I’m Ketsa, welcome to IMLC and to the third and final part of my blog where we will discussing independent royalty free music. Please make sure to read part 1, Say Goodbye to the Middlemen, and part 2, Empowering Artists, before this.

For the last 7 years I’ve been releasing the vast majority of my music for free on a Creative Commons BY NC ND 4.0 license on the amazing website and resource, the Free Music Archive.

This website transformed my music career and life. How?

There are literally millions of people that use the FMA daily, not just as a free to stream and download catalogue of quality music, but also as an amazing resource of Royalty Free music that has the potential to be used in derivative and commercial projects. This is how I know there is currently a huge gap in the market that independent artists can and should be taking advantage of.

Through the FMA, I’ve not only been contacted by and received work from massive global agencies like Grey Advertising, Talk Radio, the BBC, Vice Media and the UN, I’ve also received plenty of work from independent film makers, podcast producers, games developers, universities, museums etc etc. There is such a huge number of people looking for music for all manner of projects that do not want to or can’t go down the traditional expensive route of licensing music, that’s why they are on the FMA looking in the first place. This is the time to make you, your music library and services as visible and clear as possible to take advantage.

Independent music licensing

Having your music available on the FMA means you already have a huge marketing resource for your music. We know there are so many agencies, companies and organisations on there everyday looking for suitable music. The bigger your personal library is, the more chance you have of getting music licensed. If they contact you, then that becomes YOUR contact, not a publishers.

This is why I’ve always said to feed the music ‘plant’ even when you’re not earning from your art. Building up the content you want to provide to people is obviously essential, and when you have your own personal royalty free library to add to, literally no track, riff or loop need go to waste.

This is why I started my own Ecommerce licensing site. I only have two things for sale, a perpetual single track use license and an annual subscription service. It’s so simple, easy to use and attractive as many people need multiple tracks for projects, and no traditional publisher can match the flexibility we independents have with our own royalty free music library that we have full sovereignty over. And this even extends to charity. I’ve let plenty of hospices, cancer wards and children’s charities use my music for free.

The future is independent

Here at IMLC, we truly hope our site becomes a treasured central resource not just for artists making independent royalty free music, but for all content creators, companies and organisations that need an awesome  affordable soundtrack. As we continue to grow, and be able to offer such a clear and attractive service, we truly hope to inspire and evolve a new way of licensing music, one that empowers both sides.

So we’re really happy you’re here. Both One Man Book and myself are easily contactable and here to support you at every stage. Soon we’ll have invaluable resources here too, like legal documents and production tips.

The future is exciting. Join us on the journey.

Ketsa 2022

Come and see a small selection of licensing jobs Ketsa has completed.

https://youtu.be/9ChqHcO1JmQ
https://vimeo.com/225301122
https://vimeo.com/210328115
https://youtu.be/DcDhiHtNdg8
https://vimeo.com/183165520