Audio Network is working hard to be your music licensing guide.
Launched in 2001 as an online music library for producers in the TV and advertising industries, Audio Network collaborates with more than 800 composers, artists and producers from around the world to create the approximately 120,000 tracks online, says Matthew Hawn, head of product and customer experience. Users on us.audionetwork.com can search tracks by musical style, mood, instrumentation, production genre, tempo and other parameters—“Latin,” “orchestral,” “indie,” “wistful,” “drums.”
What sets Audio Network apart from other similar services? “Algorithmic recommendations to personalize music search and discovery are in fashion now,” says Hawn. “But the music teams in our 11 offices around the world add a human component—they offer real-time search services and recommendations to clients, delivered directly online and into the panel.”
Musical multitasking: the new Adobe Premiere plug-in for Audio Network
Aaron Moore, an editor at The Discovery Channel, says he likes the variety of tracks available on Audio Network, including “different versions of the same track.” Sometimes, as he says, he creates his “own version by mixing them.” When the initial search isn’t quite right, the metadata descriptions and alternative tracks, “makes things go faster,” according to Moore.
Last fall, Audio Network released a plug-in for Adobe Premiere, enabling editors to import, audition and license music without leaving their editing projects. The most advanced search functionality remains in the site, but Hawn notes that more filtered searching within the panel is on the way. In 2017, Audio Network plans to prototype and test new search features for both the panel and website with a limited beta release internally and for current clients. If all goes well, the beta will see a wider release by the summer.
“Sometimes I search on the site and then drag the tracks into the panel to access them more easily in Premiere,” says Moore. “There’s no switching screens, no downloading, no transferring. It’s one less place for me to have to go.”
Audio Network launched two new license options in the latter half of 2016, in addition to their Professional and TV options ($195 per track for single use). The website recommends getting in touch for quotes on film music licensing. With a Creator license, designed for personal, educational and other not-for-profit use, a user pays $9.99 per track for single use. The Creator Plus license ($29 per track) is for users who want to monetize their work on YouTube or Vimeo. MM
This article appears in MovieMaker‘s Winter 2017 issue.
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