Can't pay attention

So in my crusade to help folks improve their attempts at posting their self produced videos online, I figured I'd tackle another subject that annoys me. Of course it's in regards to audio. Do you see the pattern yet?!

This one is in regards to using music with lyrics. First off, if you are using commercially available music that you did not create yourself or obtain written permission to use, you are technically breaking the law. If you get caught, more than likely you'll be asked to take the video down or the online service you use will remove it. For some of you this may not be a big deal. For a company, well I would hope you had a legal department that would kibosh it before it ever made it online. But in case you don't like to listen to your legal, this would mean all that effort to create a video to showcase the new product that no one really needs would be removed from rotation. What a waste.

And for those of you about to yell out 'fair use', don't bother. Unless you're doing a video that compares the musical differences between polka and punk, it's not fair use. Even then it's a pretty grey area.

Anyway, I digress, the whole point of this is that lately I've been seeing some videos using music that have lyrics. What's so annoying about that you ask?! Well the vocals of these songs are right over interviews or voice-overs. If you really want to keep people's attention to what you have to say, don't bombard them with multiple vocal tracks.

Like I've referenced in a previous post, audio is very subconscious. What will happen is you'll have folks who may recognize that catchy tune you've chosen and will more than likely begin to listen to those lyrics. You've now just lost your viewer and the whole point of the video is...well, pointless.

How audio is used in videos, for some folks is an after thought. When in reality, the quality and care in your audio is what will make a shitty video great.