Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (feat. Fresh Big Mouf) by CSWS is a very upbeat contemporised hip hop track I was enjoying the other day so it came as a surprised when I learnt that the music artists Mighty & High make can be licenced for users to work with for free. This means I would be able to use this song in any media creation I want to. It made me want to understand why these particular artists and many more established ones choose to make their music royalty free when they could be earning money from licensing like other high achieving artists do.

At first note, exposure- allowing the track to be used without individuals having to pay allows for a wider audience to hear the music, giving the band an overall wider exposure. “The CSWS has been featured (via Youtube partnerships) on the homepage of some of the most prestigious culture sites on the web. Buzzfeed, Gawker, ESPN, YouTube, Huffington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, TechCrunch, TheChive, etc. All totalled, and across platforms, CSWS’ music has been listened to over 150 million plays.” (CSWS Facebook biography) I doubt the artists would have had as many users playing their track if again it wasn’t for the complimentary licensing.

In a different light having the artists give free royalties also means that they create music because they believe in the music giving them a sense of authenticity and ‘realness’ that other artists in modern pop culture music seem to lack. Overall I am excited to be able to use this track in future creations and look forward to looking for more royalty free music that stems away from just the standard audio beats we hear within many Youtube videos.