Stock music and sounds effects marketplace AudioMicro has overhauled its web service to make it easier for users to discover and license stock audio material.
In addition, the startup is announcing a partnership with online presentation software maker SlideRocket, which basically means its library of stock music and royalty-free sound effects will now be included in the SlideRocket marketplace.
The revamp of the site consists of both a cleaner design and more functionality. One of those new features is the addition of promotion codes you can pass to friends, and of course we requested some for you. The first 100 TechCrunch readers to sign up for AudioMicro using the promotion code “TECHCRUNCH2” get access to 2 free audio downloads credits (an $8.99 value).
As for the new site: the search process, which was below par before, has been completely redesigned and looks and feels much better now. You can now also take audio files with you on the web, meaning that there’s now an embed code that you can use to embed tracks on your blog, social network account, etc. (example below). AudioMicro also introduced some type of ‘lightbox’ feature that lets you create favorite lists and buy the audio material on there at a later time.
Finally, there’s an API available now that allows approved partners to create applications using the AudioMicro library. The SlideRocket partnership is a first result of the new API: utilizing it, SlideRocket users can now license tracks from the AudioMicro archive and incorporate them directly into their SlideRocket presentations.
Last month, AudioMicro announced the availability of its second iPhone app, AudioMicro Lite (iTunes link). The app includes over 50 royalty -ree sound effects as well as a “Sneak Attack” feature, which sets the iPhone to play a specified sound effect when the device is moved by an unsuspecting person (lots of fun). For 99 cents, users can upgrade to the full AudioMicro app, which includes over 500 professional sound effects.
The only thing I can conclude from this is: “There is another major Piracy NEWS awaiting us soon!”
Interesting development. API availability is a natural extension of this product that should drive meaningful growth and strongly enable partnerships.
Thank you for introducing me to this site. I’ve needed to find music for a presentation for work for the past few days and have been avoiding it because I didn’t know where to turn to do it legally and inexpensively. AudioMicro made it so easy and they have a huge library to chose from. Microstock music–genius.
Wow, very nice! Signing up…
There’s lots of good stuff for audio production. What I liked is that they seem to incorporate a few great libraries like Hollywoodedge that you can search and license, and it’s peanuts compared to buying CD/DVD collections from the original copyright owners. Another observation is that the overall quality is better that I’d typically think for a service that’s based on crowd sourcing. This is a very important point for audio content as searching it is more complicated than with stock images and thus whoever solves that pain is going to get more chances of success.
Keep up the good work guy and publish more quality content. Content is the King (as if someone didn’t know it).
Thanks for the update! I love the new search function!
I have been using Audio Micro since it launched. the new 2.0 version is awesome and very user friendly. I deal with SlideRocket is a great move for them. Audio Micro also has a really cool iPhone Application.
I think the micro stock space is a big deal when you consider how many authors there potentially are for sound, and by way of that, how much inventory is possible.
The audiomicro team definitely seems to be in the right place at the right time.
The user experience is a lot better now on the site…I’m able to find things a lot easier and partnering with SlideRocket makes so much sense.
this only helps us move faster. as an iPhone publishing house, we need to move fast with quality art assets. people operating technology has been buying sound fx and background music for some of the 2d games we have been creating
Great to see Internet economics brought to music stock the way istockphoto brought it with images. Congrats to Ryan and the team.
Audio Micro has an amazing amount of content – really impressive stuff!
We’ve loved working with AudioMicro on this – their API is great! Having the ability to easily add audio to presentations is awesome. We use it all the time internally (there is research that suggests that presentations with audio are watched 2-3 times longer than those without), and it is great that our users can access this through the marketplace now as well.
Kudos to the AudioMicro team on this release, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on it.
This new version is a great enhancement to AudioMicro. The site looks mature, professional and down to it, very useful. I think the API will open many doors and allow AudioMicro to grow exponentially, this was a very smart move, good call Ryan.
There is totally a need for this type of service, and the traditional music publishers are not set up to cover this kind of smallscale use.
Great service!
We have used AudioMicro for music/sounds for a lot of our original content. Great service!
great platform, have used it for audiotracks before for videos, loved the service but the UI was a bit messy, was playing arond with it today and just got worlds better
i love the API…more services need to realize distributed sales is in their interest…good work!
Based on the success of iStockPhoto, as chronicled in TC yesterday, and the substantial funding for its competitor, Fotolia, AudioMicro seems like a natural acquisition target for one of these companies looking to expand into the “audio” vertical.
The new and revamped audio micro looks slick
and makes it a breeze to find sound effects and tracks.
I’ve perused the library and they have a great collection
of tracks.
Congrats to Ryan and the rest of the AudioMicro team on a job well done.
I love AudioMicro! I find all the sound effects and music I need for my school work AND YouTube videos. One stop shopping makes my life easy.
nice! could be a good fit for commercial/film production communities as well… maybe a similar distribution deal with commercial producers guild(s) in the future?
Just tried the service, fantastic. Significantly more seamless that other stock music sites I have used before.
Well done. AudioMicro has a new customer. Useful article.
Very nice – adding the sound effects in actually gives users a compelling reason to use SlideRocket instead of their competitors. And by users, I mean me.
very slick – nice upgrade!
Awesome library! Microsoft PowerPoint should be using the AudioMicro library instead of their lame sound effects.
It’s a multimedia world and audio’s always the last media type that people think about. Nice to see that AudioMicro is doing it right. New site looks great.
Great improvements from previous site. Congrats to Ryan and team.
Great service, it’s always hard to find great stock audio, not any more!
I am not wanting to be a party pooper but the concept of micro payment audio has been on our minds for sometime since photo and images came about so this is great to some extend for the buyers but not for musicians as music isn’t that easy to create as like in taking a picture or even video.
Audiomicro is just a platform that I feel is somewhat a capitalist in taking advantage and setting the price for music, generalizing and comoditizing the quality and cost of the art. Do the founders produce music themselves and make a living doing so? Well just my 2 cents.
Some points to note about the licensing agreement which is a red flag for me. In summary
- cannot use music in more than 2 locations.
- distribute up to ten thousand (5,000) units of an item {so is it 10k or 5k – some serious typos or management indecisions!)
- some additional licensing fees for certain usages which is not very clear.
- must file cue sheets.
Well after some of that, I kinda stop reading as it isn’t for me besides such legal docs give me a headache.
I’ve been using stock music or some call it royalty free music for years and have seen some very generous licensing terms and this is not one of them.
Many sites don’t require cue sheets although you can submit if you need to. Filing cue sheets is another thing I’ve happily avoided with music from other places.
Also hate the 2 locations limitation and 10K or is it 5K duplication limitation. What happens if my production hits 10,001 or even if there is a possibility if it may but not knowing the fees upfront isn’t great.
The price isn’t that micro either. There are so many other sites selling music at around the same price and much cheaper with larger buys.
I really don’t see what the hype is all about aside from the name have micro in it making it sound like it cost less.
The site looks great! Awesome upgrade!
Congrats on the solid biz dev maneuvers, as well.
Audiomicro is a godsend… great for anybody producing mid budget internet projects… and excellent for general producing… a must for any serious producer… and no, I don’t work there.
TW