Rumblefish Announces Major FriendlyMusic.com Update and Launches Mobile SDK, Bringing Soundtracks to App Developers

YouTube partner unveils new soundtrack search and recommendation tools, expands catalog to over 750,000 tracks

PORTLAND, Ore. (20 Mar 2012)

Rumblefish, the leader in music licensing for social media, today announced the availability of its Friendly Music mobile SDK for Apple iOS developers of social video and photo applications. The SDK makes it easy to use soundtrack recommendation tools to find and add soundtracks to any video or photo inside of an iOS application. The Friendly Music mobile SDK is free, accelerates the integration of soundtracks and opens up a new revenue source for developers. Built on the Rumblefish API, developers can access the Rumblefish Music catalog, now with over 750,000 songs, and bring soundtracks to users of their mobile video and photo apps.

“We admire companies like Instagram and Aviary, who’ve fueled an explosion of creativity in amateur photography with easy-to-use image filters. Soundtracks are as meaningful to videos as filters are to images -- they open up an entirely new dimension of creativity and self-expression that we’ve seen users get very excited about,” noted Rumblefish founder & CEO Paul Anthony. “After seeing millions of videos online use our music as soundtracks, we were compelled to build the mobile SDK and help developers bring soundtracks and other music-related features into their apps quickly and easily.”

Also announced today is a major update to Friendly Music, found at www.friendlymusic.com. Launched in 2010 with partner YouTube, Friendly Music was the first site to offer YouTube users a direct license for pre-cleared soundtracks for their videos. New features include live YouTube video auditioning with soundtracks, soundtrack search and recommendation tools such as the MoodMap, and an instant video/soundtrack sharing function, called a Mash. 

Live Video Auditioning with Soundtracks
The new audition feature allows users to preview any YouTube video against any Friendly Music soundtrack before purchase, instantly. Once loaded, users can play the video, adjust the start and stop time of the video and audio, move through the video timeline, or jump to any part of the audio or video track.

New Search Tools: MoodMap, What’s the Occasion and Editor’s Picks
MoodMap allows users to search for a soundtrack based on the feeling or mood of their video. Users can audition soundtrack results from the moods they select and make playlists of their favorites. What’s the Occasion search allows users to browse through occasion categories, including celebrations, themes, current events, moods, sports and holidays. Editor’s Picks allows users to browse playlists handpicked by the Rumblefish editorial team, including songs focused on current events, holidays, pop culture and more.

Pick a Video, Add a Soundtrack, Make a Mash
A Mash is a combination of a YouTube video and a Friendly Music soundtrack. No editing or downloading is required. Just pick a YouTube video, add a soundtrack and make a Mash. Each Mash gets its own unique URL, where others can watch, comment, like or share. Users can even Remash the original video with a different soundtrack to create a new mash.

Both the Friendly Music mobile SDK and the updated FriendlyMusic.com are available today. A YouTube video explaining the new Friendly Music and mobile SDK can be found at http://youtu.be/6H59jHSiFlA. Interested developers can gain access to the mobile SDK by emailing developers@rumblefish.com.

About Rumblefish
Rumblefish is a pioneer in music licensing and has been a trusted provider of music for top TV shows, films, ad agencies and video games for over a decade. The company makes artists and labels its first priority, and has paid millions in royalties to its members for the licensed use of their music. Rumblefish launched the Music Licensing Store in 2006, dubbed "an iTunes for Corporate America" (CNBC). It was the world’s first online resource for 100 percent copyright-cleared music for businesses. In 2008 the company struck a landmark licensing deal with YouTube and in the summer of 2010 deepened that relationship with the launch of Friendly Music, a website where consumers can license soundtracks. The company now boasts the world’s largest music catalog for social media, over 5 million videos with its soundtracks and clientele such as Animoto, Virtual Active, Amazon Studios, Kaiser Permanente and Google.