“Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin Macleod” – There’s always a price to pay [MOVIE REVIEW]
Kevin MacLeod in “Royalty Free.” Photo courtesy of First Run Features. “Royalty Free,” the very ambitious new documentary by Ryan Camarda, bites off more than we can chew. Ostensibly about Kevin Macleod whose royalty-free music is everywhere even if you don’t know his name, the narrative veers into discussions more about the digital age than about Kevin. Kevin alone would have been enough without stretching this film into what amounts to a diatribe against mainstream media fighting the wave of digital music and synthesizers that replicate all the instruments of an orchestra. More about that later. First we need to talk about Kevin. He’s an extraordinarily talented, self-effacing, insecure, and depressive personality whose fingerprints are everywhere in the music world. Kevin Macleod is physically unprepossessing in his ubiquitous t-shirt and blank expression. He began composing music on his computer as a youngster with an ear for melody and atmosphere. He would compose and then release the music into the ether, no copyright, no royalty, just music that could be used by anyone. His music was just out there and eventually it was found and used. People on a budget, grandmas creating…
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