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Kevin MacLeod

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For other people of the same name, see Kevin McLeod (disambiguation).

Kevin MacLeod
MacLeod in 2016
MacLeod in 2016
Background information
Born1972 (age 52–53)
Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • music producer
Websiteincompetech.com
Kevin MacLeod's voice
Published on December 19, 2023

Kevin MacLeod (/məˈklaʊd/ mə-KLOWD; born 1972) is an American composer and music producer. Described by The New York Times as "arguably the most prolific composer you’ve never heard of",[1] 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", released on February 3, 2014, is among the most played on TikTok; from January through June 2021, it was played over 31.6 billion times.[2][3]

The wide availability and freeness of his work have made 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, Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod, was released in 2020.

Early life and education

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Kevin MacLeod was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1972.[4] He began piano lessons at a young age: "as a 4-year old or whatever it was".[5] He attended university where he initially studied electrical engineering; however, amid a distaste for chemistry requirements, he switched to music education after his first month.[5]

MacLeod never graduated university; he had a brief stint as a computer programmer during the dot-com bubble.[5] He had colleagues in the multimedia world struggling to find music, so he began composing and sharing his works online, particularly on YouTube.[5] During this time, he created his website, Incompetech.com, which initially generated ad revenue from a PDF generator of graph paper.[6][7]

Career

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MacLeod, a composer and music producer,[8] 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.[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]".[5]

Since January 1, 1998, MacLeod posts royalty-free music on his website, Incompetech.com, which is essentially "for anyone who wants to use them, for any project whatsoever".[9] His music is free to use but requires formal credit,[6] per the Creative Commons Attribution copyright license.[10] Instead of crediting him, parties can pay a fee for a no-attribution license,[6] which starts at US$30 for one song, US$50 for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.[10] MacLeod receives some advertising revenue from music streaming services but "otherwise relies on donations via Patreon".[6] 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".[11] On September 12, 2011, MacLeod became able to assign ISRC codes for his music.[12]

"Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" by Kevin MacLeod

The wide availability of his music has led to it being used in thousands of films and millions of videos on YouTube and other social media sites.[13] As of 2017, his music is featured on one of the live feeds from the International Space Station, Earth From Space.[14] The media that featured his music varies much, from Martin Scorsese's 2011 film Hugo to pornographic films.[1] The video game Kerbal Space Program also included his compositions.[15] One of his songs, "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", released on February 3, 2014, is among the most played on TikTok; from January through June 2021, it was played over 31.6 billion times.[2][3] When Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig presented an award at the 2024 Golden Globes, their use of MacLeod's 2010 song "Fluffing a Duck" was widely noted and gave him considerable attention.[5][16]

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.[17] 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."[18] Recently, MacLeod has started using Suno AI to make new music, including for the game Cloudpunk.[19]

Documentary

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MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titled Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod.[20] 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.[21] According to the Kickstarter page, the amount was needed for transportation to conduct in-person interviews with the various subjects featured in the film.[21] The documentary has received positive reviews from critics.[22]

Awards and accolades

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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.[23][24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Kenny, Glenn (March 29, 2022). "'Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod' Review: Into the Spotlight". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Steele, Chandra (August 25, 2021). "These TikTok Songs Have Earned the Most Money in 2021". PCMAG. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Prichep, Deena (September 25, 2024). "How a catchy tune became the soundtrack to TikTok's silliest videos". npr.org. NPR.
  4. ^ Gutelle, Sam (December 2, 2016). "Kevin MacLeod Is The King Of Royalty-Free Music, And Millions Are Listening". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Curto, Justin (January 11, 2024). "The Composer Behind the Globes' Best Bit Was Already in Bed". Vulture. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (April 29, 2021). "How composer Kevin MacLeod became the king of royalty-free music". New Statesman. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  7. ^ "PDF Duplexer: An incompetech Utility". Incompetech.com. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Mike, McGreehan (June 24, 2015). "Piedmont: PHS students excel in global contest with video". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Pollari, Niina. "Free Music – Kevin MacLeod Composes for the Internet". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  10. ^ a b MacLeod, Kevin. "Music License Forms". Incompetech. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  11. ^ MacLeod, Kevin. "Free downloads – Royalty Free Music". Incompetech. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015. The cost for me to share music is low, and the benefits are high [...] I believe that copyright is badly broken, so I chose a license that allows me to give away the rights I wish to surrender. We really have no hope of overturning the existing copyright situation, but we can and are creating an alternate body of works that are able to compete with them. [Quote only available in archived version].
  12. ^ MacLeod, Kevin (September 12, 2011). "ISRC codes". Incompetech. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Duenas, Ulises (December 16, 2020). "'Royalty Free' Tells the Story of the Most Selfless Man in Music". High Brow Magazine. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Tyler, Aaron (May 30, 2017). "Earth From Space & Kevin MacLeod Music". On Stage Magazine. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  15. ^ "Soundtrack from Kerbal Space Program!". incompetech.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  16. ^ Frank, Jason P. (January 7, 2024). "Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell Went and Fluffed the Duck Portrait of Jason P. Frank". Vulture. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  17. ^ MacLeod, Kevin. "Public Domain Music Downloads". FreePD. Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  18. ^ MacLeod, Kevin. "FreePD FAQ". FreePD. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  19. ^ MacLeod, Kevin. "Kosmose Vaikus". YouTube. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  20. ^ Spacek, Nick (December 2, 2020). "Director Ryan Camarda on Royalty Free, his new doc on composer Kevin Macleod". The Pitch. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod by Ryan Camarda". Kickstarter.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  22. ^ "Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  23. ^ "German Web Video Award Page". Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  24. ^ "Kevin MacLeod gewinnt den Ehrenpreis international" [Kevin MacLeod wins the honorary award internationally]. YouTube (in German). Webvideopreis Deutschland. June 14, 2015. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.

Further reading

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[edit]
Music
Background
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