There are three basic ways that music is used by individuals and businesses. For each of those three ways, there is a specific type of license. (synchronization, public performance and mechanical respectively). It’s important for both music buyers AND the music sellers to have a basic understanding of these three licenses. This infographic is absolutely free to download and use. Enjoy.

How These Licenses Have Changed

Synchronization

Due to a decrease in music production costs, the proliferation of indie music online and major labels no longer playing middle-man, we’ve generally seen sync fees trend downward. But don’t underestimate how much creative teams will pay once they’ve found the perfect song. And don’t underestimate how much companies will pay for legal peace of mind.

Synchronization is the least standardized of the three types of music licenses therefore prices vary wildly. A placement fee to an unknown artist to use their song in a major network TV show can pay as low as $500.00, yet the Rolling Stones received $10 million for the rights to use “Start Me Up” in Microsoft’s Windows ad campaign.

Performance

We view this as a growth area for music revenue…yes..growth. Performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI are deploying digital tracking services that scour the internet, watch TV, listen to the radio and even call businesses to see what on-hold music they’re playing….all in the name of making sure musicians get paid whenever their songs are publicly “performed”. Sound a bit like Skynet? Yes, but in this case it’s actually working in musicians’ favor. The three planets lining up here in a historically unprecedented way are 1) Unionized songwriters, 2) US copyright law and 3) Big Brother. In 2011, ASCAP grossed $985 million on behalf of their songwriting members. The cost to become a member of ASCAP? Absolutely free.

Mechanical

This type of license was severely disrupted when people started downloading music. There’s far less money on the table now that fans don’t have to buy a $15 album to hear just one song. Now they pay just $0.89. Of that $0.89, iTunes keeps $0.29. The remaining $0.71 gets split between the artist, the publisher, the label (if there is one) and in many cases a 3rd party uploading service like www.tunecore.com.

In the old world, the Harry Fox Agency operated a profoundly profitable monopoly that administered every royalty owed to every songwriter for every CD, album, or cassette tape ever made (pause to catch your breath on that one). Another interesting twist about mechanical royalties is that Congress is pretty hands-on about setting compulsory rates for this type of usage. That’s good for the emerging artist who wants to pay one low, standardized rate to record a smooth jazz version of the heavy metal classic “Home Sweet Home” then sell it on CD (and iTunes)…all without having to send complimentary whiskey to Motley Crue. Since digital downloads are considered a mechanical usage, iTunes is obviously the big influencer right now in terms of how Congress will adjust mechanical rates.

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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-
quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com.

Location: Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Member since: December 2, 2012

Tracks in portfolio on MusicRevolution.com: 151 (click here to hear all tracks)

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search?artist=10963

Background:

Dean Wagg is the songwriter and composer behind Max Power. Max Power’s music has been featured on many major networks including CBS, Fox Sports and MTV, and in shows such as “10 On Top,” “The Sevens,” and “Access Hollywood”. Max Power has had countless placements for radio and TV commercials in many countries, including France, Canada, Australia and even Mozambique.

Max Power has a catalogue of hundreds of tracks, and excels in many genres, including Dramatic, Classical, Rock, Dubstep, Hip Hop, Electronic, and more. From edgy and intense tracks to atmospheric and uplifting, Max Power’s highly emotive work is perfect for a variety of Film, TV, and Commercial productions.

Some Questions We Asked Dean of Max Power:

1. Which are your best, or even favorite tracks? Why?

I like creating the more organic stuff so my orchestra/string/piano stuff is my favorite. Some of the recent ones I like include “Wet Sand”, “With Love”, “Silver Clouds” and ”Shoot For The Stars”.

Some of my most popular tracks are:

“Tomorrow We Fly” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=32036

“Hip-Hop Ghost Rider” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=31898

“The Inception of An Idea” http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=32032

2. High profile projects or clients you have worked for?

I’ve been lucky enough to get quite a few of the large networks under my belt. I’ve written music which has been used on the Discovery Channel, Fox Sports, CBS, National Geographic, multiple MTV shows, and I am one of the regular writers for NBC show ‘Access Hollywood’. I also recently provided the theme tune for the Australian Open Tennis Championships.

3. Primary instrument?

Guitar! I love to play guitar solos. I’d put self-indulgent six minute lead guitar solos on every one of my tracks if I could get away with it. Of course I would probably also starve!

4. Favorite music-making piece of gear or software you currently use?

I bought a ukulele and I’ve been having a ton of fun messing around with it. I’d never really played one before but I’ve gotten the hang of it enough to start recording with now. It’s actually used on production music way more than people would necessarily know. As far as ‘in the box’ stuff goes, I love all pretty much all of the Izotope plug-ins. Particularly Ozone.

5. Piece of gear or software you wish you owned?

I would love a Gibson Les Paul. I’m a lefty so they’re a little pricey and I haven’t been able to justify letting myself have one. Yet…

6. Film score or song you admire? Why?

I love Hans Zimmer’s recent work. He seems to get better and better. The stuff Zimmer did for Inception and The Dark Knight Rises is incredible. I hope to be working at that level within ten years. And Thomas Newman’s score for American Beauty was ground breaking. Now everybody sounds like him

7. Music education background?

I’m self-taught on every instrument apart from the piano. I just couldn’t pick it up so I gave in and got lessons from an amazing teacher and former touring philharmonic member. I feel I was lucky to have even spent time in his company. I learned so much about music, not just the piano.

8. Memorable “Aha!” moment during your musical education?

If it sounds good play it! Don’t worry if something is structurally or tonally incorrect. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong. If it sounds good to you, then that’s all that matters. I have had music placed that even I didn’t like! I look at royalty statements and think, ‘really, they used that!?’

9. If you had a time machine and could record or perform once with any artist, who would it be?

Well as long as we’re fantasizing – I’d probably form a super group, with Hendrix on lead guitar, John Bonham on drums, Paul McCartney on bass, Elvis on Vocals & Lennon on Keyboards. Guess that puts me on rhythm guitar but to be honest I’d probably forget to play.

10. Moment you first knew you would be a musician?

As soon as I heard Angus Young (of AC/DC) playing guitar I knew I wanted to play what he could play. I just locked myself in my bedroom for six months until I could do it.

11. Advice you would give to a younger family member interested in a music career?

Go for it! Starting out it’s hard as the money takes a while to start coming in, so you probably need to supplement your income for quite a while. But when you start getting paid for doing what you love? There’s no feeling like it.

12. Five songs or albums you’d take with you to a desert island?

Stevie Wonder – Songs In The Key Of Life

AC/DC – If You Want Blood

Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On

Pink Floyd – The Wall

DustySpringfield– Dusty In Memphis

Radiohead – OK Computer

(that is a weird looking selection!)

13. If you could master another instrument, what would it be?

I play drums but I’d like to get really good. Like Neil Peart good. Not sure that’s gonna happen anytime soon though. Come to think of it, I’m not sure that’s gonna happen to anyone anytime soon!

14. Favorite time of day to work in your studio?

I seem to be more productive in the afternoon, but to be honest I love it so much I don’t really care what time I’m in the studio.

We thank Dean for sharing some of his musical background with us and for contributing Max Power’s tracks to MusicRevolution.com, the Production Music Marketplace. The next time you need royalty-free edgy and intense tracks or atmospheric and uplifting music for a project, check out Max Power’s tracks on MusicRevolution.com.

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Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

The acoustic guitar is widely used in many musical genres. No instrument conveys friendliness like the acoustic guitar. We thought that we would highlight some of the great royalty-free acoustic guitar music available on MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com) that could be used for film, TV, video, advertising campaigns, media productions, background music and a range of other applications. We have a wide selection of royalty-free acoustic guitar music.

MusicRevolution.com has a number of CDs, available in both physical and download CD formats, with hand-selected royalty-free music tracks. We assembled an outstanding collection of royalty-free acoustic guitar music on “Acoustic Guitar, Vol. 1” —

http://www.musicrevolution.com/cd_details/acoustic_guitar_vol_1/

The royalty-free acoustic guitar tracks on this CD come in a variety of tempos and keys but all contain a certain kind of warmth that can only be created with a well-crafted, well-played six string acoustic guitar. In addition to the CD, these acoustic guitar tracks can be purchased as individual tracks as well. This is a collection of royalty-free acoustic guitar tracks that is worth checking out.

A search on MusicRevolution.com for “acoustic guitar” yields over 3,500 royalty-free music tracks where the acoustic guitar is used—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=acoustic+guitar&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=42&y=7

A search for “classical guitar” yields the following 58 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=classical+guitar&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=42&y=6

A search for “jazz guitar” yields the following 25 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=jazz+guitar&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=30&y=6

A search for “folk guitar” yields the following four royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=folk+guitar&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=43&y=9

A search for “Spanish guitar” yields the following 37 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=spanish+guitar&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=40&y=8

And for background music for your retail establishment, restaurant, business, fitness club or website, MusicRevolution.com’s Internet Music Stream offers nine unique playlists that provide a continuous stream of royalty-free background music for your commercial environment. MusicRevolution’s Internet Music Stream playlist includes an “Acoustic Vibes” playlist that provides a stream of continuous acoustic guitar music—
http://www.musicrevolution.com/music_streams

With over 22,000 tracks of royalty-free music online in our production music library, there are many other possible music choices to set the right mood for your film, video, ad campaign, media project, background music or on hold music on MusicRevolution.com.

MusicRevolution.com has some of the best royalty-free music available anywhere.

______________________________________________________________________________

Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com,a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

The piano is among the most popular musical instruments in the world. The piano is widely used in classical music and jazz music, as well as in many other musical genres. The acoustic piano has an emotional range unlike any other instrument. We thought that we would highlight some of the great royalty-free piano music on MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com) that could be used for film, TV, video, ad campaigns, media productions, background music and a range of other applications. We have an outstanding selection of royalty-free piano music.

MusicRevolution.com has a number of CDs, available in both physical and download CD formats, with hand-selected royalty-free music tracks. We created an amazing collection of royalty-free piano music on “Piano, Vol. 1”

http://www.musicrevolution.com/cd_details/piano_vol_1/

In addition to the CD, these piano tracks can be purchased as individual tracks as well.

A search on MusicRevolution.com for “piano” yields nearly 8,000 royalty-free music tracks where the piano is used—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=piano&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=41&y=11

A search for “piano solo” yields over 100 royalty-free music tracks–

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=piano+solo&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=39&y=9

A search for “classical piano” yields the following 70 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=classical+piano&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=32&y=8

A search for “jazz piano” yields the following 24 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=jazz+piano&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=36&y=7

And in addition to the acoustic piano, we also have tracks where the electric piano is used. A search for “electric piano” yields over 2,000 royalty-free music tracks where the electric piano is used—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=electric+piano&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=39&y=6

With over 22,000 tracks of royalty-free music online in our production music library, there are many other possible music choices to set the right mood for your film, video, ad campaign, media project, background music or on hold music on MusicRevolution.com.

MusicRevolution.com has some of the best royalty-free music available anywhere.

______________________________________________________________________________

Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com,a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

Save $50 on 1-Month Complete Subscription from MusicRevolution.com

MusicRevolution.com has over 22,000 tracks of high-quality, royalty-free music online. MusicRevolution.com also offers a variety of royalty-free music subscriptions that are a great value. For limited time, buy a 1-Month Complete Subscription (regularly $249.99 for up to 10 downloads) for only $199.99 and Save $50. That’s less than $20 for any track in our production music library. Tracks can be downloaded in either WAV or MP3 format. 

Check out our subscriptions today at http://www.musicrevolution.com/subs_options.  This special offer to Save $50 expires March 31, 2013.

With a variety of production music subscriptions and over 22,000 tracks online, MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com) has some of the best royalty-free music available anywhere.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

St. Patrick’s Day is religious holiday held every year on March 17 celebrating St. Patrick, perhaps the most recognized of the patron saints of Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day is a day of cultural importance for the Irish and a day to have a good party regardless of your heritage. With St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2013, less than two weeks away, we thought that we would highlight some of the royalty-free music on MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com) that would work for your ad campaign, production or for background music on St. Patrick’s Day. We have some excellent royalty-free St. Patrick’s Day music. A search on MusicRevolution.com for “St. Patrick’s Day” yields the following 16 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=st.+patrick%27s+day&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=31&y=7

A search on MusicRevolution.com for “Irish” yields nearly 60 royalty-free music tracks-

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=irish&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=31&y=5

A search for “Celtic” yields nearly 80 royalty-free music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=celtic&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=35&y=6

With over 22,000 tracks of royalty-free production music online, there are many other possible music choices to set the right mood for your St. Patrick’s Day ad campaign, project or background music on MusicRevolution.com. MusicRevolution.com has some of the best royalty-free music available anywhere.

________________________________________________________________

Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com,a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

Location: Livorno, Italy

Member Since: August 5, 2012

Tracks in Portfolio: 35 (click here to hear all tracks)

Tracks we Like:

“Golden Countryside”

The Interview:

High profile projects or clients you have worked for?

I would say no “high profile” clients yet, but many interesting multimedia projects, videogames, websites and a couple of theatrical soundtracks which have been very gratifying and fun to create.

And being also a seller on various music marketplaces you really never know exactly where your music is actually being used 🙂

Primary instrument?

Piano and synths. I can also sing, even if I do it mainly in my albums and less on the music I create as soundtracks. I can also play a bit of drums, which I usually do when I need a more “human touch” in my rhythmic parts (mainly electronic percussions and pads), and a couple of chords on the guitar (but I would not call it “playing” actually).

Favorite music-making piece of gear or software you currently use?

As DAW I usually work with Logic (even if I am also using Ableton Live a lot lately). I own so many software plugins I have lost track I think, but I mainly use Native Instruments stuff, Camel Audio Alchemy, Pianoteq, and Spectrasonics Trillian for the bass parts. As for the gear.. I love my Nord Stage keyboard and my Access Virus Ti (even if sometimes it drives me crazy with some of its software bugs).

Piece of gear or software you wish you owned?

I usually spend my spare money on sample libraries (such as 8DIO or East West products) so I would say maybe a giant bundle with everything released by them. Or some awesome analogue synth like anything by Moog or Dave Smith would make me drool as well!

Film score or song you admire? Why?

I am not a big fan of big/epic orchestral scores (Hanz Zimmer style) so I am more into intimate and experimental soundtracks in the style of Cliff Martinez, Clint Mansell or Thomas Newman. I also love Japanese composers like Hisaishi and Kawai a lot.

Music education background?

I have been studying piano since the tender age of six but I never actually graduated (at some point I have been led ashtray by electronic and rock/metal music, so I started feeling uneasy and out of place in such orthodox and poorly stimulating places like music conservatories here in Italy). I also attended a course in Electronic Music Production at SAE (London) in 2006.

Memorable “Aha!” moment during your musical education?

I don’t remember any particular epiphanies… I remember learning piano as a very gratifying but
also slow and daunting experience (…not speaking of music theory, which is very useful but unavoidable and fun as a series of math lessons).

Most embarrassing music-related moment?

Luckily none I can remember… I always feel a bit nervous when performing live (alone or with my bands), but it usually ends up quite nicely, so I would not call any of those moments embarrassing…just stressful maybe 🙂

If you had a time machine and could record or perform once with any artist, who would it be?

Maybe some classical composers like Mozart or Beethoven… just very curious to meet them. Or
maybe I would go back just to be present during the recording of some of my favorite albums, like the Alan Parsons’ or the Marillion’s ones (just as an observer maybe.. I am not worthy!).

Moment you first knew you would be a musician?

I don’t know… it seems something you understand to love since childhood, from the first moment you clang your cutlery on the glasses during launch time. So the problem is not knowing when to “be” a musician or a composer but when to “work” as one. Unfortunately it always sounds like something so fragile and unstable (especially nowadays) that scares you most of the time… but you need to believe in it 200% if you want to achieve something. I only wish I have believed in it sooner in my life, so to lose less time with other stuff.

Advice you would give to a younger family member interested in a music career?

As said before… believe as much as you can (and as fast as you can!) in yourself and in the
possibilities of a career like this. Keep updated on the technology and on the styles. Listen to the
other composers’ works, always with a mind (or ears) open to learn something new every day. And do what you like most… music is art and it needs inspiration more than everything else.

Five songs or albums you’d take with you to a desert island?

Difficult choice… at the moment I would say:
Fates Warning – A Pleasant Shade Of Gray
Anathema – A Natural Disaster
Pain Of Salvation – The Perfect Element
Marillion – Brave
and maybe a “best of” of Alan Parsons or Vangelis.

If you could master another instrument, what would it be?

Definitely violin. Even if I think it would be better for me (and for my music) to learn how to
play guitar properly.

Favorite time of day to work in your studio?

Usually in the afternoon, or even in the late evening (in the morning I am usually too busy answering emails, doing some public relations or waiting for the coffee to wake me up)

Any studio collaboration you experienced that stands out in your mind? Why?

I am usually a “solitary guy”, but I have played in some bands

before (like the metal-prog band Icycore)… and I loved every moment spent with
those guys rehearsing or recording our albums (and I still think that together
we produced a couple of masterpieces).

What are your best, or even favorite tracks? Why?

A very difficult question… there are tracks I am more proud of (especially from a production point of view). The ones I love most maybe are those created for my solo albums, which are often more experimental and “artistic” (you don’t have to care for example if they do not sound enough positive or useful for advertising, etc..). Among the ones I created for the music marketplace I would say:

“The Lonely Tree”

“Little Wings”

“Shoulder Of Orion”.

What tracks of yours enjoy the most success in other libraries?

Some of my best sellers are: “Becoming”, “Little Wings” and “Understanding” (…not surprisingly three piano-only songs). On the more electronic/heavy side I would say “Killing The Machines” is the one which sold most.

Big thanks to Andrea Baroni for taking the time to do this interview and make his music available for licensing on MusicRevolution.com.

______________________________________________________________________________

Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 21,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-
quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com.

If you have customers waiting “on hold” to speak to someone, you can ease the pain of the wait with carefully selected on hold music. Our production music library contains an extensive selection of on hold music that makes it easy and affordable to legally address your on hold music needs so you don’t lose those valuable customers. We thought that we would highlight some of the royalty-free on hold music available on MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com).

 A search on MusicRevolution.com for “on hold” yields over 3,000 royalty-free production music tracks—

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?keyword=on+hold&application=0&mood=0&genre=0&instrument=0&influence=&vocals=1&results=20&x=26&y=5

MusicRevolution.com also has a number of CDs, available in both physical CD and download CD formats, with hand-selected royalty-free music tracks.  We have a great collection of royalty-free on hold music on “On Hold, Vol. 1” –

http://www.musicrevolution.com/cd_details/on_hold_vol_1/

Pay only once for this great CD of professionally produced, non-offensive, totally hip royalty-free on hold music. These tracks were expertly designed and lovingly selected with the sole goal in mind to contain and control your customers’ blood pressure levels with soothing, but energetic music that doesn’t sound dated. This is a collection of royalty-free on hold tracks that is worth checking out.

With over 22,000 tracks of royalty-free music online in our production music library, MusicRevolution.com (www.musicrevolution.com) has the production music that you need.

_________________________________________

 Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from an online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

Location: Dniepropetrovsk,Ukraine

Member since: September 10, 2010

Tracks in portfolio on MusicRevolution.com: 70 (click here to hear all tracks) http://www.musicrevolution.com/search?artist=356

Background:

Alexander Polishchuk, born in USSR in 1977 in Dniepropetrovsk (Ukraine), is the composer behind Plastic3. For a decade, he wrote songs for a number of leading Russian artists, including Verka Serduchka; the legend of USSR 80s Yuriy Shatunov (ex-”Laskovy Mai” (“Tender May”); Natasha Koroleva, and others. In 2004, Alexander began studying engineering and arranging his own compositions, concentrating on electronic, dance and edgy orchestral music for Film and TV productions.

Some Questions We Asked Alexander:

1. Some of Alexander’s Favorite Tracks:

“Heaven Earth Time”

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=12393

“Corporate Summer Travel”

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=24170

“Trance Universe Intro”

http://www.musicrevolution.com/search/?trackid=24057

2. High profile projects or clients you have worked for?

“Waiting for a Miracle” (20th Century Fox, Russia film). Usually, I don’t do custom work, since I have a very big number of sales as a stock musician. I’m sure that big companies have also used my music. I do not keep track of who exactly uses of my works.

3. Primary instrument?

Guitar. Also, I play piano a little…

4. Favorite music-making piece of gear or software you currently use?

RodeK2, LAG Roxane 200, Line6 KB37

5. Music education background?

Classic guitar music studio.

6. Film score or song you admire? Why?

I love all songs of Genesis, Duran Duran and Depeche Mode.

7. Most embarrassing music-related moment?

I jumped so much during a concert and broke the stage floor and broke a microphone.

8. If you had a time machine and could record or perform once with any artist, who would it be?

Genesis and Depeche Mode

9. Moment you first knew you would be a musician?

I was 14 years old when I wrote my first good song.

10. Five songs or albums you’d take with you to a desert island?

Genesis “In The air tonight”
Duran Duran
Cinema (Russian group, all albums:)
Depeche Mode
A-ha

11. Favorite time of day to work in your studio?

Usually during the second half of the day until night.

We thank Alexander for sharing some of his musical background with us and for contributing Plastic3’s tracks to MusicRevolution.com, the Production Music Marketplace. The next time you need royalty-free ambient, electronic or trance music for a project, check out Plastic3’s tracks on MusicRevolution.com.

______________________________________________________________________________

Chris Cardell is the co-founder of MusicRevolution.com https://www.musicrevolution.com,a production music marketplace with over 22,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, advertisers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music and custom music from a online community of professional musicians. Cardell has been involved with digital content and E-Commerce since the mid-1990’s.

In one fell swoop, Deutsch LA’s usage of the song “Down the Road” for Dr. Pepper  leapfrogged every other soft drink brand in terms of music licensing…at least this month.  Check out all of the slices, dices and cuts in this music track, originally released in June of 2012 by a group of French “turntablists” who call themselves C2C:

The Ad Campaign

In 1981, Dr. Pepper released one of the most infectious jingles of all time, performed onscreen by actor David Naughton (who soon after starred in the movie American Werewolf in London) and written by Barry Manilow. The song was called “I’m a Pepper”. I was a kid when it debuted and even though I’m not  a lyrics person, I can still sing 80% of this from memory.

Dr. Pepper now tips their spicy cherry hat back to that campaign while embracing some of the modern branding tools that let us customers get involved. You can go online and customize a Dr. Pepper T-shirt that says “I’m a [fill-in-the-blank]”. You can submit an online form to explain what makes you one-of-a-kind and get the chance to be featured in their TV ads. Participants so far have included Jen Mayfield, a roller derby queen and mother of five; professional air-guitarist Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard; Mikaela Mayer,  female boxing medalist and no-brainer casting choice for upcoming Evil Dead films; and some guy who stands on beaches attracting seagulls with bread slices stuck to his body.

Origins of the Song

C2C did not respond to our inquiries about the song for this article. So I’ll just dig into some of the musical science that explains why this track work so well.

When I wrote jingles in the 90’s, I remember sadly realizing that my ad agency clients didn’t get nearly as excited by cool chord progressions as I did. They cared more about melody, rhythm and instrumentation. That’s fine, but it’s not without some vindication that C2C’s “Down the Road” is the third hit song to use the same beat-your-chest chord progression that Kanye West did for his mega-hit “Stronger”.  Chord progressions do matter! This particular progression first made people go bonkers when Daft Punk came out with “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. This is geeky music-theory stuff, but just listen to the basic progression played on a piano:

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Making music is like making food. And we’ve just uncovered the fundamental meat-type used in three popular (and seemingly different) dishes.

Licensing the Song

Interestingly, “Down the Road” is not the official Dr. Pepper “One of a Kind” campaign song. That distinction goes to the formulaic “Vinyl Hearts” by I Am, which will neither ruffle any client feathers nor stick in anyone’s head.

The ground-breaking video mash-up above was actually a fringe project recommended by Deutsch which their client, at least in my opinion, had the wisdom to keep an open mind about and just let happen.

“There had been a lot of back and forth searching for the right song for this”, explained Dave Rocco,  a member of Deutsch’s creative team who served as music supervisor on the spot.  “We heard so many tracks and nothing was right.  I had a final round of songs I wanted to play for the creative’s and we all sat in a room.  One by one they went by and nothing was perfect.  Then I basically said, ‘Here is another one’.  I told them it was different, and they might hate it, or love it.  They loved it.”

I asked Deutsch LA if there was any one individual involved in the project to whom they wanted to give special recognition. “Universal Republic was a tremendous partner in making this happen”, said Rocco. “Also, Brett Craig, the Group Creative Director.”

Conclusion

We started 2013 hoping for a TV spot that would jump out of our TV speakers and beg to be featured in this series. A big thanks to Dr. Pepper and the creative team at Deutsch LA for giving us that very spot and being the first major brand to present this song on a national level. Congratulations, team on a job well done!

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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 21,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-
quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com.