KPM’s Music Library catalogue is now available to download and stream in its entirety, after being fully digitised.
The move by Sony/ATV Music Publishing division EMI Production Music means every recording in KPM’s catalogue is now available for sync licensing and is also on the leading digital music services, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and Amazon.
EMI Production Music senior content and distribution manager, Paul Sandell, said: “We are proud to have taken this initiative to make KPM the first major music library to be fully digitised and available to our global broadcast clients and music lovers to enjoy.”
KPM’s Music Library contains over 30,000 recordings, including the themes to UK TV programmes such as Grandstand, ITV News At Ten, the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage and Grange Hill.
For the past 50 years, KPM has been a division of EMI Music Publishing, which is now part of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Sandell said: “There is no bigger name in library music than KPM, which is reflected by its rich and diverse catalogue spanning 70 years, including some of the best-known television theme tunes. We know this launch will not be lost on the sampling community as some of the rarest gems from the EMI vaults will be available for fans to access for the first time since the original ‘60s and ‘70s vinyl pressings.”
The KPM Library has provided a rich source of repertoire for artists to sample. Among those who have turned to its archive are Jay-Z, Fatboy Slim and Drake, whose hit Summer Sixteen” sampled Glass Tubes by Brian Bennett from the KPM archives.
Bennett, most famous as the drummer with The Shadows, is one of a number who have written and recorded for KPM over the years, alongside the likes of Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, Alan Parker and John Cameron.
EMI Production Music has spent a few years digitising the KPM catalogue, which has involved going back to the original reel-to-reel tapes on which the music was recorded.
Music from the KPM library also regularly features on a monthly EMI Production Music programme, which is hosted by the company’s executives Paul Sandell and Will Clark and is broadcast by Soho Radio.
By Caitlin Butler
