Rumblefish
| If you are a composer and/or songwriter, please leave your comments and experiences with this company. We want to hear the good as well as the bad! Please rate, from 1 to 10, by clicking on one of the stars. Below is some general information but we make no guarantee of accuracy. Check with the company for all details. Please contact us for any corrections. | ||
| URL: | http://www.rumblefish.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Accepting Submissions: | Yes | |
| Submit Via Uploads: | No | |
| Submit Via Mail: | Yes | |
| Submissions Reviewed: | Yes | |
| Types Accepted: |
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| Charge For Submissions: | No | |
| Up Front Money: | No | |
| Royalty Free: (non-broadcast use) |
No | |
| Exclusivity: (Exclusive, Non, Semi) (Semi = Free to place on own but not with another library) |
Non-Exclusive | |
| Re-Title: | No | |
| Set Own Price: | No | |
| Contract Length: | 1 Year | |
| Payment Schedule: | Quarterly | |
| License Fee Split: (writer/library) |
50/50 | |
| PRO Split Based on 100%: (writer/library writer/library/publisher or writer) |
100/0 | |
| Requires Licensee To File Cue Sheet: | Yes | |
| Notes: | ||
Categories: Music Libraries Q to R | 
Tags: composer, rumblefish, songwriter | 
55 Comments »
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Man – I submitted a CD to these guys like 2 months ago, and still haven’t heard anything… They said they have it. Does it always take this long? I like the 50/50 split and no backend idea, though.
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rumblefish have very high standards. If theyve recieved it, great. You should find out soon enough if they accept the music, and THEN youre cooking.
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Sent them a disc and got a personal email (quickly) saying that my stuff was great but they were passing just the same.Moved on to other libraries and haven’t submitted to them again, but probably will in the winter.
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Site FAQS say they don’t accept Production Music….
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Submission Requirements
For the time being, we can only accept music that comes to us on a physical CD, and is of commercial release quality. Because of the large amount of music that comes through the door, we require that you follow a few basic guidelines:
•Full length EPs or LPs, no singles
•No production music
•No data discs
•No DVDs
•AIFF or WAV audio format only
•Track listing must be provided (if sending CDR, please make sure track listing is included on CD and in jewel case or sleeve)
•Submission one sheet must be competed and sent with music
Some of this doesn’t make sense… how can you send them an AUDIO CD in ‘AIFF or WAV format only’?
How is it possible to send AIFF or WAV files unless they are on a data disc?
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Frank, November 9th, 2009 at 5:21 pm Reply:
An audio CD can be burned using either wav or aiff files.
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Dean, November 9th, 2009 at 11:34 pm Reply:
CDR = data disc. Person who wrote this didn’t know what they were talking about.
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Dean, November 9th, 2009 at 11:38 pm Reply:
Actually I’m wrong too LOL…I thought it said CD-ROM. I wish there was an edit option here!
Frank is right, but once it’s an audio CD, there’s no distinction between WAV or AIFF, right?!
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Frank, November 10th, 2009 at 12:32 am Reply:
Quality wise, no. But if you insert the audio CD into your computer you will see the files as either aiff or wav.
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Art, November 10th, 2009 at 12:48 am Reply:
Hi Frank,
If you insert an audio CD in your computer you will see .cda files. You only see .wav or .aiff if it’s a data cd,
unless there’s something I’m not understanding.
Art
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Art, November 10th, 2009 at 12:44 am Reply:
Hi Dean, there is an edit option but it was only staying active for 5 minutes after a comment. I just upped it to 60 minutes. That should make it convenient.
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Hi Art,
I tried inserting 2 CDs that I burned in Jam and the tunes show up as aiff files, even t hough one CD was burned using aiff and one with wav files. Maybe that’s a function of Jam? Not really sure. I’m not familiar with.cda files.
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Art, November 10th, 2009 at 5:49 am Reply:
A commercial audio CD uses the file extension .cda. Stick one in your computer and you will see. If your CD is showing .wav or .aiff as the file extension it’s a data CD and the application is treating it as such. Try and play that CD in a regular CD player and it most likely will not work, unless the CD player is designed to recognize a data CD. There were some CD players that could play MP3s but that format was not the same as a “standard” audio CD.
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Frank, November 10th, 2009 at 2:01 pm Reply:
Hmmm…I inserted several commercial CDs into my Mac and they all showed up as Aiff files. Hitting the Get Info command confirmed that. I don’t see cda files anywhere.
Same with audio CDs I burned. They play fine in a CD player and show up in the computer as Aiff files. Could it possibly be that Mac reads the CDs differently than PCs? A mystery for sure.
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Art, November 10th, 2009 at 4:09 pm Reply:
Hmmm, got me on that one. It must be how the Mac reads them. On Windows they show up as .cda. Just shows you that you learn something new every day!
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Charlie Mac, December 29th, 2009 at 11:47 am Reply:
Essentially you guys are both right, A CD Audio Track or .cda file is generated by Microsoft Windows for each track on an audio CD. The files are given names depending on the track number, and ends with the file extension .cda.
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) was co-developed by Apple Computer in 1988 and is most commonly used on Apple Macintosh (Mac) computer systems.
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Yes, the confusion of computers and differing operating systems and file formats. I know PCs don’t read aiff files and Macs do, so I guess that’s the issue. But little does it matter. Let’s get back to music! Thanks, Art.
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Yadgyu, November 14th, 2009 at 5:01 am Reply:
PCs can use aiff files.
I have an old program that can convert between wav, mp3, and aiff files.
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It’s been about 2 months, still waiting to hear back from them.
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I sent rumblefish 25 tracks last year, and all 25 tracks were accepted into their catalog, and I have already received 3 royalty checks from rumblefish, I really like this company. Thanks to the deal they did with youtube, all 25 of my tracks are currently available on youtube via-audioswap, and every check I’ve received has gotten larger, which obviously makes me very happy. The representatives from the company make me feel like they actually care about my career, extremely professional, and genuinely helpful. I just sent them another 45 tracks, about a week ago, so I’ll share the results once I get them. Good luck with your placements everybody.
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I’m a little unclear on what they mean by “no production music”.
Does this mean we can’t send them instrumental stuff, like you would use in a video production?
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guscave, February 25th, 2010 at 9:59 am Reply:
They’re very picky. I sent them a CD about a year 1/2 ago. Didn’t hear back til about 3 or 4 months. Everything was rejected. Might try to send some newer tracks soon.
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I’ve looked at there site.Mostly indie type stuff.If your tracks are off the beaten path then you might be considered.
No production music means dont send us tracks that are meant to go under video production
or that sound too watered down.Thats how I understand it.
Most music on tv is production music,some 80 %.
I did not care for most of the music I listened too but then again…….
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Just got 5 tracks accepted. Seem to be on the ball. I will see what happens
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The “no production music” thing doesn’t make sense to me because a lot of people use Rumblefish exactly for that purpose (TV and Film productions), and I’ve heard a lot of music that people have gotten from Rumblefish that sounds exactly like the kind that is meant to go under those productions.
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Boom, February 25th, 2010 at 12:52 pm Reply:
@AJ – Yeah it’s a ridiculous thing to say.
Totally meaningless. – Almost snobbish. (and the joke is – that they are a library – so are being snobbish about what they themselves do)
They’d be better off saying – “no crap”
Coz thaz wut they mean.
I write for some of the top UK Libraries .. real high end – and when we write to a genre – or write music to reflect a scene – it IS that music.
So whether it’s guitar driven, indie, electro, glitch, wonk. breakbeat, genre mash, ethnic, film score … whhhhaaaattttvvaaaahhhhhh – it IS what it IS.
It’s not some watered down, crap, cheapo sounding version of. It’s the real deal.
But it is offered under a specific pre-cleared – price set – (usually by MCPS) for SYNC USAGE.
It is production music.
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darkstar, February 26th, 2010 at 1:33 am Reply:
“I write for some of the top UK Libraries .. real high end – and when we write to a genre – or write music to reflect a scene – it IS that music.”
Yup.
Couldn’t agree more.
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Just went to there site to listen to some more stuff.I decided to call and the lady I spoke to said that production music is subjective.In other words if they like it you may be added.
I heard lots of elementary out of tune guitar playing on some of the rock stuff.
I guess I notice a difference.
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“I write for some of the top UK Libraries .. real high end – and when we write to a genre – or write music to reflect a scene – it IS that music.”-darkstar
“”High-end” – the most over used word on this site. Most the music libraries are high-end today. They expect the cream-of-the-crop at downtown prices.
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Boom, February 26th, 2010 at 5:57 am Reply:
High end – is the best performing libraries – not all libraries are the best performing libraries – obviously.
Library in itself is not – high-end, admittedly – it is the cheaper option, for clients.
I meant in relation to Library – not the over all music + licensing industry.
If your royalty statements from a library are about $200 – $600 per yer – per track – they are high end. If your royalty statements are 100quid for 50 tracks, they are not.
- and it depends what you mean for downtown prices – as I’ve pointed out before – I expect 4 figures upfront – when I sign an album over (exclusively) .. (and then usual 50/50 splits) sure that’s not commercial industry level – it’s realistic – but reasonable.
There most certainly is a high end – although I will agree that the general standard even of the lower performing libraries – is better today (because of enabling technology) than the standard was of the top libraries, say 20 years ago.
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TAOX, February 27th, 2010 at 1:55 pm Reply:
One other discrepancy on the Rumblefish site: The site says 50/50% on net license fees, but the form says gross (kind of an important distinction, I’d say;)
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Anonymous, February 26th, 2010 at 3:43 pm Reply:
What does “high end” mean ? I’m with some non exclusives that only want “high end”
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Yadgyu, February 27th, 2010 at 1:07 pm Reply:
‘High end’ is code for “you are not famous enough”. I can guarantee that any musician who is known does not even attempt to make ‘high end’ music for every production. They can just recyle things they have done before and manage to make some decent money. It is all about getting connected.
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I might try to put something on Rumblefish soon.
On a side note, I’m finishing up a musical score for the intro animation of a DVD series.
This will be the first time I’ve been hired to produce music for pay (not counting that guy in college who made that short film and was going to pay me $60 but then decided to use stock music).
He says he wants the exclusive rights to the music, since it is synced up to his video and is distinctive of the DVD product. I understand this means I can’t sell it to a stock music library or use it in another video production, but what CAN I do with it?
Any other advice on the process of dealing with a client, handling the necessary paperwork, or other key pieces of advice would be much appreciated.
I’m probably going to be finalizing this tonight…
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TAOX, February 28th, 2010 at 3:22 pm Reply:
So, is this supposed to be an exclusive license, or a work for hire?
Depends on what the negotiation is and what he means by exclusive rights (which rights? copyright? publishing? Is the pay healthy enough to merit giving it away?, Is it that spectacular that you care that much?, Are you just trying to bust in the game and start getting some sync work? You don’t want to be a chump or a door mat, but you might be able to afford to not be overly concerned with what you get from this(except in regard that you always want to use sound business practices, and not undercut the field or yourself too much. Weigh each client for more than just the immediate dollar…think longer term.
Generally if they wants all exclusive rights…that is what it means(broadcast and everything). You can’t do anything (not even demo it unless you write it into the agreement) Negotiate for demonstration rights, so you can at least post it (in conjunction with their video) as a demo in your site etc.
Regardless you will want to draw up a license agreement (defining the terms of usage i.e. broadcast, national,local, non-broadcast? If DVD only (How many units (More units higher price…more territory…higher rate, Full and total license…highest rate. But again if this is a work for hire…In that case it’s just an invoice defining the track, as a work for hire, and the amount due. Then you’ve sold it and its not yours to claim in any way, (unless you negotiate for demo rights as mentioned).
Hope that helps,
TAOX
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TAOX, February 28th, 2010 at 3:30 pm Reply:
Couple more notes: Did you already copyright it? That might alter some of your specific language or terms. There are many license agreement template example forms online. I’m sure you can find to give you some kind of guideline to create your own.
And finally, I always like to include in my invoicing the term: “License, (or transfer of specified rights) becomes active upon payment in full.
Best, T
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AJ, February 28th, 2010 at 3:54 pm Reply:
Well I haven’t registered the copyrights because I’m in the process of creating it. It’s mostly done but I’m putting some finishing touches on it.
The pay is really not very good ($200 and a free copy of the DVD set), but I really need money right now, I’ve never done this for pay before (I’d like to do it more often) and at least I’d get exposure, and the guy insists he’s over budget and can’t afford more than $200. So I could tell him no that’s not enough, but all that would probably accomplish is to deny me the $200 I would have gotten. He really likes what he’s heard so far, and says he had other composers send him their version and he didn’t like them as much as mine, but I’m not so sure it would come across so well to demand a higher price after the project is done. He said something like “I’m not asking for the publishing rights, and it’s ok if you want to use it for your portfolio”, but he wants exclusive rights to it because it’s the title music for his series. I’m a little worried that if I give him exclusive rights to it and then I make a piece of music that kind of sounds like it I’m going to get in trouble, and I don’t think $200 is quite enough to give away my rights to make any songs that sound kind of like that one…
By the way, is anyone willing to chat about this via AIM, Yahoo messenger, or Facebook by any chance?
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TAOX, February 28th, 2010 at 4:01 pm Reply:
Got ideas.I’m at my machine now and have a few minutes I can spare. Hit me on facebook
(TAO X Productions)
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AJ, February 28th, 2010 at 4:15 pm Reply:
I’ve added your Facebook page to my favorites, and I posted something on your page’s wall, but there doesn’t seem to be an option to chat with you via Facebook’s instant messenger…
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TAOX, February 28th, 2010 at 4:20 pm Reply:
Just sent you a friend request…accept it and we are in like flynn with chat.
T
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I’m glade to see Rumble Fish still looking great after all these years. I read an article on this company way back in I think 2000 when they first started out. I love to see music companies staying in business in this sluggish industry. It’s companies like this that’s making the impact in today’s market place.
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I submiited 4 cds of material.Have not heard back but it has only been a week.
I submitted stuff to another site and they said they would get back to me in 60 days.
3 days later I was accepted.Now comes the follow up.
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I have several tracks with Rumblefish. They do take a while to respond. I did receive one tiny royalty check from them in January for some Youtube licenses.
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AJ, March 30th, 2010 at 8:13 pm Reply:
Do you mean tiny as in 35 cents or tiny as in $35?
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Mort, May 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am Reply:
I’m not Mark, but after a year or so I started to see a little income.
My first check was for $50, the next was for $250. Searching youtube to see what my tracks were used for was really entertaining…
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blastbeet, May 24th, 2010 at 3:42 pm Reply:
How did you search youtube and find the videos that your music was used on?
blastbeet
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Mort, May 27th, 2010 at 5:16 am Reply:
Google video search for:
“my name” “track title”
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blastbeet, May 28th, 2010 at 9:09 am Reply:
Hey thanks for the info. I have asked to have my tracks taken out of the audioswap program that rumblefish offers. The numbers just don’t add up, plays versus money. Lets see what else they can do.
Blastbeet
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I have submiited a lot of material.Waiting to hear back but their submissions dept must be swamped.No prob though!
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All my cds were turned down.No loss here,after listening to tracks at their site most of what I heard I did not like anyway.Time to move on.
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Hey, just wondered if someone could clarify this. In the submission requirements, they say “No Data Discs” but they also ask for WAV or AIFF files only.
Do they want a CDR of Wav/AIFF files or a CD-Audio disc (CD Player compatible)
So confused…
Thanks
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Matt, May 27th, 2010 at 12:35 am Reply:
Lots of discussion above about this already, I think we’re all a little confused by them!
Just burn a regular audio CD, one that plays in a normal CD player.
The other funny thing that I noticed on their submissions page, is that they’re being all environmentally conscious and insisting you don’t use bubble wrap based packing materials, because they be can’t recycled. Here’s a hint: if you’re so concerned about the environment, why not just do online submissions? You’d save the manufacturing and delivery of CDs, jewel cases, paper, ink, electricity to power a computer to burn the CD, gas to the post office, gas to deliver the package!
Kind of off topic, but I found it amusing…
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Almost a year from submission to complete rejection – glad I waited!
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