This is my justification for using whatever music I want as long as it meets the criteria below:


This is a pull quote from MediaLaw in response to a question posed by a videographer

Music usage for wedding videos
By: MediaLaw Lawyer
Date: 5/22/2007 10:56:35 PM Member Since: 6/1/2006
State: NY
You obviously haven't found the "Romantic Legislative Protocol and Marriage Enhancement and Promotion" provision of the Copyright Act. In an effort to promote marriage, Congress enacted a little known exception to the Copyright Act, called the Fair Use. So long as the music is romantic in nature and not acid rock, heavy metal, surf music, anti-war, etc. videographers are okay in synchronizing sappy love songs and "our song" recordings. Nora Jones, Avril Lavigne and other performers who have changed their name are automatically covered. I'd add Bobby Vinton but I'd be showing my age.

The big question is; is the video for you or for your client? :)
I always ask my clients to give me some songs they like which I can choose from. There are many times I don't like their taste at all and often find that it's difficult to find a music piece that fits a certain mood but hey, it's their video, not mine, if they like chopin or death metal, I will try to make the best of it, which is what they pay me for.

OK, thread going off track here. Copyright and music has been discussed to death for 20 years. Basically in New Zealand, I pay a very small fee (around NZ$200 p/a) to the NZ Phonographic Performances Society, and also the Australasian Performing Right Association. This enables us to use many artists songs (Sony, BMG, Warner etc) in non-commercial, non-broadcast videos... with a special clearance for wedding videographers.

So that's not the issue for us. We're lucky here. We don't even have terrorists! :)

So..... back bringing this thread back on track, what's YOUR few favorite non-cheesy songs at the moment?

Hi Noa, yes me too. Unfortunately, they seem to have zero taste and just fall back on making choices off my standard library list of 100 most cheesy songs. Now, if I could flush out this list and renew it with some classy stuff like I see posted on VU forums, and some of the other top videographer demos I often see... they would surely appreciate this and my job would be more enjoyable, no? That's why I need to get song suggestions from what others have found good - people tend not to share their good songs though....

John,
Here is a clip I used. The first minute or so is from the movie sound track of Bridges of Madison County (Doe Eyes) with another song From Howie Day "Collide" in a wedding day highlight reel.

Other artists like Sia "Breathe Me" and Michelle Tumes "Lovely" are great if they match the video. This is usually how I determine the music is by the footage I capture. This takes a while to come up with music because I have to watch the clips a few times and then think about what I have just seen. You have to visuallize the video and music together...sometimes this stuff comes to me while I'm sleeping and then it wakes me up and then I have to go and right this sh*t down...I hate that when that happens.

www.bluestarvideo.com/files/video/gweday.wmv

Tom - beautiful!! That's the kind of suggestions I'm after! Very nice, classy, non-intrusive, uplifting tracks. The music can either make (or kill) a video. Those tracks rock. Cheers.

one of the most hated song at the reception for videographer or dj for that matter is

grease lightning , this car is automatic by john trovalta LOL

To make it in this business, it's not necessary to ask the client for music. I'm pretty much thinking about omitting that step all together. I guess it just depends on your style and what you are comfortable with doing.

For music, I go on to itunes and starting listing to music samples in the "soundtrack" department. I don't bother with the ones that say 'various artists' I instead go to the ones done by just one composer.

It doesn't hurt to think out of the box. I used a song last year by switchfoot "We are one tonight" It's not a wedding song in the least. But it worked for my video.