Music Supervisors and Independent Artists and Labels Gain Crucial Music Connection Through Free Online Service

LOS ANGELES, Crucial Music is a new, online service that provides music supervisors, music editors and creative directors quick and easy access to a detailed, easily searchable database of pre-screened and pre-cleared songs from independent record labels and artists across multiple genres. The site (http://www.crucialmusic.com) is fully functional with a growing catalog of music.

For the independent artist and label, Crucial Music is a vital tool. For the first time, creators of original music have a direct and simple path to those important gatekeepers who place music in film, commercials and television shows and an unprecedented opportunity to earn revenue without giving up ownership of their master recordings or publishing. Access to the Crucial Music database to both artists submitting music and those seeking music for placement is entirely free of charge.

"Crucial Music is a one-stop agency for licensing independent music to films, TV shows, and commercials,” said Executive VP/Managing Partner, Tanvi Patel. “We are equally committed to helping break new artists through placements as we are to working with music buyers’ budgetary requirements and deadlines. Music licensing becomes ‘hassle free’ for both the creator and the producer, a win-win situation for all.”

Crucial Music’s service is based on its proprietary search software that allows clients to search by categories such as genre, theme, tempo, mood, era, vocal and instrumentation to easily pinpoint that perfect piece of music. All songs and instrumental tracks in the Crucial Music catalog are carefully evaluated by the firm’s A&R staff for superior quality focusing on key elements in assessing a song’s potential including strong hooks, catchy melodies and universal themes and lyric content. The ultra-intuitive, super-fast search engine displays the results by artist name and song title and allows the client to immediately listen to all possibilities.

Artists, or their labels, can submit up to three songs at a time directly through the Web site. Once a song, or songs, is accepted, a non-exclusive representation agreement is executed and the music is added to the online database and made available on portable hard drives for a period of three years. When a particular track is selected for placement, Crucial Music negotiates a rate for the license, including the master use and synch fees, of which a full 50 percent goes to the label or artist. Creators collect the standard performance fee from their respective performing rights organization (PRO). Crucial Music also provides quarterly reports and payments for the duration of the contract.

In addition to traditional online search capabilities, the system provides, for registered clients, the ability to use the site as time- and space-saving virtual storage. Music buyers can create project folders, email tracks to associates and download 128k MP3s or full WAV files for final mixes. Crucial Music also offers the option of a portable external hard drive that contains its entire catalog in 128k MP3 and WAV formats and can be plugged into any computer or digital editing system providing clients with a desktop version of the full search engine and database. Portable hard drives are updated and distributed quarterly.

Even though its online database is designed as an invaluable, self-service resource for music buyers, the company’s veteran staff remains committed to a level of personal service that includes hands-on assistance in locating just the right music on tight deadlines. Since Crucial Music representatives listen to and assess each and every title in its catalog, they are intimately familiar with available selections and can offer knowledgeable guidance and recommendations.

Crucial Music is the brainchild of industry veterans Jim Long and Tanvi Patel, who have spent many years together and individually, cultivating key relationships with both creators and buyers. Long is a recognized leader in the music business with successful ventures that include investment, ownership, and operations of award-winning broadcast and entertainment companies including TM Productions, FirstCom, and OneMusic Corporation. Long’s companies have placed thousands of music copyrights in films such as A Beautiful Mind and Brokeback Mountain, as well as current TV shows The Office, American Idol, and House. He continues to own and operate Point Classics, LLC (www.pointclassics.com), one of the world’s largest classical music catalogs.

Patel provides insight into the needs of both artist and producer and brings vast experience from the fields of radio broadcasting, record label operations, and the production music library business.

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