Media and Design department gains access to professional music library

With students now returning to class and professors gearing up for the school year, Algonquin has introduced something completely brand new – the ALIBI Music Library.

ALIBI will now act as the primary online music library for students enrolled in film and media production, television, radio, advertising, interactive media management and video game development at the college.

Students will have access to over 200,000 audio files, more than 11,000 original songs and 6,000 sound effects to incorporate into their course projects such as films, documentaries, advertisements and video games.

Dan Pihlainen, chair of Media Studies, recognizes the benefits the new music library will have for both the students and the college.

“ALIBI will help students prepare for what’s to come in the industry and give them a sense of familiarity of what it’s like to work with a professional licensed company,” said Pihlainen. “Partnering with this company will avoid the cost of purchasing rights and save the college and students money.”

Second-year advertising students will have an opportunity to work alongside the second-year radio broadcasting students to collectively write and produce a 30 second ad using ALIBI.

“This will give them another item to put in their portfolio,” said Renaud Timson, a part-time professor for the advertising program. “A wide and deep portfolio shows that a graduate understands as well as has mastered writing well for a variety of media.”

Jeremy Atherton, the program coordinator of the film and media production program, is excited to make the shift to an online music library.

“It will be the program’s first time using an online music library. ALIBI has good quality sound, it’s fresh,” said Atherton with enthusiasm.

The ALIBI Music Program is free for students to access via the website. Simply sign up and, according to the site, gain access to a “robust, versatile, and expertly curated catalog” that will elevate the students’ projects.

“Music isn’t used just to fill up space in a commercial,” said Timson. “It’s used to help bring the message, the story to life. It adds to the commercial’s presence, to its ‘hearability’ and memorability.”

According to Timson, the breadth and depth of the website are some of its major highlights. The search engine of the site is very diverse, students can search by genre, mood and the desired length of bed each piece requires.

“When you have a professional licensed music library in your project, it enhances the viewer experience,” said Atherton.