Tech Focus: Sports Music, Part 2 — Music Libraries

The choices in library and production music and cues are greater than ever. Here is a look at some of the leading ones.

APM Music
The joint venture of EMI Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing supplies a comprehensive collection of music for sports entertainment broadcasters (ESPN, Turner Sports, HBO Sports, NFL Network), professional franchises (Yankees, Dodgers, Braves, Giants, Steelers, Knicks, Grizzlies, Devils), and collegiate groups (Alabama, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Georgia). It offers more than 450,000 tracks in every genre by award-winning composers, top session players, and indie trendsetters. A mainstay in sports culture with songs like the Monday Night Football theme and catalogs like the NFL Films Music Library and MLB Music Library, it provides an online database, its Music Director Service, and its boutique custom division, Resonate Music Group. CLICK HERE for sports music.

5 Alarm Music
The independent production-music library for film, television, radio offers the expertise of award-winning composers and music supervisors. One of the largest independent music libraries, 5 Alarm Music hosts more than 80 music libraries and 285 independent artists, with a broad selection of cost-effective music solutions. Its sports roster includes the Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers, the New Orleans Saints, and University of Notre Dame. CLICK HERE for sports reel.

FirstCom Music
Providing production music for broadcast, film, multimedia, and corporate productions, FirstCom offers a diverse selection of high-quality, easy-to-license music that reflects today’s charts. The comprehensive music collection comprises more than 30 catalogs and more than 190,000 titles from creative writers, producers, and musicians, including Grammy and Academy Award winners. The company’s range music services includes music supervision, custom searches, and original scoring. CLICK HERE for sports-related link.

Killer Tracks
Offering more than 146,000 tracks from 35 global libraries with original works from award-winning composers and producers, Killer Tracks provides complimentary music-supervision services, as well as music access online and on interactive hard drive. Sports clients include ESPN, Fox Sports, NFL Network, and NBA Entertainment. Click for action and Intensity sports, for dramatic sports, for baseball.

Megatrax
With more than 90,000 tracks, including alternate and underscore versions and complete edits, Megatrax features a new Website with an ease-of-use interface and improved search system. A portable-hard-drive update system provides faster music updates and accurate metadata. Client services include full-time tech support and music supervisors with live chat, as well as online Spanish and Portuguese translations. Payment options include radio and TV barter deals. Custom scoring is available via the company’s Aircast Custom Music division. CLICK HERE for sports-related link.

Sound Ideas
More than 500 distinct royalty-free collections are available for broadcast, postproduction, and multimedia facilities with unlimited lifetime synchronization rights with every purchase, on formats including DVD ROM, hard drive and CD. All .wav files are provided with full keyword metadata for search applications. Click for sports music, for sports sound effects. Sister company Westar Music also features unlimited licensing.

Warner/Chappell Production Music
Uniting independents Non-Stop Music, 615 Music, Groove Addicts, CPM, and others, Warner/Chappell’s brands have composed works for TV shows, networks, and companies including ESPN, British Open Royal & Ancient, World Cup South Africa, Major League Baseball, Cox Communications, and Speed Channel. CLICK HERE for sports reel.

VideoHelper
The independent boutique production-music library provides exclusive music for sports entertainment broadcasters (NFL Films, ESPN, ABC Sports, Turner, MSG, NFL Network, HBO, Showtime) and professional franchises (Seahawks, Mariners, and Lions) as well as colleges (Virginia Commonwealth University). With more than 6,500 multi-genre tracks designed to drive video, each cut is constructed with edit points built in. VideoHelper offers a specialized breed of production music to sports programming, one intended to think like a producer and make editing easy. Its new Website/search engine is designed to make it easy to find and license music for sports needs.

For Tech Focus: Sports Music, Part 1, CLICK HERE.
For Tech Focus, Sports Music, Part 3: CLICK HERE.