Kevin MacLeod

Kevin MacLeod (born September 28, 1972) is an American composer and music producer. MacLeod has composed over 2,000 pieces of royalty-free library music and made them available under a Creative Commons copyright license. This licensing allows anyone to use his music for free, as long as he receives credit for the song, and has led to his music being used in thousands of films, millions of videos on YouTube, and in video games such as Kerbal Space Program. As of 2017, his music is featured on one of the live feeds from the International Space Station, Earth From Space. One of his compositions, "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys", is among the most-played on TikTok; from January through June 2021 it was played over 31.6 billion times.
Early life
MacLeod was born on September 28, 1972, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He went to the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where he studied music education.
Career
Music distribution
MacLeod states that he releases his music under Creative Commons licenses to maximize the number of people who can use his music. On his website's FAQ, he expressed disdain for the current state of copyright; he hopes to create "an alternate body of works that is able to compete with them".
MacLeod's most popular license is the Creative Commons Attribution copyright license; his music is free to use but must be credited. A no-attribution license is also available for people who are unwilling or unable to provide credit to MacLeod; the license costs $30 for one song, $50 for two songs, and $20 per song for three or more songs.
MacLeod has also created FreePD.com, which collects new public domain sound recordings by various artists. Rather than waiting for old copyrights to expire, he hopes to provide a quality library of modern recorded works by artists who explicitly release their music into the public domain. Some of MacLeod's own music is available on the website as well; he explains that these songs are "not commercially viable in the traditional sense, and just add clutter [on his primary website] which hinders people in finding the pieces that they may want."
Documentary
MacLeod is the subject of a documentary film titled Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod. The film had a limited release in October 2020. Ryan Camarda, the film's director and producer, ran a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of $30,000; by the end of the campaign, 524 backers had pledged a total of $30,608. According to the Kickstarter page, the amount was needed for transportation in order to conduct in-person interviews with the various subjects featured in the film. The documentary has received positive reviews from critics.
Awards and accolades
In 2015, MacLeod was awarded the International Honorary Web Video Award at the 2015 German Web Video Awards by the European Web Video Academy for his lifetime achievement in influencing the German web video community.
Discography
Albums
2006: Dorney Rock
2006: Missing Hits 2
2012: Cuentos de Recuperación (with Sonia Echezuria)
2014: Horror Soundscapes
2014: Highland Strands
2014: Ghostpocalypse
2014: Calming
2014: Hard Electronic
2014: Madness and Paranoia
2014: PsychoKiller
2014: Supernatural Haunting
2014: The Ambient
2014: Cephalopod
2014: Dark World
2014: Disco Ultralounge
2014: Polka! Polka! Polka!
2014: Primal Drive
2014: Sadness
2014: The Descent
2014: Dark Continent
2014: Wonders
2014: Action Cuts
2014: Aspiring
2014: Light Electronic
2014: Medium Electronic
2014: Mystery
2014: Tenebrous Brothers Carnival
2014: Atlantean Twilight
2014: Healing
2014: Latinesque
2014: Take the Lead
2014: Thatched Villagers
2014: Happyrock
2014: Music to Delight
2014: Silent Film: Light Collection
2014: Vadodara
2014: Bitter Suite
2014: Comedy Scoring
2014: Double Drift
2014: Reunited
2014: Funkorama
2014: Oddities
2014: Silent Film: Dark Collection
2015: Christmas!
2015: Darkness
2015: Exhilarate
2015: Film Noire
2015: Fluidscape
2015: Netherworld Shanty
2015: Romance
2015: Video Classica
2015: Virtutes Instrumenti
2015: Ossuary
2015: Pixelland
2016: Maccary Bay
2016: Mystic Force
2016: Anamalie
2016: Final Battle
2016: Carpe Diem
2016: Groovy
2016: Mesmerize
2016: Traveller
2017: Shadowlands
2017: Destruction Device
2017: Spirit
2017: Ferret
2017: Teh Jazzes
2017: Miami Nights
2018: Spring Chicken
2018. Sheep Reliability
2019: Meditation
2019: Epic
2019: The Complete Game Music Bundle
2019: Complete Collection (Creative Commons)
2020: SCP-XXX
2020: Relaxx
2021: Missing Hits
2021: The Waltzes
2021: Missing Hits C to E
2021: Missing Hits N to R
2021: Missing Hits Calmness
2021: Missing Hits F to J
2021: Missing Hits K to M
2021: Missing Hits A to B
2021: Missing Hits S to T
2021: Missing Hits U to Z
2023: Over The Moon
2023: Changes (with ON THE TRACK)
Singles and EPs
2011: The Cannery
2013: Happy Bee
2014: Tranquility 5
2014: Sneaky Snitch
2014: Fluffing a Duck
2014: Orrganic Meditation
2014: Touching Moments
2014: Impact
2015: Guts and Bourbon
2015: Somewhere Sunny
2015: Garden Music
2016: Vicious
2017: Ever Mindful 2018: Magic Scout: A Calm Experience 2018: Laserpack 2019: Dream Catcher 2019: Flying Kerfufle 2019: Le Grand Chase 2019: Crusade: Heavy Industry 2019: OnionCapers 2019: Envision 2019: Glitter Blast 2019: Leaving Home 2019: Magistar 2019: Midnight Tale 2019: River Flute 2019: Symmetry 2019: Sovereign
2019: Hustle Hard
2019: Almost Bliss
2019: Beauty Flow
2019: Half Mystery
2019: Past Sadness
2019: Raving Energy
2019: Rising Tide
2019: Tyrant
2019: Sincerely
2019: Celebration
2019: Deep and Dirty
2019: Fuzzball Parade
2019: Lotus
2019: Realizer
2019: Stay the Course
2019: Verano Sensual
2019: Wholesome 2019: Farting Around 2019: Aquarium 2019: Monkeys Spinning Monkeys 2019: A Kevin MacLeod Xmas 2019: Folk? 2019: Menagerie 2020: Worldish 2019: Scheming Weasel (Peukie Remix) 2020: What You Want 2020: Island Music 2020: On Hold for You 2020: Canons in D 2020: Project 80s 2021: World 2021: Now That's Now! 2021: Night in the Castle 2021: Adventures in Adventureland 2021: WOTSITS!!!! 2021: Space Jazz 2021: Ethereal Relaxation 2022: Journey to Ascend 2022: Boogie Party 2023: Paradise Found 2023: Over the Moon''
References
External links
Kevin MacLeod on Filmmusic.io
FreePD – MacLeod's public-domain music library
Living people
Musicians from Green Bay, Wisconsin
American film score composers
Musicians from New York City
20th-century American composers
21st-century American composers
1972 births
Creative Commons-licensed authors
American male film score composers
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians