Kevin MacLeod explained

Kevin MacLeod
Birth Place:Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Origin:New York City, U.S.

Kevin MacLeod (; born 1972) is an American composer and music producer. Described as "arguably the most prolific composer you’ve never heard of", MacLeod has composed over 2,000 pieces of royalty-free library music and made them available under a Creative Commons copyright license. One of his compositions, "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", is among the most-played on TikTok; from January through June 2021, it was played over 31.6 billion times.

The wide availability and freeness of his work, has seen it featured in thousands of films, video games and millions of videos on YouTube. These include Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo and the video game Kerbal Space Program. As of 2017, his music is featured on one of the live feeds from the International Space Station, Earth From Space. A documentary charting his career, , was released in 2020.

Early life and education

Kevin MacLeod was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1972.[1] He began piano lessons at a young age: "as a 4-year old or whatever it was".[2] He attended the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB), where he initially studied electrical engineering; however, amid a distaste for chemistry requirements, he switched to music education after his first month.[2]

MacLeod never graduated UWGB; he had a brief stint as a computer programmer during the Dot-com bubble.[2] He had colleagues in the multimedia world struggling to find music, so began composing and sharing his works online, particularly on YouTube.[2] During this time he created his own website, Incompetech.com, which initially generated ad revenue from a PDF generator of graph paper.[3] [4]

Career

A composer and music producer,[5] MacLeod has been described as "arguably the most prolific composer you’ve never heard of – although it’s very likely you’ve heard his music", by journalist Glenn Kenny of The New York Times.[6] Kenny further describes him as "a pioneer both of digital production and distribution",[6] while the critic Justin Curto notes that he is "a bit of a legend in the space [of royalty music]".[2]

MacLeod posts royalty-free music on his website, Incompetech.com, which is essentially "for anyone who wants to use them, for any project whatsoever".[7] His music is free to use, but requires formal credit,[3] as per the Creative Commons Attribution copyright license.[8] Instead of crediting him, parties can pay a fee for a no-attribution license,[3] which starts at for one song, for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.[8] MacLeod receives some advertising revenue from music streaming services, but "otherwise relies on donations via Patreon.[3]

The wide availability of his music has led to it being used in thousands of films, millions of videos on YouTube,[9] As of 2017, his music is featured on one of the live feeds from the International Space Station, Earth From Space.[10] Media which featured his music varies as much as Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo to pornographic films.[6] The video game Kerbal Space Program also included his compositions.[11] One of his compositions, "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", is among the most-played on TikTok; from January through June 2021, it was played over 31.6 billion times.[12]

MacLeod states that he releases his music under Creative Commons licenses to maximize the number of people who can use his music.[13] On his website's FAQ, he expressed disdain for the current state of copyright; he hopes to create "an alternate body of works that is able to compete with them".[14]

MacLeod has also created FreePD.com, which collects various artists' new public domain sound recordings. 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.[15] Some of MacLeod's 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."[16]

Documentary

MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titled .[17] The film had a limited release in October 2020. 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 $30,608.[18] According to the Kickstarter page, the amount was needed for transportation to conduct in-person interviews with the various subjects featured in the film. The documentary has received positive reviews from critics.[19]

Awards and accolades

In 2015, MacLeod was awarded the International Honorary Web Video Award at the 2015 German Web Video Awards by the European Web Video Academy for his lifetime achievement in influencing the German web video community.[20] [21]

Discography

Albums

Singles and EPs

Further reading

External links

Music

Background

Notes and References

  1. News: Gutelle . Sam . December 2, 2016 . Kevin MacLeod Is The King Of Royalty-Free Music, And Millions Are Listening . . September 27, 2023 . November 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211110144120/https://www.tubefilter.com/2016/12/02/kevin-macleod-royalty-free-music/ . live .
  2. News: Curto . Justin . The Composer Behind the Globes' Best Bit Was Already in Bed . January 11, 2024 . . 8 June 2024 .
  3. News: Peirson-Hagger . Ellen . April 29, 2021 . How composer Kevin MacLeod became the king of royalty-free music . . May 3, 2022 . October 5, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221005160100/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2021/04/how-composer-kevin-macleod-became-king-royalty-free-music . live .
  4. Web site: PDF Duplexer: An incompetech Utility . Incompetech.com . June 8, 2024 .
  5. News: Mike . McGreehan . June 24, 2015 . Piedmont: PHS students excel in global contest with video . . June 8, 2024 . subscription .
  6. News: Kenny . Glenn . March 29, 2022 . 'Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod' Review: Into the Spotlight . . June 8, 2024 .
  7. Web site: Pollari . Niina . Free Music – Kevin MacLeod Composes for the Internet . . August 30, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222100207/https://www.kickstarter.com/stories/freemusic?ref=HappeningNewsletterFeb2315 . December 22, 2015 . live .
  8. Web site: MacLeod, Kevin . Music License Forms . Incompetech . March 25, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160729075030/http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/licenses/ . July 29, 2016 . dead .
  9. Web site: 'Royalty Free' Tells the Story of the Most Selfless Man in Music. High Brow Magazine. Duenas. Ulises. December 16, 2020. December 19, 2020. September 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230929123914/https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/11107-royalty-free-tells-story-most-selfless-man-music. live.
  10. Web site: Tyler . Aaron . May 30, 2017 . Earth From Space & Kevin MacLeod Music . On Stage Magazine . September 9, 2020 . September 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230929123920/https://onstagemagazine.com/earth-iss-live-stream-2a/ . live .
  11. Web site: incompetech.com . Soundtrack from Kerbal Space Program! . https://web.archive.org/web/20220812062030/https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/most/kerbalspaceprogram.php . August 12, 2022 . July 25, 2022.
  12. Web site: Steele . Chandra . These TikTok Songs Have Earned the Most Money in 2021 . PCMAG . August 25, 2021 . May 3, 2022 . September 29, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230929123921/https://www.pcmag.com/news/these-tiktok-songs-have-earned-the-most-money-in-2021 . live .
  13. Web site: Royalty Free: Why YouTube and Creative Commons can't coexist . The Daily Dot . August 30, 2015 . Hoffberger. Chase. March 3, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923212431/http://www.dailydot.com/business/youtube-content-id-creative-commons-problems/ . September 23, 2015 . live .
  14. Web site: Free downloads – Royalty Free Music . Incompetech . March 25, 2015 . MacLeod, Kevin . https://web.archive.org/web/20150323054042/http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/faq.html . March 23, 2015 . live .
  15. Web site: Public Domain Music Downloads . FreePD . March 26, 2015 . MacLeod, Kevin . https://web.archive.org/web/20150323071843/http://freepd.com/ . March 23, 2015 . live .
  16. Web site: FreePD FAQ . FreePD . March 26, 2015 . MacLeod, Kevin . https://web.archive.org/web/20160816224132/http://freepd.com/faq.html . August 16, 2016 . dead .
  17. Web site: Director Ryan Camarda on Royalty Free, his new doc on composer Kevin Macleod. The Pitch. Spacek. Nick. December 2, 2020. December 19, 2020. September 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230929123920/https://www.thepitchkc.com/director-ryan-camarda-on-royalty-free-his-new-doc-on-composer-kevin-macleod/. live.
  18. Web site: Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod by Ryan Camarda. Kickstarter.com. January 19, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20141030091826/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryancamarda/royalty-free-the-music-of-kevin-macleod. October 30, 2014. live.
  19. Web site: Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod. Rotten Tomatoes. December 19, 2020. February 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210227134547/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/royalty_free_the_music_of_kevin_macleod. live.
  20. Web site: German Web Video Award Page. https://web.archive.org/web/20191030151004/https://webvideopreis.de/de/widget/ard/content/kevin-macleod. dead. October 30, 2019. June 14, 2015.
  21. Web site: Kevin MacLeod gewinnt den Ehrenpreis international. Kevin MacLeod wins the honorary award internationally. YouTube. Webvideopreis Deutschland. June 14, 2015. de. June 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150623063615/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx05I2IeoEo. June 23, 2015. live.

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