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If you have come across this article you might be a film soundtrack fan yourself and already know the importance of music in film.
We’ve all watched films like Titanic, Amelie, or The Godfather and have been blown away by their music score.
And the truth is, none of these films would be the same if they didn’t use music, GREAT music.
Have you filmed a short film and want to add music to it but don’t know where to start?
Well, the answer is very simple, it all comes down to your budget.
Most indie filmmakers have a tight budget or no budget at all for their short films, so options might seem restricted.
But the truth is they don’t have to be.
Over the years I’ve been able to get great music tracks for free either by finding people who were passionate about my projects and wanted to collaborate with me or getting tracks from websites with Royalty-Free music.
But because these are not the only options available, let’s explore them one by one.
Getting a song license
If you have a specific song you want to use in mind, have a fair budget, and are willing to negotiate, you could get the rights to use a well-known song in your short film or doc.
But I’m not going to lie to you…the process will be difficult and costly.
First, you’ll need to get the artist’s permission to use their song in your film.
This doesn’t mean you try to reach them directly via Instagram, Twitter, or any other social media platform.
You’ll have to contact the artist manager and discuss the clearing of master rights, the artist’s permission, publishing rights and negotiate payments.
Depending on how famous the artist and the song is they could come up with a bill of some hundred dollars or even amounts from $2000 to $20000.
Although, getting a song license for your film doesn’t have to be that costly if you play your cards right you need to be aware of what’s at stake.
If you are lucky enough to get in touch with an artist’s manager and negotiate a song license, you can always tell them the truth and work around your budget.
They’d always try to get as much money as possible, but if you’re smart and have a good proposal in mind you might still get your deal.
Remember business is still business, even when it comes to film and the most important part for each party is to close a deal.
Contact a local artist
For those of you who like the idea of getting a band score for your short or documentary film but don’t want to go through the hustle of chasing managers and dealing with costly song licenses, there’s another way.
Sometimes, when we start out in the world of filmmaking we forget there are thousands of artists who are also newbies in their own disciplines.
And the same goes for musicians.
As well as us, indie filmmakers, new bands are eager to collaborate on projects and get seen or promoted by different art forms.
This is a great opportunity for you to expand your collaborator’s list and get in touch with some local bands or musicians that you admire.
I’ve done this a couple of times and I loved the experience.
If you are a bit ashamed or feel like you would be asking for a favor from a complete stranger you need to understand one thing.
People are more than happy to collaborate with projects that speak to them and if they are passionate enough about yours they’d gladly give you a song license for free.
You can also reassure them that you will include their collaboration in the film credits and promote their work in your social media campaigns.
That way everyone gets rewarded for their work, even if it’s non-profit.
Hire a composer
Working with a composer to create your film score is one of the most exhilarating things you could do.
They will give you the opportunity to include your creative input on how the music comes to life and will ask for feedback on each rough track.
If you’re worried because you feel you don’t know enough about music don’t.
It’s not like you would need to tell them the specific notes, instruments, or music beats they need to achieve in the song.
Having a deep conversation about the feelings and emotional message you are trying to convey with the film should be more than enough.
For one of my short films I worked with a cellist and created my short film score with her.
All I knew was that I didn’t want the music to be too literal and induce specific feelings into the viewer so I told her to keep it as abstract as she could and come up with a bunch of simple notes that she could stretch and combine with each other.
When I started receiving the first rough compositions and wanted to do some changes to the score I would mimic the sounds I wanted to get and refer to certain notes as “ the really high pitched one” or “the low sinking note”.
And you know what? At the end of the day, we ended up having a few laughs and understanding each other anyway.
If you consider yourself a musical person or have a specific instrument or type of music genre in mind, by all means, be as specific as you want.
But again don’t worry too much about how to communicate with your composer, remember they are the experts in their field, you don’t have to be.
You can find a music composer in most film-related Facebook groups.
Professional ones could charge you $500-$1000, the reason for this is that they usually don’t work for a film credit and they need to make ends meet.
However, don’t be afraid to negotiate or ask them for a sample.
Contact newbie music composers or people who play an instrument
The music composer/ cellist I mentioned previously was not actually a professional one but someone who played cello as a passion.
I got in touch with her through a common actress friend who played cello professionally, she was one of her students.
Even though she had never composed music for a short film before, she fell in love with the project and agreed to collaborate with me for free.
It was with all honestly, one of the greatest experiences I’ve gone through so far while directing a film.
I could not have been more proud of the soundtrack we came up with and enjoyed the process massively.
So there you go, searching for new talent is a great way to get collaborators and free music for your short film and documentary.
But not only that, but it can also mean that you end up having an amazing soundtrack with very few resources and no money.
Sometimes new talent doesn’t mean “not capable to do the job”, on the contrary”.
There are millions of gems yet to be discovered.
Paid Music Platforms
Premium Beat has a huge music library for you to choose from.
The songs are broken down by genre, mood, duration, beats per minute, and instruments.
The artists will leave a stem file rather than a finalized song that you can then alter to suit your film.
Premium Beat will charge you licensing fees on a per-song basis.
They have a standard license of $59 per song as long as your project is not commercial and will only cover you to a certain extent.
If you sell a certain amount of copies for your short, you’ll then need to become a premium member and pay $199.
Artlist is a super user-friendly platform to get music licensing for films and videos.
It is also broken down by genres, moods, instruments, or themes and you can even shortlist your Artlist by looking for a specific tempo or only vocals/ instrumental songs.
Their pricing is much more affordable and they have a free trial version.
They have 3 annual or monthly plans ranging from $12-$25.
They also have a 14-day money-back guarantee on all plans.
Check the website.
Free Film Music Platforms
If you have already spent most of your budget on the production of your short or documentary film and don’t have any money to spare on the music you can still get some copyright-free tracks from the websites down below.
I need to admit I have gotten some good enough tracks for some of my animations from this website.
Kevin McLeod has been running Imcompetech for years composing and gathering copyright free music for the public.
However, even though the music there doesn’t cost anything to use you must credit any songs you used in your project.
You’ll need to credit each score individually under the Creative Commons licensing requirements.
If you’re not up for this the website also offers you the option to pay for a song license. One song being $30, two $25 each, and three or more $20 each.
This is a really extensive library where you will be able to find any type of song and even sound effect.
Youtube Audio library features cost and license-free music. A few tracks are licensed under Creative Commons and require a film credit but most of them have no attribution rules.
In order to stick by the rules always read the description of the song and make sure you are crediting the artist properly.
All you need to access the youtube Audiolibrary is a Google account.
ccMixter has a solid music library to search in. Once again it operates under the Creative Commons music licensing.
Independent artist uploads their work into these platforms in the hope that some indie filmmakers credit them and they get their name spread and hopefully some recognition.
That is why crediting the artist’s work in your film is not only a nice thing to do but a must when working with Creative Commons music.
This platform is not as broad as the ones mentioned above but still a good shout to look for free music.
Last but not least FreeMusic Archive is a platform with both copyright-free Creative commons music and premium content.
At the end of the day, all you want is finding the right music for your short film so you can always search through all of these platforms in order to find your perfect score
If you want to learn more about their services head over to their website.
Conclusion
There are many more copyright free music websites that you could gather your music from. However, with the tips listed above, you should now feel confident to find the perfect score for your short film and documentary.
At the end of the day, your film’s budget doesn’t really matter if you play your cards right and look for the right people and in the right places.
So… what now?
Well go ahead and start looking for the perfect soundtrack for your film!
When it comes to getting the right score for your moving image the sky is the limit so keep in mind the emotion you want to evoke and your film’s main theme.
You have all the information you need now so eventually you will find the perfect song, I’m sure of it.
Want to share how you found good music for your short film? Leave us a comment below.
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