For the most part, somebody looking for royalty free music knows exactly what they want it for. But every now and then you find somebody who is looking for something creative to do with it and can’t really come up with any interesting uses. Maybe they themselves want to create their own royalty free music for certain uses. In this article, I’m going to go over a few quirky things that you can do with your music that you might not have thought of.
Let’s begin.
Do you know what’s really big today and actually has been big for a very long time, at least since the invention of the cell phone?
Ring tones.
That’s right. Now a lot of places that sell ring tones are making some very well known songs available for them that are not in the public domain. By public domain I mean songs that are old enough that they can be used by anybody at no cost. The more recent and popular songs require that the seller of these ring tones play a royalty fee to the composer who wrote the song. That’s why you will notice that some ring tones come with a pretty hefty price tag.
Well, imagine creating or getting royalty free music for your own ring tones or to sell to others. It’s not a bad business model assuming you can come up with some ring tones that are interesting and that people will want to use.
Sound effect ring tones will probably be your best bet. They’ll be original for sure and if you make them unusual enough, could be a big seller. And if you’re using them for your own phone, could be a great conversation piece when your friends hear how odd they are.
I haven’t gotten into the ring tone business yet but I am thinking of doing so. Certainly if anybody wants a custom ring tone made, I will be happy to create one for them. Just something to think about if you’re interested.
Another quirky use for royalty free music would be for putting together a sound effects CD for other artists to use in creating their own material.
Many years ago, when I had my old analog recording studio and was writing pop tunes, I wanted to do a few songs that had real sound effects. I didn’t want to synthesize them. So I went out and bought these CDs that contained a number of effects such as horns blowing, dogs barking and so on. Now while these sound effects CDs wouldn’t be considered music, the concept is the same.
You would purchase royalty free music that was from the electronic or sci fi genre and use that music to compile your own CD for sale that other artists could use to create their own music. As long as you know that the sales you would make from the CD would be greater than the amount you had to pay for the songs, this could be a very profitable venture. Again, it’s something to think about.
What about if you own a restaurant? There’s this one restaurant that I go to around where I live called Red Lobster. I’m sure you probably have one of those in your area as well as I’m pretty sure it’s a big chain. Oh, by the way, they just got bought out so I hope the next time I go there the food is still good.
Anyway, while I’m eating there, I hear music being piped in over the sound system. It’s not a radio station because I don’t hear any DJs or commercials so it must be a compilation disk.
Now, these are well known songs that you hear on the radio, so these disks must cost a pretty penny. So imagine somebody created an instrument disk or royalty free songs (kind of like a muzak compilation) that was dirt cheap? Sure, there wouldn’t be any familiar songs but if the music was pleasant enough your customers would certainly enjoy it. Point is, this is yet another use for royalty free music that a lot of people wouldn’t think of. And if you’re a creator of your own royalty free music, this might be a target market you’ll want to pursue…the restaurant business. You never know what it might lead to.
And of course you could expand this idea to include bars, shopping malls or just about any establishment where there are customers and music would be something that they wouldn’t mind hearing. A doctors office really comes to mind here. I mean you know how boring it is sitting and waiting for your appointment. Some nice royalty free music just might do the trick.
Another great use for royalty free music is for people who are into meditation. Take a look at all the mediation CDs that are out there. Most of them are basic atmospheric electronic pieces kind of like early Tangerine Dream. This is a huge market. After all, we live in a very stressful world and a lot of people need to take some time out of their busy, stressful days to just relax. And what better way to do that than with a meditation CD?
In fact, I’m seriously considering compiling one and shopping it to some of the top meditation sites.
As you can see, aside from the more traditional uses for royalty free music such as music for movies, TV shows, plays, commercials, radio broadcasts, and on and on, there are a number of quirky and offbeat things that you can use royalty free music for. It’s just a matter of using your imagination and thinking of all the times in your life when you wished you had music available to you. Believe it or not, it’s more often than you realize.
Music is a part of our very souls. Some people don’t realize that, but it is. It’s the reason why some of the most moving scenes from movies throughout the history of cinema have the most moving pieces of music associated with them.
Music moves us. And because of that, there will always be a need for royalty free music even in the most unusual of places.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim