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 | |
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Born | Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. | September 28, 1972
Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1996–present |
Website | incompetech |
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]
References
- 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.
- Pollari, Niina. "Free Music – Kevin MacLeod Composes for the Internet". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- "Case Studies/Kevin MacLeod". creativecommons.org. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- Tyler, Aaron (May 30, 2017). "Earth From Space & Kevin MacLeod Music". On Stage Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- "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.
- "Soundtrack - Kerbal Space Program Wiki". Kerbal Space Program Wiki. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
- 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.
- Duenas, Ulises (December 16, 2020). "'Royalty Free' Tells the Story of the Most Selfless Man in Music". High Brow Magazine. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- Gutelle, Sam (December 2, 2016). "Kevin MacLeod Is The King Of Royalty-Free Music, And Millions Are Listening". Tubefilter. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
- MacLeod, Kevin. "Free downloads – Royalty Free Music". Incompetech. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
- Camarda, Ryan (January 1, 2000), Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod, archived from the original on March 12, 2017, retrieved March 12, 2017
- MacLeod, Kevin. "Music License Forms". Incompetech. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
- MacLeod, Kevin. "Public Domain Music Downloads". FreePD. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
- MacLeod, Kevin. "FreePD FAQ". FreePD. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
- Spacek, Nick (December 2, 2020). "Director Ryan Camarda on Royalty Free, his new doc on composer Kevin Macleod". The Pitch. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod by Ryan Camarda". Kickstarter.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- "German Web Video Award Page". Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- "Video of the German Web Video Award Being Given". Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kevin MacLeod (composer). |
- Official website
- FreePD.com – MacLeod's library of public-domain music
- Kevin MacLeod at IMDb
- Kevin MacLeod on Twitter
- Kevin MacLeod on SoundCloud
- Kevin MacLeod on YouTube
- "Free Music – Kevin MacLeod Composes for the Internet" from Kickstarter
- Kevin MacLeod's 2013 "Ask Me Anything" Q&A on Reddit (and another AMA in 2014)
- His works on freemusicarchive