Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod

Documentary • Unrated • Directed by: Ryan Camarda • 91 minutes

Royalty Free tells the story of the internet legend whose music has become the soundtrack of the digital world. Composer Kevin MacLeod released thousands of his songs for free and unwittingly became one of the most heard composers in the world, with his work ending up in millions of videos, thousands of films, and more than a few odd places – such as theme parks and rocket launches. By releasing his music royalty free, anyone can use his music in their productions, from Martin Scorsese’s Hugo to cat videos on YouTube. The film also delves into the digital audio revolution, where one person with a synthesizer can become an entire orchestra. This democratization of music has enabled great creativity, but has also threatened the livelihood of analog musicians, from recording artists to orchestras and Broadway musicians. Ultimately, Royalty Free is about the value we as a society place on creative work, and how the evolving technological landscape influences our consumption, production, and distribution of the work itself.