Musicbed, the full service music licensing platform for filmmakers and creatives, and Sun Record Company, the label that introduced the world to Rock and Roll through some of the most iconic musicians of the 20(th) century, today announced an alliance that will add more than 1,100 tracks from Sun artists, including select songs from Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison, to Musicbed’s highly curated catalog. The collaboration, which is a first for Sun Records and for Musicbed, will make the Sun catalog easily accessible for filmmakers and creatives to license online for the first time within Musicbed’s new Vintage Collection.
Sun Record Company was founded in Memphis in 1952 by visionary producer Sam Phillips. Widely credited as the founder of Rock & Roll, Phillips helped form the Sun sound by infusing country music with R&B and broke new ground recording music of unparalleled diversity, reaching across race, age and gender boundaries to introduce some of the most influential artists in American music history.
Other notable selections from the Sun catalog available on Musicbed include tracks from Bill Justis, Charlie Rich, Frank Frost, Rufus Thomas Jr., Charlie Feathers, Ralph Stanley, Jeannie C Riley and many more. In addition to the iconic Sun musicians that have been added to Musicbed, the collection also includes a number of tracks from Sun artists that are not well known, bringing new life to authentic vintage tunes that are rarely heard anywhere. Today, there are more than 200 tracks from 25 Sun Records artists available on Musicbed with hundreds more to be added in the coming months.
Until today, Musicbed’s highly curated selection of songs consisted entirely of songs recorded in the last two decades. However, songs from modern artists with a vintage sound have been among the most sought after tracks in the Musicbed catalog.
“This is a historic deal for Musicbed,” said Daniel McCarthy, founder and CEO of Musicbed. “We are humbled and excited to partner with Sun Records to make its diverse catalog – legendary songs that have stood the test of time and have influenced the entire music world – accessible to filmmakers with a few clicks. The sound in so many of these old tunes is vibrant to this day and in high demand from our creative community.”
Sun Records Vice President Collin Brace said of the deal, “Today, we’re honoring the legacy and the relevance of our artists with this alliance that will make these songs available for online licensing. We could not have found a better place than Musicbed to help us take this giant leap forward and ensure that our artists are top of mind for the creative community. There is no platform that makes it easier to license music than Musicbed’s. Daniel’s team has built a loyal community of celebrated filmmakers and creatives through a carefully curated catalogue that we’re thrilled to be a part of.”
“Musicbed has totally changed the way my team goes about licensing music,” said world-renowned cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, ASC. “That vintage Sun Sound is hard for artists today to replicate and now it’s easier than ever before to integrate it into my films.”
Filmmakers can get a taste of the Sun Records catalog with Musicbed’s new Vintage Playlist and learn more about the artists by staying tuned to the Musicbed blog.
About Musicbed
Musicbed is a full service music licensing platform providing a highly curated selection of songs for filmmakers and creatives around the world to use in media projects. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the site has made licensing quality music incredibly easy for more than 170,000 customers, including entertainment powerhouses like Sony Pictures, 20(th) Century Fox, Lionsgate, Netflix, MTV, CBS, FOX, and ESPN, as well as the world’s top brands like Nike, Samsung, Google, Nikon, Xbox, Lexus, Lamborghini, Verizon and The Home Depot.
Since launching in 2011 with only 35 musicians, Musicbed now represents more than 700 musicians, with the company meticulously approving only one percent of music submissions, and manages an average of 13,000 licenses per month. With an unrivaled search experience, personalized discovery features and world-class customer service and custom licensing teams, Musicbed has enabled musicians to continue doing what they love while providing filmmakers and creatives with an inspiring selection of music to license for their projects.