How Music For Sport runs a 180-album catalog across territories

Music For Sport has supplied music to every Summer and Winter Olympic Games since 1992. More than three decades and 180-plus albums later, the UK company’s job hasn’t changed: put high-quality production music in front of broadcasters, production companies and international partners–quickly, and without losing control of the catalog.

What has changed is the scale. A bigger catalog, more territories, a network of sub-publishers who all need to be working from the same information. We asked founder and CEO Simon Webb how SourceAudio fits into that. Here’s what he told us.

What made you choose SourceAudio over other options?

We were looking for a platform that combined an outstanding client experience with the tools needed to manage a growing international production music catalogue. SourceAudio stood out for its powerful search capabilities, flexibility and commitment to continual development. It has continued to evolve alongside the industry and remains central to our business.

How does your team use SourceAudio in your daily workflow?

SourceAudio sits at the heart of our catalogue management. Every new Music For Sport release is uploaded there, where it becomes immediately searchable by clients around the world. We use it to manage metadata, distribute new releases, share playlists with clients and provide our international sub-publishers with access to the same up-to-date catalogue.

Which features have been most valuable to your organisation?

The intelligent search engine is probably the feature we value most. Alongside flexible metadata management, custom catalogue portals, playlist sharing and YouTube Content ID, it has become an essential part of how we present and manage our catalogue for clients around the world.

What measurable improvements have you seen since implementing SourceAudio?

The biggest improvement has been efficiency. We spend far less time preparing and distributing releases, while our clients are able to find suitable music much more quickly through the search tools. As our catalogue has grown to more than 180 albums, having a platform that scales with us has become increasingly important.

How has SourceAudio helped you achieve your business goals?

Our goal has always been to make high-quality production music easy to discover and license worldwide. SourceAudio provides the infrastructure that allows us to present our catalogue professionally to broadcasters, production companies and international partners while maintaining complete control over our catalogue and metadata.

Can you share a specific example of how SourceAudio solved a challenge for your team?

Managing an international catalogue across multiple territories can become extremely complex. SourceAudio gives our partners access to the same current catalogue, reducing duplication, simplifying updates and ensuring everyone is working from the same information.

What would you tell others in your industry about SourceAudio?

SourceAudio combines an excellent platform with exceptional customer support. One of the things we’ve appreciated most over the years is that they genuinely listen to their customers. If we have a suggestion or encounter a problem, they take it seriously, respond quickly and, more often than not, act on it. The team is knowledgeable, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with. Despite the eight-hour time difference between the UK and California, we’ve never found that to be a barrier. That level of service has been every bit as valuable to us as the technology itself.

What specific benefits have you seen from our YouTube Content ID and global publishing admin integration?

The YouTube Content ID integration has given us greater visibility into how our music is being used online and has simplified the management of digital rights. As online content continues to grow, having these capabilities integrated into our workflow has become increasingly valuable.

Huge thanks to Simon Webb and the Music For Sport team for sharing their perspective, and for continuing to trust us with a catalog that’s been part of every Olympic Games since 1992.