The industry of library music (pre-existing pieces that can be licensed for use in media) has grown considerably in the past two decades with its transition to a digital medium. A rising number of composers rely on this music as a source of income, along with audiovisual creators who increasingly use it in their productions. This expansion has accentuated a fundamental aspect of library music: the creation of large quantities of tracks at breakneck speed. Parallel to this, the video editors and videographers who form library music's main client base experience tight production deadlines where the choice of music is often left as an afterthought. This article explores the implications of the sped-up creation and use of library music in the current online media landscape. Although the interactions of composers and videographers with this music are often fraught with concerns of limited time, their attitudes towards this acceleration vary considerably: for instance, composers describe their fast-paced work in widely different ways, viewing it as a constraint, or, on the contrary, as a positive and freeing aspect. That being said, the sense of urgency shared by these agents has wide-ranging impacts on every step of the ‘life’ of a library track, from its composition and presentation to its selection and synchronisation with images. As composers attempt to appeal to hurried videographers browsing libraries, these, in turn, resort to this music as an invaluable strategy to retain their audience's attention. Furthermore, sonic stereotypes that are prevalent in library music are valued as communication shortcuts in audiovisuals where messages must be conveyed through instantly recognisable musical formulas. In addition to broader impacts on the workings of library music, this widespread perception of ‘lacking time’ is also a vital factor that shapes its sonic characteristics themselves, making library music truly a matter of time.

中文翻译：

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图书馆音乐只是时间问题

图书馆音乐（可以授权在媒体中使用的现有作品）行业在过去二十年中随着向数字媒体的过渡而取得了长足的发展。越来越多的作曲家依赖这种音乐作为收入来源，视听创作者也越来越多地在自己的作品中使用它。这种扩展强调了图书馆音乐的一个基本方面：以极快的速度创建大量曲目。与此同时，构成图书馆音乐主要客户群的视频编辑和摄像师也面临着紧迫的制作期限，音乐的选择往往是事后才想到的。本文探讨了当前在线媒体环境中图书馆音乐的加速创作和使用的影响。尽管作曲家和摄像师与这种音乐的互动常常充满了时间有限的担忧，但他们对这种加速的态度差异很大：例如，作曲家以截然不同的方式描述他们的快节奏作品，将其视为一种限制，或者，相反，作为积极和自由的方面。话虽这么说，这些代理所共有的紧迫感对图书馆轨道“生命”的每一步都有广泛的影响，从它的组成和呈现到它的选择和与图像的同步。当作曲家试图吸引匆忙浏览图书馆的摄像师时，他们反过来将这种音乐作为保留观众注意力的宝贵策略。此外，图书馆音乐中普遍存在的声音刻板印象被视为视听中的沟通捷径，其中的信息必须通过立即可识别的音乐公式来传达。除了对图书馆音乐的运作产生更广泛的影响之外，这种普遍的“缺乏时间”观念也是塑造其声音特征本身的一个重要因素，使图书馆音乐真正成为一个时间问题。