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 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.
MacLeod never graduated from UWGB; he had a brief stint as a computer programmer during the Dot-com bubble.[3] He had colleagues in the multimedia world struggling to find music, so he began composing and sharing his works online, particularly on YouTube.[3] During this time, he created his website, Incompetech.com, which initially generated ad revenue from a PDF generator of graph paper.[4][5]
Career
MacLeod, a composer and music 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 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]".[3]
Starting on 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".[7] His music is free to use but requires formal credit,[4] per the Creative Commons Attribution copyright license.[8] Instead of crediting him, parties can pay a fee for a no-attribution license,[4] which starts at US$30 for one song, US$50 for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.[8] MacLeod receives some advertising revenue from music streaming services but "otherwise relies on donations via Patreon".[4]
On September 12, 2011, MacLeod became able to assign ISRC codes for his music.[9]
"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.[10] As of 2017, his music is featured on one of the live feeds from the International Space Station, Earth From Space.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13][14] 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.[3][15]
MacLeod states that he releases his music under Creative 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 of copyright; 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' 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.[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]
Documentary
MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titled Royalty 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 on Kickstarter 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]
Awards and accolades
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]
Discography
Albums and Compilations
1999: Springwell
2006: Dorney Rock
2006: Missing Hits 2
2012: Cuentos de Recuperación (with Sonia Echezuria)
