Catalogs flying, workflows evolving. The past year has nudged production music further into a new era — one marked by “good” (assistive) AI and future-proofing human-made music by making it more discoverable than ever.
That’s just a glimpse into this year’s PMC (Production Music Conference), the biggest annual event of the Production Music Association that took place at the end of September.
To get the full scoop, we spoke with AIMS co-founders Martin Nedved and Einar Helde, years-long music industry insiders bringing some of that “good” AI to the space. While at PMC, they had their ears to the ground and a key observation was that the place was packed, with a full house at every panel — signaling that people are eager to learn.
Just like last year, there was a general sense of optimism in the air. But conversations also touched on a temporary lull and lower revenue compared to recent years.
The writers’ strike in the US delayed many productions, leading to smaller demand for music that extended into the UK. Simultaneously, the VOD boom has sobered up after years of competition and growth, with the focus now shifting to spending less. But all of this feels like a transitional phase rather than a structural change. So overall, spirits remain high.
As for trends among composers, libraries, catalogs and tech companies, most people are embracing assistive AI now that they’re seeing its impact on navigating the mounting volume of music. Above all, protecting human creativity remains an indisputable priority.
Here are some PMC highlights focused on technological headway, flourishing catalogs and good people.
Technology has been and remains our strength
This year’s PMC proved that people understand the impact of assistive AI. Since last year, adoption has snowballed due to an inevitable reality: we need AI to compete against AI.
Martin explained, “In the near future, one of assistive AI’s most important roles will be making human-made music a worthy opponent to AI-generated music.”
To compete with AI-generated music, human-made music must be discoverable. And what we do to make it discoverable has to evolve; we can’t expect to easily find music in the same ways we used to, not when there’s so much more to search through.
Production music has always excelled at keeping the process of using music easy; it’s been one of the industry’s greatest strengths. Right now, the only way to keep things as simple as possible is to employ assistive AI that’s made to help with efficiency.
The more efficient our workflows get, the more confidently we can exist in this new age.
Competition sets trends, trends set the new standard
There was no shortage of curiosity at PMC. People want to explore opportunities because they see the benefits across the industry. In other words: If your peers are using assistive AI, the only way you can avoid falling far behind is by doing the same.
On an individual level, think composers using AI for ideation. On a larger scale, think catalogs making sure all of their tracks can be analyzed and found as quickly as possible.
After speaking about the new Lyrics Search during the PMC session called The Future of Production Music, Einar had a few people jokingly complain that AIMS needs to “stop developing these great things” because they then “have to have them.” It’s funny, but it’s true. When new things make hard stuff easy, they’re bound to become the norm.
Einar also remarked on the high number of tech companies at PMC, many offering services tailored for production music. He believes this to be great news: “It’s a sign of a growing industry,” one that’s more tech-savvy than the rest of the music space.
The ever-expanding world of catalogs is on hyperdrive
Last year’s PMC proved that the age of general-purpose catalogs is over. Smaller, niche catalogs were all the rage, and this remains the case. But there are other notable trends.
Many new catalogs are being built on top of composers’ successes in film and TV. These composers are turning their back catalogs into libraries, meaning they can repurpose their entire bodies of work over and over — thereby growing their businesses. So a strong client relationship becomes their most valuable asset. Quite an interesting twist.
As for general catalogs, they’re putting out so much production music that the supply is increasing faster than ever before. But that doesn’t mean it’s quantity over quality — if anything, we’re seeing incredible tracks produced in all directions.
As Einar put it: “It’s a cycle; if everyone is producing faster, you have to match the pace. What it then comes down to is making sure that new music doesn’t get lost in the noise. Discoverability has never played a more important role in the market.”
Honoring people who’ve earned it time and again
We can’t end this wrap-up without giving credit where credit’s due. The entire PMC event was incredibly well-organized; hats off to the dedicated team behind the undertaking, and a special shoutout to whoever decided to schedule sessions one at a time so attendees didn’t run the risk of missing some great talks.
Martin and Einar also attended the Mark Awards, which honor and celebrate the achievements of the production music community. Congratulations to all the winners!
We’d like to highlight the recipient of the Ambassador Award, John Phelan. The ICMP Director General has been a fundamental advocate for the music sector for as long as we can remember, with a list of contributions that deserve a full shelf of awards. The future of music in the age of AI feels that much safer with him around, resolutely defending the music sector’s rights to ensure that the licensing of all music remains fair.
Stepping into the new era as a unit
In (oversimplified) summary, there’s more music than ever, and there are opportunities and challenges on the horizon — always will be. The best news is that PMC clearly showed we’re all inspired by each other.
In Martin’s words: “The industry is moving fast and we need to keep up. We have to understand how to move in a direction that’s right for as many people as possible, which is why events like PMC are so important. Coming together makes progress exciting rather than scary.”
Learning and sharing is at the heart of our industry; the positivity in every room at PMC proved that we’re all eager to shape the next chapter of production music, side by side.