty finish. Nah…let the crust bust a cheese nut when the consumer bites into it after finishing the preliminary lead-in slab of way too salty cheese. We liken this to a plot in a film that has no climax or resolution. What’s next? Buffalo Wing Sushi smothered in jalapeno cheddar sauce on top of a burger bigger than your ass made with moose meat and you get a prize if you eat the antlers? And while we’re on the topic…when did the culinary arts become an extreme sport?  You can gussy up Bobby Flay and his pals all you want, with their arms folded and knives in hand, but we know they got their asses kicked on a regular basis. And please don’t mention Andrew Zimmerman. Seriously, don’t… he disgusts us. Why are you watching him eat bugs? What’s wrong with you? And what’s up with this war on how hot (spicy) you can make food? Forgive us for wanting to fill our collective pie hole with a nice, generously spiced chili, replete with complex seasoning and subtle flavors. Instead, we have to blow our heads off because some guy named Thor heard that ghost peppers were the hottest and he likes the way the barbed wire tattoo quivers on his bicep while he eats them. Heat is just one aspect of great seasoning. Making it the primary goal is well… like playing notes really fast on a four neck guitar.

More is not more. Great music and art are a fine blend of great ingredients. Not an overuse of one. People like John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix played with technical prowess and mixed it with soul. They played fast AND deep. The same can be said about production music libraries: Those that boast about having 50,000, 200,000, 8 million tracks etc. are playing the notes but not interested in the substance.  Trust us we know, there aren’t 500,000 great production tracks in existence, never mind in one library. More is not more. More gives you a headache. More gives you this guy:

Visit the OML

 

 

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The OML Fail Of The Day Monday August 22nd 2011-Vampires In Boxer Shorts & Cowboy Hats

So many fascinating things come out of Texas: Cowboys, Barbeque Sauce, George Bush, etc., it’s a veritable wonderland of American quirk. So it might not be so surprising to the open minded amongst you that Nosferatu is driving around Galveston in his pickup looking for a yummy midnight snack.

The intended food is apparently OK, and the OML wishes her well in her recovery. In our humble opinion, Good Old Boy Renfield needs to be confined to the nearest oubliette as soon as possible.

In the meantime, let’s hope all bloodsuckers from Texas keep their fangs to themselves.

Relevant Music from the OML:
Doom In The Wind

Rednecks On The Loose

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Dan Fogelberg is Dead?

We were having one of those “Whatever happened to…” conversations when the name of Dan Fogelberg came up. He was a favorite from the halcyon days of the ’70′s and frankly I really liked him (this is Peter speaking, Phil may have felt otherwise; he likes hockey).  This was a great, if a bit overblown cut, Nether Lands

I did a quick Google Search and realized he has been dead for four years.

Wait, Dan Fogelberg is dead?

Wow-cognitive dissonance on steroids. It somehow doesn’t register. It got me thinking about some other softer rock entities from my younger days that connect in my mind in some idiosyncratic way, and whether or not they have left this mortal coil. Searching further, I found some really sucky information.

England Dan and John Ford Coley

Wow- England Dan is gone too. Herein singing the fabulous (and harmonically adventurous) Todd Rundgren tune “Love is The Answer” (Tell that to Michelle Bachman, sorry couldn’t help it)

America

Damn. Dan Peek is no more. I loved these guys; the melodic kings of the major 9 chord. Sigh. Do we dare to continue?

Seals & Crofts

Mercifully, they are both well. Unfortunately, they don’t play together any more.  Trivia Note. England Dan was the brother of Jim Seals.

Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show

These cats must have been fun to hang with. The main guys are still around, the rhythm section is dead (in a literal sense, they grooved pretty well back in the day).  “Please Mrs. Avery…..

The great music of the seventies will never die. There’s always a need for melody and structured songs. Following is some relevant music from the OML. We keep traditions of quality alive:

Kim Simpson: The Beautiful Road


Chris Paul: Morning Motion

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The OML Fail of the Day: July 19, 2011 The New CNN Video Experience

We were about to lay waste to some knucklehead with 26 inch fingernails when the sheer amazement of the CNN redesign by Rube Goldberg left us nearly speechless.

Nearly.

Wow…awesome faux chalk doodles and options galore for those locked in a manic phase:

EXPLORE MUST SEE VIDEO – “Must See” video; now there’s an original concept. Someone should get that over to the marketing department right away. We could envision a network building an entire campaign on that.

VIEW CLIPS FROM TV – Awesome Mom!!! Do we get a decoder ring with that?

WATCH LIVE CNN TV – Thrilling Corporate Managers around the globe with this assist to employee productivity.

But now we get a little creepy:

Feeling hyper after your 23rd cup of Rockstar Sumatra blend? Not to worry, you can KEEP WATCHING ONE VIDEO WHILE BROWSING OTHERS. Thank the lord for that – we wouldn’t want to have to do anything that requires focus. It’s like peeing while you drink. So Cool.

Or just PREVIEW THE NEXT VIDEO ON DECK. Yes, that frozen glaze of stupefaction makes you the Joe Girardi (or Terry Francona) of News Video. They will obey your mighty decision process. Make sudden changes, run, hit, throw, steal…whatever – no one’s paying attention; least of all you.

And finally, in soothing, light blue, 7 point text, the link…

“I’m ready to dive in”

Yes you are. Too bad the pool is filled with concrete. But then again, you probably won’t notice.

The OML has great News & Business music and no crazy chalk drawings, click to hear.

 

 

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The OML Fail of the Day: July 13, 2011 Green Onions in Adult Diapers

Depends Comercial

Please follow the link above and view the video so that you can understand our frustration. Pay close attention to the underscore. Recognize it? Of course you do; it is “Green Onions” co-composed and performed by the amazing Booker T. Jones and his band “The MG’s.” So why does this bother us? Well , beside it being one less cue licensed from the Organic Music Library, we’re disturbed by the vandalizing of one of the most important pieces of American Music.

Green Onions was originally released as the B-Side of a single on the Volt Label but quickly moved to a breakthrough A-side on the cutting edge Stax label when the hit potential was recognized. Stax, and more specifically, Booker T. and the MG’s were icons for freedom and racial co-existence in the 60′s; it was a label run by males and females of black and white persuasions who shared all the responsibilities.  The MG’s were a 50/50 black  & white  4 piece band that broke the rules of segregation by simply being on the same stage .  All of this occurred in the Southern city of Memphis at a time when civil rights was not a welcomed topic in this region of the US.

Listen to the opening Hammond B-3 riff of this blues/soul classic anthem: within these three notes and the killer groove to follow we hear the freedom and rebellion that was becoming the underlying theme of the 60′s.

Our friends at Depends (no rhyme intended) have managed to reduce the meaning of a song of freedom, equality and rebellion, to that of a Mary Tyler Moore look-a-like  making it through an hour of grocery shopping without bodily fluid embarrassment.

While Booker T, Steve Cropper et al. are surely enjoying the residuals from this usage, we at the OML are upset. What’s next? A Viagra ad using Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up.”? How about Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” for a Hairspray commercial? Or Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” with lyrics changed to “Where Ya At?” for a cell phone commercial. You get the point.

Avoid the Fail
The next time you are conducting a music search, make sure that you are not defacing a musical artifact.  Know its history, and PLEASE…understand the relationship to your product.

Or to make it easy…. simply use the pre-cleared music at the OML.

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The OML Fail Of The Day, July 7th 2011: The Bud Lite Port Paradise Cruise

Wow- what’s better than a cruise ship filled with 1500 drunks from all over this fine land heading out to the high seas with unlimited cases of Bud Lite, questionable guacamole, and fancy cover ups from Wal Mart?

Why TWO cruise ships of course!

Yes, you along with 3000 of your newly closest friends can carouse and vomit to your heart’s content while swigging what may be the worst beer ever made around the clock or until you are hooked up to the IV feed in Sick Bay. You’ll rock to the sounds of a “Private Concert” starring……UH- WE DON’T KNOW AND WE DON’T CARE because we’re hammered and peeing on palm trees.

Dig Some Actual footage from a previous cruise-Awesome DUDE!!!!

Truly a prize to die for. One can only hope, as seems to be the rule these days, that potentially fatal E Coli vapors seep through the ship’s ventilation system forcing off shore quarantine and EXTRA DRINKING TIME.

Party On America.

Relevant Music From The OML? Yes believe it or not we have the perfect cue. Click Here

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FCP X is Here! It’s time for a change.

Final Cut Pro X is here, and even though it appears to be really impressive, it is not without controversy. This does not come as a surprise to us here at the OML.  This is not a slightly tweaked version of the already impressive program. It is a major overhaul of the original. It is the most drastic upgrade to date. Old school users are understandably dismayed by the iMovieesque interface and newly imposed limitations regarding disk export. However, keep in mind that Apple loves its high-end pro users and will certainly accommodate them as time moves forward. FCP X’s upgrades in raw power and usability make us think that it will go perfectly with the OML’s user-friendly, powerful and moderately priced music library.

We believe that over the next few weeks FCP X will not only please the most jaded user, but will also build on a whole new generation of users that will love the robust, easy-to-use, power it provides. So…treat yourself to a new copy of FCP 10 for your next production and while you’re at it….treat yourself to a fresh new collection of superior quality production music from the Organic Music Library. After all, what’s more liberating than a fresh new approach to something you are already comfortable with and good at?

Browse the Organic Music Library

Find out about Blanket Licensing

 

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The OML Fail Of The Day. June 17th, 2011- Canucks Run Amok

Are you kidding us?  Is this for real? In a city known for it’s media production, it could be the next epic scare fest from Spielberg and friends. YOU LOST A HOCKEY GAME YOU STUPID MORONS.  Are your lives so pathetic that you need to justify your existences through a whining team of athletes that think they should simply be handed the cup based on their stats? It is with deep sincerity that the OML hopes each and every one of the rioters gets identified, arrested, tossed in the slam (which in Vancouver, probably has  Whole Foods and Starbucks), and forcibly tattooed with the Boston Bruins Logo.

You guys really suck.  An EPIC fail, to be sure.

Relevant Music from the OML might have been sports related, but in this case, Battle & Aftermath seems more appropriate.

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