Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Tech Focus: Production Music, Part 1 - Technology, Business Upheavals Create Challenges and Opportunities

07/06/2023

Tech Focus: Production Music, Part 1 - Technology, Business Upheavals Create Challenges and Opportunities AI and the RSN bubble are among current disruptions in the sector By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Production music has been one of the stabler sectors of the sports-media business. Football always seems to want its triumphal horns and crunchy guitars while golf relies on its pastoral themes, and so on. That's even as sports clients ask for more of the same but different, or modern takes on classic themes, as the head of one music house phrases it. It's a typical pattern for sports-production music: the classic themes endure, but elements of the current culture find their way in.

But, as in other media sectors, a combination of technology and business disruptions has been churning the waters around production music. Players in that market are aware of it but say it's too soon to tell how it all will play out.

AI Is on the Horizon As is likely to happen with everything AI touches, artificial intelligence will probably affect production music, eventually.

Sound Ideas Sales Manager Peter Alexander believes that no algorithm could effectively imitate the emotional qualities that music for sports applications requires. You need to be able to get crowds up on their feet and cheering predictably, he says. It's hard to imagine a machine able to compose at the same level as a human, at least not without human supervision. But it's still early days, so it's hard to predict how AI will shake out for production libraries.

AI has drawn wary looks from the music industry in general: composers see it as potentially replacing them; publishers view it as the next iteration of sampling, which uses data from existing IP - a sound or a song - as the basis for a new work, a path some expect AI to follow in music creation.

However, production-music companies may take a more nuanced view of AI: as both a source of potential infringement but also as a way to lower the costs involved in music creation and production.

The AI is definitely a topic of consideration in the production-music sector. According to Morgan McKnight, executive director, Production Music Association, a non-profit that works with production-music libraries, composers, performing-rights organizations, and technology solutions to promote the sector, AI is viewed by many as potentially one more tool to help foster the use of production music, particularly from established providers at a time when almost anyone can make credible music on an iPhone and an app.

It's too early to tell what the impact of AI will be, she explains, but it's seen already as potentially a tool that could make life easier, such as metadata for creating remixes.

She adds that new avenues, such as social media, create more demand for production music and stimulate the need for variations, such as alternate mixes. Hopefully, it becomes another way to create stories for sports and contribute to the authenticity of those stories.

AI-based music-creation platforms are proliferating. Bandlab's Songstarter will generate three unique musical ideas for composers. Splice offers a similar CoSo tool, and TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly readying its own app for its 1 billion users.

RSN Disruption = Opportunity Recent disruption in the RSN sector, which has seen streaming and cord-cutting push regional networks like Diamond/Bally Sports to the financial edge, has the potential to create opportunity for production-music providers, says Whitney Arnold, president, Stephen Arnold Music.

Stephen Arnold Music's Whitney Arnold: A lot of teams need to create their own brand identities through music.

We're seeing a lot of teams taking back their broadcast rights and, with them, the need to create their own brand identities through music, he says. When they were part of a larger network brand, there was often a one-size-fits-all approach to music and graphics for all the teams and leagues broadcast by a network. Now we can help them choose and create custom music branding.

Stephen Arnold Music Director, Brand Strategy, Russell Boiarsky points out that, even as sports moves into new distribution paradigms, such as Apple's acquisition of MLS streaming rights, a team's desire to hold on to its own identity branding will survive, creating a need for vendors like production-music houses to take on creative duties.

[This shift] is going to create a ton of new opportunities, he says. But it's going to be the Wild West out there for a while.

Matthew Gutknecht, director, sports entertainment, APM Music, believes that the classic broadcast-sports model remains strong for many leagues and teams though not for every market.

APM Music's Matthew Gutknecht: When technology outpaces legalities, you have to wait to see a legal precedent set [for AI]. It'll all get figured out.

The Diamond situation has touched so many of our clients in basketball, baseball, hockey, and other sports locally, he notes, but the full impact won't be felt immediately but rather as each sport's next season comes around. He adds that litigation and other disruptions, such as the legal kerfuffle between the Phoenix Suns and Mercury teams and Bally Sports, will increase that uncertainty.

Yes, he continues, there will be opportunities [for production music], but the larger picture is that the whole local and regional and OTT broadcast ecosystem has changed drastically. We're monitoring all of that.

Gutknecht takes a similar view with AI, waiting for its inevitable legal concerns to show some resolution: When technology outpaces legalities, you have to wait to see a legal precedent set. This is like sampling was years ago
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/06/07/tech-focus-production-music-par...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

18/08/2026

SportStream 2026 Virtual Event Set for September 15-17

SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...

18/08/2026

IBC 2026: BeckTV to Debut BeckFlow Documentation Platform

BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53). BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...

18/08/2026

IBC 2026: Boland Communications to Introduce ST 2110 Option for 4K Monitors

Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...

18/08/2026

Seattle Seahawks Integrate Dolby OptiView with Dolby Vision for Fan Streaming

Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...

18/08/2026

Insights from BMG's Graham Taylor on the Role of a Sports Producer in Live Broadcast Production

For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...

18/08/2026

TMRW Sports Names Rufus Hack as President of Golf

TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...

18/08/2026

SMT To Deliver Race Technology for Freedom 250 IndyCar Broadcast

SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...

18/08/2026

HMA's Creator Collective Pairs Digital Creators, Beat Writers in New Model for Local-Sports Coverage

The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...

18/08/2026

Behind The Mic: FOX Sports Shares Broadcast Lineup for 2026 NFL Season and College Football Season

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

18/08/2026

Miami Heats Ed Filomia on Rebuilding Kaseya Centers Video Infrastructure and 29 Years With the Heat

The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...

18/08/2026

Bill Rasmussen, ESPN Founder and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, Dies at 93

William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...

18/08/2026

DAZN Completes Acquisition of ViewLift

DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...

18/08/2026

American Association of Professional Baseball Adds SI TV as Broadcast Partner

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...

18/08/2026

Esports Foundation Postpones Inaugural Esports Nations Cup to November 2027

The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...

18/08/2026

Diversified Launches Global Managed Services Practice

Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...

18/08/2026

Appear Completes REMI Proof of Concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions

Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...

18/08/2026

IBC 2026: Riedel Implements Live Production Infrastructure at Edith Cowan University

Riedel Communications has announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, ...

18/08/2026

Corridor Television Pays $27,000 for Violating FCCs EAS Rules

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

Disney's ABC Files First Amendment Lawsuit Against the FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

Lightware Integrates with SpectralBot to Accelerate AV Tr...

Lightware announces an integration with SpectralBot that helps system integrators and AV operators troubleshoot faster using augmented reality (AR), AI-assisted...

18/08/2026

Command Frame for After Effects

Command Frame for After Effects Scott Black August 18, 2026 0 Comments Free download, demonstrations, hands-on tests, and creator resources Want to t...

18/08/2026

Dot Group to show how cutting carbon cuts cost - live at...

At Stand 14.A57, the data company will demonstrate GreenDot and IBM Aspera together, giving media and entertainment businesses real-time visibility of what thei...

18/08/2026

Blue Lucy launches Connected Value Audit

New tool provides a robust audit of operational workflows, calculating the tangible value each delivers today, and informing business decisions for tomorrow. W...

18/08/2026

Media Utilities transitions to Media Utilities - a DigiNe...

Media Utilities is integrating its activities into DigiNet and will maintain a recognisable presence in the market under the name: Media Utilities, a DigiNet br...

18/08/2026

Appear demonstrates broadcast-grade REMI production over...

Proof of Concept validates reliable multi-camera live production from remote racecourses without fixed network infrastructure Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a g...

18/08/2026

Stingr brings frictionless second-screen interaction to I...

Stingr, a new venture from the founders of Hornets Tech, is bringing its second-screen interaction platform to IBC2026. The second screen has never really wor...

18/08/2026

Hiltron to Promote its Latest Generation Satellite Commun...

Long-established satellite equipment manufacturer and systems integrator Hiltron Communications will promote its new HACUX-IDU2 antenna control unit touchscreen...

18/08/2026

EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS Launch Combined Nuvex System

EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS Launch Combined Nuvex System Brie Clayton August 17, 2026 0 Comments Integrated platform melds media asset management, pla...

18/08/2026

The United Stand Scales Live Fan Show with Blackmagic Design Workflow

The United Stand Scales Live Fan Show with Blackmagic Design Workflow Brie Clayton August 17, 2026 0 Comments ATEM Constellation 8K and HyperDeck Stud...

18/08/2026

Twin Cities PBS to Become Minnesota PBS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

MPA, ByteDance Reach AI Copyright Protection Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

DirecTV to Launch Curated Multiview for Live Sports

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

Sinclair Taps Carol Kellum to Head Nebraska Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

Corridor Television Pays $27,000 for Violations of FCCs EAS Rules

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/08/2026

Triveni Digital Accelerates TV 3 0 Transition in Brazil W...

Triveni Digital Now Offers a Joint Solution With MediaKind and a Lab System Bundle Supporting ISDB-Tb and TV 3.0 Broadcast Services Triveni Digital, a trusted ...

18/08/2026

BeckTV Debuts BeckFlow at IBC and Showcases Expertise for...

At IBC2026, BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast industry, will introduce BeckFlow to the European market. BeckFlow is the first web-based sch...

18/08/2026

PTZOptics Launches Rise 4K Bringing Ultra HD Quality and...

New flagship PTZ camera combines cinematic 4K imaging, professional broadcast connectivity and the complete Horizon intelligent video experience for productions...

18/08/2026

VisualOn IBC Show Preview - AI-Powered CAE Advanced Playb...

At IBC2026, VisualOn will demonstrate how video service providers can slash bandwidth costs, maximize ad revenue, and deploy premium interactive features withou...

18/08/2026

Paying It Forward: Greg Tabor on Giving Back to the Next Generation

The relationships built during graduate school often continue to shape careers long after a degree is earned, creating a community of scientists who learn from ...

18/08/2026

The Biggest AI Opportunity Isn't in Engineering. It's in Everyone Else.

In my previous article, The AI Shift Feels Familiar. Our Response Should Be Different., I argued that the greatest challenge organizations face is no longer the...

17/08/2026

Thank You Mr. Brown: Documentary on Steadicam, Skycam Inventor Garrett Brown Is in the Works

Producer William Forbes and director Andrew Schwartz detail the decade-long effo...

17/08/2026

PTZOptics To Unveil Rise 4K Broadcast PTZ Camera At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/08/2026

Calrec Integrates ImPulseV With NEP Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/08/2026

Calrec Integrates ImPulseV with NEP Platform Advancing Sc...

Continuing its virtualisation strategy, Calrec has integrated its ImPulseV virtualised DSP software with NEP Platform, bringing its scalable audio processing ca...

17/08/2026

Mediaproxy debuts AI-powered monitoring - browser based m...

Mediaproxy, the global standard for software-based IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing solutions, will highlight major innovations in compliance monitorin...

15/08/2026

FCC Broadband Report Shows Rapid Expansion of High-Speed Internet

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/08/2026

Adte and Haystack News Partner on CTV Ads in Runup to Midterms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet to Demo AI-Orchestrated Live Sports Workflows

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/08/2026

Add rounded corners to mask in After Effects

Add rounded corners to mask in After Effects Graham Quince August 14, 2026 0 Comments Ever wished you could smoothly round the corners of a Mask Path ...

15/08/2026

Director Go Riju's Rhapsody Rhapsody Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 6K

Director Go Riju's Rhapsody Rhapsody Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Brie Clayton August 14, 2026 0 Comments Anamorphic cinematography and color gradi...