
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
North America Stories
23/07/2026
This Spring 2026 graduate from Honolulu found a home at SoonerVision as a live-production star and is ready to enter the industry as a replay op on Prime Video&...
23/07/2026
As the AUSL postseason begins tonight, listening in to players during games enhances fan engagement for the young organization
Ballplayers chatting with announ...
23/07/2026
Snap Inc. and the Esports Foundation have announced Snap's activations at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, running July 6 through August 23. For the fir...
23/07/2026
Sony has announced the FX5, a full-frame Cinema Line camera built around a newly developed fully stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor and BIONZ XR2 image processi...
23/07/2026
TNDV (a division of Live Media Group) provided technical production support for the Pickleball Slam 4 live broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, ...
23/07/2026
LTN has announced it has completed satellite-to-IP migrations for more than 3,00...
23/07/2026
Daktronics has announced the winners of the 2026 DakClassroom Student Showcase, a national competition recognizing student work in media production, storytellin...
23/07/2026
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and beIN Media Group have announced a five-ye...
23/07/2026
Clear-Com provided the communications infrastructure for the Fryderyk Awards Gal...
23/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is, on paper, an unparalleled financial success. Total t...
23/07/2026
Standing inside HQ3 at MediaCity Studios during the FIFA World Cup 2026, it quic...
23/07/2026
Having attracted upwards of 17 billion views throughout the tourney, the broadca...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Witbe brings its AI-native testing and monitoring infrastructure to Amsterdam: demonstrations on real devices, a peer-reviewed technical paper in the conference...
23/07/2026
Quickplay, Caretta Research, Evergent, and Yospace have announced that the renowned IBC Pride Happy Hour will once again bring the vibe and fun back to IBC on F...
23/07/2026
At IBC2026, Interra Systems will present this year's focus: operational AI at scale for QC, monitoring, and captioning workflows. The industry has moved pas...
23/07/2026
Illusionfx is finally coming!
Alex Perea July 23, 2026
0 Comments
The new website is now live to mark the occasion.
Since the last update, feedback h...
23/07/2026
Evergent (5.A86) will showcase its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform for streaming services, sports leagues, pay-TV operators at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterdam, 11...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...