Production Music
Located in 2 routes
Music composed and recorded specifically to be licensed into film, television, radio and advertising, catalogued in libraries by mood, tempo and instrumentation so editors can drop a ready-made cue into any scene. The sound is deliberately versatile and archetypal — brassy news fanfares, funky chase grooves, pastoral strings, lounge organ, driving rock beds — written in multiple lengths and stings for flexible editing. Production values are professional but deliberately neutral by design, avoiding a distinctive artist signature so a cue can serve any client. Craft markers include the 30- and 60-second edits, the seamless loop and the mood-tagged catalogue.
History
Production music grew from silent-film cue books and the needs of early radio, formalising into libraries such as De Wolfe (founded 1909) and, from the 1950s and 1960s, EMI's KPM, Chappell and Boosey & Hawkes, whose "greensleeve" LPs supplied the world's broadcasters. British composers like Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, Johnny Pearson and Syd Dale wrote thousands of cues, many of which — sports themes, news beds and TV signatures — became unexpectedly famous. From the 1990s the model industrialised through Extreme Music, APM and digital catalogues, and a crate-digging revival saw hip-hop and dance producers sample vintage library grooves, giving the once-anonymous form a devoted collector following.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Heavy Action(1970) — Johnny PearsonSpotifyYouTube
- Grandstand(1975) — Keith MansfieldSpotifyYouTube
- Chicken Man(1978) — Alan HawkshawSpotifyYouTube
- Sleepy Shores(1971) — Johnny PearsonSpotifyYouTube
- Half Forgotten Daydreams — John CameronSpotifyYouTube
- The Best Endeavours(1982) — Alan HawkshawSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- David Hollander, Unusual Sounds: The Hidden History of Library Music (2018)
- Jonny Trunk, The Music Library (2005)
- KPM and De Wolfe catalogue histories