There are a myriad of online music libraries available, with instant access for auditioning and downloading music. Each has their own licensing and fee structure, which widely vary.  It is important to do your due diligence in understanding what rights you have with the music you are licensing. That said, here are some of the more “artistic” considerations when choosing library music.

• The role(s) the music will play in supporting the story or message
• Audience demographics
• The musical style, instrumentation and tone that best supports your program
• How you want the music to effect the audience’s experience
• How the the pacing and fullness of the musical arrangements works with the visuals and/or spoken voice

Once you have narrowed down your choices, there are still other considerations: Is the piece long enough? If not, is it interesting enough to survive lengthening it by looping?  What kind of changes happen throughout the piece? If there is a section that all of a sudden doesn’t seem to work, can you work around it?  How does the piece start and end?
If you need assistance searching for, editing and/or licensing production music, feel free to contact me – I’d be happy to help!

My latest production music CD, “Positive Purpose”, was published by the Sonoton library, and released in America by Sonoton’s representative, Associated Production Music in September 2017.

My inspiration for this CD came from working as a library music consultant and editor, and the issues I run across when selecting and editing library music. One of my goals for this CD was to strike a balance between keeping the feel consistent throughout each piece (no strange middle sections that suddenly veer off in another direction), but also keeping the music interesting, progressing and not too repetitious.  I was also mindful of making the main themes around 3 minutes long, as sometimes what seems to be the perfect library piece is disappointingly too short. There seems to be a never ending need for new positive, upbeat, “forward-looking” music for underscoring videos and commercials.

I am hoping producers will find “Positive Purpose” helpful and useful for their projects. If you would like to check it out, here is the link. Positive Purpose

Also, here is a link to an article about the CD. Times Article

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