Meet Shoyei, Musician and Producer

Shoyei provides royalty-free music for personal and commercial use. Specializing in chill hip-hop and indie, he has had success working with marketing agencies, filmmakers, vloggers, and artists alike. He has been sending out free music on a monthly basis to his subscriber list.

To learn more, check out shoyei.net.

1. How did you first get involved in producing music?

I've played instruments my whole life, but when I got to college, space became an issue. I couldn't set up with a bunch of loud gear to practice, so I resorted to playing around with samples, synthesizers, and drumpads on my computer. Over the years I've had plenty of opportunities to use what I know about producing to help out with some cool projects.

2. What made you decide to create work to share on a royalty-free basis?

I've been in enough situations where quality stock music is required and it ends up being hard to come by. A lot of what you find on the web is very generic or has a "dated" sound. I've always been writing fun beats and hooks, so I saw this need and wanted to contribute.

3. What's your process like when it comes to working with a client on creating a custom track for them?

Good question. First I ask my clients what kind of mood they're looking for and what the big picture is. If they have an example of something that inspired them, I will absolutely work with that. I work mostly with filmmakers, so the vibe is very important. Once I feel like I'm onto something, I send a snippet back to see if it's what they had envisioned. If not, I start again. It normally takes two revisions to get to where both parties are really happy.

4. Could you tell us about some of your favorite projects that you've worked on over the years?

My most challenging request was a full-length documentary that had their original source for the score fall through. They asked me and a close colleague of mine to score the entire film before they were scheduled for their MPAA rating. That happened to be a month away. We wrote and recorded 17 individual pieces for the film. The entire experience stretched me as a musician, but I still feel proud of many of those pieces.

5. When it comes to your royalty-free tracks, what are some of your favorite ways you've seen your work used?

I've seen my tracks used at conferences and film festivals, which is a really great feeling for me. It's also really awesome to hear some of it behind a filmmaker's video reel. It means that they're putting their best foot forward with the best music they could find.

Thanks, Shoyei!

Introducing the Worldwide Groove Corporation Blog

As readers of this website know, I always love a good concept for a blog, and in my opinion, Worldwide Groove Corporation has a great one at http://www.worldwidegroovecorp.com/blog/. The blog is in the middle of celebrating the "Year of the Groove" where the musicians behind the site are putting out one new music release every month for a year and blogging about the new releases.

Kurt Goebel and Ellen Tift are Worldwide Groove Corporation, an electronic music duo based in Nashville. They create original compositions as well as downtempo remakes of jazz classics. You might recognize their music from a TV commercial for Grey's Anatomy, airplay on the syndicated "Chillin' with Chris Botti" show and other radio shows/networks, or placements in many indie films. Their music reminds me a little of Morcheeba, but give it a listen for yourself and see what you think.

The Year of the Groove project started last July, and their January 2015 post is (as of Jan 15) not up quite yet but will be appearing very soon. Each blog post includes an embedded SoundCloud player so that you can listen to the music while you read about the music. I like learning about how artists create their work, and the blog posts share lots of interesting details about the processes of writing lyrics, composing melodies, and more.

You also get behind the scenes details about how a song sometimes takes off in ways that the creators never imagined. For example, one of WGC's songs ended up becoming part of an campaign against genetically modified foods, a surprising yet welcome event for the musicians.

This is a great blog for hearing new music and learning about the experiences of two creative artists as they make and share their music with the world. In addition to the monthly Year of the Groove posts, there are other posts about a variety of topics relevant to readers with an interest in arts and culture. Check it out!