A production analysis of Your Way Out – and what it proves about the new math of brand trust.
Twenty-seven minutes into the 98th Academy Awards, Coinbase dropped the audience into a video game. A man in a slightly off-kilter suit moves through a city of stiff-walking NPCs. The camera holds high and isometric – locked at the angle of a 2002-era GTA. A yellow cursor tracks him across the frame.
Then he breaks formation.
The world starts to peel. Pixelated textures give way to skin. Mechanical gait gives way to a run. Sammy Davis Jr.’s “I’ve Gotta Be Me” rises as he steps out of the system entirely, into an actual street, surrounded by humans who are unmistakably, gloriously real.
Then a single line:
Your way out of their system.
The spot is sixty seconds. The argument behind it has been building for years.
Here is what makes Your Way Out the most important commercial of 2026: it depicts a synthetic, machine-controlled world, and it does so without using a single frame of CGI or generative AI. The medium is the message. Every craft decision in the film is also a strategic argument.
And Coinbase made sure you knew it.
Coinbase came into 2026 with a brief most agencies would envy and most production teams would dread: two tentpole moments, three months apart, no creative overlap allowed.
February’s Super Bowl spot turned American living rooms into a Backstreet Boys karaoke session, the first major work from Coinbase’s new marketing leadership under CMO Cat Ferdon, VP Creative Joe Staples, and VP Brand Gareth Kay.
Spectacle. Party. National volume.
Then the Oscars window, and a different brief entirely.
“Before talking about features, we think it’s important to give people a reason to care,” Staples told Little Black Book. The Super Bowl was about “making the most of the spectacle and the party,” while The Oscars work needed to be “narrative-driven” and “craft heavy,” to match what’s celebrated at the Academy Awards.
That distinction (spectacle for the Super Bowl, craft for the Oscars) is the strategic foundation. The room treats craft as the entry fee. The work had to earn it.
But it also had to do something harder.
Your Way Out isn’t a spot. It’s the launch of a creative platform – Your Way Out of Their System – designed to carry Coinbase’s repositioning from crypto exchange to path to greater economic freedom across all of 2026. The Oscars film had to function simultaneously as a tentpole hero and as the foundation document for everything that follows.
The broadcast did both. And it landed in the middle of the loudest argument advertising has had with itself in years.
The film’s central metaphor, the NPC, does enormous narrative work in remarkably little time.
Non-playable character, a gaming term turned Gen Z shorthand for anyone moving through life on autopilot. It borrows a cultural artifact most viewers under 35 already know how to read instantly. It smuggles an existential argument inside a familiar joke. And it gives the film a visual language that carries the entire first act without a single line of dialogue
That choice – spending the first 40 seconds of a 60-second spot inside the metaphor rather than introducing the brand – is the move.
Most brand films lose nerve sooner. They cut to the product. They drop the logo. They translate the metaphor into a benefit before the audience has fully entered the world.
That restraint is exactly what allows the metaphor to land without feeling like a sales pitch. The brand earns the close because it didn’t take it early.
The second move is cultural timing. The NPC reference doesn’t just appeal to gamers – it speaks to a deeper anxiety that’s been building through 2025 and 2026 around AI displacement, automation, and what Fortune calls “an ever-gnawing desperation to escape what’s become known as the ‘permanent underclass.'”
Your Way Out doesn’t argue against AI explicitly. It dramatizes the feeling of being trapped in a system that operates without your consent, then offers an exit. The argument lands because it’s already in the room.
Three connected creative decisions:
This is where how it was made becomes the entire conversation.
Director Oscar Hudson, working through MJZ, made the call that reset every department’s job description: shoot it for real. The spot uses minimal VFX (only the cursor arrow chasing the protagonist), plus a few set extensions and miniature comping into bigger sets.
Everything else is real. In-camera. Practical effects.
That single decision changed what each craft specialist had to solve.
Suit details (buttons, lapels, fabric texture) were 2D-printed directly onto fabric to replicate the flat, low-poly look of game characters.
Costumes were weighted to mimic the blocky drape of game-engine cloth simulation, so fabric moved with a slightly artificial physics. Masks bearing the actors’ own faces were reprinted and placed back over their heads, creating an eerie texture-mapping effect that read as low-resolution rendering.
Sets were printed, pixelated, and calibrated against camera distance so the surfaces resolved as game-world textures from the isometric angle.
The shoot took place in Cape Town, where the team spent three weeks preparing sets before a single frame was shot.
Game engines don’t render real shadow physics. The lighting design had to imitate flat, shadowless game lighting without the result reading as bad cinematography.
The production team called it “an unusual and difficult challenge for the gaffer.” That’s underselling it.
Choreographer Maeva Berthelot studied video game animation cycles and trained the cast to walk like NPCs, with arms swinging at unnatural angles and heads turning mechanically. The lead actor was directed to make a gradual, nearly imperceptible transition from game-character motion to organic human motion across the runtime.
This is the most overlooked craft layer in the spot. It is arguably the one carrying the most narrative weight.
The metaphor only works if the audience feels the transition before they see it.
DP Ben Fordesman locked his camera roughly 9 to 10 meters above ground for the majority of the film, building the visual rules of the game world so the break-out had rules to break. A giraffe crane on a flat-bed truck tracked the protagonist at running pace, maintaining the isometric angle in motion.
A custom-built wire-cam executed the moment from game world to real world in a single continuous take.
The camera started high and steady at the isometric position, dropped down as the operator transitioned to handheld, with sparks flying and smoke drifting in. The crew rehearsed height, speed, and timing across multiple takes until the moment landed precisely.
Every department on this production was solving the same backwards problem: how do we use the most analog craft tools available to imitate digital artifacts?
It’s the inverse of how most commercial post pipelines work. And it’s exactly the choice that makes the work mean what it means.
You cannot generate this spot. The fact that you cannot is the entire value proposition.
Trade press picked the work up immediately. Adweek, Ad Age, Campaign US, Little Black Book, Creative Review, SHOOTonline, and others. Mainstream pickup followed in Fortune and Yahoo Finance. The behind-the-scenes content has been circulating in commercial-craft communities for weeks.
But the more interesting impact is what Your Way Out did to the conversation around it.
Creative Review placed Your Way Out directly inside this shift, framing the in-camera decision as “part of a wider focus on craft that is emerging in advertising right now, in part as a backlash to AI.”
That’s accurate — and it’s the frame the industry is starting to operate from.
The platform extension matters here too. Your Way Out of Their System is designed to accumulate cultural weight across 2026 as Coinbase’s product rollouts continue.
The clearest measure of impact, though, is harder to put on a spreadsheet: Your Way Out gave the craft side of the AI argument its most articulate execution to date. Every brand team in a meeting right now deciding whether to commission AI-generated creative has a new counter-example to point at.
Four lessons live inside this work for any brand team or production lead trying to make ambitious commercial work right now.
The deepest strategic move in Your Way Out isn’t the script or the casting or the venue choice. It’s the alignment between what the spot says and how the spot was made.
So, a film about escaping a synthetic, system-controlled world that was, itself, made synthetically would have undercut its own argument before the credits rolled.
The in-camera choice isn’t aesthetic preference – it’s the brand’s position expressed through methodology. When form and thesis align, the work doesn’t have to explain itself. The viewer feels the consistency before they articulate it.
The most important strategic decision on a craft-heavy project is rarely the brief or the budget. It’s the person you trust to carry the concept from treatment to final cut – and hold the line through the noise of production.
Toby Treyer-Evans of Isle of Any was direct on the record: Hudson’s insistence on shooting in-camera “immediately took it up a notch.”
The right director for a craft-heavy brief is rarely the one who can deliver the most options. It is the one with the conviction to close options that would weaken the work, and the technical authority to make the closure feel like generosity rather than restriction.
The most invisible craft layer in Your Way Out is the choreography. It is also the one doing the most narrative work. The transition from game character to human is sold by the protagonist’s gait before it is sold by the picture, the grade, or the score.
Generic casting and direction would have produced a film that looks like the spot but doesn’t feel like it. Specificity in performance design is what makes this kind of work travel.
The lesson isn’t “cast great actors.”
The lesson is: identify the single behavior that proves your case, then build every department around catching it.
This is the lesson the rest of the industry has not yet caught up to.
Coinbase did not just make Your Way Out. They produced a parallel ecosystem of behind-the-scenes content. The Muse by Clios production essay. The Little Black Book deep-craft feature. The YouTube BTS cut. Choreography breakdowns. Costume photography. Set-build documentation.
The proof that the spot was made by humans is now its own marketing asset.
In the AI era, brands aren’t just buying creative anymore. They are buying credibility. And credibility now requires receipts.
The thing to watch is not whether the AI-versus-craft debate gets resolved. It won’t.
The thing to watch is how brands rebuild trust in a world that doesn’t trust what it sees anymore.
Your Way Out points at the answer. The receipts are the asset.
A decade ago, behind-the-scenes content was supplemental. A courtesy for fans, a deliverable to fill out the scope of work. Today it is load-bearing. And when you look at what Coinbase’s BTS ecosystem actually accomplished, the structural shift is clear.
When audiences can’t verify by looking, they verify by witnessing the making. The willingness to spend real money proving you spent real money on human craft is becoming its own brand differentiator. It’s a budget line. It’s a strategic call. It’s increasingly the difference between a brand that earns trust and one that has to keep buying it.
A spot this stylized, in 2026, triggers the same first instinct in every viewer: “Wait, is that AI?” The behind-the-scenes doesn’t just answer the question. It turns the question into a point of brand engagement. The doubt becomes the click.
The spot ran on March 15. The behind-the-scenes coverage is still circulating six weeks later. Each BTS asset, the Muse by Clios essay, the Little Black Book craft feature, the production photography, the choreography breakdowns, generates its own news cycle. One sixty-second hero. Six weeks of compounding press.
Trade press did the heavy lifting. Adweek, Ad Age, Creative Review, SHOOTonline. These aren’t ads. They’re third-party validation Coinbase doesn’t have to buy again. And earned media is the only kind of media most audiences still trust.
When the Muse by Clios essay dropped, it didn’t just circulate among advertising readers. DPs posted the wire-cam transition. Choreographers shared the NPC movement work. Production designers passed around the printed-set photography. Every specialist who shared their behind-the-scenes work and experience extended the campaign into the exact audience that shapes future brand briefs: their peers, their creative directors, their CMOs.
Trade press buys reach. Sharing buys credibility. Coinbase produced the kind of work that earned both.
Every brand currently briefing a craft-led campaign now has to ask the same question: are we producing the proof? Coinbase didn’t just compete on the spot. They re-priced the entry fee for the category.
For most of advertising’s history, the asset was the proof. You saw the spot. You trusted what you saw. You formed an opinion. The making was opaque, and nobody asked.
That contract is beginning to break.
The asset is no longer self-verifying. AI floods every channel with content that sounds confident, looks perfect, and means nothing. Audiences have learned, faster than the industry has, that what they see and what’s true are no longer the same thing.
So brands have to externalize the proof. The validation has to live outside the asset itself.
This isn’t a content trend. It’s a structural change in how brand trust gets manufactured.
Brands that don’t see the shift as structural will keep treating BTS as a deliverable. The brands that win this era will treat it as architecture.
If proof is load-bearing, the implications cascade.
You hire differently. The director who can shoot in-camera is more valuable than the one who can move fast. The choreographer or specialist who carries the invisible production layer is no longer optional. The DP who can be quoted on the work becomes part of the asset.
You budget differently. BTS becomes a line item with its own creative direction, its own production schedule, its own distribution plan. Not capture-of-opportunity during principal photography. A second campaign running in parallel.
You brief differently. The choices that prove the production value get scoped at the front of the project, not discovered at the end. You design the proof layer with the same rigor you design the asset.
You measure differently. Six weeks of trade press coverage is brand value. Sharing across creative communities is brand value. Industry benchmark-setting is brand value. None of it shows up in standard attribution models. All of it shows up in the next pitch.
Coinbase made a sixty-second commercial about escaping systems that operate without your consent. They made it without using systems that operate without your consent. And then they showed you exactly how it happened.
That’s brand strategy expressed through methodology – and it’s the kind of thinking that shapes how we build every production at Cardboard Spaceship.
Coinbase’s Your Way Out directed by Oscar Hudson via MJZ. Aired during the 98th Academy Awards broadcast, March 15, 2026.
Cardboard Spaceship is a creative agency specializing in commercial video production, event production, and full-service design for brands navigating the moments that matter.
Here’s the paradox nobody saw coming: the more AI-generated content floods the market, the more valuable human storytelling becomes.
For leaders at publicly traded companies, this isn’t just an interesting cultural observation. It’s a strategic inflection point. The brands that recognize it now and act on it, will own the attention that everyone else is busy diluting.
Everyone predicted AI would make content cheaper and faster. But what was less fully anticipated was when every company’s blog posts, social captions, earnings narratives, and brand videos start sounding like they came from the same machine. Because they did.
The Wall Street Journal recently put numbers to what leaders are already sensing: demand for skilled brand storytellers in business is surging. Companies aren’t just looking for writers who can produce. They’re searching for creatives who can tell a story, a skill that turns out to be surprisingly hard to automate.
When everything sounds the same, differentiation and a genuine brand voice becomes the most powerful assets a company can have. And right now, authentic human creativity is the scarcest form of differentiation in the market.
Most conversations about AI vs human creativity frame it as a competition. Replace or be replaced. That’s the wrong lens — especially for marketing leaders managing complex brand narratives for public companies with real stakeholder expectations.
The more useful frame: AI has raised the bar. Human creativity has to raise the ceiling.
AI can produce competent content at scale. What it does less reliably is make strategic narrative decisions. What tension to build, what to leave unsaid, what story angle earns an investor’s trust versus triggers their skepticism. These are deeply human judgments, shaped by experience, emotional intelligence, and an understanding of how people actually make decisions.
Our Co-Founder at Cardboard Spaceship said it best: “We’re missing the power of good, well-written copy and when we see it and feel it, it rises to the top more quickly than it did years ago.” –Matt Engelking
That’s the shift. In a sea of generated content, human storytelling doesn’t just stand out, it commands attention in a way it simply didn’t need to before.
Here’s what’s catching companies off guard: the gap isn’t in content volume. Most teams can produce more than enough. The gap is in story, the ability to take a company’s real narrative and shape it into something that moves an audience from passive awareness to genuine conviction.
A skilled storyteller makes decisions AI can’t: what’s the emotional entry point for this audience? Where does this narrative need to surprise? What does this piece need to make someone feel in order to drive the purchase we want?
In video production, where story is everything, this gap is impossible to hide. A technically flawless corporate film with a weak story gets skipped. A simply produced video built around a story that earns its ending gets shared in board meetings. Story is the load-bearing wall. Production value is the finishing work.
AI is getting very good at finishing work. The load-bearing wall still requires a human architect.
For marketing leaders at public companies, this moment calls for a clear strategic posture.
You can produce more. Or you can produce better.
The companies winning stakeholder attention right now aren’t out-publishing their competitors, they’re out-storying them. That means investing in human creatives who understand your business, your investors, and the critical difference between content that fills a calendar and content that builds a brand.
“The percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term “storyteller” doubled in the year ended Nov. 26, to include some 50,000 listings under marketing and more than 20,000 job listings under media and communications that mentioned the term, according to the professional-networking platform.”- WSJ,Dec. 12, 2025
The WSJ’s storyteller talent crunch isn’t a hiring trend. It’s a market signal. The companies that treat authentic human creativity as a strategic asset, not a line item to optimize, will have a durable advantage over those who handed their voice to the lowest-friction option.
The AI vs human creativity debate will keep evolving. The tools will get better. The generated content will get more convincing. But the human capacity for genuine, creative storytelling, the kind with a real point of view, earned tension, and a heartbeat, isn’t going anywhere.
At the center of every strong brand narrative is a story someone chose to tell with intention. That decision belongs to a human and executing it well belongs to a production partner who treats storytelling as the foundation, not the afterthought.
That’s what Cardboard Spaceship is built to do. If you’re ready to work with a team that puts story first, let’s talk.
Global meetings today demand flexibility. Teams, investors, and stakeholders join from different countries, time zones, and formats — both in person and online. our production services — professional hybrid event production — makes this possible by combining live presence and digital participation into one cohesive, seamless experience.
Hybrid events allow organizations to significantly expand their audience without sacrificing engagement quality. Attendees in the room and viewers online receive the same clear message, professional visual standard, and opportunity to participate in real time. This is more than a simple livestream — it’s a thoughtfully designed communication system.
High-quality hybrid production is built on three core elements:
Global meetings today demand flexibility. Teams, investors, and stakeholders join from different countries, time zones, and formats — both in person and online. Hybrid event production makes this possible by combining live presence and digital participation into one cohesive, seamless experience.
Hybrid events allow organizations to significantly expand their audience without sacrificing engagement quality. em
Effective hybrid production relies on three key elements:
For high-quality hybrid production, begin with broadcast-level video and audio. Stable streams, clear sound, and professional visuals minimize technical distractions, enabling the audience to focus on the message.
To achieve high-quality hybrid production, it is essential to start with broadcast-level video and audio. Ensuring stable streams, crystal-clear sound, and professional-grade visuals helps to eliminate any technical distractions, allowing the audience to concentrate fully on the message being conveyed. This foundational approach not only enhances the overall experience but also elevates the impact of the content presented.
These days, global meetings need to be flexible. Teams, investors, and stakeholders are joining from all over the world, across different time zones and formats — whether in person or online. Hybrid event production brings it all together, creating a smooth experience that combines live and digital participation.
Hybrid events let organizations reach a bigger audience without losing the quality of engagement. Whether you’re in the room or tuning in online, everyone gets the same clear message, top-notch visuals, and a chance to join in live. It’s not just a basic livestream — it’s a well-thought-out communication setup.
For top-notch hybrid production, begin with broadcast-quality video and audio. Stable streams, clear sound, and professional visuals minimize technical distractions, enabling the audience to focus on the message. This approach enhances the experience and boosts the content’s impact.
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, content creators, filmmakers, and broadcasters are constantly seeking new ways to engage and captivate their audiences. The rise of Extended Reality (XR) and Immersive Reality (IR) technologies has opened up a world of possibilities for creating immersive XR video experiences that transport viewers into the heart of the story. These cutting-edge technologies are reshaping the way stories are told, offering unparalleled opportunities for visual storytelling and audience engagement.
Extended Reality (XR) and Immersive Reality (IR) are reshaping how we tell stories visually. These technologies open up new methods for engaging, immersive storytelling. They broaden the spectrum of narrative possibilities and experiences.
XR innovations have dramatically changed immersive storytelling. They allow content creators to showcase 3D experiences on traditional 2D screens, like huge video walls or curved displays. Augmented Reality (AR) supplements our real world with extra 2D or 3D elements, boosting visual appeal. Virtual Reality (VR) takes users into entirely imagined realms, offering a full sense of being there. MR blends the real and digital, letting people naturally interact in virtual spaces, opening up fresh storytelling avenues.
Technological advancement is reshaping visual media, with XR LED screens at the forefront of change. They bring a new level of immersion to immersive XR video experiences, enhancing storytelling. By offering unmatched realism and depth, these screens revolutionize both film-making and content creation.
In 2020, XR extension technology caused a major shift in film and television. It introduced LED virtual production via background walls, a game-change. This method creates scenes in indoor studios, cutting down traditional production costs. It also features real light and shadow effects, amplifying realism in virtual environments.
With XR LED screens, creators can tell stories that truly grab their audiences. This ability to visually engage viewers is a powerful tool in the hands of modern storytellers.
For filmmakers, XR LED screens offer a toolkit that marries software and hardware seamlessly. This integration simplifies production, allowing for on-the-fly adjustments that boost efficiency. Brands like Rasha Professional and Roe Visuals are leading the way in providing LED solutions, from Automated Lights to LED Video Walls, for any production’s unique requirements. Their support ensures easy setup, enabling creators to fully utilize these immersive technologies.
Establishing a virtual studio with XR LED screens stands at the forefront of modern production. It significantly boosts creativity and ensures top-notch visual results. The process integrates virtual and real settings using cutting-edge technology and careful preparation. This fusion brings forth worlds where imagination knows no bounds.
Bringing high-end XR LED displays into your studio setup is pivotal for crafting immersive digital worlds. By merging physical and computer-generated scenery, LED virtual production creates scenes that are not just seen, but felt. This technology has seen a dramatic rise in adoption since 2023, introducing greater resolution and refresh rates for a more mesmerizing experience.
XR LED displays are available in various configurations, from bar-shaped to flexible. This variety allows them to fit into any production setting with ease.
Following production best practices ensures a smooth blend of the real and the digital. It maximizes creativity and content quality by structuring key steps. From set building to camera tracking and real-time effects, each part of the process is meticulously crafted for excellence.
Curved LED displays are a standout solution for their efficiency and budget-friendliness in film and TV production. They are enhanced further by technologies like 5G, AI, and holograms, amplifying the LED display’s immersive potential.
Adopting insights from data and staying at the cusp of tech developments is vital for continuous improvement in virtual production. For example, PRG’s Los Angeles studio offers a cutting-edge space with advanced camera systems. These facilities serve both recorded and live content, showcasing a prime example of XR LED screen integration at its best.
Both XR and IR video production rely on interactive elements. They add a dynamic layer to content, engaging viewers on a deeper level.
Advanced technology has unlocked the ability to produce realistic IR shots. These shots transport viewers into the scene. For instance, virtual reality can isolate users from their immediate surroundings, completely immersing them. Augmented reality goes further, seamlessly blending digital elements with the real world. It has even revolutionized fields such as medicine.
The importance of dynamic set design is undeniable. It ensures that scenes visually captivate viewers, drawing them into the story. The latest XR tools are key to achieving this, facilitating detailed and versatile set designs. With high-tech VR, users can interact within these environments realistically. This is made possible by devices that accurately track their movements.
The rapid expansion of XR is reshaping various sectors, underlined by the sector’s expected growth to USD 125.2 billion by 2026. To balance complex set requirements, advanced XR setups offer powerful computing and collaborative tools. They support multi-user interaction and spatial computing. This infrastructure is essential for creating engaging, immersive XR video experiences.
As XR progress continues, efforts focus on enhancing real-time video integration. There’s also a push to optimize complex scene rendering for less powerful devices. This work is vital for the broader accessibility of XR applications.
XR and IR technologies have revamped how content is created. They give creators new methods to explore beyond traditional measures. These tools bring together the virtual and physical worlds, creating new, richer stories and engaging audiences in novel ways.
The tech behind XR virtual filming is a game changer. It combines LED displays, cameras, audio, and servers to make massive, lifelike displays mixing reality and virtual scenes. These setups reach new heights with 4K/8K UHD, making the videos more immersive. They also use infrared for real-time tracking and AI for automatic processes, giving creators more freedom in their work.
Zapworks shines with over 730,000 projects completed. It serves content creators globally by making WebAR solutions easy. Working with Unity adds a powerful 3D game engine to their tool, making immersive experiences top-notch. It also skips the app review step, streamlining the creation and publication process.
The XR LED seamless integration has transformed the world of film and television deeply. It blends VR, AR, and MR to create immersive experiences. This change started in 2020 and quickly became an essential trend in the industry.
Cutting-edge high-resolution panels provide impeccable clarity and vivid colors. As a result, scenes look more realistic and production speeds up.
In virtual production, an XR server merges camera tracking info with live images for the LED walls. This step is critical for smooth production.
The Infilled XII LED panels with 1.9mm pixel pitch enable a curved 4K wall, boosting creativity. Plus, Stype RedSpy systems coordinate camera tracking across various lenses. They store data in formats like FBX and XML, supporting film, broadcast, ads, and events.
One major advantage is less post-work needed. LED walls outshine green screens by offering a natural set, which allows real-time changes. The setup of 4K cameras and LED volumes crafts an engaging production atmosphere.
Software like Unreal Engine, Unity3D, and Notch have been key in making virtual scenery look real. XR technology is not just for film but enhances visuals in live shows and broadcasting. Our 12ft x 12ft LED ceiling with adjustable hoists makes a truly immersive production environment.We dedicate ourselves to the evolution of XR LED tech for top-notch virtual production. Discover the tech and witness the power it gives to creatives. Their dreams can be realized with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency.
Delving into XR IR video projects, we uncover a plethora of success stories. These ventures have had a profound impact, revolutionizing learning and engagement across industries. Their applications showcase the power of these technologies to enrich experiences.
In the field of education, augmented reality has shined brightly. Take SkyView, for instance, an app that guides students through stargazing via AR, making learning about stars and constellations exciting. Additionally, Froggipedia offers a digital dissection experience, sparing real frogs while educating students about anatomy. Medical education also benefits, with Microsoft HoloLens enabling students to navigate the human body in mixed reality.
XR IR videos also play a crucial role in bringing history to life. For instance, the 1943 Berlin Blitz coverage in 360° by the BBC, in partnership with Immersive VR Education, deepens students’ understanding of past events. Google Expeditions extends this, providing virtual trips to landmarks like Mount Everest, enriching educational experiences.
Canon’s involvement in the business sector is notable, thanks to live-streamed volumetric video that shows promise in sports and live music broadcasts. This underscores the increasing demand for 3D content in XR applications. Their cutting-edge system maps 3D point cloud data in real-time, enhancing view experiences.
The impact of XR is also felt strongly in manufacturing. A significant percentage of businesses are integrating XR into their processes for digital transformation. With the goal to adopt XR strategies by 2025, manufacturing is at the forefront of this digital evolution. The pandemic has been a catalyst, pushing the use of XR further to support remote work and digitalization.
In retail, Lowe’s uses XR to elevate the shopping experience for millions weekly. Moreover, XR is adopted to improve immersion in learning, curbing staff turnover rates. Notable is NuEyes’ AR glasses, which have life-changing implications, as seen in a young boy regaining sight with their help.
Our journey through immersive XR video experiences shows how XR and IR technologies are changing visual storytelling. They blend AR, VR, CR, and MR elements for captivating, immersive content. iDisplay notes that XR studios use real-time rendering engines, media servers, tracking systems, and high-end LED walls for quality and interactivity.
To sum up, XR and IR technologies are reshaping how we tell stories. They open up new creative possibilities and set the stage for exciting innovations in the future of media. This transformation promises a thrilling journey for both creators and viewers.
Have you ever watched scenes of a horror movie or played certain parts of a scary video game on mute? Some of you just read this and chuckled because you know exactly what I’m talking about. It loses its ability to scare you, right? Why? Because there is so much power in music. For filmmakers and video production companies, music is possibly the most important part of their creative arsenal, and choosing the right music for your production is crucial.
When we’re in the edit room and the director says “this scene needs to feel dangerous,” the conversation isn’t really about finding a “scary song.” It’s about finding a track that does specific emotional work, reliably, on the first try.
That’s why having the right music licensing platforms for video production is an essential part of a filmmaker’s toolkit. The music and sound effects you choose for a video don’t just fill space. The story and environment you create with sound determines whether the audience feels what you want them to feel – or whether they lose interest in the first 30 seconds.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of every music licensing platform on the market – there are dozens. And if they didn’t make our list, it doesn’t mean they aren’t good music licensing platforms or offer competitive pricing. We just have a few that have become our “go to” music providers for commercial video production, documentary films, and corporate interviews.
In this article, we’ll list our favorite music licensing platforms for video production and filmmaking. These are the five we actually reach for, for one reason or another, in client work and our own productions. We’ll tell you what we like, what we’re over, and where the space is heading.
Over the last decade, music licensing platforms have exploded. A few years ago, you could count the number of platforms with both hands. But now, it seems there are more and more popping up each week.
If you’re an established video production company or experienced filmmaker, you’ll more than likely have your go-to music licensing platforms you use and that’s ok. We most certainly do. But here’s a list of the top 5 we like to use each time.
Who it’s for: Commercial filmmakers, agencies, brands, and anyone who needs reliable quality
without spending hours searching.
MusicBed is a: “Curated Roster of Real Artists. Our A&R team handpicks every song from our roster of indie musicians, bands, and composers, so you can spend less time digging and more time creating.”
MusicBed is still the standard by which we measure everything else. They’ve been at this since
the early days of the licensing platform boom, and they’ve done the hard thing: said no to most
submissions. Their library sits at around 10,000+ tracks – not the largest by a long shot, but
the selection process means you’re rarely digging through filler.
As a music licensing pioneer, MusicBed has worked across every industry, provided work in every category, and truly provide music with creatives in mind.
The quality bar isn’t just marketing. It’s their selection process. Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone has what they call a “highly selective process” however, we know from first-hand experience that MusicBed’s A&R team accepts roughly 1% of submissions. That creates a high barrier-to-entry that actually benefits the end user — every track on the platform had to earn its place.
Just like FilmSupply (a sister company focused on licensed video content), only the top 1% of MusicBed’s submissions get the right to publish their work on their platform.
This highly disciplined approach not only provides the highest quality content for filmmakers and video production companies, it also creates a high barrier-to-entry.
We love how their website is laid out. Their functionality is very intuitive, and it doesn’t take long at all to find what you’re looking for. You can browse their full library without an account, search by mood, genre, and energy, and find what you need fast. Their support team will also personally review your project if you need help finding the right track – not a bot, an actual human who watches your footage.
If you need something for a specific video or scene, MusicBed’s team will personally look at the video and help you select that perfect score.
Take a look at this YouTuber’s (Cody Wanner) experience. He was looking for a specific sound for an old production using a vintage 16mm lens. Here’s what they did for him:
The pricing is structured around real use cases. MusicBed offers individual licensing plans and
business plans, with commercial licensing built in at every tier. They recently updated their
pricing structure to be more flexible – you’ll want to check the current tiers directly, but the
model now accommodates independent creators through enterprise teams.
You can browse all their songs for free without a subscription too.
Individual MusicBed subscriptions start out at $29.99 per month, but keep in mind, this is for individual use and not for clients. This option is most popular for social media content warriors that produce and distribution their own productions to promote their brands on YouTube.
If you are a business with less than 250 employees, then it’s $199.99 per month which isn’t bad. Enterprises are different and you’ll have to contact someone at MusicBed to discuss pricing for that.
If you want a great overview on their subscription model, take a look at this review posted by Matt Johnson on YouTube. Although this video is a couple years old, it is still very relevant today. Plus, Matt’s really entertaining too.
Who it’s for: Filmmakers, freelancers, agencies, and anyone who wants music + footage + templates in one subscription. If you’re still buying these separately, Artlist is where the consolidation makes sense.
Artlist is a sister company of Artgrid.io, and has fundamentally changed what you’re getting for your subscription. In 2022, they were a music and SFX library. In 2026, they’re a full creative production platform – and that matters more than it sounds.
You read that right. You can actually listen to their music before spending the money on a subscription. That’s really nice. It’s like the car salesman telling you to take the car home for the day and see how it feels. They know darn well you’ll end up buying it if that happens. It’s a pretty good strategy if you ask me.
Music (60,000+ tracks), sound effects (50,000+), stock footage (180,000+ clips, HD through 8K), video templates (20,000+), and AI tools for video generation, image generation, SFX, and voiceovers. If you’re a solo filmmaker or a small team trying to do more without subscribing to six different services, this is the math that makes sense.
Every track feels like it’s made by someone who cares. Less filler, faster discovery. They now offer stems on a much broader selection of tracks, which is a significant update from their earlier offering – if you’ve ever needed to isolate the vocal from the instrumental, you know why this matters.
Everything published during your subscription stays licensed forever. That’s the standard across the industry now, but Artlist executes it cleanly. Cancel, and anything you’ve already published with their music is covered. You just can’t use tracks in new projects without resubscribing.
Artlist’s AI video generation, image generation, and voiceover tools have matured considerably. They’re not replacing a composer, but for producers who need quick prototyping or internal drafts, they’re genuinely useful.
40 songs per day. For most workflows, that’s fine. For high-volume teams, it’s a friction point worth knowing about before you commit.
“Audiio is founded by former Universal Music Group artist Clay Jones and industry friends who share a vision of bringing the world’s best storytellers closer together. The team works directly with a network of publishers, labels, and independent musicians to ensure that relevant sync-worthy talent is recruited, and new music is added daily. To date, Audiio has licensed music in 80+ countries to projects ranging from nonprofit fundraisers to global television advertising campaigns.”
Audiio is our second choice for music licensing. Although they are one of the newest to hit the market, they are definitely a contender for top ranks. The founder has years of experience inside the industry and his team has an incredible ear for what’s good and what’s not.
It’s really cool when professionals in the industry rely on other professionals with their brand. Tribe Films was humbled when the founders of Audiio asked our team to create a commercial production for the launch of their platform. If you would like to see the commercial we produced using THEIR music, click the video below or you can view the Audiio Case Study Here.
For only hitting the market recently, I must say that Audiio has done an outstanding job of creating a robust library of over 5,000 songs and over 30,000 SFX that include work from major labels, indie artists and composers.
Now I get that this is much lower than most of the competition out there, but I’m looking at Audiio’s quality over quantity. I’d rather have 1,000 high-quality songs to license than 10,000 mediocre ones.
For those that like a little more conversation and discussion around a review, here’s a really good one from Eric at Travel9to5 on Youtube:
Their website interface is extremely simple to use and very intuitive. There is not a lot of guesswork when it comes to browsing their library. Their search function gives you options to filter songs based on mood, instruments, track length, vocals, energy level, genre, elements and more.
Audiio’s pricing is what sets them apart from their competition. It is very simple. They don’t offer monthly subscriptions, which I know will upset some of you. However, their annual packages end up being less expensive than most of their competitor’s monthly options so it works out in your favor.
Their standard annual subscription is $199 which provides each subscriber access to their 5,000+ library of songs and 30,000+ SFX and unlimited licensing. Crazy, right? But check this out…
For just $299 one-time fee, Audiio will give you a lifetime membership and perpetual licensing rights forever…what?! If that’s not early adopters, than I don’t know what is.
Epidemic Sound is one of the oldest and most robust platforms around. They have a massive following and one of the largest libraries (30,000 songs and 60,000+ SFX) around with very affordable monthly pricing. With all these positive features, you might wonder why they aren’t higher on the list.
Don’t get me wrong, Epidemic Sound is great; however, there are some features they have I feel need to be updated. First, let’s get into why we like them.
As stated above, their library is massive. They have more than 35,000 songs and over 90,000 SFX. That’s crazy, but then again, that’s what you get when you’ve been around for more than 12 years. We also like them because of the depth in their library genres.
They have a very robust eclectic library which is really good if you want to think outside the box or use something for your high energy videos other than dance music.
The other gigantic plus is that they allow you to break songs into stems. This is such a huge benefit for video production companies that want only a portion of a song included in their production. So, if a producer doesn’t like the vocal track, they can strip it out and just include the instrumental part. This is really a great perk!
Epidemic Sound was originally created exclusively for YouTube creators as a way of providing cheap licensed music for their creative needs. However, over the years, they have evolved to not just social media, but production companies and other agencies too.
Their model is a monthly subscription-based model for individual creators, freelancers and commercial/Enterprise usage. Their membership ranges from $15 per month to more than $500 per month for large scale licensed content for television or other productions on wide scale distribution channels.
The only real downside to Epidemic Sound is some of the quality of tracks in their library. You may have to weed through some of the legacy tracks that were added a while ago. There are still quite a few tracks that don’t really stand up to the quality of what is added today.
Marmoset Music rounds out our 5th choice of the top music licensing platforms around. They are not just a licensing platform, but an actual agency.
They are a perfect blend between price-sensitive platforms that cater to budget-conscious creatives looking for cheap corporate interview-style video music and professional film creatives looking for high-quality expensive tracks that will set their production apart from the rest.
Marmoset’s platform is unique in that they can not only help you find the music you need for your video production, but they can also collaborate with you by creating a music score for your film or other creative needs.
If you are going to offer that service, you better know what you’re doing. It appears that they do. They staff professional musicians and other personnel that have deep industry experience.
This really helps when needing to find a song because let’s face it, it can be a mind-numbing process searching through thousands of songs to find what you’re looking for.
At Marmoset, they make it really easy. Aside from the quality of songs in their library, their interface is one of the most intuitive to use. Their search menu actually lets you customize exactly what you’re looking for.
This is so incredibly helpful because you’re not just choosing a generic search category and having to sift through numerous songs. This interface really lets you customize what you’re looking for so you’re left with options that match exactly what you’re looking for.
Price is a big factor when it comes to Marmoset. Unfortunately, if you want quality, you’re going to pay for it. Marmoset is similar to Musicbed’s pricing structure – it gets pricey really quick. But keep in mind, they aren’t just catering to the freelance run-and-gunners of the video production world. They are serving agencies in the commercial and broadcast categories as well.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not all pricey. They do have some reasonable options too. For example, they have an affordably priced dedicated podcasting license members can subscribe for.
As you can see, this list is highly subjective. You might not like some of our selections and that’s ok. These are just some of our favorites based on our experience from quality, website usability and pricing.
We do a lot of video work and need a lot of variation in music because, let’s face it, who wants to listen to two great pieces of commercial work with the same soundtrack, right?
Each one of these platforms offer users different advantages from licensing content whether you’re an individual creator or an organization, these five music licensing platforms for video production have you covered.
