There are a myriad of online music libraries available, with instant access for auditioning and downloading music. There are a variety of ways music is licensed by different libraries, and a wide variety of how they charge their fees (and pay their composers).
Some of the many considerations for choosing library music are:
- The role(s) the music will play in supporting the story or message
- Audience demographics
- The musical style, instrumentation and tone that best supports your program
- How you want the music to effect the audience’s experience
- How the the pacing and fullness of the musical arrangements works with the visuals and/or spoken voice
Once you have narrowed down your choices, there are still other considerations: Is the piece long enough? If not, is it interesting enough to survive lengthening it by looping? What kind of changes happen throughout the piece? If there is a section that all of a sudden doesn’t seem to work, can you work around it? How does the piece start and end?
If you need assistance searching for, editing and/or licensing production music, feel free to contact me – I’d be happy to help!