The latest photo and video library to expand into music licensing is Shutterstock, which took the wrappers off its new music business yesterday. The company is offering 60,000 licensed clips from partner Rumblefish to online video and ad creators, with prices starting at $49 in an intro offer, before shifting up to $79. Tracks are sorted by genre and mood, with plans to improve its recommendation algorithms in the coming months to suggest suitable music for creators’ uploaded videos. “We finally have the bandwidth, and I think the market is a much nicer place for music than it was five years ago,” Shutterstock’s Wyatt Jenkins told AdWeek. “Five years ago, I think big labels and groups were more hesitant to do this kind of broad licensing for customers. This time I think they’re more open to new revenue streams.” Jenkins’ claim in a separate interview with TechCrunch that rival sites are stuffed with music created by “a single person with a keyboard” may not be quite on the money – Getty Images, Jingle Punks, CueSongs and more have been tackling this market too. Even so, more competition is good, and Shutterstock certainly seems to have the appetite for pushing its new music arm.
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