Could you name the most listened to artist of the modern era? It isn’t a global pop star or a Hollywood legend, but rather a humble man with a synthesizer named Kevin MacLeod. Born and raised in a small town outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, MacLeod combined his love of music and technology to create Incompetech.com, a website filled with thousands of royalty-free and creative commons music. “Creative Commons by” allows the use of copyrighted music for free as long as the artist is attributed or credited. “Royalty-free” pieces only require a single purchase for multiple usages over a lifetime. While MacLeod does create original works for a fee, many of his compositions belong to either of the aforementioned categories.
This business model may seem incompetent, for how could one make a living seemingly giving away one’s music? But MacLeod’s exposure is so vast that he now finds himself in the top 1% of earners in the state of Wisconsin. You may not recognize a song of his as a MacLeod composition, but if you have watched many videos on YouTube, commercials, major motion pictures, or played video games, then you most surely have heard one of his pieces. MacLeod’s work has been featured in almost any form of multimodal, from student films and video essays to blockbusters such as Hugo and breakout indie video games such as Kerbal Space Program.
Royalty Free-The Music of Kevin MacLeod explores not just the impact his work and the inner workings they have had on the music, film, and digital industry, but also the life of the man himself. He is personable but claims not to be a people person; his music has been used in Hollywood productions, but he hates going to the movies; he is an extreme optimist but suffers from social anxiety. Perhaps it is this series of oppositions that allows MacLeod to work in any and all genres.
The documentary is at its best when letting MacLeod’s work speak for itself. While the interviews with friends and co-workers provide somewhat of an insight into MacLeod’s personality, it is the introspection by MacLeod himself on how and why he creates that is most illuminating. The side effects, both positive and negative, of MacLeod’s business model in this digital era take away from the discussion of just why MacLeod’s music itself is so effective. What I will remember most after watching this documentary isn’t the talk of copyright law or the debate between live versus synthesized instruments, but the music. Recommended, Aud: H, C, P