Chances are you read this title of this film and thought, “I’ve never heard of this man.” But I promise you, you have. While his name may not stand out to you, his music certainly does. Anyone who is addicted to YouTube (like me) will immediately notice that every popular YouTuber has used his popular scores used at some point in their career — and that’s a major point of the documentary Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod.
Directed and produced by Ryan Camarda, the film dives into the world of Creative Commons licensing and how the film’s subject, Kevin MacLeod, has used it to create an entire career out of giving his music away for free. How does he make money? Honestly, I’m still not entirely sure. It’s a hard concept to wrap your brain around, because it seems as if it’s almost set up to fail. However, for Macleod, it has paid off and then some.
According to the documentary, MacLeod has written over two thousand songs that have been available online, for free, through his website Incompetech, which has existed since 1996. The website started out as a joke but has since evolved into something much more. Offering his music for free under the Creative Commons license, which only requires anyone using the music to provide credit to the composer in their video, MacLeod has been able to get his music in front of countless people all over the world. He has built a name for himself in the film industry, which now searches him out to pay for custom works or to use his music in major films.
While this particular model has worked well for MacLeod over the years, the documentary also explores how Creative Commons licensing has negatively affected professional composers who charge money for their work for every project. As MacLeod puts it, “Amazon exists, you can’t stop it from existing” meaning there will always be a different or cheaper option available in any industry.
Another interesting topic the film explores is the battle between real life orchestral performers vs. synthetic orchestral composers. With today’s technology, for a fraction of the cost, one person can create nearly the same sounds as what used to take 20 different people. So, the real question is: will live orchestras die out? Maybe. However, as one of the film’s interviewees points out, orchestras are many people coming together to reach one goal. So, you hear their different “voices” in the recording, whereas a composer is only one person, who produces sound from that same brain each time. So, for those keen enough to recognize it, there is a noticeable difference. And those who appreciate the live orchestra will likely still look to hire them over one single composer.
As someone who has always stood on the fringes of video editing, filmmaking, entertainment, etc. I had an idea of the concepts of Royalty Free and Creative Commons licensing, but I never really looked too far into it because it wasn’t something that affected me. However, in order to truly understand this film, it is helpful to have some background on these concepts, which the documentary itself provides through an interesting puppet character. I appreciated Camarda’s inclusion of a quick background explanation of these topics because it really helps the viewers to continue to follow along with the arguments made and the business models some artists choose to follow.
I would have never given another thought to the effects of technology and synthetic composing on the industry, or the fact that there are different ways of going about creating a name for yourself without having seen Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod. So, for those not involved in this industry, the film manages to hold viewers’ attention by not only covering the industry side of things, but providing a well-rounded view of MacLeod’s personal life and those who have known him, grown up with him, worked with him, or become well known themselves through the use of his free music. While the runtime could have been cut a bit shorter, and some of the narration may benefit from a little more vocal expression, overall, the film was very enjoyable and informative. Kevin MacLeod may be one of the most listened to and least known composers of our lifetime, but I’m happy to be able to say I now know more about this incredibly interesting human being and his journey to greatness.
