What are the pros and cons of using royalty-free music versus original music in your film?

As a producer, filmmaker and as a composer the choice is a key creative decision that has to be made during the development stage with the director and producer. It is important to know that music as in a song either pre recorded or written for the work is not the score. The score is written to the edit as it is timed but also collaborates with any effects Foley or wild sounds. It also requires the dialogue/ narration to be present. The producers job is to establish the licensing, the hiring and the affordability. He also insures in post production the proper syncing of all the audio elements. For example we have a spotting session together once we have picture lock the whole piece is viewed stopped, started and discussed with the team.

Royalty free music may represent a risk as it's, usually, too generic and designed to be used in as many productions as possible. You will miss the opportunity to add to your film its unique emotional fingerprint that would stand above an average production and, you'll still pay money for it. On the other hand, a poorly executed, commissioned, score may damage your film even more. Ultimately, this is a topic that shouldn't be taken lightly as it can make or break your film.

From a producer's POV, royalty-free music offers convenience, but it's a gamble and still requires money & time/uncertainty cost in the manipulation of making it "work". I've observed that trusting composers' creative instincts often yields better results for audiences. It's tough for royalty-free to compete with passion and visual closeness etc of the project; well, on some films more than others. It is generally more cost-effective, though licensing and legal concerns mentioned above will be gone shortly so that saves some money - this is assuming its use is widely challenged by generative music model. They are decent & have very liberal legalities as I've seen so far. Which may pressure the royalty co.s to cut costs in turn. Who knows?

Pros : you don't have to create any piece. Cons : you don't have to earn from that video. I prefer original music if you are creating something valuable and want to monetize it. You will loose so much rather than earning from it. Be original, use original.

La música en un film es una actor fundamental para contar la historia. Al componer música original nos aseguramos de que coincida con la esencia del mensaje que se quiere transmitir, con el color, la textura y el ambiente necesario para que todo funcione. No creo que se logre eso con música libre de derechos que fue compuesta previamente.

As a composer who's scored a number of shorts and features, I can't stress how important it is to set proper expectations when discussing the possibility of an original score. If you aren't going to be able to pay much then you can't expect the composer to do revision after revision for no additional cost. You need to accept what they offer and make it work if you can't afford to pay them more. If you aren't sure what kind of music you want, show the composer your film and have them offer suggestions and examples and commit to something before they start working. Do not suddenly change directions on a whim half way through the scoring process, especially if you aren't offering additional compensation for the composer's time/expenses.

Being a music composer with some experience in cinema, for me, a film is written several times. After the script, the shooting, the editing, the music gives an additional reading to the film and adds other elements (emotions, implication, reminiscences, etc.) to make it a 4th writing of the film. The composer is therefore an author in the strict sense who intervenes through his art, his talent and his profession in the service of the film and in line with the ideas of the director and sometimes the requests of the editor. This artistic partnership, this à la carte creation in order to achieve a global cinematographic work will be lost if we replace them with situational music banks, or pre-existing music or even AI.

Other than licensing a pop song that fits a particular moment, Original music is best case scenario. Just need to find the right fit with the composer.

From the experience of being a producer and a director, I feel music is one of the most essential elements of a film. It creates, enhances, and manipulates the emotional trajectory of a movie. The same creative control that the filmmaker exercises over the visual aspects must also be exercised over the audio elements. For whatever video content I produce or direct, I personally prefer to stick with the original score. However, the director and producer can consider using royalty-free music if it's a small production or production that is completed at the client's request, such as corporate films or promotional content for an organization. However, original music completes the audio-visual content's creative circumference.

As a video editor, I often come across the need to use royalty-free music for editing promotional videos or other social media content. I have noticed that people tend to have similar taste in music, so it is not uncommon to hear the same music being used in different ways by other creators on platforms like Youtube. This can be a helpful resource, but if you are looking to create something unique or working on a feature film, it is best to use original music and only use royalty-free stock music as a placeholder.

Music is so subjective and can often becoming a sticking point, slowing down the post-production process. I’d recommend considering the project’s music from the outset. Make sure it’s covered in briefings and treatments and not left to the end.

I think that working with royalty-free music is anti-artistic; it opens the door to nonsense where real meetings with filmmakers have gone. Some will go towards Ai and it's not a question of budget... Before there were fewer films but more quality and more real artistic collaboration

In my personal opinion: as music is - like everyone claims - such an important piece in the puzzle of getting a great product in the end, the people who create these important pieces should be respected and valued. Royalty systems have been founded to support authors and artists for the work they do. Of course you can go the cheap an easy way, even let an AI do the job (based on everything, that artists created before it), if there is just no budget for it. But the big question is: why is there so often no budget for it?

If you are licensing RF music, remember that hundreds or thousands of others may have used that same track. (this was my motivation for creating my boutique library)

As AI/ML advances, including music and sound, it's uncertain what audiences will tolerate or detect. Composers' creative touch should remain valuable in 10 years in the eyes of all I think. Real or de facto vertical integration is likely to return first, with power dynamics continuing to shift. Streamers are buying soundstages and would be stupid not to. Could be wrong but individual creators and indies have a 5-10 window & yes should use whatever possible as an edge. When tech runs the show it will be less opaque and low risks of near-AGI having dominance in production could attract another heyday of capital, prompting competition for cost-plus and its streamers. The downside is that all control becomes highly concentrated once again.

GarageBand, Logic Pro, FL Studio and Audacity, including software with sound banks, templates, loops and sequences. They are more suitable for current music, pop, fusion, sound design, but for orchestral music, you need to use digital score editors such as Sibelius, Finale, MuseScore, Cubase, Flat, Gsharp, etc.

For small "batch music" that is not over used, I will point you to Jcazmusic. There is instrumental score, instrumental songs, and a growing number of songs with vocals. All of the popular and well traveled sites listed to the left can be good resources as well. Just keep in mind that the music tends to be used by many, many productions.

If you don't have staff/budget for clearances, use original music. Why? (Unless your concept needs current or nostalgic songs) go original as the time/effort it takes to license one piece of music can be long and very involved: (composers rights, performance rights, publishers rights, etc. Plus, multiple band/group members may have to negotiated individually. Then, one band member says yes, another no. Crazy example. Many moons ago, I was heading up a team getting music rights for several documentaries. Once short piece the director wanted was from India. One of the team yelled over, "The guy in India wants $2,000.00" I thought a moment and said, "Offer him a $100.00." Short pause. Then he said, "He said OK." One never knows, do one.

Consider too it’s not necessarily an either /or choice. You might go for original music for the titles or a major theme and royalty free for fills and mood.