APM Music Office Hours Recap: Platform Tools for Faster Music Search and Collaboration

In this Office Hours session, Keiko from APM Music walked through several platform features designed to help music directors, editors, and creative teams search faster, collaborate more clearly, and move from music discovery to usable cues with fewer steps.

The session focused on practical workflow improvements, including Collaborative Projects, AI-powered Prompt Search, advanced filters, Sonic Similarity, stems, waveform visibility, and the Adobe Premiere Pro plugin.

---

Watch the full session

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl2PaABY1bY

Collaborative Projects

APM’s Collaborative Projects feature allows users to create shared projects and assign different permission levels to team members.

Available roles include:

• Admin: Full project functionality

• Contributor: Ability to add and participate

• Read-only: View access without editing control

  
  

This feature helps teams keep music selections, comments, and feedback in one shared workspace. Users can also leave comments on specific tracks, including time-based notes such as liking a section around the 30-second mark.

For teams that review music across producers, editors, music supervisors, or clients, this reduces scattered feedback and keeps creative direction attached to the actual track.

AI-Powered Prompt Search

Keiko demonstrated APM’s AI-powered Prompt Search, which allows users to search with natural language instead of relying only on formal music terms.

For example, users can type a phrase like:

“Cheesy music for a 1960s grocery store.”

The tool interprets the creative intent behind the prompt and returns relevant results. This is especially useful when users know the scene, tone, or reference point but do not know the exact genre, mood, or instrumentation terms to search.

Prompt Search can also help find music that changes over time, such as tracks that shift from one mood to another. Users can refine results by adding more detail to the original search, such as style, energy, era, or instrumentation.

Filters and Search Refinement

The session emphasized the importance of using the left-hand filter sidebar to narrow results after a broader search.

Useful filters include:

• Mood

• Category

• Recording date

• Duration

• Vocals or instrumental

• Archival or vintage

• 30-second cuts

• Custom duration

The custom duration tool is especially useful for editors working against exact timing needs. For example, users can search for a cue close to 17 seconds rather than manually auditioning longer tracks.

Keiko also highlighted Quick Filters at the top of the search interface for frequently used criteria, such as vocals, lyrics, vintage tracks, archival material, and common cutdowns.

Finding Tracks with Pauses, Stops, and Starts

For users looking for tracks with clear breaks, starts, stops, or edit points, Keiko recommended using the word “pauses” in Prompt Search.

This can help surface music with more visible structural movement, which is useful for sports, promos, comedy, transitions, and scenes that need specific musical hits.

Users were also encouraged to enable waveforms through the customize menu. Waveforms make it easier to visually identify edit points, breaks, builds, and usable sections within a track.

Stems and Custom Mixes

Keiko also covered the value of stems for editing and customization.

When stems are available, users can create more flexible mixes by removing or adjusting individual elements. This can help when a track works overall but one element gets in the way of dialogue, pacing, or scene tone.

If a track does not show stems, users can contact support@apmmusic.com. APM may be able to retrieve stems from the back catalog or use demixing tools to help create more flexible assets.

Advanced Search Tips

The session included several practical search tips for users looking for specific tracks, albums, or regional styles.

For known tracks, the fastest option is to search using the full Track ID.

When searching by title or album, users should:

• Set sorting to Relevance

• Use the Search Text In filter

• Limit results to Track Title or Album Title

For regional influence searches, Keiko recommended using tag suggestions. This helps users find tracks with specific world instruments or regional flavor without necessarily searching for fully traditional world music.

For example, a user looking for something “Middle Eastern influenced” may get better results by using related tags, instruments, or stylistic descriptors.

Sonic Similarity

APM’s Sonic Similarity tool allows users to find tracks that sound similar to a reference song.

Users can:

• Upload an MP3 or WAV file

• Paste a Spotify link

• Paste a YouTube link

• Paste a Vimeo link

The tool can return similar tracks from the APM catalog. Keiko also demonstrated options such as Ignore Vocals and selecting only a specific segment of the reference track.

This is useful when only part of a reference song matches the desired tone, energy, or structure.

Adobe Premiere Pro Plugin

The session also covered APM’s Adobe Premiere Pro plugin.

The plugin allows users to search, audition, download tracks, and access stems directly from the editing environment. This helps editors stay inside the timeline instead of moving back and forth between Premiere, browser tabs, downloads, and project folders.

For editors managing tight deadlines, this integration can reduce friction and keep music decisions closer to the actual cut.

Session Q&A

Q: At what point does the user find out the price for the license?A: Pricing depends on the type of use and clearance needed. For example, using a track in an unpaid social post is very different from using that same track in a major film. Users can ask their APM contact or email support@apmmusic.com to get connected with the right team.

Q: Is there a tool that helps fit music to video or edit length?A: Yes. APM has a Google Chrome plugin with MatchTune. Once installed, users will see a small double-arrow icon in the bottom right of the APM player. For users editing in Adobe Premiere, the Remix tool can also help retime music in a similar way.

Q: If a popular song is off limits because of copyright, can Sonic Similarity help find something similar?A: Yes. Users can use the Audio Similarity tool by finding the popular song on Spotify, copying the Spotify URL, and pasting it into the APM search bar. The platform can return up to 100 similar tracks from the APM library.

Q: Does Audio Similarity work with Amazon Music or Apple Music links?A: Based on the session answer, Spotify links are the recommended path for this workflow.

Q: Was APM Music used on shows like Ren & Stimpy?A: Yes. The team confirmed that APM music has been used in shows including Ren & Stimpy, SpongeBob, and other Nickelodeon programming.

Q: How is APM using AI in ways that help end users?A: APM uses AI as a discovery and workflow enhancement tool, not to create AI-generated catalog tracks. Current uses include Prompt Search, Audio Similarity Search, stem extraction, and tools that help edit tracks to specific lengths.

Q: Are sound design and SFX available through APM?A: Sound design is available with an APM account through the Toolbox area. SFX may be an add-on, so users should contact their APM rep if they want to add it.

Q: Can users create folders for themes, characters, or different parts of a project?A: Yes. Users can go to My APM and then Projects to create folders and stay organized. Tracks and SFX can be added by dragging them into a folder or using the plus icon next to a track.

Q: What happens when tracks are removed or sunset from the platform?A: It can happen, though it is not described as common. APM keeps a running log of removed tracks in its support resources. If a user relies on a specific track regularly, they should talk with their account executive or contact APM Support.

Q: Will Sonic Similarity work with an audio track that includes dialogue and music mixed together?A: It may work, but heavy voiceover or dialogue can create odd results. A cleaner workaround is to identify the song first — for example with Shazam or a music ID plugin — then paste the Spotify track link into APM’s search.