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MLR Music Library

One of our readers (Entropik) made a suggestion about MLR composers joining forces and starting our own music library. It’s ironic but right after I started MLR Robin and I thought the same thing. Our original idea was a sort of composers co-op, we just never followed through. Maybe this idea now has some legs. Of course the devil is in the details but worthy of a discussion.

31 thoughts on “MLR Music Library”

  3. Thank You Art, but, I know that info. I was hoping to find someone who may have worked with them in some capacity. As they are offering me an In-House Composer Position, so, I was just digging around to see what may arise from the ashes.
    Cheers & Happy Holiday & New Year; J.

  5. Has anyone asked music supervisors as to their preferences? If one could survey music supervisors as to what they want – e.g. more of this, less of that – then we might be able to come up with a superior business model that is more streamlined to their needs and thereby compete with what is already out there.

  6. Last night before turning in I noticed this thread about starting a composer site so composers could band together and market their own music. As one composer stated here, he previously had a music licensing business but with so much competition sprouting up (like weeds), he pulled out.

    In this regard, here at AudioSparx we recently tried to do an all-encompassing FAQ article about exactly what our music licensing site does to earn its keep and share of licensing fees for the great music our composers bring us. Without excellent marketing strategies you can be DOA. Without a full spectrum of genres and styles, clients won’t return if they didn’t see exactly what they need.

    And not to forget, it’s a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week job.

    So, here is the article about what we do at AudioSparx to run our website, and the second link is to our FAQ with many articles about the music business. If you are brave and sturdy, go ahead and take the leap. The music business has both joys and heartaches, but we are very excited to see whatever each new day may bring…

    http://www.audiosparx.com/sa/faq_article.cfm/kbarticle_iid.2034

    http://www.audiosparx.com/sa/faq.cfm

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on the MLR,
    Barbie
    Artist Liaison

    • Hi Barbie!
      First, I want to thank you and your team because I had my first audiosparx placement this past week. So a big THANKS!

      I’m glad you chimed in about all the libraries sprouting up like weeds. That’s not to say that some of these new businesses won’t succeed. All businesses were new at one time. But I do think there is a tendency to think all you have to do is slap up a website, sign composers to re-title contracts, mail out some discs and CDs and voila! you are in the money. As in your FAQ, running a library successfully is a mega full time job and extremely hard work. I only barely scratched the surface but it was a great education.

      I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

      😉

  7. I think many have found that the marketing and sales side is quite a full time job and doing both composing and that isn’t practical. That’s not to say one can’t choose the business end.

    One of the big downsides to starting a music library is there are so many hundreds of libraries currently bombarding the end users of music that it’s very hard to make a dent. The competition is tremendous. And this is a tough time with the future of the whole re-title thing in question.

    I did run a small library years ago when non-exclusive re-titling was a much newer concept and there weren’t so many other libraries. I gave it up when it became obvious that to do it well required way more hours than I was willing to invest for no real return for years. And everybody and his brother starting a non-exclusive re-title library, sealed the deal for me. (I was successful in making a few placements, BTW).

    To give you a taste of what it’s like (one aspect anyway), pay close attention to what composers talk about on this site. I had an attorney draw up the most composer friendly contract in the world– totally non-exclusive, opt out anytime, 50/50 on master/sync, 75/25 (composer’s favor) on publishing. BUT getting composers to sign it was like pulling teeth. Everyone was afraid to sign anything. Pitching songs with no contract is a bad idea. It’s not what “pre-cleared” music is supposed to be. Imagine if you tried to start an EXCLUSIVE library? Who would sign such a contract with a total new kid on the block?

    I would never discourage anyone with a good business idea from persuing it. But I do think it’s easy to fall back on “if I did the sales myself, I’d get placements” as opposed to just focusing on making better music. There are many great music libraries out there with excellent systems in place for pitching, contacts, etc. It could be better to focus on getting the music to the point where those libraries sign the tracks than approach it all as a marketing problem.

    If someone did enter this game, I would say it would require a something very unique to differentiate you from the hundreds of others… Another searchable music website, hard drive full of tracks, set of compilation CDs, etc probably won’t get noticed. What could you bring the MUSIC SUPERVISORS that would stand out and make THEIR lives easier?

    🙂

    • “What could you bring the MUSIC SUPERVISORS that would stand out and make THEIR lives easier?”

      That indeed is the sixty four thousand dollar question isn’t it ? If we had the answer, we’d all be running our own libraries, turning over lots and lots of profit 😉

      “I had an attorney draw up the most composer friendly contract in the world- totally non-exclusive, opt out anytime, 50/50 on master/sync, 75/25 (composer’s favor) on publishing. BUT getting composers to sign it was like pulling teeth”

      Well, if you ever decide to go with that again, count me in – sounds more than fine to me !

    • I agree with you that composers are very timid when it comes to signing deals. This is the reason that many composers suffer. Just from this website, I always see a composer complain about a company or a service, no matter how “friendly” it is. The constant complaints and fighting is really a detriment for those who need to learn about the business. Musicans are not as bold as they think they are.

      If one wants to be successful, one needs to learn how to be bold instead of trying to learn everything. Knowledge is great, but action is what saves the day. There are many intelligent people that fail to capitalize off of what they know. They either are afraid of using what they have or are afraid of finding the right people to work on their behalf. Braveness and courage are things that have to be brought out of a person. Everyone has some courage or tenacity. The trick is to learn how to use those gifts to extract the treasures out of this world.

      Furthermore, I believe that music companies with firm rules and stringent acceptance criteria always do better than companies that bend over backwards to please musicians. This is one reason why many companies do not accept unsolicited submissions. Those that do are constantly attacked at the slightest misunderstanding. I for one believe that a great deal of libraries will be out of business due to dealing with musicians that constantly complain or offer ‘improvements’. The businesses that do well are those who know what their strength(s) are and focus on building those into their DNA.

      We need to tell the truth! The music business is has very little to do with talent. We all know that the ‘best’ music is not always the music that sells the most copies. We need to really get an understanding of how commerce works. It is not evil and it is not complicated. Selling music has everything to do with communicating to other people. Those musicians who fail to communicate with others generally have a hard time making a living.

      I believe that anyone who is serious about learning the music business should work with people who are already successful. It would help for musicians to become more successful at conducting business. A musician doesn’t have to get a business degree in order to become a better business person. But they should definitely hang around other music executives and businesspeople to get an idead of what negotiations and strategies go on.

      Best of luck!!!

      • >>>>>> The music business is has very little to do with talent.

        I’d have to disagree here or at least as worded this strongly. Of course, business & personal skills and luck are big factors. But there is a still a level of talent required. With talent, I lump in acquired skills like better writing, better production and engineering, etc. Sometimes we (myself included) fall back on other things because it’s the easy way out. “If only the right person heard my music”… “If only I ran my own library”… “If only library X signed my tracks”…

        And luck? Yes, it helps… But luck is when opportunity presents itself AND you have the right goods.

        Don’t forget how competitive it is out there. With excellent home studios being so affordable, the amount of music out there is mind boggling. And, as I mentioned in another post, music sups are bombarded with music from hundreds of sources… just look at how many libraries are listed right here!

        🙂

        • Talent is nothing but a prerequisite. Everyone in the industry has talent. Talent is no big deal. It is all about business, not talent. It’s like a being a pitcher. Talent is like you can throw a fast ball at 90mph, but if you can’t control the ball, talent (90mph fastball) doesn’t mean anything. 

          Knowing the business is control, and without control you have nothing.

  8. I think that members from this site have more than enough high-quality music to be put to use. But the trick to making money in the music business, or any business, is to have capable salespeople or sales skills. Setting up a website and letting people log in and listen to songs is not enough these days. A group of people with great sales tactics, killer promotion skills, and assertive negotiation skills is what is needed if MLR decides to form a library.

    Ever since I started cold-calling music libraries, I have become better at communicating my intent. I believe that being able to talk to companies over the phone or in person is a valuable but under looked skill. I am thinking about taking some classes in marketing and promotion. This would probably help me to become a better salesperson, which would help me to pitch my songs with greater success.
    On another note, I have also attempted to contact TV
    networks and companies directly. I know that I would make more money getting companies to use my catalog of music directly from me. I would like to negotiate with networks based on the non-exclusive, blanket fee model. This would allow me to receive a small license and sync fee (about $250 for 200+ songs), but it would allow me to collect both the writer’s and publisher’s royalties. I have made a few contacts but no deals yet. One network, who I will decline to name, stated that they are not allowed to play ASCAP songs. I found that to be pretty entertaining. I am sure this network has a dispute over broadcast fees.

    I think that most of you could secure your own direct placements with TV networks. If you have enough good music at reasonable prices, you could just promote your own material. I have found out that music libraries themselves are nothing but a group of publishing companies lumped under one parent company. For instance, Pump Audio has at least two publishing companies associated with it. Kobalt Music is the publishing arm that represents ASCAP affiliated writers and Noise Pump is the publishing arm that represents BMI affiliated writers. Warner Brothers has a ton of publishing companies under its belt.

    The business side is much more interesting than the creative side. I like to tinker around in the studio as much as the next guy. But the more I find out about different affiliations of publishers and such, the more I am intrigued. I probably spend about 40% of my time finding new libraries, new publishers, and contacting companies. The rest of my time I spend making songs. But I think that I will spend much more time doing research and making appropriate connections. I strongly encourage composers to spend less time blogging and making songs, and more time interacting with companies and learning how to market their own music.

    Best of luck!!!

  9. Nice idea – have discussed similar with other composers in the past, at length. However we invariably come to the conclusion that we’re composers, and not marketing specialists.

    You can upload music til your blue in the face, doesn’t mean it’ll get any usage or make you any money. And thats generally where we file it as nice idea, but…..

    • Interesting, I will think about this one further. First thoughts/Questions

      Non exclusive or Exclusive?

      Do you screen tracks or just let anyone from the site upload ?

      Pricing?

    • I don’t want to be a downer here, because the idea of a composer co-op style library is noble.

      But I want to chime in, based on my experiences with setting up a music library.

      I’ve so far spent over two years setting up an music library online – planning, finding composers and vetting their music, hiring a lawyer to draw up agreements, hiring and overseeing graphic designers / metadata writers / copy writers, organizing (and paying people to help organize) the music, finding and working with a web designer (who can do e-commerce properly), setting up bank / paypal / google checkout accounts, setting up the accounting so that every composer gets their share each quarter… the list goes on and on.
      It’s cost me roughly $20,000 so far, and that’s doing things on the ‘cheap’, i.e. hiring people over the net, doing a lot of the work myself, and slowly.

      Luckily I’m almost there, with the final touches being made to the site. In the process I’ve developed an enormous amount of respect for successful library owners, because I know just how much time and money it takes to even just launch a site!

      On top of the epic amount of work, and the significant investment, there are many unknowns that are out there waiting to one day bite you in the ass.

      For example, I started out with a business partner. We were going to take care of most of the music ourselves, and split all costs and profits 50/50. Everything was going well until they had to bail due to other commitments, leaving me in the lurch. What was supposed to be our niche music, specially produced for our library, was soon in a bunch of well known royalty free libraries, and also available as apple loops for composers to buy and add to their music. I had to replace all that music, and pretty much start over.

      Anyway, after a long winded response, my point is that when money is involved, things get complicated very quickly. People flake out, get greedy, egos get in the way etc etc. A co-op is a great idea, but in reality might be a little tricky.

      • Very well-said Dean. Putting together a successful (both for the client and the composer) music library is extremely difficult, expensive and of course very competitive.

        One thing I’m confused about here is the difference between what everyone is calling a ‘composer’s co-op’ and the 100’s of already existing libraries. All of the libraries I am familiar with started exactly the same way this idea has started, by musicians getting together to sell their music. That’s what we did when we started in 1996 and many of my music library owner friends did as well.
        Only now I no longer have time to compose music as the business end of running all of these websites has taken over my life (a point to consider for the composers that take this idea on).

        I think if anyone was to seriously go forward with this idea they need to at the very least
        1. define ‘composer co-op’
        2. define the difference between a composer co-op and already existing libraries.

        Otherwise the idea will end up being just another version of the hundreds of libraries you see in the navigation bar of this website.

        -Mark
        Partners In Rhyme

        • It’s pretty common for people to GROSSLY underestimate what it would take to run your own business of any kind. It looks so easy looking from the outside.

          Ask yourself, would you be willing to quit your day job, invest 25K, 50K, or 100K of your own money, take a 2nd mortgage on your house, etc. all while not expecting profit for years?

          I’m not on anyone’s case here, honestly. But I do think some of a lot of the motivation to discuss starting one’s own library comes from composers thinking that the reason their music isn’t getting placed is because of how libraries operate when they should be focusing on just making more marketable music. Clearly there are many very successful libraries out there who already have the infrastructure and contacts to place music. To me, it’s better to let them do what they do best and try to write better music.

          Best

          • Advice wrote: “Clearly there are many very successful libraries out there who already have the infrastructure and contacts to place music. To me, it’s better to let them do what they do best and try to write better music.”

            That’s worth repeating.

            • OK, Rob…

              Clearly there are many very successful libraries out there who already have the infrastructure and contacts to place music. To me, it’s better to let them do what they do best and try to write better music.

              🙂

            • Good points of view. I think that all the successful variations of music licensing have already been done. Bottom line is the music, with the best intentions about co-ops etc if you dont have that primary ingredient forget it. I think us composers see it as an easy alternative, what we forget is the amount of time the successful libraries have been up and running. This gives them a huge advantage in terms of client awareness and web traffic. Also if you do a quick listen to the top Royalty free sites listed here, the quality of the music is very high. Ask oneself the question? could I provide the same broad range of styles that they do,and more importantly how long did they take to get to that level.

              If you are composing a very different and unique style then there maybe a niche marketplace, but overall I wouldn’t put any money into it. I am far happier writing music than trying to sell/license it.

                • Just my opinion but I think a really good composer co-op site already exists. It’s called YouLicense.com. If I were to create what you guys are talking about it would resemble YouLicense, but they have already done a great job of it.
                  If I didn’t own my own distribution systems I would be using YouLicense, Audiosparx, Neosounds, Productiontrax, Shockwave-sound etc. etc. and just sit around creating music. In fact I am looking for someone to take over the technical side of my business so I can do just that, get back to playing music for a living instead of selling it. Right now I have to schedule one month out of the year just to get back to composing music.

                  My advice to composers is to just keep composing great music and uploading to sites that have good reputations, it works and it will make you money.
                  If you decide to create a small business and want to dabble in music licensing then you should sell your music studio and invest that money in your new business because you will never use your studio again.

                  -Mark
                  Partners In Rhyme

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