Stock music

Stock music, also known as production music or library music, is recorded music licensed for use in various media forms, including (but not limited to) film, television and radio.

De Wolfe Music, KPM, Bruton, Sonoton, Network Music, Killer Tracks, FirstCom Music, Cavendish, Chappell, Freeplay Music, Sound Ideas, Westar Music and others are major stock music labels.

NFL Films is the film and television production company of the National Football League.

Initially known as Blair Motion Pictures, NFL Films has revolutionized the sports filming world.

Ed Sabol and his son Steve Sabol are the NFL Films figureheads, both of whom make this company a success story.

John Facenda is the first narrator for NFL Films until his 1984 death.

Sam Spence is the primary music composer for NFL Films from 1966 to 1990, having crafted his epic Hollywood-like music scores.

Together, Ed Sabol, Steve Sabol, John Facenda and Sam Spence create the NFL Films hallmarks.

Munich, Germany is the adopted base for Sam Spence and his music work with NFL Films.

Just before NFL Films, marching band music was often featured in many sports films, but under Sam Spence's influence, NFL Films uses cinematic Hollywood-like orchestral music in them.

In his NFL Films music work, Sam Spence's influence derives from many world-famous Hollywood music composers, like Miklos Rozsa and Dimitri Tiomkin.

Having been the music director for NFL Films from the late-1960's to 1984, Phillip Spieller selected music for (and mixed) many sports films during his career.

Phillip Spieller made up a process in which he blended music cues composed by NFL Films' in-house composers, like Sam Spence, with prerecorded tracks from stock music labels.

This process by Phillip Spieller gave NFL Films its cinematic Hollywood-like orchestral sound.

Noted NFL Films innovations include slow-motion shots, edited montages, close-ups and game sound synchronization, plus many others, all set to dramatic orchestral music.

De Wolfe Music (or Music De Wolfe) has been a stock music pioneer since its 1909 inception.

In the late-1920's, with talkies being born, De Wolfe Music started to use recorded music cues, giving birth to modern stock music.

For the rest of the 1950's, the weekday London ITV franchise Associated-Rediffusion purchased Keith Prowse Music Publishing and Peter Maurice Music, forming Keith-Prowse-Maurice (KPM).

With commercial television having arrived through both ITV and Associated-Rediffusion, stock music became an integral and a crucial component of television music.

In the mid-1960's, in the wake of the successes being created by the British Invasion, Motown and Stax music trends, KPM pioneered a modern, often instrumental, stock music sound.

The KPM 1000 Series blended traditional music genres, notably orchestral and jazz, with more modern ones, like pop, rhythm & blues, soul, rock and electronica.

With the KPM 1000 Series, it hired session musicians and composers in the pop, jazz and rock scenes.

For instance, Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett, both coming from Cliff Richard's backing band The Shadows, are involved with stock music.

Mike Vickers and Dave Richmond, both hailing from Manfred Mann, are likewise musicians working with stock music labels.

Ray Russell, Vic Flick and Kenny Salmon, all hailing from The John Barry Seven, are also musicians involved with stock music.

Warren Bennett, who hails from The Shadows, of which his father Brian Bennett is a member, is also involved with stock music, like his father.

Keith Mansfield, Johnny Pearson, Frank Ricotti and Nick Ingman, who are session musicians, are also involved with stock music.

Francis Monkman and Darryl Way, both coming from Curved Air, are also involved with stock music.

Alan Parker, Herbie Flowers, Barry Morgan, John Cameron, Geoff Bastow, Trevor Bastow and Steve Gray, all being session musicians, are also involved with stock music.

By combining traditional music genres, notably orchestral and jazz, with modern ones, the KPM 1000 Series modernized and revitalized stock music, marking its quality facelift in production values.

Instead of the generic "mood music" sound, the KPM 100 Series featured many instrumental cues that sounded like commercial ones, creating a sonic identity ubiquitous in television and film.

KPM also shifted from 10-inch 78 rpm shellac records into 12-inch 33 rpm LPs.

While 78 rpm shellac records use faster playback speed, 33 rpm LPs use slower speed and finer, more densely packed microgrooves, giving music a more storage space.

In 1969, EMI, which took Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), the part-owner of Thames Television (ABC's successor), took KPM from Thames' other precursor Associated-Rediffusion.

EMI, not confined to stock music, also features musicians, like The Beatles, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Queen, Bob Seger, Kylie Minogue, Coldplay, Radiohead, Selena, etc.

Robin Phillips is the mastermind of the KPM 1000 Series.

Adrian Kerridge, who, at Lansdowne Studios, helped establish the distinct sound of The Dave Clark Five, also engineered the KPM 1000 Series.

Wardour Street had been De Wolfe's longtime headquarters until its relocation to Shropshire House on Capper Street in the late-1990's.

Denmark Street, located near Wardour Street where De Wolfe was located, had also been the longtime headquarters for KPM/EMI until its move to Charing Cross the late-1980's.

Soho bridges both Wardour Street and Denmark Street, where De Wolfe and KPM/EMI were based.

Until its relocation to Queens House at Tottenham Court Road in the late-2010's, De Wolfe's primary location was Shropshire House on Capper Street.

Boosey & Hawkes, Chappell, Josef Weinberger Ltd. and Bosworth are some music publishers which entered stock music with their reputation on par with De Wolfe and KPM/EMI.

Cavendish Music is the current name for Boosey & Hawkes' stock music division.

Regent Street is the former main location for the Boosey & Hawkes music publishing empire.

New Bond Street and Park Street sre the former primary locations for the Chappell music publishing empire.

Sonoton is a company that brings stock music to Germany and endures innovations in this field.

Gerhard Narholz, an Austrian film and television composer and a pop songwriter, is the driving force behind Sonoton and its innovations.

Roy Berry's eponymous stock music label, founded in partnership with Campbell-Connelly, Inc. in the mid-1950's or after 1954, is best known for its iconic Conroy sub-label.

KPM/EMI purchased Berry Music from Campbell-Connelly, Inc. in 1973 or between 1972 and 1974.

EMI Photoplay Library is one of the early forays into stock music for EMI before it acquired KPM in 1969.

In 1969, Sonoton struck a deal with Berry Music, exposing its catalogue to a global audience.

With Berry Music being purchased in 1973 by KPM/EMI, which was led by Robin Phillips, Sonoton underwent its further worldwide expansion, also marking the birth of its own record label.

The underscore is one of the stock music trends created by Sonoton.

Parry Music is one of the stock music labels hailing from Canada.

John Parry, who previously worked with the known publisher Chappell, co-founded this eponymous stock music label with Canadian music consultant Chris Stone in 1974.

Using the strategy by both John Parry and Chris Stone, Parry Music featured British composers, some hailing from Chappell, where John Parry formerly worked, but also across the world.

Alain J. Leroux is one of the composers working with Parry Music. 

In 1977, Robin Phillips took many of his KPM/EMI composers with him to start his own label run by ATV Music/Northern Songs, with whom Sam Trust worked for its US branch.

Bruton Street served as the chief base for the eponymous music label that was more experimental and electronic than KPM/EMI, but also the base for ATV Music.

Zomba purchased Bruton in 1986, marking its first foray into stock music; it also acquired Chappell's stock music division in the late-1980's or before 1989.

In 1953, De Wolfe made its expansion to North America in partnership with Corelli-Jacobs; exactly 60 years later, in 2013, it launched De Wolfe USA to further increase its American presence.

Until the late-1980's, Emil Ascher, Inc. and TRF were America's leading stock music distributors.

KPM and Bruton were respectively owned by EMI and ATV; they were represented in the US by Emil Ascher, Inc., and this partnership led to the creation of APM Music to represent them both.

Promusic is a former stock music distributor located in South Florida, which had once been the largest company distributing European labels.

Cavendish Music, which is Boosey & Hawkes' stock music label, is also one of the earliest labels from Promusic.

Abaco Music, which was Promusic's own label, was sold to Boosey & Hawkes, and became integrated with Cavendish, both in the mid-noughties.

In addition, Promusic also distributed Parry, for which the stock music distributor's own founder Alain Leroux composed tracks; he also did tracks for Abaco, later integrated into Cavendish Music.

5 Alarm Music, founded in 2001, acquired Promusic in 2005, and returned Cavendish to its fold in the early-2010's, after the latter was distributed by Non-Stop Music.

Ever since the 1960's, stock music labels, including De Wolfe, KPM/EMI and Bruton, have utilized a modern sound made by musicians, especially those having backgrounds in rock music.

Robin Phillips (who worked at both the KPM/EMI and Bruton labels) was the visionary behind stock music's modernization, revitalization and reinvention.

The Music People Ltd. is a former stock music distributor in Canada, led by Parry Music's founders.

Studio G is a former stock music label based at Wardour Street, where De Wolfe was based.

John Gale, who once worked with Chappell's stock music division, founded Studio G.

Network Music plays a crucial role in evolving and popularizing stock music, as does KPM/EMI under Robin Phillips.

Using music composers from Tuesday Productions, Network Music is also a stock music innovator.

The Network Music style features French horns and strings being laden with a modern drum beat, with timpani and brass accents.

In fact, Network Music is innovative in blending traditional orchestral elements with modern rhythms.

S. John Archer and Ron Satterfield, who are the primary members of their own new age/eclectic music group Checkfield, plus Spencer Nilsen, are also in stock music through Network Music.

Killer Tracks was founded in 1989 as a joint venture between jingle company HLC/Killer Music and music executive Sam Trust, the latter also being involved in stock music through APM.

In the early-1990's or after 1990, Killer Tracks sold its 50% stake to BMG and eventually took over its remaining shares in 1996, becoming its stock music division.

Plus, Network Music was sold to BMG in 2001, and became integrated with Killer Tracks after 2005.

Ron Hicklin, Al Capps and John Bahler, all hailing from the eponymous Ron Hicklin Singers, are also musicians involved with stock music through FirstCom and Killer Tracks.

HLC/Killer, owned by Ron Hicklin, was involved with stock music through Killer Tracks, which is an innovative label.

Lars Clutterham and Grant Geissman are session musicians involved with stock music.

Suzie Katayama and Steve Kujala, all being session musicians, are also involved with the stock music industry through Killer Tracks.

FirstCom, which Jim Long co-founded, is also a household name in stock music.

Likewise, using music composers coming from TM Productions and VTS Music, FirstCom is also a stock music innovator, as is Network Music, using composers from Tuesday Productions.

Zomba, which already owned Bruton and Chappell, acquired FirstCom in 1990.

Six years later, in 1996, Zomba put Bruton, FirstCom and Chappell together under the name Zomba Production Music, the first of the so-called super-libraries in stock music.

Atmosphere Music Library is one of the most innovative and cutting-edge stock music.

Luis Jardim and Geoff Downes, both of whom worked together with famous music innovator Trevor Horn, also worked with Atmosphere Music Library.

Both Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes are Biddu's two former session musicians; they also teamed up together as the core members of The Buggles, best known for Video Killed the Radio Star.

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles was the first music video on MTV in 1981.

Cezame is a French music label founded in 1975 by the collaborators of the singer F.R. David, whose English-language song Words became a worldwide success and put the label on the map.

Koka Media is the leading stock music label in France.

Founded in the early-1980's by Cezame and RCA, Koka has been a successful stock music label.

Incidentally, in the late-1980's, RCA became integrated with BMG, which, in February 1996, assumed Koka's 50% stake and the rest before 2008.

Still in France, Kosinus is a stock label founded in the late-1980's.

Responding to BMG acquiring a 50% stake in Koka in February 1996, Kosinus sold its ownership and distribution rights to its co-founder's new entity called Kapagama.

Primetime Productions is the publisher for Match Music, a stock label with its roots in Sweden.

Stephen Paul Martin, professionally known as Steve Martin, not the comedian, is the mastermind and guiding spirit for Match Music, also known as Paul Osborne or Arch Bacon.

BMG purchased Match Music and Primetime Productions in April 1997.

Immediate Music is a stock music company known for its epic trailer music approach filled with huge choirs and sound design elements.

Driving the vision for Immediate Music are Yoav Goren and Jeffrey Fayman.

Yoav Goren was initially influenced by classical music, then by the Beatles, and by iconic film music composers like Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry and Ennio Morricone.

Jeffrey Fayman was involved with progressive rock acts, like Robert Fripp.

Before Immediate Music, though movie trailers featured music sourced from movies for decades, stock music cues were rarely utilized in this industry, as they were low-quality.

However, through the efforts of both Yoav Goren and Jeffrey Fayman, Immediate Music revolutionized stock music in movie trailers with its high-quality epic orchestral style.

Immediate Music's success paved the way for other labels in this epic music genre, including Extreme Music, Brand X Music, Two Steps from Hell, Audiomachine, Future World Music, etc.

Dolphin Taylor, who was the drummer for Stiff Little Fingers, is involved with stock music, as is their manager Russell Emanuel.

Having gained his experience in the stock music scene through Bruton, Russell Emanuel then moved to Music House, but this time, with Dolphin Taylor.

Incidentally, both Bruton and Music House were founded by Robin Phillips (KPM/EMI).

For both Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor, their work at Match Music resulted in their cues being created using MIDI technology.

Both Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor founded Extreme Music in 1997.

One of the reasons that both Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor founded Extreme Music was because stock music was poorly-served and complacent by old-school attitudes.

Primetime Productions, which published the Match Music label, was purchased by BMG in April 1997, which was also the reason that both Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor founded Extreme Music.

Extreme Music's X-Series (XCD) serves as its front-of-house contemporary pop music label; its own Ultimate Classix (XCL) features most cues performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orehestra.

Remote Control, led by Hans Zimmer and Jay Rifkin, teamed up with Extreme Music, led by Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor, to launch the Directors Cuts sub-label in 2001.

Directors Cuts is Extreme Music's orchestral and electro-orchestral vanguard label being powered by iconic and world-famous Hollywood blockbuster film music composers.

Extreme Music was sold to Viacom in 2005, and then Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2008.

Instead of the usual stock music soundalikes, both Russell Emanuel and Dolphin Taylor embarked on music from established and emerging artists at a high-quality level at Extreme Music.

Like Immediate Music, Extreme Music is a stock music innovator, both of which elevated this field's quality and perception.

Both Immediate Music and Extreme Music turned stock music from generic into creative in media.

Non-Stop Music produces original music pieces, jingles and packages, many of them featured in film trailers, television and commercials, some performed by the Utah Symphony.

Douglas A. Wood is one of the Studio G composers, but also founded his own stock music label called Omnimusic, which Studio G formerly distributed in the United Kingdom.

John K. Manchester composed cues for Omnimusic before founding his own music company in 1993.

Besides both Chappell and Parry, The Music People Ltd. was the Canadian distributor for stock music labels, including KPM, Bruton, etc.

Reliable Source Music (RSM) is also a prominent stock music label based in the UK.

Wayne Bickerton, who worked with his songwriting partner Tony Waddington, served as the managing director of the Reliable Source Music (RSM) label until his death.

Moving over to the 1980's decade, music technology has seen major innnovations.

Dave Smith's MIDI invention became a method for film scores in digital, but also stock music.

In addition, the Synclavier and the Fairlight CMI have both pioneered the digital sampling trend.

But the earliest models from E-mu and Akai first caught on and became studio staples in stock music.

Sound Ideas and Westar Music are Canadian companies specializing in royalty-free music and sound effects.

Brian Nimens is the driving force behind both Sound Ideas and Westar Music.

Not confined to sound effects, Sound Ideas is also involved with stock music through the royalty-free model.

In addition, Sound Ideas and Westar are also Canada's distributors for De Wolfe and Beatbox.

The Turner Broadcast Music Library uses music sourced within the Turner networks and is exclusively distributed by Sound Ideas.

Hennie Bekker and Greg Kavanaugh, both musicians from Canadian techno music band BKS, are also involved with stock music through Network Music, Parry Music and Sound Ideas.

In 1985, stock music labels, like De Wolfe, KPM, Sonoton, FirstCom and Omnimusic, were among the first to have their music released on compact discs (CDs).

De Wolfe released a collection of six CDs in 1985, being the world's first digital stock music label.

KPM and Sonoton are also among the first stock music labels released on CD, besides De Wolfe.

FirstCom and Omnimusic are among the first American-based stock music labels to have their music released on CD in 1985.

Launched as a 4-track studio in 1978, Sound Ideas is a pioneer in sound effects.

The Series 1000, initially produced on reel-to-reel tape because the audio was superior to vinyl record albums, made the transition to CD, the first sound effects album to do so.

Royalty-free music is done using workflows, like those based on computers, MIDI or a real orchestra.

Hi-Q is a stock music library produced and distributed by Capitol Records.

William Loose and John Seely, who served as the co-architects of the Hi-Q stock music library from Capitol Records, were replaced by Ole Georg and Ib Glindemann in the 1960's.

Born in Denmark, Ole Georg coined the production music term.

Capitol Production Music is the new name for the Hi-Q stock music library from Capitol Records.

Media Music and Media Music: The Professional are sub-labels being included in Capitol's stock music division, both created during Ole Georg's tenure.

Ole Georg Music (OGM) is the current name for Capitol Production Music.

Ever since the late-1920's advent of talkies, many stock music labels have used recorded music from different eras and genres.

For the corporate/industrial genre, especially in news and current affairs, stock music incorporates the sounds of technology like the teletype or Morse code.

Plus, the corporate/industrial genre in stock music uses a modern and cinematic orchestral feel, which combines grand orchestral arrangements with industrial and corporate settings in a modern age.

For stock music albums released in CDs, they provide advantages, notably improved audio quality and durability, compared to previous formats, like vinyl, LPs and magnetic tapes.

Before the KPM 1000 Series, stock music largely used traditional music, notably orchestral and jazz.

Since the KPM 1000 Series, from the mid-1960's until the early-1980's, the typical styles used in stock music were top forty fare à la funk, laid-back fare à la Henry Mancini and electronica.

In addition, stock music composers created soundalikes of the the mainstream top forty songs à la funk and Hollywood-like film scores used in low-budget films and television.

For larger stock music labels protected by copyright, they make copyrighted pieces.

With the production music industry experiencing proliferation in recent years, along with increasing competition, smaller stock music labels evolve the royalty-free music model.

Most of the samples being used in stock music tracks à la funk are also being used by rhythm & blues and hip-hop artists.

With the 2002 merger of Zomba and BMG, BMG Zomba Production Music was formed as well.

Some of the best stock music labels under the BMG Zomba Production Music group include Network Music, Killer Tracks, FirstCom, Chappell, Atmosphere, Koka, Match, etc.

Not long after, before 2008, BMG Music Publishing, which included BMG Zomba Production Music, became integrated with Universal Music Publishing, becoming Universal Production Music.

Universal Music Group, not confined to stock music, features singers such as Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.

SmartSound combines the catalogues sourced from Sound Ideas, Westar, The Music Bakery and Killer Tracks.

BackTraxx is a stock music label from Digital Juice.

While the first BackTraxx library used tracks sourced from River City Sound Productions, the second BackTraxx library used tracks sourced from Fresh Music.

Production Garden Music is based in San Antonio, Texas.

In the 1990's, companies began to sell compact discs filled with royalty-free material; at the end of this decade, composers shifted towards a workflow based on computers.

Pro Tools is one of the computer-based digital audio workstations.

Not confined to non-stock music, Pro Tools is also in stock music.

Andy Mark had been a co-founder of the PMA since its inception in 1997; his legacy has persisted and grown through the eponymous awards: the Mark Awards.

Some other PMA founders, besides Andy Mark, include Michael Dowdle, Dain Blair, Randy Wachtler, Ron Mendelsohn, Norman Chesky, Joseph Saba and Ivy Tombak.

The Mark Awards, named after Andy Mark, are honours by the PMA.

Gerhard Narholz was inducted into the first ever PMA Hall of Fame for his efforts in developing stock music's innovations through Sonoton, which celebrated its golden anniversary.

Peter Cox was inducted into the second ever PMA Hall of Fame for his stock music contributions, and especially his work with both KPM/EMI and West One.

Romano di Bari was inducted into the third PMA Hall of Fame for his contributions to the stock music scene in Italy through Flippermusic in 2017.

Sam Trust and Jim Long were respectively inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame in the late-2010's era.

Doug Wood was inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame in 2021 for his contributions to the stock music business, especially his work with both Studio G and Omnimusic.

An F.R. David collaborator, whose last name is Leibovitz, was inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame in 2022 for his own stock music efforts, especially his work with his Cezame and Koka labels.

Cassie Lord was inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame for her efforts in stock music, including (but not limited to) working with APM and her own 5 Alarm Music (APM's rival), the first woman to do so.

Andy Mark, who served as PMA co-founder and the namesake of the Mark Awards, was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame on the 10th anniversary of this awards ceremony in the mid-2020's.

Dain Blair was inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame in 2025 for his stock music efforts, especially his work with Groove Addicts (now GrooveWorx).