Kevin MacLeod (/məˈklaʊd/mə-KLOWD; born 1972) is an American composer and music producer. Described as "arguably the most prolific composer you’ve never heard of",[1] MacLeod has composed over 2,000 pieces ofroyalty-free library music and made them available under aCreative Commons copyrightlicense. One of his compositions, "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", released on February 3, 2014, is among the most played onTikTok; from January through June 2021, it was played over 31.6 billion times.[citation needed]
MacLeod never graduated from UWGB; he had a brief stint as acomputer programmer during theDot-com bubble.[3] He had colleagues in themultimedia world struggling to find music, so he began composing and sharing his works online, particularly onYouTube.[3] During this time, he created his website,Incompetech.com, which initially generatedad revenue from aPDF generator ofgraph paper.[4][5]
MacLeod, acomposer andmusic producer,[6] 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 journalistGlenn Kenny ofThe New York Times.[1] Kenny further describes him as "a pioneer both of digital production and distribution",[1] while the critic Justin Curto notes that he is "a bit of a legend in the space [of royalty music]".[3]
Starting on January 1, 1998, MacLeod postsroyalty-free music on his website,Incompetech.com, which is essentially "for anyone who wants to use them, for any project whatsoever".[7] His music isfree to use but requires formalcredit,[4] per theCreative Commons Attribution copyright license.[8] Instead of crediting him, parties can pay a fee for a no-attribution license,[4] which starts atUS$30 for one song,US$50 for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.[8] MacLeod receives some advertising revenue frommusic streaming services but "otherwise relies on donations viaPatreon".[4]
On September 12, 2011, MacLeod became able to assignISRC codes for his music.[9]
MacLeod states that he releases his music underCreative Commons licenses to maximize the number of people who can use it.[16][17] On his website's FAQ, he expressed disdain for the current state ofcopyright; he hopes to create "an alternate body of works that is able to compete with them".[16][18]
MacLeod has also created FreePD.com, which collects various artists' newpublic 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.[19] Some of MacLeod's music is also available on the website; 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."[20]
MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titledRoyalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod.[21] The film had a limited release in October 2020. Ryan Camarda, the film's director and producer, ran a fundraising campaign onKickstarter with a goal of $30,000; by the end of the campaign, 524 backers had pledged $30,608.[22] According to the Kickstarter page, the amount was needed for transportation to conduct in-person interviews with the various subjects featured in the film.[22] The documentary has received positive reviews from critics.[23]
In 2015, the European Web Video Academy awarded MacLeod the International Honorary Web Video Award at the 2015 German Web Video Awards for his lifetime achievement in influencing the German web video community.[24][25]
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Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
