Unusual Sounds The Hidden History of Library Music

In the heyday of low-budget television and scrappy genre filmmaking, producers could reach for library music: royalty-free LPs of stock recordings whose contents could fit any mood required. Though initially a cost-cutting manoeuvre for productions that couldn't afford a composer, this industry soon took on a life of its own. Library publishers became hugely successful, and much of the work they released was truly extraordinary.

In fact, many of these anonymous or pseudonymous scores-on-demand were crafted by some of the greatest musical minds of the late 20th century. Expert musicians and innovative composers revelled in the paradoxical freedoms offered by this most corporate of fields. The book explores how this unique environment allowed for a remarkable flowering of creativity, hidden in plain sight.

Unusual Sounds is a deep dive into a musical universe that has, until now, been accessible only to producers and record collectors. It is a celebration of this strange industry and an examination of its unique place at the nexus of art and commerce. With original art by Robert Beatty and an introduction by George A. Romero—whose use of library music in Night of the Living Dead changed film history—the book is mandatory reading for anyone interested in this enigmatic field and its hidden but pervasive cultural influence.