At Pressure Cooker Studios, we will bring your brave ideas to life, no matter what it takes.
The Pressure Music Catalogue was created from that mindset. Not as a traditional music library, but as a living extension of our original music practice. Every track in the catalogue was born from real briefs, written for real projects by real creatives. It was designed to support filmmakers, editors and producers who need high quality music under pressure.
In the sync licensing landscape that can often feel complex or opaque, our aim was simple: Make great music that is easy to license, easy to clear and easy to customise.
Over time, the catalogue has grown alongside our work. What began as a focused offering for commercial and narrative projects has now evolved in response to how our clients are using music and how the industry itself is shifting.
Our established bespoke music catalogue has now evolved to include premium genre-disrupting trailer music that cuts through the noise.
Trailer music is a different discipline entirely. It has a job to do in a very short space of time. It needs to build tension quickly, communicate tone instantly and leave a lasting emotional imprint. In many ways, it is the purest expression of musical storytelling under pressure.
Our trailer albums began as an internal creative experiment. A space to stretch, to explore and to ask what trailer music could sound like if we stopped chasing what already existed and leaned into who we are. Drawing from African rhythm, texture and instrumentation, but not always in the traditional way, these tracks sit comfortably in global cinematic spaces while still feeling rooted in something authentic and close to home.
As our CEO James Matthes has said, what started as trailer music has quietly become a trailer for our studio. A glimpse into how we think about sound, collaboration and emotional impact. These albums are deeply connected to what we often describe as our ‘future cinematic sound.’ Music that feels bold, contemporary and emotionally grounded, without trying to imitate anyone else.
Alongside this evolution, the foundations of the Pressure Music Catalogue remain firmly in place. Our long standing partnership with Bridges for Music continues to grow, with new albums in the pipeline from alumni artists who are being introduced to the world of sync and music for picture in a meaningful way. These collaborations speak to a broader commitment to nurturing talent and creating real pathways into the ecosystem of Music Licensing in South Africa.
More recently, we have expanded the catalogue through a new partnership with Africori. Together, we are opening up access to unreleased archive music and developing new brief driven production music from Africori’s acclaimed artist roster. As global demand for African genres continues to rise, this collaboration allows us to offer authentic, contemporary music that works powerfully in media contexts while staying true to the artists behind it.
Our catalogue is already out in the world doing what it was designed to do. From immersive experiences like The Elephants of Splendour, where music played a central role in shaping a 360 degree environment, to international commercial work for brands like KFC and Peugeot, these tracks are proving themselves as the next best thing to Original Music Composition when timelines or budgets demand agility.
At its core, the Pressure Music Catalogue exists to support creative momentum. It is a carefully curated body of work that reflects years of composing, experimenting and responding to briefs across industries. It offers a flexible, human approach to sync licensing, grounded in trust and collaboration rather than volume or trends. A catalogue that continues to evolve as we do, guided by curiosity, craft and the belief that music should always elevate the work it touches.
If you are exploring sync licensing, looking for distinctive trailer music, or simply want to hear what the future cinematic sound might feel like, the catalogue is open.