Yo I know this question has been asked many times before and I have googled it and read all the previous forum threads I could find on the subject. I'm asking the question again simply in case there is new possibilities I haven't heard of and because some of the previous answers were a little confusing. My question is how do I add music/songs to my commercial game considering that I don't own a band and couldn't play a note if my life depended on it? Nor can I afford to pay some well known artist label for rights to their music. I can barely afford food. My confusion over some of the answers I googled was in terms of some people thought it was okay to use just a tiny snippet of a commercial song while others said "no way, you'll go to jail." I tend to think the latter is correct. However, I do have questions. For example: Can I take a commercial soundtrack, minus the words, run it through a digital synthesiser to change it, then use the ouput in a commercial game? Commercial artists do this all the time, re-make other people's music and then sell it as their own (Fatboy Slim for example chucks it through a mixer and adds his own beat and rap over the top)? Otherwise... what is the solution? Is there free music on the net that can be used in a commercial game? Seems kind of unlikely that I'd find what I want specifically even if there was? Just looking for ideas because I'm up to the "adding sound and music" stage of my game development process. m0ng00se (NZ)

Quote:Original post by m0ng00se

Otherwise... what is the solution? Is there free music on the net that can be used in a commercial game?

Of course there is. There's more indie music out there than commercial one by a large factor.

Quote:Seems kind of unlikely that I'd find what I want specifically even if there was?

As the saying goes: beggars can't be choosers. This leaves you with 3 choices.
- Pirate the music and risk the wrath of RIAA (the usual infringement sum is only several million, and they're very active at enforcing it).
- Hire a band (possibly local) to record the music you want. Pricing will depend, might be free, might be the cost of studio, might be more
- Find redistributable/commercially licensable music online

Quote:My confusion over some of the answers I googled was in terms of some people thought it was okay to use just a tiny snippet of a commercial song

Fair use clause of IP law. It likely wouldn't cover what you want. That law is also in big state of flux right now, but what you want, simply isn't it.

Quote:(Fatboy Slim for example chucks it through a mixer and adds his own beat and rap over the top)?

You need permission or license. If the title is published by big name label, they won't even answer your inquiry.
Fatboy slim is not broke, has connections and rep in music industry, and is taken seriously.


For sound effects, there's large libraries and collections of commercially usable samples. Some of these may be free, others are affordable, ranging up to $1000 or so per CD.


Here's a perspective:
- You make your game and start selling it
- I don't have money, can barely afford food. Is it OK if I play your game just a bit. Just for a few days. Without paying. I'll stop playing it after that, I promise.

Quote:(I don't think any musician will allow you to use their music for free in a comercial game, but i might be wrong)

Just about every garage/indie band looking for exposure will gladly do it - the only problem is that they might not be up to it. But no, Elton John won't.


Look what introversion did. They used Demo scene mods, and Uplink had an incredibly fitting and catchy soundtrack. Uplink is purely commercial game, and those mods were almost certainly released without restrictions.

Thanx Antheus...

That was a very good informative reply that answered all my questions.

I guess the real answer you're telling me is that there are no free lunches out there and as you said "beggars can't be choosers..."

I sort of expected that it wouldn't be easy but no harm in asking the question. I shall go and research the Indie/garage music community and see what I can find out.

m0ng00se

Quote:Original post by m0ng00se

I guess the real answer you're telling me is that there are no free lunches out there and as you said "beggars can't be choosers..."

One thing I did not say however is that you will not find suitable music. There's lots of it out there. If you're willing to put the time in, you can find just what you were looking for.

Learn to play music. It's fun.

I'm sure it is and I'd love to but I don't have time.

I write code till I fall asleep then I wake up and carry on. Sometimes I forget to eat. Even stopping to go to the toilet totally hacks me off.

m0ng00se

Thanx Antheus...

You were right. I'm suddenly swamped in free music from

http://rcrdlbl.com/

and like you said... there's no shortage of what to choose from.

Yay! Another problem solved just like that.

m0ng00se

Quote:Original post by m0ng00se
Thanx Antheus...

You were right. I'm suddenly swamped in free music from

http://rcrdlbl.com/

and like you said... there's no shortage of what to choose from.

Yay! Another problem solved just like that.

m0ng00se

Careful:

Quote:Is the music on RCRD LBL really free?

Yes, you are welcome to download and enjoy any music we post on the site, provided it is being used for personal, non-commercial use. You can do things like make copies of the tracks and put them on all of your music-playing devices, burn them on to mix CDs for your friends, even use them in videos you make, as long as you're only doing these things for strictly noncommercial purposes.In short: we're happy for you to share our music, but you're not allowed to make money off of it. If you'd like to to use one of our tracks in any way that would be considered a commercial use, you must contact us first.

Yea but no matter what I do I fully intend to contact the people first and get permission or not use it at all.

So I was happy because at least I had music and contacts to negotiate with from that site.

Thanx for the warning though. I don't really expect anything to be completely free in this life. But at least you got me pointed in the right direction.

m0ng00se