Kevin MacLeod

Kevin MacLeod (/məˈklaʊd/ mə-KLOWD; born September 28, 1972) is an American composer and musician.[1][2] MacLeod has composed over 2,000 pieces of royalty-free library music and made them available under a Creative Commons copyright license.[3][4] His licensing options allow anyone to use his music for free as long as he receives attribution (credit), which has led to his music being used in thousands of films.[5] His music has also been used in some commercial video games such as Kerbal Space Program,[6] as well as in a large number of YouTube videos and pornographic films.[7][8]

Kevin MacLeod
Born (1972-09-28) September 28, 1972
Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
OriginNew York City, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • music producer
Years active1996–present
Websiteincompetech.com

Early life

MacLeod was born on September 28, 1972 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He went to college, where he studied music education.[9]

Career

Music distribution

MacLeod decided to release his music under Creative Commons licenses in order to maximize the number of people who can listen to and use his music.[10] According to him, part of his reason for allowing people to use his music for free is his belief that the current copyright system is broken; he feels powerless to change the entire system on his own, but hopes to create "an alternate body of works that is able to compete with them".[10][11]

MacLeod's most popular license is the CC BY; as long as he receives credit in the description of video or song, his music is free to use.[12] A no-attribution license is also available for people who are unwilling or unable to provide credit to MacLeod; this license costs $30 for one song, $50 for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.[12]

MacLeod has also created FreePD.com, which collects new public domain sound recordings by various artists. Rather than waiting for old copyrights to expire, he hopes to provide a quality library of modern recorded works by artists who explicitly release their music into the public domain.[13] Some of MacLeod's own music is available on the website as well; he explains that these songs are "not commercially viable in the traditional sense, and just add clutter [on his primary website] which hinders people in finding the pieces that they may want."[14]

Documentary

MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titled Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod.[15] It is scheduled to be released in 2021. Ryan Camarda, the film's director and producer, ran a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of $30,000; by the end of the campaign, 524 backers had pledged a total of $30,608.[16] According to the Kickstarter page, the amount was needed for transportation in order to conduct in-person interviews with the various subjects featured in the film.[16] The documentary has received positive reviews from critics.[17]

Awards and accolades

In 2015, MacLeod was awarded the International Honorary Web Video Award at the 2015 German Web Video Awards by the European Web Video Academy for his lifetime achievement in influencing the German web video community.[18][19]

References
  1. Hoffberger, Chase (March 3, 2020). "Royalty Free: Why YouTube and Creative Commons can't coexist". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  2. Pollari, Niina. "Free Music – Kevin MacLeod Composes for the Internet". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  3. "Case Studies/Kevin MacLeod". creativecommons.org. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  4. Tyler, Aaron (May 30, 2017). "Earth From Space & Kevin MacLeod Music". On Stage Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  5. "I am Kevin MacLeod, the composer in millions of YouTube videos, and thousands of films. AMA! : IAmA". Reddit. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  6. "Soundtrack - Kerbal Space Program Wiki". Kerbal Space Program Wiki. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  7. Silverman, Matt (October 19, 2018). "How the internet's most prolific composer makes a living by giving his music away for free". The Daily Dot. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  8. Duenas, Ulises (December 16, 2020). "'Royalty Free' Tells the Story of the Most Selfless Man in Music". High Brow Magazine. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  9. Gutelle, Sam (December 2, 2016). "Kevin MacLeod Is The King Of Royalty-Free Music, And Millions Are Listening". Tubefilter. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  10. MacLeod, Kevin. "Free downloads – Royalty Free Music". Incompetech. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  11. Camarda, Ryan (January 1, 2000), Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod, archived from the original on March 12, 2017, retrieved March 12, 2017
  12. MacLeod, Kevin. "Music License Forms". Incompetech. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  13. MacLeod, Kevin. "Public Domain Music Downloads". FreePD. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  14. MacLeod, Kevin. "FreePD FAQ". FreePD. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  15. Spacek, Nick (December 2, 2020). "Director Ryan Camarda on Royalty Free, his new doc on composer Kevin Macleod". The Pitch. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  16. "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod by Ryan Camarda". Kickstarter.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  17. "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  18. "German Web Video Award Page". Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  19. "Video of the German Web Video Award Being Given". Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
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