Musicbed for Creators: Connecting Filmmakers with Copywrited Music
I can’t believe how many great companies we have right here in Dallas. This past week I was reading an article on Dallas-based start ups and young companies around town and I came upon one that was particularly interesting called Musicbed. Their mission? Provide affordable music for filmmakers of all kinds.
As a former film student and dabbler in short film productions, their concept sounded great, but I wanted to learn more. I reached out to see if they were interested in doing an article and voilà; this article was born. As a side note, if this already sounds interesting to you and you’re reading this in February 2019, Musicbed is offering a free song for filmmakers' reels for the entire month of February — no questions asked. Just create an account, get your exclusive code, and start browsing. Let’s dive into my conversation with copywriter and blog editor at Musicbed, Steven Schwartz.
Can you briefly explain what Musicbed is for those who haven't heard of it?
“As a music licensing agency, Musicbed exists to help filmmakers and creatives find the perfect song for their films. We’ve built an online platform featuring hundreds of artists, bands, and composers, and made them easily accessible for licensing. Whether you’re looking for a single song, subscription, or even custom music, we’re making it easier than ever to have incredible music in your films. Through our work, we’ve collaborated with some of the biggest names in the film industry, from feature-length motion pictures to global advertising campaigns.”
CEO Daniel McCarthy
Where did the idea come from?
“Daniel McCarthy and Nic Carfa founded the company about 8 years ago to fill a gap in the industry. As filmmakers themselves, they noticed that it was extremely difficult to get access to great music. You either had to wade through tons of paperwork and pay extremely high prices with record labels or settle for sub-par music with production libraries and stock music. So, they had the idea to collaborate with talented artists to promote their music to filmmakers and make it easy to access via an online platform. Since then, we’ve revolutionized how creatives — from wedding filmmakers and indie filmmakers to global brands and advertising agencies — use music in their projects.”
Do you work exclusively/non-exclusively with the music artists on your site and are you actively seeking new talent?
“We work with our artists in a lot of different ways, but the majority of them are exclusively signed with us for licensing. And yes, we’re always looking for talented musicians on our platform! We have an entire A&R team dedicated to tracking down the best and brightest, and they’re very selective about who we bring into our roster. We receive thousands of submissions a year and generally select less than 1% of them — that being said, our roster is growing every week with new songs, albums, and artists.”
What sort of subscription packages do you have for filmmakers and what are their features?
“We have subscription options for just about every type of project, including Personal (YouTube, social media, etc), Non-Profit, Wedding/Photography, Freelance Filmmaker/Production Company, Business/In-House Team. Each subscription includes unlimited music from hundreds of our artists and composers for one monthly or yearly fee. For the personal licenses, we’ve also built a tool called SyncID that will automatically clear copyright claims as soon as they appear on your YouTube channel — instantly.”
In my opinion, Musicbed has a lot of really great ideas, (especially their YouTube SyncID tool). In a world of subscription based platforms, whether you’re a hardcore filmmaker or an every-once-in-awhile YouTube video creator, I can’t think of a better service for you to be apart of.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, if this sounds like something that would be useful to you and your art, (and you’re reading this in February 2019), Musicbed is offering a free song for filmmakers' reels for the entire month of February — no questions asked. Just create an account, get your exclusive code, and start browsing.
You can contact Musicbed via their live chat, email, or phone at musicbed.com. Their team is available to answer your questions and even track down music for you in real time at absolutely no cost. Additionally, you can support and follow Musicbed below.
