the much bigger trend of content companies being really user-friendly with their licensing models, and explaining to users upfront what their rights and responsibilities are.”
Though the catalogue currently does not contain any tracks from major label artists, Anthony says it does include many tracks from popular films and TV shows, such as Entourage, networks including MTV, video game companies like Ubisoft, and many global brands. He also noted that new tracks will be added on a daily basis alongside one free song download every week, and said the service is currently working on developing a deal to include tracks from bigger-name artists and labels, which will be rolled out in the coming months. A downloadable list of notable independent artists and labels available through the service can be seen here.
Although YouTube is a partner in the service, the Friendly Music licenses will not require that users upload the videos exclusively to YouTube—the two dollar license gives users the right to use a song in a video and post it anywhere on the web, provided that the use is for non-commercial purposes. And for the average YouTube video-surfer, videos with Friendly Music licenses will mean you’ll never have to click on a clip entitled “Baby dancing to Beyonce,” only to find the audio has been removed due to copyright infringement.
As for competition, Rumblefish said it has none in the consumer market.
“This is different because it’s the first time users have been given the opportunity to buy a direct license from music rights holders,” Anthony said. The service, he says, will give the movie-making consumer access to an extensive bank of copyright-cleared songs “to help users create professional quality sounding soundtracks for their video,” without having to purchase expensive rights deals directly through artists or labels.
If a user’s Friendly Music licensed video became a big hit on YouTube and they wanted to start using it for commercial purposes, Anthony said Rumblefish would work with the user to upgrade the license through the company’s existing commercial licensing service.
Rumblefish was founded in 1996 and licenses music for commercial use in television, film, video games, and brands. The company first rolled out an automated music licensing service in 2006, and first teamed up with YouTube in 2008, providing music for the online video community’s AudioSwap tool.
