Search online to see the many music sites available that offer free music to fit your film. Most of these sites are easy to navigate and classify their music by genre so that you can get the most out of your music choices. A big stumbling block for filmmakers can be paying hefty royalties for music. Thanks to the Internet, there are numerous sites offering royalty-free music such as Freeplay Music, SmartSound, and RoyaltyFreeMusic.
Ask around, scan the classifieds and look at post-it boards at your local music and record shops. In every city there are lots of musicians eager to find an audience. There are many songwriters who would happily contribute to your movie and collaborate with you on it, simply for the experience and a credit in your film.
Visit any film schools and music schools in your area. There are talented people out there who want to make soundtrack music and need to start somewhere. Also check the notice boards, websites, and classified ads that schools use to match up their students with filmmakers.
Read the industry and trade magazines. Music magazines, especially national ones, contain lengthy and detailed classified sections that feature musicians and songwriters eager to make their mark and contribute to projects like indie films. Publications worth checking out for such ads include Alternative Press, Amp Magazine, Billboard and Rolling Stone.
Go to your local film commission office. Every major city has a film commission designed to aid filmmaking in the community, and many have websites, offices, and publications to connect people working in the industry. Contact musicians who are advertising or connected in some capacity with film commissions in the hopes that they can start scoring movie music.
Approach the musicians in your community that you enjoy listening to. It's worth your time to go to a few local live shows and approach the bands, offering them a credit and publicity in your film in exchange for their songs. This is particularly effective if it's a song the band already has recorded.
Get together with your crew and do a little brainstorming. You never know who on your team or in your orbit is a gifted cellist, guitar player or pianist. The solution might be right in front of you and you don't even know it.