Copyright is a hot topic and full of problems – even where you are matters! For instance, in Europe, copyright is 70 years from the death of the originator (composer, in this example). However, if you use a George Gershwin piece – who died more than 70 years ago, Youtube will flag it up as a copyright work – because there is another copyright in the recording, which may well still be current – hence why many adverts re-record the music themselves and then there is only the composer to worry about!
Copyright free music – something a Google search will help you with does not mean FREE – it means the composer doesn't mind you using it, but it may still cost. Some music, often advertised on forums like this is composed by people and they are happy to have it used – sometimes really for free, perhaps in return for a credit at the end – something you can't do sometimes!
If you watch youtube stuff, there is a huge spectrum of material being used, much is really quite unsuitable. If you were teaching a class in college, you'd tell the students that incidental music is intended to set the mood, evoke emotions and all that stuff – you also tell them that the viewer is not supposed to listen to the music, it's wallpaper. Anyone who regularly watches 'How it's made' hears the same music worldwide, with different country specific narration in local accents – but can anyone hum the music? I doubt it – but it's actually very cleverly put together. The notion that it could have been produced by a non-musician makes me smile. That said, one of my best paying pieces of music was 3 minutes of 'evolving' music to support images shot in a rain forrest. It was one note – that played a very out of the way programme on a very old synth that used vector synthesis – one of those totally useless sounds that you dismiss – but I remembered it, and for one note, held down for 3 minutes, it was a nice earner. It did, of course take me four hours to find!
The music must be appropriate. Ask questions – does it have to change texture, or style to hit a visual hit point? Maybe the tempos has to change? Auto music can't do these things.
If you need specific music, pay a musician to produce it for you, and the quality will be much, much better – and most won't charge a huge sum.
If it is not good enough to pay for, it's not good enough to use. If you must use library music avoid anything with a melody that is obvious – you don't want people remembering it,or waiting for the next repeat.
If you are not musical, maybe you're not the one to select the music? To you the track or auto-produced piece might be good, but to others it could be amazingly annoying, and you don't want that!
So – copyright free music might be expensive, or rubbish, or just plain wrong – or absolutely spot on!
It's very complicated – and you MUST read the rules on websites that supply it. Free may not actually be free?
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