Whether your picture says “I’m In The Mood For Love” or "I Did It My Way," you might be able to accommodate its every wish, as the next generation of music library software offers more multitrack customization options.

SmartSound’s (www.smartsound.com) new Mood Mapping software, the latest iteration of its Sonicfire Pro software that manages the company’s libraries, offers users preset layers of instrumentation from its Strata library series on tracks whose relative level and dynamics can be changed to suit the situation. Up to eight different layers contain various instruments or, in the case of orchestral composition, the equivalent of stems ‘ strings, percussion, brass, etc. ‘ while relative levels can be changed using a GUI slider pot on the workstation screen.

FirstCom Music’s (www.firstcom.com) new QuickTrax uses the larger digital real estate of DVDs to render separate instrumental elements in the AIFF file format from their CD-based libraries into groups — stereo pairs that can be left-justified as waveforms on a screen to synch as editors use various combinations to create new arrangements.

Aircraft Production Music Library (www.aircraftmusiclibrary.com) has had a software program for several years, called Co-Pilot, that configures library tracks the same way the early Beatles records were recorded, with instruments panned hard left and right. Within the next six months the company will bring out tracks in 5.1 surround to accommodate the imminent shift to high-definition broadcasting and next-generation high-density discs.

The outlook for surround versions of music libraries is mixed. Nonstop Music (www.nonstopmusic.com) partner Randy Thornton says they have started recording and mixing in 5.1 but that there has been little demand for it as yet. Ken Nelson at FirstCom agrees, but the company has several volumes on DVD on the market now.

However, choice is the operative word for libraries now. The overarching trend is about customization, of the music and of the increasingly sophisticated search engines that help users sort through the thicket of sound in scores of libraries. Boolean search protocols will make music library databasing more and more like a Google experience.

SmartSound’s Maestro uses a series of pull-down menus to augment its keyword-based search. Richard Manfredi, the company’s communications director, says the trend throughout the industry seems pointed towards an Internet-based search protocol. “The point is to take as much as possible of the search process away from your workstation and do it from a dedicated interface,” he says.

Nonstop Music’s latest search methodology is called CUEgle.com. It’s also a keyword-based Internet-loaded search engine for NonStop’s 35,000-track music track base. Users can download an MP3 file of a selected track; an AIFF or WAV file of the same track can be obtained from a hard drive.

“It’s all about updating and integrating,” says NonStop partner Randy Thornton. “Internet-based searches and storage allow us to update the music on a 24/7 basis and clients can search using as many criteria as they want. More terms give you a narrower search; fewer terms broaden the search. And the search engine itself is constantly refining its ability to react to those terms.”

However, where Manfredi believe that optical discs of one sort or another will remain the storage currency of the music library universe ‘ his experience suggests to him that many editors are reluctant to connect their workstations directly to the Internet, fearing viruses could destroy data ‘ others see the whole kit and caboodle headed towards the virtual domain.

Ken Nelson, senior vice president and executive producer at FirstCom Music, who says management of music databases remains the first priority for library developers and users alike, believes the CD’s future in libraries is limited, and that DVDs are just bigger CDs. “Physical media isn’t where this is heading,” he says. “It’s migrating towards an Internet-based storage system from which users can browse and choose and buy and use. The software really controls the storefront. It’s like an iTunes model.”

NonStop’s Thornton agrees. “I think CDs are gone in five years,” he says. “It’s going to be all about the content, the search [engine] and the brand of the portal.”

In fact, Nelson continues, iTunes and other music industry business models might be good templates for the future of the music library business, and says something similar to that is in the offing for the next iteration of his company’s database management software. “When you launch the software, it will take you directly to the company’s website, not via a browser,” he explains.

Several consumer trends will likely have some implications for music libraries. Products like U-Mixit, which allows users to remix songs by recording artists, such as Aerosmith, that license tracks to be made into stems, are an extension of trends such as mash-ups ‘ disparate songs slammed together to form new ones. They seem to be forerunners of the trend in libraries to allow remixes of tracks. And consolidation, rampant throughout the content industry, especially among record labels, may be a useful avenue for large library companies that already act as distributors for smaller ones.

“Theoretically, I could see a company like Apple acting as an aggregator for libraries,” Manfredi speculates. “We’ve seen a lot of consolidation on the hardware and software sides of the business. Will we see in libraries? Can’t tell, but it’s possible.”

Yet another general entertainment trend is making itself felt in libraries. Full-length (compared to a needle-drop, anyway) original songs are increasingly showing up on youth-oriented series programs. FirstCom Music, like other libraries such as Killer Tracks, is under the BMG music aegis. Thus, FirstCom’s plans to launch an indie record label this year to provide an alternative source for library music is a natural evolution. The first product release, a four-disc set entitled The Chronicles of Hip-Hop, will provide library users a range of Rap stylings ranging from the early days of the Sugar Hill Gang to the hard-core sounds of the 1990’s.

“Source music is a big part of film and television sound now,” Nelson says. “The label is venue for getting real bands to produce real music, which adds authenticity.” Songs would be purchased for a flat fee, just as library tracks are now, although Nelson says artists could retain writer’s shares of publishing, which could add a layer of administration to the use of the songs. It’s a rich potential source for new tracks: Nelson visited this year’s South By Southwest music conference in Austin, scouting indie artists and labels for available master tracks.

Despite the increasing sophistication of library search engines, Wendie Colter, producer and senior music supervisor at Killer Tracks (www.killertracks.com), says the company routinely gets calls from harried video editors seeking just the right piece of music. Library specialists generally reply with a link to the company’s search engine (www.bmgmusicsearch.com) where they can download an MP3, AIFF or WAV file of the track. “That’s an indication that the entire industry is moving toward an online distribution and search model,” she says. “That’s what editors need for workflow on a tight deadline.”

Another workflow-oriented feature is found at Music Box’s (www.musicboxmx.com) new Internet-based system, Music Box Live. Signed-up clients can ferret out and preview tracks via a keyword-type search engine, and results will correlate to titles on CDs they already own or that can be downloaded in either MP3 or AIFF formats. But the hook for harried editors is that the website will let them create folders on line that will hold chosen tracks for each project, accessible by multiple editors simultaneously, for download at anytime. The feature presages what Music Box partner Dan Stein suggests will be the inexorable migration to an all-online music library environment someday. “We’d love to get out of the business of manufacturing discs,” he says. “It will improve the business model and bring a lot more workflow advantages to the users.”

Don’t throw out your disc holders yet, but expect to be doing more search and retrieval of music tracks on line in the future. Be prepared to have to connect your workstation or your server to the Internet, so bulk up on virus protection. And unless an entity like Apple decides to enter the market as a distributor with a universal GUI, figure on learning as many search protocols as you have libraries.