Jim Long - PMA Hall of Fame Induction
(6 min read)
Los Angeles, CA — On the evening of Tuesday, September 24th, production music industry professionals from around the world came together for the annual Mark Awards, the Production Music Association’s version of the Grammys. The event was filled with awards and acknowledgements for music and people in the industry, all leading up to the PMA Hall of Fame induction of visionary and music industry legend, Jim Long.
For those in the room who didn’t yet know the name of Jim Long, the close of the 2019 Mark Awards left no doubt that he is a main reason this industry is where it is today. The ceremony featured a touching video tribute that highlighted the long and storied history of Jim’s career. To give you just an idea of the list of innovations and accomplishments attributable to Jim Long... he was the first to put a production music catalog on CD, but also the first to make it available online as well. And that doesn’t even touch on the incredible music he has produced over his decades of work.
Slowed a bit by a Parkinson’s diagnosis in the late 2000s, the reach of his legacy is beyond measure and the impact of his passion for our industry will be felt for decades to come.
Jim Long also mentored our company’s founder, Daniel Holter. Without Jim’s friendship and guidance, there would be no License Lab. As a part of the evening’s tribute to Jim, Daniel was honored with the opportunity to say a few words. We wanted to share them with you here :
“I’d first learned about these things called ‘music libraries’ while working for a radio voiceover in Chicago in 1994. Two years later, out of work and having just started a family, I reached out to a guy who had sold me some sounds for my sampler, Mark Hiskey of Ilio. I asked Mark what he knew about this ‘music library’ business and he suggested I call Ken Nelson at FirstCom. Ken said it might be worth calling this guy Jim Long who was just starting a new library.
Jim Long (left) and Daniel Holter (right) in 2018
That would end up being OneMusic. I called the number Ken had given me, and on the other end of the line was the velvet voice of that learned and wise gentleman being honored tonight, taking the time to chat a bit with an unknown kid from Milwaukee about what he was building and inviting me to send him some demo material.
He got a package the very next morning (FedEx priority, this was before any real internet), and Jim called me a short bit after receiving it and opened our first substantial phone conversation with this line :
‘Well, you write a whale of a letter for a lackey musician.’
He flew me to Nashville that week, and for the next 23 years has remained my industry mentor, a trusted counselor, one of those friendships where the check-ins are consistent across the years but not nearly often enough for one’s soul.
It’s true that without Jim Long this industry is not what it is today, quite literally. But on a personal level, without Jim Long I simply do not have the life I enjoy now.
I remember what it felt like to get that first ASCAP check. I took your advice… I never cashed it, it’s framed on the wall of my studio. Sixteen dollars and fifty two cents.
I remember talking about starting a new venture together before I launched The License Lab. I remember how it felt when Danny [Pelfrey] and I learned why we wouldn’t be able to.
I remember you and Deborah offering your home to Kate and I for our wedding, and she’s still mad that I didn’t take you up on that.
Jim, I’ve told everyone who has been part of my life for the past two decades who you are and what you’ve meant to me, to my family, to my co-creators and employees, and to all the music we’ve created. I’m so grateful to be able to tell you tonight, on the occasion of this well-deserved recognition, thank you.” — Daniel Holter
The standing ovation that Jim received after he walked up on stage to receive this award thundered throughout the Mezzanine of the Loews Hotel. One of the great minds and human beings of our industry has known was being honored, illuminating the long career of a man unknown to most outside the music business but whose impact is still being felt today.
As an organization we have followed Jim’s lead where charity is concerned, and encourage you to check out and support our mutual favorites… the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the Recording Academy’s (Grammys) MusiCares.
Thank you to the PMA for bestowing this award on a man near and dear to our hearts, and thank you Jim for making it possible for all of us at The License Lab to create and share music for a living.
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