Musical soundtrack poll

[RonTheLogician]

Hey Danny,

I'm curious how much more people THINK they would pay if you added a musical soundtrack to some of your videos, hence this poll. (Obviously, it would be trivial to simultaneously publish musical and non-musical versions at different prices, reflecting the difference in licensing and editing costs.)

I began thinking about this again because of how you answered a recent question in one of your video logs. I think you were asked which (non-human) animal most reflects your personality, and you named the cow.

Curiously, the other year, when you were looking for a "post-FTV surname", one of the several suggestions I made (elsewhere) was that you become Danielle the Dairy Fairy - because of your beautiful, bounteous mammary architecture (besides which, you love cheese.)

In any case, if you ever did become a cow, I'd surely like to become a bull! This leads me to commend the following appropriate song by my retro pal Wynonie Harris. Enjoy him singing Keep On Churnin' (Til The Butter Come) here. I'll let readers imagine it as the soundtrack to an appropriate video of yours!

As a backup, if I couldn't become a bull, I'd settle for being an Arizona cowboy so that I could take TLC of you. Maybe that would make me look a little like this:

[Anoree]

Unfortunately, I see a couple of problems ahead if Danielle were to publish videos with soundtracks.

For one, good videos with soundtrack have a different style to them than "pure" ones. Apart from the difficult task to select an appropriate music theme, the video itself would need to get cut to the rhythm of the song. This can be done relatively easy if you use small snippets of different videos like I've done on my tribute videos (which I should pick up on creating), but is a huge challenge on videos the length Danielle creates. I'm sure Danielle could produce these videos in high quality, but it would be a long tedious process.

Another big part is Copyright Infringement. If you choose popular music as background to a video, you have to keep that in mind. It might be free for private / non-commercial use under special circumstances, but with commercial videos I'm sure you'll have the music industry on your back pretty fast if you don't license the soundtrack for distribution.
I used a couple of older songs for my free tribute videos to stay out of trouble, if possible. I didn't get problems (yet), but in some countries (especially Germany, where I live) the videos aren't available on YouTube anymore, just because of the music.

Last but not least, a big appeal of Danielle's videos (or FTV Girls' for that matter) for me is that I hear the genuine reaction or interaction. With a soundtrack playing, I see that getting lost. Dancing videos exempt, of course.

Other than that, I'd buy any and all videos Danielle appears in and I can get a hand on.

[danielle_ftv]

Originally Posted by Anoree

Last but not least, a big appeal of Danielle's videos (or FTV Girls' for that matter) for me is that I hear the genuine reaction or interaction. With a soundtrack playing, I see that getting lost. Dancing videos exempt, of course.

This is the main reason right here that I will not be putting music to my videos.

[RonTheLogician]

Originally Posted by Anoree

...a big appeal of Danielle's videos (or FTV Girls' for that matter) for me is that I hear the genuine reaction or interaction. With a soundtrack playing, I see that getting lost. Dancing videos exempt, of course.

Originally Posted by danielle_ftv

This is the main reason right here that I will not be putting music to my videos.

Well, guys, this is no different than for any other type of film. e.g. Look at any feature film (even musicals) of the hundreds you no doubt already know: you won't hear music playing all the time, but only when it is needed. You'll never hear Tara's Theme drowning out Clark Gable when he tells Vivien Leigh Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn! But you will hear music in isolation - or craftily overlaying speech at just the right volume - when appropriate.

Originally Posted by Anoree

Unfortunately, I see a couple of problems ahead if Danielle were to publish videos with soundtracks.

For one, good videos with soundtrack have a different style to them than "pure" ones.

I agree that cinema verite is a genre in its own right. But I was proposing a more polished style.

Originally Posted by Anoree

...Another big part is Copyright Infringement.

Not for a moment did I suggest undertaking piracy! That's why the poll proposal text explicitly cites licensing costs!

I regret to say I am so old that I was creating (documentary) film by the year Danny was born. And I've always scrupulously respected all intellectual property in doing so.

Originally Posted by Anoree

...in some countries (especially Germany, where I live) the videos aren't available on YouTube anymore, just because of the music.

The last time I checked, YouTube has deals with three of the four "super-labels," by which means the property of the first three are conditionally unmolested when posted. Sometimes the owner acquiesces to publication and takes a (very tiny!) fee generated by the ads, and sometimes the owner vetoes publication. YouTube's AI has signatures for the various recordings, which lets it do a good job automatically recognizing even small portions of extant works, making the police work very cheap. Given the harsh reality of life in the dirt-cheap-digital-storage age, labels should be grateful for YouTube, because at least they get something - rather than the nothing they'd get if all piracy was redirected into the shared storage, torrent, etc. world - which would also (sadly!) speed up the general public's education in - and use of - same.

Originally Posted by Anoree

..Apart from the difficult task to select an appropriate music theme, the video itself would need to get cut to the rhythm of the song.

Nope. Excluding musicals, film directors constrain the music to the action, i.e. their artistic vision. The musicians (and the actors and scriptwriters, too) work for the director - not the other way around. Granted, some directors are more liberal, and some more authoritarian. Please notice that music is very structured, so that even existing songs are easily and rapidly reworked as needed: e.g. you can snip out a couple of stanzas, loop them, and even vary the tempo (at constant pitch!) to fit any given interval of time. And all in a jiffy on a powerful machine - not like the Bad Old Days of videotape which I once endured.

Originally Posted by Anoree

...This can be done relatively easy if you use small snippets of different videos... but is a huge challenge on videos the length Danielle creates. I'm sure Danielle could produce these videos in high quality, but it would be a long tedious process.

I will agree that scoring film is an art, just like doing the cinematography. That's why the poll proposal text explicitly cites editing costs! And how much buyers would pay would determine how good a job was affordable: 2% solutions are very different from 50% ones; but both exist.

Well, Danny has vetoed the use of music, and so the discussion is over. But I remember reading she once taught dancing, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to raise the issue. By the way, I seem to recall that the (retired) K M already did Dancing With the Porn Stars - but I guess new episodes shot in Tempe are possible!

[Anoree]

I see now that you meant a whole different level of soundtrack than I meant.
You were talking about specially composed music that fits the (cut) video and supports the transmitted feeling, I was thinking of mere songs that get copied into or over the video. My bad, I'm sorry.

Specially composed music would be a totally different thing than what I wrote. I'd really want to see how that looks and sounds. Maybe Danielle can do an experimental / custom video with that and see how it turns out.

Production time and costs would explode on that, though, so I guess it wouldn't become the norm of videos here. I, for one, would be willing to wait for such a production - and to pay a much higher price for the product.

Oh, by the way, I hope it didn't seem like I bashed down all your suggestions. In fact, I really appreciate them. Maybe something evolves out of them over time. Thank you for posting them!