If you are looking to find the best dramatic movie trailer music for your current or next film project, then really you have three choices in general:
- Create your own
- Have a composer create music for you
- Sync license music
Creating Your Own Trailer Music
Unless you are musically inclined, have the skills and the tools to accomplish this, then it’s not really a viable option. If you do have the skills and the equipment though, then this is possibly your very best choice. It will save you money, plus you get the satisfaction of creating both a movie trailer and film, as well as the music that drives it.
Having A Composer Create Music For You
This has some of the advantages of the first option, as in you feel like you are actually a part of the music creating process. Another advantage of this method is it will be done professionally and exactly how you want it. The obvious downside is it’s going to cost you some coin to hire a professional composer. Another thing to consider too is that not everyone can actually create what they hear in their head, and everyone has different ideas.
In many ways and for many reasons the third option on the list of three above is your best bet all round.
Music Sync Licensing
As a filmmaker you are probably already aware of what sync licensing is, but for those who aren’t, music sync licensing is purchasing a license to legally use a piece of music in sync with a film, video or other media and advertising. Different types of sync license for different purposes will generally cost different prices. Once you purchase a license you are then free to use that music for the specified purpose without any fear of repercussions.
Back to the subject.
Dramatic cinematic film and trailer music is abundant on the internet and so are the websites that arrange sync licenses. I will list some of the better ones, then talk about my favourite site a little.
Songtradr- Musicbed
- Premium Beat
- Pond5
- Audio Network
- Getty Images Music Portal
- Beatpick
- Seek Audio
There are plenty of them out there hosting many artists that create dramatic music for film and trailers.
The one major advantage of buying a sync license is that you can often find a piece of music that just works perfectly with your trailer. As musicians all have different skills and strengths and weaknesses, there will always be someone out their who can create exactly the sound you are looking for.
A second advantage to sync licensing is the price for the license will most likely be cheaper than what it will cost you to contract a composer to make your trailer music from scratch.
I Like Songtradr
I actually create cinematic trailer music and I love creating dramatic sounding tracks. So far my cinematic catalogue is small, but I will continually be expanding it. I sell tracks for licensing purposes on many of the above sites, but my favourite to work with is a relative newcomer to the scene – Songtradr.
What I like about Songtradr is their search function. It’s extremely accurate. And don’t let the fact that they are new fool you. There are loads of high quality tracks on the site; both instrumentals and tracks with vocals.
Their pricing structure is extremely fair as well. Artists have the scop to set their own pricing based on predetermined pricing models. New upcoming artists will tend to charge less than more seasoned professionals. Also, the pricing is tiered depending on the kind of license you are chasing; in this case a sync license for film.
I predict Songtradr to be the next big player in music licensing. Their site is uncluttered and easy to navigate, the quality of music in their catalogue is exceptional and their search functionality is second to none. You don’t want to spend weeks searching for that piece of music that is just right. Songtradr’s intuitive search will make that process so much quicker and rather easy.
If you would like to check out what’s on offer in my cinematic catalogue on Songtradr, just click on their logo below. If nothing of mine takes your fancy, feel free to browse their entire site. You are sure to find something to your liking.
Songtradr sounds like an interesting site along with the others that do the movie music. I really like movies, but sometimes it’s the soundtracks that are awesome. I appreciate that Songtradr took the time to make their website very user-friendly. I really liked the soundtrack to Space Jam. That trailer to that movie had some awesome music in it that made me feel like I had to go see it.What got you into composing cinematic trailer music ?
Hi Jason. you are right. often it’s the sound and the music that really makes a movie sound interesting; especially when it comes to the trailers.
Some friends of mine do movie music and trailer music for movies and video games, as well as some TV commercials. I got interested in it through them. It’s a lot of fun.