Kate Bulkley, Media Analyst.

Is there money to be saved on music on TV?

By Kate Bulkley

Broadcast News

For Broadcast July 30, 2008

We are living in belt-tightening Britain. The cost of everything has gone up (have you filled your petrol tank lately?) and we are all looking to save money. So when the opportunity comes along to break with the traditions of normal UK television practices, save yourself time, hassle and cash, taking action seems like a no-brainer.

The subject of this particular money-saving idea is music. The production arm of Turner Broadcasting Systems Europe is the latest - but not the first company - to sign up with Audio Network, a bespoke music library that by recording (and in many instances composing) its own music is helping indie producers and broadcasters avoid the typically high fees involved in clearing music both in and particularly outside the UK.

Here is the clever bit. AN's library of some 16,000 tracks is searchable by popular music genre, by tempo, style or keyword. It offers tracks in the style of contemporary music with the rights pre-cleared for distribution across all platforms and territories in perpetuity, for a fraction of the cost of other sources of commercial or production music.

So how much will Turner save? It won't say but I bet across its 20 TV channels it is a big, six-figure number. AN has signed up about 85% of UK indies as well as the BBC and Five, although, interestingly, not ITV. Now AN is heading for the USA, with plans to open a New York office in October. It already has one in LA - it seems as if it is singing a pretty good tune.

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