The Music People Ltd. is a Canadian production music distributor. It was created in the 1975 and is based in Toronto, Canada. The company acts as an agent and sub-publisher for approximately 70 different stock music libraries from around the world. These include Abaco, Adrenalin, Apollo Live, Cavendish, Digital Vision, Standard, Focus, Justement, Music House, Parry, Reliable Source, Telemusic plus a number of smaller libraries. The music can be obtained online or by receiving Compact Discs in the mail.
Production Music or Stock music is not available in retail stores, but only through agents like The Music People Ltd. The principal users of the music would be video and film post-production studios, radio and TV stations, etc. They would be producing commercials, training films, feature films, corporate presentations, etc. Stock music is non-exclusive - the same piece of music can be used in a production produced by a large Hollywood studio or a small home production company.
The music is created by publishers from around the world who in turn have a number of composers on call to create whatever type of music they require. This could be anything from Contemporary Pop and Rock to Orchestral Movie Scores to Ethnic music. In most cases, the music is in instrumental form (without vocal) since a spoken voice (voiceover) is usually recorded over it. In most cases, this voiceover is promoting a product. Many libraries also have music selections which sound similar to well known tunes of the day (soundalikes).
After music has been inserted into a production - a movie for example - a musical cue sheet is completed containing all the details of the music in that movie. This cue sheet is then submitted to The Music People and the movie's producers are charged a fee. This fee is to obtain a "Synchronization Licence". A "Sync Licence" gives the movie's producers the permission to "marry" a piece of music in a timed relationship to a piece of film, videotape, etc. The fee for a "Sync Licence" will vary. The fee usually increases as the movie's audience increases.
After a production is completed, a musical cue sheet is also submitted to the national Performing Rights Society - in this case, SOCAN (Society Of Composers, Authors And Music Publishers Of Canada) - in order that composers and publishers may receive their share of performance royalties.