Recently, I spent a few hours researching Charlotte Area Listings to get a gauge on how many Real Estate Agents are making use of full motion video (specific findings in a post to follow). The quick answer is, not many.

What I did find surprised me! Over 3/4 of the agents that ARE taking advantage of their own produced Video Tours and slide shows are using copyrighted music from famous artists as a backdrop for their work.

AGENTS — DO NOT do this! Even though you think that “Carolina on my mind” by James Taylor makes for a perfect backdrop to a Carolina home — resist the urge to use this [copyrighted] music. I’m sure the agents doing it don’t have a clue they are doing anything wrong but they could be getting a call from a record label attorney.

The solution for this is to do a Google Search for “Royalty Free Music” and go to one of the sites to get your music. Now, I will warn you – this is a time consuming process. If you are diligent, you will have to cull through hours (if not days) of music to find just the right songs you like to set as the backdrop to your tours. Then – you have to pay (yes – PAY) for the music. And it’s not cheap. One song can cost you 30-50 bucks. BUT — Once you buy the music, you are free to use it (even for commercial purposes) and you won’t have an angry record label attorney on your phone.

At Amazing Video Tours we only use royalty free music for our Realtor and seller clients. We have spent weeks on these royalty free sites picking out just the right music for each home we do a video on. We don’t want to get sued – and we certainly don’t want our clients getting sued. You shouldn’t either! Good luck making those videos. If you get frustrated — call us!