Many new tracks have been added to the catalog at Royalty Free Music Library over the last few months. In addition, the site has some new navigation updates that makes perusing music even easier. Check it out!

		by Brian Beshears

The guys over at SmartSound have come up with yet another great idea - a Final Cut Pro plug-in that works seamlessly with the SmartSound software.  Here’s a blurb from their press release…

With the release of SmartSound’s new Final Cut Pro plug-in, editors will be able to set markers or in/out points in their video sequence and use the Sonicfire Pro 5 “Send To” button to automatically deliver custom-fit music tracks within any of their markers. Once a SmartSound music track is in Final Cut Pro, the “Open in Editor” command will allow full roundtrip editing of the track. Editors can use Sonicfire Pro 5 to resize the music or use Mood Mapping and Timing Control features to adjust the timing of the music to their markers and even change individual instrument levels before sending the changes back to Final Cut Pro for immediate review, all with a few clicks of the mouse.  http://www.smartsound.com/finalcutpro/

In the coming months, we will have some exciting news regarding a joint project between Prolific Arts Music and SmartSound.  Stay tuned for more details!

		by Scott Meath

Back in 1982, Sony and Philips Consumer Electronics changed the media world as we know it by releasing the first compact discs to the buying public. I still remember the first CD I bought, and while I still have a fond place in my heart for vinyl records and large format album art, my listening future was changed that day. In the same way, it must have been a glorious day when production companies no longer had to receive their music on albums. CDs forever changed the way the production community worked.

The question in 2009 is “Have CDs gone the way of records?”.

When Mediatone Music was acquired back in early 2007 our customers, while beginning to download music more frequently, were still choosing to have much of their music delivered on CD.

Fast forward to the 2009 launch of Royalty Free Music Revolution and Radical Music Library: To manufacture, or not to manufacture. That is the question. We decided to manufacture. Thus far, our customers (and our sales data) tell us we made the right decision. Without question, CD delivery is gradually giving way to digital delivery, but for now, the production community still likes to have a choice.

So I’ll pose the question again. “Have CDs gone the way of records?”. If you look around at the new crop of music libraries opting to offer their songs via download only, the answer would seemingly be “yes”. Seemingly. I can’t speak for everybody in my industry, but my best guess is that this is not a customer driven decision, but rather a desire to avoid the hefty expense of CD manufacturing and force the customer to adapt.

No doubt, the time is coming where CDs will join vinyl and cassettes on the endangered media list, and when that happens, perhaps we’ll open a retail store specializing in shiny frisbees and coasters. But we’ll let the customer decide when that time comes.

-Scott Meath Read the rest of this entry »

		by Brian Beshears

The definition of the term Royalty Free Music seems to be an ever evolving one.  Lately, I’ve been monitoring Twitter for dialog on the subject and see some new misunderstandings floating around out there.

I agree that it is a slightly confusing term and not the optimum label for what we do.  In truth, back in 1999 when we started our last music company, the term Royalty Free was just making its way into the music space.   Originally, the term was used in the Stock Photo industry, as it is today.  For them, Rights Managed - meaning pay a license fee each time you use the photo, and Royalty Free - meaning, pay a single license fee to use the photo in as many applications as you like.  A lifetime license, basically.  

In the Music Library industry, our “rights managed” equivalent is called a Needle-Drop, Laser-Drop or a Per Use License.  So, when some music libraries started offering lifetime licenses, I imagine it seemed logical to do as our sister industry (Stock Photos), did….call it royalty free!  This created some confusion obviously since the word “royalty” has additional and very important relevance to music unlike photos and footage.  With our last business, we made some effort to try to steer the production music industry away from this term by using phrases such as “Lifetime Synchronization License” and the more common, “Synchronization Buyout License”.   We, of course did not succeed.

 In a future post, I’ll go over some of the misconceptions that this confusion has created.

Today, we have a huge influx of beginning videographers who first learn the technology of video production and later learn the business of video production.  It’s a slippery slope when you are dealing with intellectual property and copyright laws.   Many of todays newbies to the industry are under the impression that Royalty Free music is “Free Music”, and are surprised to learn that there are license fees to use it at all.

We chose to use the term Royalty Free Music in many of our domains and brands because the term has become quite popular.  It simply means, pay one synchronization license and continue to synchronize it in as many productions you like, in perpetuity.

		by Scott Meath

A recent study conducted by members of the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society in the UK (MCPS) showed that of the 13 million songs available for sale on the internet in 2008, more than 10 million failed to find a single buyer.  In other words, the majority of revenue was generated by the much smaller minority of “hits”.  The results of this study pokes holes in the popular theory that a massive selection of diverse and specialized tunes, though individually less popular, will collectively outsell the mainstream hits.  Apparently, if you record it, they will not necessarily listen.

What does this mean in terms of the royalty free music industry and more specifically sites like Royalty Free Music Revolution and Radical Music Library?  I’m glad you asked.

Honestly, it confirms what we have always believed.  Quality and usability are FAR MORE IMPORTANT than quantity.  In our past music library endeavors, the 80/20 rule was certainly in effect, as I suppose it is for most music libraries.  A small minority of the catalog generated the majority of the licensing revenue.

The lesson to learn?  Don’t be suckered by music companies who brag about their 50,000 tracks or 80,000 tracks.  In fact, the more tracks they have, the more sub-standard music they probably have.  Quality production music does not grow on trees.  It comes through the hard work of composers and producers who sweat for the art they are passionate about…and than cannot be measured in numbers.

- Scott Meath

		by Brian Beshears

Scott and I have been spending a little time each day since our new launch to reconnect with some past customers/friends. It’s great to get caught up with what’s been going on in the industry and to get valuable feedback on our new products. I have also found very interesting, hearing some opinions and perspectives on our competition as well as the effects of the economy on the production industry.

The ever consistent subject that rises to the top is Underscores. This demand for underscored content has been a mainstay for as long as I have been in the business. My first realization of the importance of underscores began when I was working for Firstcom Music in the 90’s. I had the pleasure of working closely with a new library they launched called OneMusic. This was a split track concept - every song split up into 4 stereo submixes. While in the field, I found that a very common method of utilizing this library’s unique strength, was simply to use just one or two of the submixes. In other words, very reduced mixes - underscores.

Since that time, I have focused much of the production I create or steer to behave this way. Over time, we discovered that a good underscore track does not necessarily have to have a minimal amount of items in the mix, but it certainly needs to behave that way.  This time around, we created a category called All Purpose Beds - another take on this concept.

Of course, not all production music needs to act this way. Music needed for promos for example are often quite the opposite. While we have some content that is very appropriate for this use, it is certainly not our core focus.  My favorite promo library is VideoHelper.  Stewart Winter, Joe Saba and their team have mastered this art. Plus, they are all just great people over there.  Promo music is all they do, and they do it really well.

I’ll have more to say about other topics from these  great reconnections with our long time friends in the industry.  Thanks for all the feedback everybody!

		by Scott Meath

As many of you know, the Prolific Arts initiative to solve the world’s problems one song at a time involves a gradual roll out of 4 different websites and multiple catalogs of royalty free production music.  We are proud to announce that during the wee hours of the morning, we launched the second phase of the plan.

Radical Music Library is a unique offering for the world of production music users.  Unlike any other royalty free offering, Radical has focused all of it’s creative resources into a cutting edge catalog with “indie” attitude.  This is not the place to come if you are looking for typical easy listening tracks.  The initial 40 CDs in the catalog are a mix of hardcore, edgy, dramatic, avant-garde fare.

Over a year in the making, the Radical Music Library boasts a very exclusive list of composers with an impressive list of television, film, and advertising credits.  In addition to movies like Cloverfield and Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the list of credits includes shows like Ugly Betty, The Shield, Saturday Night Live, Monday Night Football, Monk, and MTV’s Pimp My Ride.  Advertising credits include the likes of Bud Lite, Ben & Jerry’s, Frito-Lay, Nokia, NFL, NBA, NASCAR, and more.

While you’re digging around the site, check out some of the amazing orchestral material.  You’ll be glad you did.
-Scott Meath

		by Brian Beshears

We have over 150 composers that have contributed to all of our music libraries here at Prolific Arts. Many of them have a long, impressive list of credits. It was just brought to my attention that one of our contributing composers recently co-wrote a song with The Pope. No, that is not some new rock band. I seriously mean - the Pope.
Before Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, he began writing poetry during his years as a quarry worker, playwright, actor, seminary student and priest. The recently released CD - Amore Infinito, features songs from a small group of composers who adapted some of Pope John Paul II’s work.
Jeff Franzel, co-wrote the first song on the CD, “La Tua Semplicita” and is sung by both Placido Domingo and Josh Groban. I’ve seen some impressive credits, but thats just not one you see everyday! Great job on the song Jeff! It’s beautiful.
Jeff did our Solo Piano: Positive CD and adapted the songs on our Lifestyles: Hymns CD along with Steve Skinner.

		by Scott Meath

Social media is new to me.  It’s not that I’ve been unfamiliar with the likes of Myspace, facebook, and twitter, but until very recently I have held off on getting personally involved.  Perhaps I’m scared of committment?  Now that we have launched our new music libraries, we are in the process of firmly weaving our company into the social media fabric.

This brings up an interesting topic:  How involved should businesses be in the social media arena?  Are they simply inviting themselves into a party for which they lack a fancy gold printed invitation?  I think not.  Tom Smith, founder of Trendstream wrote an interesting post “Why We All Benefit From Big Brands Being in Social Media”.  He makes some observations regarding corporate transparency, quality, customer service, and the customer/service provider relationship.  I encourage you to check it out.  It is my hope that Prolific Arts would be able to foster the kind of community here that ultimately benifits the customer in all of these ways and more.

-Scott Meath

		by Brian Beshears

It’s not at all surprising.  Another new music library company has entered the scene.  Actually, not one, but four new libraries.  This is an interesting time in the media production world.  Advancements in technology, screaming fast computers, and a quantum drop in the cost of audio and video recording/editing equipment has resulted in a low barrier to entry and a mass of new video and audio companies.  Production Music Libraries are no exception.  Over the last 2 years I have often monitored the web just to watch them appear.  It seems like every month there is a new one popping up.  When I first entered this industry in 1994, I could almost count on both hands the number of truly relevant music library companies.  Today, there are so many I wouldn’t even bother to count them.

In 1999, Scott Meath and I, started Mediatone Music, Inc.  At Mediatone, we created Blue Fuse Music, Studio Cutz Music Library and NoiseFuel.  It was a fascinating and fun journey that taught us some valuable and sometimes, very expensive lessons.  Most importantly, Scott and I found over time that we have become completely and irreversibly passionate about the Music Library business.  This explains why we have returned, and why the post - New Beginnings.

In January of 2007, Mediatone Music was acquired by JupiterMedia, who has been operating our previous catalogs since that time along with a few others.  Just recently, JupiterMedia sold off their JupiterImages division ( and our old catalogs ) to the stock media giant Getty Images.  Two years later, our painfully long No Compete agreement has terminated and we are happy to announce that we are back!

So does the production community need another music library?  Four more?   I don’t truly know how to answer that.  What I do believe though is that there is always a need for top quality production music, and an even greater need for new, current and fresh content.  Our initial goal with Prolific Arts and its various libraries is to first set ourselves apart from other Royalty Free Music offerings with -  quality.  There are many Royalty Free catalogs out there that boast an enormous amount of tracks and selection, but they are unfortunately usually exaggerated and/or include content that is over 10 years old.  Even over 20 years old.  So, in our New Beginnings, we’re thrilled to announce that we are launching with 169 CD’s.  All of which were put together in just the last 18 months!  That is over 2000 individual song titles.  …and no, I won’t count the edit tracks in order to inflate the numbers.  Why do some libraries do that?  Either way, this is a very sizable initial offering of fresh new content, especially in the Royalty Free arena.

Both Scott and I are admittedly and embarrassingly new to blogging, but we are going to give this a whirl. We covet your feedback.  Let us know what we’re doing right, and what we’re doing wrong.  Your opinion matters to us.    We are incredibly glad to be back.  Let’s GO!

- Brian Beshears