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

10/07/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 23: Nashville Predators Teri Johnson - Throwing a Bash on Broadway

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

10/07/2026

Fujifilm Announces FUJINON GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR Cinema Power Zoom Lens

FUJIFILM North America Corporation has announced the FUJINON GF19-35mmT3.5 PZ OIS WR, a cinema power zoom lens for the GFX System with native G Mount. The lens ...

10/07/2026

Dalet Releases Long-Term Supported Update to Dalet Flex

Dalet has announced a new Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex, expanding AI capabilities, workflow automation, and integration with Dalia, Dalet'...

10/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Releases Fairlight Live Audio Mixer Software

Blackmagic Design has released Fairlight Live, a free software-based broadcast audio mixer for Mac and Windows, available for download now. Simultaneously, the ...

10/07/2026

FloSports and USA South Athletic Conference Announce Exclusive Media Rights Partnership

FloSports and the USA South Athletic Conference have announced an exclusive medi...

10/07/2026

Daktronics Installs LED Video Board at Field of Dreams Ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa

Daktronics has manufactured and installed an LED video display at Field of Dream...

10/07/2026

Registration Opens for NAB Show New York 2026, October 21-22 at the Javits Center

Registration is now open for NAB Show New York 2026, taking place October 21-22 ...

10/07/2026

Sphere and Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix Announce Five-Year Partnership Extension

Sphere Entertainment Co. and the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix have an...

10/07/2026

CBS Sports and Asian Football Confederation Announce U.S. Media Rights Agreement

CBS Sports and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have announced a media rights partnership covering the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 and the AFC U23 Asi...

10/07/2026

Sony Electronics Announces RX10 V with AI Autofocus and 4K 120p Video

Sony Electronics has announced the RX10 V, the fifth generation of its RX10 all-in-one camera series. The camera will be available in August 2026 at a suggested...

10/07/2026

Chyron Releases PRIME 5.4 with Newsroom Workflow Expansion and New Playout Options

Chyron has announced PRIME 5.4, an update to its unified graphics, playout, and ...

10/07/2026

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Gene Mikell Dies at 87

The nine-time Emmy Award-winning video engineer was a pioneer of NASCAR in-car cameras and a longtime fixture in FOX Sports' video-control operation...

10/07/2026

Fubo Appoints Alisa Bowen as Chief Executive Officer

FuboTV Inc. has announced the appointment of Alisa Bowen as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 10. Bowen succeeds David Gandler, who co-founded the company...

10/07/2026

Ratings Roundup: USMNT-Belgium on FOX Top Soccer Telecast in U.S. History; Mexico-England on Telemundo Sets Spanish-Language Record

Every entry on Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of...

10/07/2026

BravesVision GM Jeff Cravens on Launching MLBs Newest Team-Owned Network in 35 Days

The Braves opted to keep production in-house rather than hand it off to MLB...

10/07/2026

PBR Teams Ready To Roll at CSU for Opening Weekend 2026

Drones, jibs, robos are part of the expanded camera complement for the Professional Bull Riders series PBR Teams' 2026 season, with a 10-team field competi...

10/07/2026

20 Years Later, We're All Still Part of the Little Miss Sunshine Family

(L-R) Michael Arndt, Paul Dano, Toni Collette, Valerie Faris, Abigail Breslin, Jonathan Dayton, and Greg Kinnear attend the Park City Legacy program screening o...

10/07/2026

Apogee CRAS Symphony Mkii Upgrade Case Study

Why CRAS Upgraded to Symphony I/O MK II When an audio school runs studios all day, every day, gear doesn't just need to sound good , it needs to survive rea...

10/07/2026

FreeCast Cities To Stream Local TV, Premium Channels

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Hey Man, Cheech & Chong's Last Movie Rolls With SNS EVO

Hey Man, Cheech & Chong's Last Movie Rolls With SNS EVO Melanie Ciotti July 10, 2026 0 Comments Richard Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have long b...

10/07/2026

Alex Zarfati's Fail Safe Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Alex Zarfati's Fail Safe Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton July 10, 2026 0 Comments Camera's full frame sensor supports anamorphic s...

10/07/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ing...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

10/07/2026

N.Y. State Broadcasters Association Selects Hall of Fame Class of 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Chyron's PRIME 5.4 Brings Template Experience to More Newsrooms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Registration Opens for 2026 NAB Show New York

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

IAB Releases Redefining Media Types' Standard for Public Comment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Wedotv FAST Channels Launch on TiVo Platforms in Europe

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Sage Offers Guidance on EAS Password Changes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/07/2026

Media Organizations Are Data-Rich but Data-Fragmented - Is This You?

Data has always been central to media operations. Every ad that airs, every campaign that delivers, and every audience that's measured- all of it generates ...

09/07/2026

Omaha Productions Goes All-In as World Series of Poker Main Event Returns to ESPN

With 50+ cameras, three trucks, 60+ EVS channels, RFID hole-card workflows, and ...

09/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Dana Shearer, Syracuse University

A recent graduate from Westchester, NY, this experienced technician has already started her first gig in the industry, as a REMI A2 Comms Specialist at ESPN In...

09/07/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Lightcasts Andreas Kisslinger on the Role of Automation, Cloud-Based Workflows in Streaming

Live sports production is a fast-paced industry with no signs of slowing down. W...

09/07/2026

TV Skyline, thinXpool, DMC Production Collaborate on Deutsche Telekom's World Cup From NYC

From a rooftop studio in Manhattan, multiple Germany-based companies share respo...

09/07/2026

FOX One and Overtime Announce Creator Series Race to Glory for FIFA World Cup 2026

Overtime has announced a content partnership with FOX One to produce Race to Glo...

09/07/2026

Ross Production Services Standardizes on Clear-Com Intercom Across Mobile Production Fleet

Clear-Com has announced that Ross Production Services (RPS) has standardized on ...

09/07/2026

NetApp Returns as Presenting Partner of 2026 NFL Madrid Game

The NFL has announced that NetApp will return as Presenting Partner of the NFL Madrid Game, featuring the Atlanta Falcons against the Cincinnati Bengals at the ...

09/07/2026

The R&A and Cisco Announce Multi-Year Network Infrastructure Partnership

The R&A and Cisco have announced a multi-year partnership making Cisco the Official Network Supplier of The R&A and its Championships. Cisco will deploy AI-read...

09/07/2026

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach, and LTN Complete Live Syndication of 25 Words or Less LIVE

Fox Television Stations, Extreme Reach (XR), and LTN have announced the completi...

09/07/2026

Wynn Records Launches Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Platform Powered by Kiswe

Kiswe has announced a partnership with Wynn Records to launch the Wynn Records Network streaming platform, debuting Saturday, July 11 with a Salita Promotions b...

09/07/2026

NEP Europe Announces Multi-Year Agreement as Wimbledon Broadcast Services Provider

NEP Europe has announced a new multi-year agreement with Wimbledon Broadcast Ser...

09/07/2026

Thropic Games Raises Pre-Seed Round Led by The Famous Group

Thropic Games, a company offering casual mobile games tied to fan fundraising for sports programs, has announced a pre-seed funding round led by The Famous Grou...

09/07/2026

Game Creek Video Purchases 10 Grass Valley K-Frame Switchers for Fleet Expansion

Game Creek Video has reached an agreement with Grass Valley to purchase 10 K-Frame production switchers as part of a two-year fleet expansion. Two systems have ...

09/07/2026

Gravity Media Powers ITVs FIFA World Cup Coverage with Three-Hub Remote Production

Gravity Media is delivering a three-hub remote production workflow for ITV's...

09/07/2026

Report: North American Broadcast Journalists Spend Up to 75% of Time on Technical Workflows

A new report from Quickplay and Caretta Research, The Broadcaster Revolution Wi...

09/07/2026

DAZN to Broadcast Esports World Cup Free to Global Audiences

DAZN, the world's leading sports entertainment platform, has announced a long-term strategic partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation to serve as t...

09/07/2026

YES Networks Mike Webb on Finding Opportunity for Innovation in Live Regional Sports Production

The regional sports network is staying busy this summer with broadcasts of the N...

09/07/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Express 3G

Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Express 3G Brie Clayton July 9, 2026 0 Comments New extremely portable capture and playback models with 3G...

09/07/2026

Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card Management Platform for NetConnect+ Plans

Miri Introduces Self-Service Cellular Data and SIM Card Management Platform for ...

09/07/2026

Hong Kong Jockey Club Expands Intercom Infrastructure Wit...

Riedel Communications today announced that the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), one of Asia's most prestigious horse racing organizations, has significantly up...

09/07/2026

Game Creek Video Switches On Next-Gen Production with K-F...

Leading North American mobile production facility provider standardizes on Grass Valley's fully IP-native K-Frame production switchers for its fleet of next...