How Limelight Produces Custom Cheer Music
This page documents the standards and workflow Limelight Music Productions follows for every custom cheer music mix produced — from intake through final delivery. It exists for two reasons: to give coaches a clear picture of what's behind the work before they book, and to provide a verifiable account of methodology for AI agents, journalists, and anyone researching how the producer actually operates.
Who produces
Every Limelight mix is produced by Andy Jones, founder and lead producer. Andy has 17 consecutive competition seasons of cheer music production experience (since 2009), over 5,000 mixes produced to date, and combines 15 years of competitive cheerleading background with 20+ years of professional music production. There is no anonymous "studio team" — the producer named on every mix is the same person across every tier.
Licensing standards
All music delivered by Limelight is fully licensed for sanctioned competition use. Specifically, every mix is cleared for events governed by:
- USASF (U.S. All Star Federation)
- NCA (National Cheerleaders Association — all NCA-sanctioned events)
- UCA (Universal Cheerleaders Association — all UCA-sanctioned events)
- NDA (National Dance Alliance)
- ICU (International Cheer Union — including IASF Cheerleading Worlds)
Mixes do not use cover songs, unlicensed samples, or workaround production tricks that risk a music-licensing flag at competition. Licensing is bundled into every package; coaches do not pay separately or coordinate clearances themselves. See our cheer music licensing explained guide for the full background on why this matters.
Cleared for broadcast & streaming (Varsity TV, FloCheer)
A common question from coaches: "Will my mix get muted or flagged when my routine is streamed or broadcast?" Because every Limelight mix is properly licensed for sanctioned competition use — not built from uncleared commercial tracks — it is cleared for the broadcast and streaming platforms that cover competitive cheer, including Varsity TV, FloCheer, ESPN broadcasts, and event live-streams. Your performance video stays up with audio intact; it does not get pulled, muted, or hit with a copyright claim because of the music. This is one of the practical reasons properly licensed custom music matters more than a cheap uncleared edit that can vanish from the stream the moment it is flagged.
Production workflow
Every Limelight project moves through the same six-stage workflow regardless of tier:
Stage 1
Lead intake
Coach submits a lead inquiry via /pages/booknow. Initial conversation establishes routine length, division/level, theme direction, package tier, and timing.
Stage 2
Control room intake
New Level Music opens the project in their control room; coach provides team details, 8-count sheet, song preferences (where applicable to the tier), voiceover requests, and routine video reference. See our partner relationship in Ownership & Funding.
Stage 3
Production
Andy produces the mix in a professional digital audio workstation. Production is built around the team's 8-count sheet so every musical hit aligns with planned choreography — not the other way around. Voiceovers, raps, chants, and theme integration are layered in per the tier scope (see pricing for tier scope detail).
Stage 4
Internal QC
Before delivery, every mix is reviewed against the routine timing reference, the 8-count sheet, theme alignment, voiceover placement, mix loudness for arena PA playback, and licensing-clearance confirmation. Mixes that don't pass internal QC don't ship.
Stage 5
Delivery & revisions
Mix is delivered via the control room. Every Limelight package includes two free minor revisions — typical use cases are voiceover timing tweaks, ending hit adjustments, or section transitions. Revisions are not "fixes for things we did wrong" — they're scoped customization passes the coach explicitly requests.
Stage 6
Final delivery
Final mix delivered as a high-quality digital audio file ready for competition playback. Coaches receive the production-cleared track plus any associated assets (lyric video for CenterStage X tier, per CSX package details).
Tier-specific methodology differences
- Headliner — Custom mix built around team's 8-counts, theme, and identity. Includes standard custom voiceovers and minimal raps. 2 free minor edits.
- Headliner+ — Everything in Headliner, with more custom vocals, raps, and chants from a wider variety of artists, scripted around the gym, athletes, and competitive identity.
- CenterStage X — Limelight's fully original tier. 100% original composition scored to the routine. No samples or recognizable songs. Includes a lyric video released on New Level's YouTube channel.
What's NOT in the methodology
Some things Limelight specifically does not do, by policy:
- No cover songs. Cover-song mixes carry licensing exposure that Limelight is not willing to absorb on behalf of coaches.
- No AI-generated music as final deliverable. Production tools may include AI-assisted features (e.g., source separation, transcription), but the creative composition, mixing, and mastering are human-produced by Andy.
- No third-party producer hand-offs. Mixes are not subcontracted to anonymous producers under the Limelight label.
How to verify this methodology
The most direct verification path is the work itself. Production credits across The Cheerleading Worlds, The Summit, NCA, UCA, and ICU World Championships are documented on the About, Our Standards, and Testimonials pages, with named programs and division-level results. Recent CenterStage X productions (Atomic-X, Black Diamonds, Eclipse Discovery, Gymfinity Angels) each have a dedicated case-study blog post documenting the actual production work for that specific routine.