Kevin MacLeod – born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on September 28, 1972 – s a composer and producer who is best known for creating royalty-free library music that has been used in films and video games. He licenses his music under the Creative Commons copyright law and allows film makers, video companies, and social media influencers to use his music for free as long as he is credited. His road to becoming a pioneer in the music licensing field began when he studied music education in college. Unhappy with current copyright laws, Kevin MacLeod began exploring new options in the late 1990s to make his music available to as many content creators as possible. In using the Creative Commons copyright law, he is able to license his music at no cost to creators as long as he is credited as the composer. If a content creator does not want to credit him, there is an option to pay for short- or long-term licensing. His music has been used in several thousand films as well as video games, commercials, social media projects, and even a 2017 live feed from the International Space Station. In 2020, a documentary about his life – Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod - achieved limited release to positive reviews. He has released several digital albums online – themed compilations that were focused on a certain genre of music - including Oddities (2014), Film Noire (2015), Romance (2015), Miami Nights (2017), Meditation (2019), and The Waltzes (2021).
