What is the IMLC?
The Independent Music Licensing Collective is a global independent music licensing community built with the aim of empowering independent music creators by removing the middleman from the commercial licensing process.
High-quality, independently made Royalty Free Music at competitive prices
The IMLC is a global independent music licensing community founded in West London in 2022. The collective is the brainchild of independent musicians Ketsa and One Man Book, and was explicitly designed to liberate independent artists from the pitfalls of traditional industry models. Built on half a decade’s experience negotiating independent music licensing deals with small, medium, and large companies and individuals seeking a broad range of high-quality music for commercial licensing, the IMLC is dedicated to helping make independent music creation a sustainable career choice for artists and musicians. Despite the continued marginalisation of independent artists from the mainstream, by utilising high quality productions coupled with the removal of the middlemen from the licensing process, the IMLC is in essence a brand new concept in the world of royalty-free music licensing.
A music licensing revolution
The demand for high-quality, affordable royalty-free music in a variety of genres is still growing larger and wider by the year. As a matter of fact, organisations of all sizes, from every corner of the world, are seeking out music for a range of projects that will help them deliver engaging content and provide even more commercial value to consumers. These needs range from podcast themes to documentary soundtracks, mobile apps to in-store radio playlists, social media campaigns to promotional content. Consequently, the opportunities for music creators to build and sell their catalogues is vast.
As can be seen with much of the antiquated, broken music industry model, the gatekeepers have reigned supreme in the music licensing space for as many years at it has been thriving. For that reason, the IMLC’s seeks to bypass the middlemen and connect the two parties that matter – the artist and the licensee – in the hope that new and fairer commercial structures will grow from the collaboration. To put it another way, we have worked hard to build a community of like-minded artists, each with unique creative talents and world views, driven by the desire to create quality music and build robust and sustainable businesses in music licensing.
If you’re an independent artist, producer, or musician looking to make a career out of commercial music licensing, the IMLC is without a doubt the place for you. If you’re a content producer, big or small, then we’ve got the music you need to elevate your project, whenever you need it. Come and join the world’s first independent music licensing community.
Why should video creators, podcasters, filmmakers, games and app developers deal directly with the artist?
There are undoubtedly many advantages to dealing directly with the artists making the music you want to use, rather than going through the traditional, expensive routes of publishers and labels. In the first place, there are no middleman fees, so you’ll save yourself a fortune on expenditure for your projects.
You might be making a documentary that needs 10 pieces of music. Whenever you look to license 10 individual songs that are good quality and suitable, you would expect costs to run into many hundreds or thousands of pounds. Whereas, by subscribing directly to an artist’s royalty-free catalogue, you could get the job done for as little as £120, and have access to that artist’s entire catalogue for other jobs for the rest of the year. As offers go, you’d have to say that’s a pretty attractive one.
Another benefit is that there are a huge number of very talented musicians, producers, and artists who have spent many years crafting their skills that aren’t signed to publishers or labels, therefore offering unique and flexible approaches to music production. A quick tour of the Free Music Archive will tell you that this pool of talent is thriving and still growing. Artists on there, including the co-founders and many others on the IMLC, have had music licensed by very large organisations for many thousands of commercial jobs, at a far lower rate.
Out with the old model
In conclusion, dealing directly with artists gives you a greater opportunity to negotiate your needs and budget. We have the means and ability to be flexible, as we are the copyright holders of our work, not a publisher or label. Need stems? No problem. Need an element of a track removed? No worries. Need it to be slower? Easily done. We can also be commissioned to create exclusive tracks at a far lower rate than any other alternative.
So if you’re looking for high-quality and affordable royalty-free music, please join our community-based music licensing revolution. In summary, it’s a win-win situation – we’ll help your project, and you’ll help us stay independent.
Ketsa
One Man Book
Ketsa music has been used by The National Geographic, The United Nations. Audi, a Volvo TV Advert, T3 Micro, Conran and Partners, fashion companies Arezzo and Riachuelo, Forbes, WNYC Studios, Reveal News, StoryCorps, Human Nature Podcast, Criminal Podcast, Myths and Legends, StarTripper!! Virginia Humanities Foundation, theinertia.com, mode.com, The Conversation, local American and Canadian television, and many more film, podcast, universities, schools, news and photography companies. He also provides the soundtracks for some of Eric Landon, aka Tortus Copenhagen’s Instagram pottery videos.
One Man Book is West London based Indie Folk singer/songwriter Nicholas Griffin. Accompanied by a variety of multi-talented musicians, One Man Book blends alternative folk and country acoustic arrangements with thought-provoking and poetic storytelling. One Man Book also creates royalty-free acoustic instrumental music for commercial licensing, with his music being used on podcasts, instagram stories, and YouTube videos. Nicholas is also a freelance copywriter, having worked on a number of B2B marketing projects in a variety of industries, and has designed, maintained and provided copy for several independent websites.
