March Rangefinder profile of Triple Scoop Music

1. Sound as Good
as You Look
by Martha Blanchfield
“Music can be a powerful branding element,” shares world-class music licensing business for film and television proj-
Roy Ashen, CEO/co-founder of Triple Scoop Music (TSM). “It ects. We were focusing most of our time building the platform and
can inspire, it can heighten emotion, it can take us back to fond service, spending many hours working directly with record labels,
memories and, as clients tell me, create stronger sales.” Ashen, artists, publishers and managers.” It was Handal’s fortuitous trek to
along with independent musicians and award-winning songwrit- WPPI in 2006 that unearthed an opportunity to help professional
ers Ali Handal and Jennifer Herbig, have been working behind the photographers. Calling Ashen from the trade show floor, she ex-
scenes to orchestrate a service that helps photographers bring one claimed, “We need to tailor this platform to the photo community!”
more sensory touch to their artful image creations. Adds Ashen, “After a little research we all agreed there seemed to
Launched in 2007 at WPPI, TSM is the result of this trio’s be a huge opportunity there to provide photographers with an
combined Rolodex of music industry friends and a chance visit easier way to license great music.”
to the annual Wedding and Portrait Photographers Convention Starting the company proved an uphill climb, but today the
and Trade Show. “We came together in 2006 to initially develop a team is delighted to have thousands of photographers around

2. Sneak Peek: How Jim Garner Uses Triple Scoop Music Aside from breadth of selection, the sec-
See how top wedding photographer Jim Garner used TSM’s song “Celtic Bless- ond most important element was to make
ing” to enhance a wedding album slideshow. The image above is the opening of the it easy for photographers to not only sample
album slideshow. View it at http://www.jgarnerproof.com/ and find, but also start using the music.
darkroom/share/?n=post_album. When it came time to develop the Web site
and search/query tools, the team diligently
How TSM Customers Use the Music: queried potential clients on ease of use.
“Time and time again we heard photog-
• Studio slideshows and client products
raphers say, ‘We are busy with customer
• Presentations on CDs and DVDs
service, creating products and working with
• Web site-based photo galleries/slideshows (one domain per license)
images. We don’t have time to research and
• Promotional videos and streaming Web video hunt and deal with licensing. Just make it
• Portfolio presentations easy. Make it easy to listen to music, easy
• On-hold music for business to find music, and easy to start using.’ One
• Podcasts of the biggest hang-ups we have solved for
them is to take care of the complex licensing
issues,” says Ashen.
the world licensing music through the site. artists, plus acclaimed songwriters and TSM gives clients several ways to search
“We’ve set up the service to be as user- musicians from around the globe. TSM from among over 6000 tracks: by art-
friendly as possible. We welcome photog- is constantly adding new pieces, offering ist, word/phrase, style, tempo, by vocal
raphers to take a look at our offerings and every sort of beat, mood and theme. or instrumental. The collection is also
consider how the addition of music might
help them personalize and round out their
image product offerings. We want to make
it as easy as possible for a photographer to
find and license music from TSM.”
Make It Easy
“Music is a very personal thing. As we
started working with photographers it be-
came evident that they definitely know
music and have very firm opinions about
what will complement their photogra-
phy—and what will not. On a whole, pho-
tographers listen to a wide variety of tunes.
We built the selection with tremendous
variety in mind, knowing that for success,
a licensing service would have to offer A to
Z,” he adds. There are world-class singles
and numerous pre-packaged collections
that include Grammy and Emmy-winning

3. With over 6000 songs and artists from around the globe, Triple Scoop Music offers something for everyone. To help
you find musicians partnered with Triple Scoop, here’s an easy guide to get you started.
What You Shoot Who You Like Then Listen To
Weddings & Engagements Jason Mraz Ernie Halter
Feist Melinda Ortner, Kristin Andreassen
U2, Coldplay Jason Hewitt, Viva La Union
Diana Krall Sarah J Hyland
Enya Lianna Klassen
Stevie Wonder Porsche Smith
Michael Bublé Jonny Blu
Orchestral Film Music Michael Maina
Seniors Taylor Swift Hannah Ford
Linkin Park, Eminem Shotgun Radio
Foo Fighters Castella
Jay-Z, Ludacris Barrett Yeretsian
Family Norah Jones Nancy Falkow
Martina McBride, Dixie Chicks David Keen, Red Molly
Annie Lennox Faith Rivera
Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crowe Tony Carter
Fashion/Boudoir Tiesto Techno Tommy, Liquid factor
Madonna a girl named jaen, Marieandre
Matthew Jordan Smith, photographer
We know how important it is to pair the right to the stars (www.mjs-exp.com), culled
music to images, so we’ve particularly spent a a medley of stylish, powerful and soulful
songs ready to pair with memory albums,
good deal of time categorizing each offering. engagement or personal portrait series.
His series features Keith Wilkins, Gary
Carpenter, Barrett Yeretsian, Alpha, Jamie
categorized by mood, grouping selections houses such as Denis Reggie, Jerry Ghionis, Green and Hip Hop Kidz.
into what is likely appropriate for a wedding Rod Evans, Joe Buissink, Yervant and Bambi
or portrait or holiday, even nature and land- Cantrell to develop and market signature Music Licensing Options
scape image presentation. “We know how hand-picked music collections designed The TSM standard single-user license
important it is to pair the right music to im- for specific events and occasions—from is designed to meet the needs of profes-
ages, so we’ve particularly spent a good deal wedding to engagement to promotional to sional photographers, videographers and
of time categorizing each offering.” corporate needs. Signature collections from other multimedia professionals. Points out
other top photographers include: Ashen, “A client will be able to instantly
Hook Me Up Kirk Voclain, educator, speaker and se- download three versions of the track. This
TSM offers thousands of world-class songs nior portrait photographer (www.kvphoto. includes a CD-quality WAV file (for slide-
in both vocal and instrumental arrange- com). His signature collection includes: shows and video on DVD), a HiFi mp3
ments. Pricing starts at $60 for a single song. Castella, There There, Barrett Yeretsian, a file (320kbps) and Web-ready mp3 (per-
This provides a photographer with a lifetime girl named jaen and Shotgun Radio. Music fectly sized for Web site use). Purchase of
license to use the music in non-commercial choices that radiate the energy, beat and a track from the site provides a standard
(not for television or film reuse) modes. In verve that his young clients love. lifetime license to download and use that
addition to a single-track purchase option, Bill Frakes, editorial, advertising and Sports track in a variety of ways.”
TSM offers periodic specials on bundled Illustrated photographer (www.billfrakes. “Our standard license is easy to under-
selections, and there are also larger main- com), picked tunes from Tony Franklin, stand and covers all of the key music needs
stay collections such as a 10-track classical, Steve Fister, Stanton Lanier, Ross Maclachlan of professional photographers, adds Ashen.
”
“Orchestral Love Stories.” and Shotgun Radio to provide a powerful, “We can also create custom licenses for other
Add to this, the company recently part- energetic soundtrack that capture the inten- business uses like film or television projects,
nered with photography industry power- sity and challenge of sports competition. labs and even subscriber services. ”

4. QA
Jim Garner Kirk Voclain Kevin Kubota
What benefits has your studio/business seen as a result they look at this emotionally charged artwork, they’re allowed to
of adding TSM? imagine what the message in the song is, and what the feelings are
Jim Garner: (www.jgarnerphoto.com) TSM has enabled us to in the images. Music helps tell the story and has become a critical
truly own the art we create in our slideshows—whether we post selling tool for our very large books. If our client becomes emo-
collections online or provide photos to a client on disc. TSM gives tionally involved with the story this can equal a big sale. Since art
us more sales overall and clients love it. They make faster deci- is more valuable than pictures, TSM helps us make more money.
sions and are purchasing more premium products. Our studio KK: Since we specialize in weddings, we tend to use romantic,
would simply not be what it is without TSM. moody and fun dance tunes. One of the great things about TSM
Kevin Kubota: (www.kubotaimagetools.com) We sell more is that they have such a diverse collection and we can always pair
when we show images with music, period. We’ve always seen that something that’s appropriate for any mood from the wedding day.
music enhances the images we show, and ultimately the buying KV: Being that I photograph mostly high school seniors, the
experience. TSM allows us to easily and legally sell our clients hip hop and top 40 sound is what they like. Fast music and
high quality music with their slideshows, DVDs, and video teas- something fun!
ers. There’s no easier way to go, really.
Kirk Voclain: (www.kvphoto.com) It’s crazy! My Web site traf- Was the addition of music something you were looking
fic lit up after I put TSM on it. I started asking the senior grads, for or did you stumble onto the service?
“What’s the deal?” They said they just love the music! They even JG: TSM is something we needed for sure. Before they came
said they sometimes just click on my site to listen. How cool is that? along we had to use unlicensed music. Now we run our business
in an honorable and ethical way, and can support great artists. It’s
How do you use the music? a win-win all around. I couldn’t be more grateful for this wonder-
JG: We use the music in a variety of ways—I play the music in ful service.
my mind while I shoot and I play the music in the studio as I de- KK: We actually did stumble onto the service, and I was immedi-
sign albums. We use TSM as background during our meetings. ately excited because there was a serious need for high quality, pop-
Our educational DVD and viral videos use TSM. style, affordable music with easy licensing terms. They filled a huge
KK: We use the music for everything: our promo videos, the need in our industry. The music is great, but the service is even bet-
slideshows we present to the clients, the DVDs we sell them, dur- ter! We love working with TSM because of the extra level of service
ing album presentations, and even when driving in the car! and attention they provide. They really do care about photogra-
KV: I use the music on my Web site, but also in my slideshows phers and our needs and that shows in everything they do.
and DVDs. When you combine TSM with an Animoto video, it’s KV: Yes, I was looking for something like this and wanted cool
like printing money—people just have to have it. music that was legal for me to play on my site and DVDs. The
timing for finding TSM was just perfect. Thank you, TSM. As far
If you have used the service long enough to track a trend as I’m concerned, I’m a TSM customer for life.
in type of music favored by clients, what is hot?
JG: Great music properly matched to the client and their wed- For more information about Triple Scoop Music, visit the Web
ding day story directly relates to our bottom line. Our studio is all site www.triplescoopmusic.com.
about the story art book (album), and the best pairing for these
books has been foreign language music. We feel this genre helps www.renegade-pr.com
Martha Blanchfield is creator of the Renegade Photo Shoots (www.renegade-pr.
the viewer get into a “right brain” or “feeling/emotional” state. As com) and a freelance marketing and public relations consultant.