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Rumblefish Now Helping Developers Add Licensed Music

Written by Nathan Johnson on . Posted in Social Networking & Communications

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rumblefish-logoIn an increasingly litigious world, many content producers have to be extremely careful not to violate any copyrights held on third-party media they wish to include in videos and blog posts. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of music. Torrent sites being shut down left and right show that the MPAA is somewhat clueless when it comes to addressing the issue of file sharing and copyright infringement. There are many users who would gladly pay digital rights holders a licensing fee to use their work, if only there were a relatively inexpensive and convenient way to do so.

Fortunately, a licensing company by the name of Rumblefish has stepped in to fill the void with a creative solution. Last week, they opened up their API to independent developers so that anyone with the will and know-how can create applications that allow music embedding and licensing for everyday bloggers and end-users. It's free to apply for a partnership, and developers can even get a cut of the revenue their applications generate from licensing fees. While Rumblefish already has deals with services like HighlightCam and Clipik, releasing their API will only increase the options for using music legally in Youtube and Vimeo videos at an affordable rate.

The percentage of revenue that developers can expect from their applications will depend on their specific programs, but it'll still be a potentially lucrative sector for motivated coders. At present, Rumblefish offers access to over 4 million songs through their API. With all that variety and choice, this could be a major game-changer when it comes to digital content licensing on the web. Not that Rumblefish is without competition. Another company by the name of Audiosocket also offers a similar Music As A Service platform with much of the same functionality. Competition tends to breed excellence, so it'll be interesting to see how this environment shapes up over the coming year.

Ultimately, Rumblefish's release of their API to the public is a positive step forward when it comes to digital rights management online. Allowing consumers, content producers, and developers a straight-forward and hassle-free way to incorporate copyright-protected music into their creations just makes sense. When people have reasonable options in regards to using and sharing others' content, they tend to shy away from piracy and copyright infringement. Though there are some who'd like to see patents and copyrights go away entirely, Rumblefish's model is the next best thing.