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Dr. Steve, our resident expert, answers all your questions about love, life, and videotape, in this library of helpful hints. This is wedding advice from a male perspective (with a little help from his wife). So pour yourself a cup of tea, pull up an ottoman, and let's have a chat.
Love notes
Getting Your Bridal Ducks in a Row
Realistic planning tips for a stress-free wedding.
Walk like an Egyptian style dance at a wedding
Everybody Dance Now!
Choosing music to compliment your wedding video while steering clear of legal issues.
... More articles coming soon!
Everybody Dance Now!
Q:    Dear Dr. Steve,
I'm a party guy and I love to dance. What kinds of music do you add to my wedding video?

Curious in Claremont

A:    Curious, you've come to the right place!

 
At MemoryLane4Us, we take our time to select just the right music for your wedding video. Music is one of the greatest things about watching any movie. It gives such amazing life and atmosphere to the scenes flickering in front of you.

Every couple chooses their wedding ceremony music carefully, whether it's the traditional "Bridal Chorus" by Wagner ("Here Comes the Bride"), or an inspiring classical piece like Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major." Of course, your reception music will also be carefully chosen, whether by a DJ or the band you hire to set your musical mood.

But how does a videographer choose the music that will go between these scenes, and bind all the various parts of the video together into a coherent and enjoyable viewing experience?

Choosing the music for your wedding video is one of our favorite jobs here at MemoryLane4Us. We find the best music to match the mood of those special moments, whether it's a bouncy bit of jazz, a quiet love song, or a perky tune that gets those toes tapping. We want the music we choose to compliment, not distract, from the precious moments of your special day.

But unfortunately we don't have the freedom to use the music you most likely want! Why? Copyright law states that no human on this planet Earth can use music in any video for any reason without having obtained a license for that music. As of this writing, those licenses for the music you are familiar with generally cost about $2,000 per song! That generally means that we can't put your favorite popular song in your video, unless you have the money to purchase the license. If we use music without a license you and we could be sued and fined, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. How long is a song protected under copyright? At minimum, 70 years after the author dies. Read more

Thus, the copyright system is corrupt and evil.

You may be thinking: Other videographers have no problem adding any music I tell them, how do they get away with it? The answer is: they don't. It's just dumb luck. All that has to happen is for someone to turn them in to the copyright trolls, and both you and they can ponder how to pay $20,000 for a three-minute song on YouTube. For example ...

If I were king, I would fix this mess by reducing the copyright lifespan to five years, and then the song is owned by the world. Here's a quote by John Lennon that sums up my view.

How do we solve this problem? Since we're not fans of courtrooms, we stay legal by using music that is licensed at no cost under Creative Commons. There's a wealth of great free music out there, thanks to excellent folks like Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. If you've watched our videos, you've heard his beautiful work. And there's free music available to suit any mood, such as a romantic piano tune for a groom's first look at his bride, or a rustic barnyard bouquet toss accompanied by banjos and fiddles.

When a scene is paired with just the right piece of music, it's magic! The film really comes to life, and it seems to pop right off the screen. That perfect match creates a timeless feeling that is so right, you can never imagine that scene without that music again!

With a smile and a song in my heart,
Dr. Steve
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Conga line with bride and groom leading