What's In a Name?

A Look At The History of CSS Music Libraries

Back in the old days--meaning the 1990’s through the early 2,000’s—CSS Music was servicing a clientele known as Corporate A/V. While these folks still exist today, their needs have changed and we’ve bobbed and weaved to meet those needs. You see, back then the corporate A/V person wanted a buy-out royalty-free library with specific criteria—meaning music of a particular genre--AND one that would work with their budgets.

Repro-File Potpourri is the oldest ancestor of CSS Music’s first library, Repro-file.  The music is primarily industrial in nature with a sprinkling of other styles here and there. It served the A/V community responsibly for years and some fine pieces of music can still be found in Repro-File Potpourri.  Now there’s Repro-file Plus offering volume specific genres, PLUS short mini-tunes that relate thematically in addition to the usual :60’s and :30’s.

Then along came PowerTrax ushering in not only the alternate mix, but it also provided multiple 60 and 30 versions of each track. Again, the music was written primarily for the A/V crowd looking for industrial music with more flair and muscle. The PowerTrax library is still alive and kicking although the music has grown into inclusion of the popular genres you guys use today. Also, the more contemporary PowerTrax volumes only deliver a 60/30 versus the original multiple mixes but adds a tag version.

Next came the “I need long cuts” problem with Max Trax. Billed as “Tracks 5:00 or longer,” this (now 52 disc) library was the perfect cure for those scenes that just went on and on. Be watching for some changes to this war horse soon.

Things really soared for CSS Music when David Wurst introduced the A/V world to Super Themes. Marketed as a premium library, David brought the first true film score music to the table. And now, all these years later, Super Themes boasts an amazing 79 (and growing!) discs of some truly outstanding music.

The final full service library introduced into the CSS Music family was Target Trax. This (now) 65-disc library was offered to the A/V community as a budget-friendly product.  Some really great material in this package—much better than the price would indicate.  Owner, Mike Fuller, believes in giving an extra measure whenever possible.  You can hear it.

We’ll cover the specialty libraries in the CSS Music stable in another post. In the meantime, we want you A/V guys to know that we thank you and are still here when you need us! J