Blog — Lab Notes

Geek Beats combines all the energy of a Mountain Dew-fueled campaign and the full-fledged badassery that you feel when you play. In short, it’s one hell of a ride.

StoriesNathan HonoreSeptember 16, 2022production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, virtual crate digging, Geek Beats, chiptune, retro, 8-bit, dancing about architecture, video game music, video game, gamer, #DAA, #DancingAboutArchitecture

Artist Watch: Alec Shaw

Live in the KEXP studios complete with a full band and choir, rising Seattle talent Alec Shaw brings his soulful vocals into a lush, raw indie pop playground.

StoriesNathan HonoreAugust 3, 2022indie artist, artist watch, alec shaw, KEXP, indie pop, indie folk, Zan Fiskum, Seattle, eyeballs and eardrums, underscore, composer, #E&E, #Eyeballs&Eardrums, #UND, #UNDERscore, #LMTL, #LMNTLRecords

Virtual Crate Digging: Sunshine Kidz

More sincere than goofy, more heartwarming than slapstick, the whimsical instrumentation found on Sunshine Kidz walks the line between Wes Anderson and SpongeBob.

StoriesNathan HonoreJuly 5, 2022production music, library music, playlist, music licensing, music supervision, organic spark, sunshine, sunshine kidz, whimsy, kitsch, children's programming, virtual crate digging, #OSPK, #OrganicSpark

Music Supervisors Unite

Some people become divided, some people become united. Now music supervisors unite as they make the push to unionize.

Virtual Crate Digging: Under The Bridge

Far away from shredding solos or fragile fingerpicking, Under The Bridge is an unexpected soundtrack that explores another side of what an electric guitar can do.

StoriesNathan HonoreMay 31, 2022production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, virtual crate digging, drama, underscore, electric guitar, emotive, delay, reverb, overdrive, #UND, #UNDERscore

Distinguishing Descriptions

What makes someone stop scrolling to audition a track? While the reality is that taste is subjective and everyone has their own venn diagrams of reasons, track descriptions regularly show up as a primary reason editors and music supervisors push the ‘Play’ button.

Hometown Pride

The entire License Lab team is quite literally all over the map with composers in cities like Nashville, New York, Portland, and our internal team in California, Washington, and Wisconsin. In that spirit we wanted to highlight a few Milwaukee artists who have spread their wings and are making waves on a national scale.

Artist Watch: Kase + Klassik

Live at The Opera House is an intimate record that feels less like you’re in a gorgeous auditorium and more like this collaboration of top talent from Milwaukee’s robust jazz and hip-hop scenes are playing live in your living room.

StoriesNathan HonoreMarch 30, 2022indie artist, kase, klassik, jazz, hip-hop, impovisation, stoughton opera house, live recording, free jazz, turntablism, jordan lee, jamie breiwick, john christensen

Sound Advertising

With millions and millions of dollars spent on Super Bowl commercials and weeks of build up and teasers, it’s no wonder folks are analyzing these ads in an academic fashion. But no matter the tone of a spot, shouldn’t all music used be an integral part of the storytelling?

StoriesNathan HonoreMarch 8, 2022music licensing, production music, story, music supervision, music supervisor, production, Superbowl, superbowl commercial, Marketing Brew, catch and release, Catch&Release, Delta, Wieden+Kennedy

Artist Watch: “Catch My Breath” by Philippe Bronchtein

Richly textured and soft-spoken, the modern country sound of Philippe Bronchtein’s Catch My Breath explores the shadows while comforting the soul.

StoriesNathan HonoreFebruary 24, 2022indie artist, Philippe Bronchtein, modern country, country, americana, mystery room mastering, Ian Olvera, composer, Nashville, pedal steel, Pony Bradshaw, Mickey Guyton, #3ING, #ThreeIngredientsOrLess, #OSPK, #OrganicSpark

Capturing Room Tone

We’re all familiar with the concept of “quiet time.” While this may conjure up images of a toddler being told to go to their room for a time-out, our friends in film and television production know it as something else entirely. There is a process called “capturing room tone” and it is one of the most essential tools in an edit.

StoriesNathan HonoreJanuary 11, 2022music licensing, production music, story, music supervision, music supervisor, production, sound design, criterion, room tone, travis whitty, editor

Virtual Crate Digging: Equilibrium

Breaking the mold in more ways than one, the dynamic duo of The Equilibrium Anthology and The Equilibrium Remixes provides unexpected and plentiful options for big time action.

StoriesNathan HonoreNovember 22, 2021production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, virtual crate digging, epic, dramatic, picture puncture, trailer music, drama, action, sci-fi, promo, video game music

Virtual Crate Digging: The Light Beckons

There is something about a quiet underdog that stands out and the soft aura of an abstract watercolor is indicative of the hushed tones found within the indie soundscapes. And if that’s what you’re in the mood for, this record does not disappoint.

StoriesNathan HonoreSeptember 21, 2021production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, LMNTL Records, fragile folk, emotional, acoustic, full vocal treatment, dramatic, virtual crate digging, #LMTL, #LMNTLRecords

Virtual Crate Digging: Turntablism

Filthy and grimy aren’t usually favorable terms. But if you’re looking for something with a bit of an edge to match the attitude of the story, they can be lifesavers. Diverging from a world of clean cut samples and shiny synths can (in the right hands) lead you to far more interesting places.

StoriesNathan HonoreAugust 26, 2021production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, virtual crate digging, hypekit, turntablism, nile rodgers, funk, fuzz, bombastic, grimy, hip-hop, #HK, #HypeKit

Virtual Crate Digging: Vaporwave

To help define more of these elusive sounds of the Chill, Synth, and/or Wave subgenres, I stopped by Eyeballs & Eardrums to listen to Vaporwave. Tracks from this album have shown up in so many of our playlists and searches that I knew I would find some answers.

StoriesNathan HonoreJuly 26, 2021production music, library music, music licensing, music supervision, virtual crate digging, MOPM, Eyeballs & Eardrum, eyeballs and eardrums, chillhop, synthwave, synth pop, dark pop, electronic, synthesizer, #E&E, #Eyeballs&Eardrums

Company Update: Simplifying

While 2020 was obviously no walk in the park for so many in this industry, 2021 continues to be full of change for our company. Directly relating to our mission to focus on doing what we do best, the music, we have a few more changes to share.

StoriesNathan HonoreJuly 21, 2021production music, library music, music licensing, ELIAS Music, Universal

Death of the Jingle

How many jingles can you remember? What were they selling? The jingle has a long and storied history, but you may have noticed a distinct decline in the marketing ear worms over the past few decades. What happened?

StoriesNathan HonoreJuly 1, 2021music licensing, production music, story, music supervision, music supervisor, jingle, audio branding

Artist Watch: “Beyond The Blue” by Immortal Girlfriend

The world of synthwave is wide, varied, and ever-evolving, and the nocturnal duo of Immortal Girlfriend might be leading the way with their third single of 2021.

StoriesNathan HonoreJune 25, 2021indie artist, immortal girlfriend, synthwave, synth pop, Fast And Furious, trailer music, dark pop