It never ceases to amaze me how we as professional photographers and "defenders of copyright" can so blatantly abuse the copyright laws by using copyrighted music in our slide shows and on our websites without proper permission.
For years, professional photographers have been fighting for their rights to copyright so that if someone wanted to use an image, the photographer would be properly compensated for it. Yet, almost every other website that you browse is using copyrighted popular music...Illegally.
I have heard the argument that some photographers and mis-guided instructors have made that it's "ok to do so, because we put a link to the bands website and give them credit for the song". SORRY. That does not make it ok. Do not fall prey to this teaching. It simply is not true. Sorry to be so brutally honest here.
Even if the band did the same thing to you ... used your images on their website and gave you credit for it and a link to your site... Without your permission, (which they wouldn't do) It's still a violation of copyright laws, regardless of how "stoked" it would make you feel.
There are plenty of songs that I would love to use on my web sites and teaching DVD's, but I choose not to because I don't have proper permission to do so.
Here is a list of a few sources for royalty free music. The prices range from around $30 - $300 per song, depending on their use. If you would like to add to the list, please let me know. I think it would be great to have a whole library of royalty free sources to choose from.
http://www.musicbakery.com/, http://www.sounddogs.com/, http://www.audiolicense.com/, www.incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free, http://www.freeplaymusic.com/, www.greatmusicshop.com/html/site.html, http://soundtrackarcade.com/, http://truetoneproductions.com/
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