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Newbie Questions

One of our readers, Ev, came up with the suggestion to have a section devoted to newbie questions regarding music libraries, music licensing, copyright, music publishing etc. There a lot of experienced people on this site and many are happy to share their wisdom. So, if you are a newbie (or not), and have a question, try leaving it here.

Of course many questions have already been answered here. First try searching in the search bar in the upper right hand corner. Also Google is your friend! I have found one of the best ways to search a site is use site specific criteria at Google’s web site. In other words, to search for a specific keyword, say “contracts”, type it in at Google like this “contracts site:musiclibraryreport.com”. Do not use the quotes.

If you still can’t find your answer then leave a comment here and someone will most likely come to your rescue!

1,260 thoughts on “Newbie Questions”

  1. FWIW, take it or leave it…

    If you’re talking about the top exclusives, mailing a CD won’t work as they go straight in the bin. This I know for a fact. Emailing is equally fruitless. Only way is to have a product and get a face to face meeting to discuss the product. But in order to get the meeting some track record is necessary in order to have some ‘cred’ – say a few documentary series’ on mainstream TV or film scores etc.

    Unfortuantely, the goal posts have moved somewhat and generally, these top libraries don’t need any more composers. Think about it, if you’ve got the best in every genre on your books why waste time listening to demos?? Now if you can offer something different, that’s a good way in. But sending in dance tunes or rock or trailers covered in SD2 is pointless.

    I don’t think people on here quite appreciate the gulf between the different tiers of music library.

    • I’ll be honest Robert, I have listened and listened to the music on the “top exclusives” and my talent is “not yet comparable” let’s say. 🙂

      I do recognize the “levels” of libraries, and hoping to move to level 2, above the RF models that are out there. I have read many posts on the MLR saying to “spread it out”, and that is what I’m hoping to do. Possibly get that holy grail of a track record that you speak of. 🙂

    • The odds have never stopped me from contacting top-tier libraries. I say you have to play the game to win. A loss is not important to me.

  2. When approaching exclusive music libraries, is it best to have about 5,10, 20 tunes that are similar in genre, or can it be a “mixed bag”?

    I am working on a game plan to start submitting to exclusives, but am confused on where to start. I see that most want CD’s mailed to them, but most don’t seem to specify beyond that. And I’m guessing 1 song at a time is a waste?

    Thanks for any input!

    • No offense JD but at 29 tracks for $19.99, on your library, aren’t you leading the race to the bottom regarding for the rest of us?

      It’ll be interesting to see how the exclusives feel about that.

      • WOW Anonymous! You are the first person to actually look at my website! 🙂

        Seriously though, in my defense, those 29 tracks are 5+ years old, and geared more toward the youtube, podcast customers. The quality isn’t up to the standards needed today. Not to mention that I am new (this year) to the library business and have no idea what to charge for what!

        I didn’t mean to offend anyone, and will adjust my price (which no one will see) accordingly (as soon as I figure out what to charge).
        🙂

        • Hi JD,

          I don’t think that you offended anyone. But…based on those numbers — you’re selling tracks at about $1.45 per track. Notwithstanding your aspiration to get into an exclusive library, selling tracks @ $1.45 might even keep you out of AudioSparx. They are pretty adamant about not accepting writers who sell on low ball sites. Check out the restrictions in their agreement.

          If you’re also selling the same tracks in online sites at normal rates, then you are competing against yourself, and undercutting the online libraries that sell your music. The online libraries also sell to “youtube and podcast” customers, as well as corporate / business and broadcast customers.

          Now you know.

          With respect to what Robert said, I disagree to the extent that I would say not all doors to exclusive libraries are closed. It does help to have a track record, a personal connection, an agent / lawyer, etc. And yes, it helps to not be submitting the same kind of music that everyone else is submitting — with qualifications. Yes, SD2 is over used, and long in the tooth, but there are other things out there like Rhythmic Aura, Hybrid, Evolve etc etc that continue to add freshness to popular genres, like trailer music.

          The one thing that will really set you apart is striving for good writing. Everyone has their own definition of what that is.

          Food for thought.

          Michael

          • Great post MichaelL! Thank you.
            I certainly wasn’t looking at it the same way that you described. I was simply looking for a way to supply a small library, that most customers would probably be able to use a few tracks at most, for a fair price.

            But, “now I know”. 🙂

            Thanks again.

            • BTW, is there no one else selling their tracks on their own site? Is this an “industry no-no”? It doesn’t seem feasible to me to market my “library” for hundreds of dollars and still provide another alternative income?

            • Hi JD,

              Look at it this way, even if you sold 1000 copies of your CD, you’d still make less than 50 Styles (Erwin) did on AudioSparx last year.

              I’m sure that some writers here would say go for it. I’m saying proceed with caution before you shoot yourself in the foot.

              Good luck.

              Michael

    • JD,

      I would only send a CD if their website specifically states that is the way to contact them eg. West One.

      Use the ‘set’ feature on soundcloud to your advantage. Create groups of 3-10 similar tracks and include the direct links to the relevant set(s) in your intro email. Even if your demo set only has say 3-5 tracks in it, I wouldn’t start shopping that group out until I had about 8-10 similar tracks in total. You want to be able to strike while they’re interested and if you only have 3 tracks, you’re really not maximising the opportunity if positive interest is shown.

      Spend some time crafting your email. Keep it simple, a basic outline of what you do, and a brief summary of what kind of music they’ll hear if they click on your links. If at all possible, direct it to the relevant person at the library. Make it easy to contact you, and be easy to work with.

      It is certainly possible to make ‘top-tier’ contacts with no relevant track record, although I’m sure credits open more doors.

      • Hey Rob,

        Thanks for jumping in.

        @JD, Rob came to mind immediately as an example of someone who offers evidence against what Robert Bobshooab said. He has successfully knocked down some bigger doors. If you can find Rob’s post on his first year in the business, it’s a must read.

        Good advice Rob!

        Cheers,

        Michael

        • Rob, thank you so much! My original question got a little “sidetracked” by my complete disdain for our profession. 🙂

          That was the answer I was looking for!
          I shall start out trying 3-5 with 5 waiting on “standby”, and work from there.

          Thank you so much!

          Also, Michael. You taught me more than you know!

          • “Also, Michael. You taught me more than you know!”

            That’s open to interpretation, but I hope you mean in a good way.

            Just trying to say — don’t sell yourself short. I’ve been in the business for 30 years. I’ve seen a lot of people that tried to sell themselves on “best price” come and go. The ones that promoted themselves based on quality are still around.

            Cheers,

            Michael

          • Thanks MichaelL, that’s an idea.

            @JD – Here’s the recap of my first year and an interview I did for Emmett Cooke’s site.

            http://forums.taxi.com/topic27376.html – this first year recap discusses Taxi heavily but includes general things I’ve learned.

            http://www.filmandgamecomposers.com/interviews/rob-oxenbridge-aka-cruciform – this is broader than the Taxi post and offers more of my journey

            You can achieve with a plan. And I’ve learnt a lot from MichaelL too. Ingest his posts! 😉

            • Thanks Rob and JD.

              I’ve learned a lot from you as well.

              I was out of the business for almost 10 years, studying and practicing law.
              This site and you guys have helped me get up to speed on all the new library business
              models, and how the game is played.

              Thank you!

              All the best,

              Michael

      • When crafting the email, I’ve been unsure about whether or not to mention other libraries that license my music. Since I don’t yet have any significant placements to cite, I thought it might show that others have found my music to be marketable.

        On the other hand, does it work against me to show that competitors might have the same tracks, perhaps at a lower rate? (I’m talking about non-exclusives.)

        • For non-exclusives, I wouldn’t mention other libraries that have the same music. You’re saying to them that you’re happy to compete with yourself on price !?

          My 2c.

  3. Hi Guys,

    I have a client who wants to use one of my cues in a commercial on TV in Canada (this is a direct license, not via a library). I’ve heard that commercials often don’t earn backend, though it’s my understanding that the client must file a cue sheet with my PRO for any broadcast use. Is this correct?

    Also, would I have to register the cue with my PRO first (it’s an orchestral piece, no vocals).

    Thanks,
    Charles

    • From what I’ve heard, Canadian TV adverts don’t pay performance royalties, ever. That’s just the way it is there. TV shows are different, but adverts – zilch.

      • Commercials in the US rarely pay royalties either. I have just finished my 6th commercial and I’ve never received any royalties other than AFM residuals and a few. I know a couple of other composers who have probably done 10-15 commercials combined and neither of them have received any royalties either (other than AFM, which usually isn’t much at all btw). Most of these commercials were for large, national or multinational corporations. No PRO money.

        • that’s supposed to be “AFM residuals ON a few” not “AND a few.” For some reason the site isn’t letting me go back and edit,

      • I’ve done a few hundred library tracks for a library that is mostly used for radio ads — zilch as far as US royalties. I do think that I got something from the UK.

        • Hi MichaelL

          Radio Ads in Ireland pay PRO at a good rate. I suspect, but cant confirm that the UK would be the same.

  4. Quick question – I recently found out a song of mine is being pitched for a upcoming movie teaser. As a newbie, I’m thrilled. How does this look when you are actually selected? How long can it take? Are these decisions made months before the release of the movie trailer or in a matter of days? Is a movie trailer the same as a movie teaser? (sorry, but had to ask) Any great trailer/teaser stories?

    It has been over a month now, so I’m moving on, writing more music, taking advice that I see posted here. Thanks in advance for your stories and info!

    Cari

    • Hi Cari
      I’m guessing that this is a pitch by a library you have the track in? Maybe the library starts with “C” and lists pitches on their site?

      In any case, it’s GREAT when your song is pitched for a opp like this. But don’t get TOO excited (a little is OK 😉 ) because, unless there is something very unique about this pitch, the track is one of a great many being pitched by many sources. Many factors affect the decision and film folks can even change their mind at the very last minute. As far as how long it could take, that depends on where the film is in its production cycle- pre-production, production, post-production, etc. Could be a few months, maybe a year or two.

      Be happy! And cautiously optimistic. There is no reason not to keep writing tracks and even pitching this one elsewhere unless it is signed exclusively.

      Best
      🙂

      • Dear Advice,

        Yes, and yes … and yes!

        I am excited but will heed your advice. Very interesting to hear how it works and I remember reading somewhere that they could change their mind at the last minute.

        On a side note … I’m playing Stravinsky (Piccolo) in a few weeks, so my newest compositions are reflecting some bizarre rhythms … is that bad? 😉

        Cari
        (the happy and cautiously optimistic composer)

  5. I’ve been licensing about 15 songs through a few different companies for about a year now. I’ve had probably 20 or more cable TV placements (Showtime, History Channel, Vh1, MTV, Discovery, WE, Bravo, etc.). I’m really happy with what I’ve been able to place so far even though I’ve heard they don’t pay that well generally…

    My question to your music licensing gurus out there is more of a philosophical question about over-all strategy. Currently, I’m spending a lot of time trying to create 2 and half to 4 minute instrumental tracks with many parts. I’m really trying to make every second of the tracks engaging. I’m probably spending about a week or two per track… Do you think my time would be better spent just creating quick, but still professional, catchy “cues” that are a minute or two long?

    Also, I was wondering if perhaps some of you compartmentalize all of your tracks into catagories like “rapidly produced short cues” and “masterpieces that you spend many weeks on”…? If that’s the case do you send one type of tracks to certain libraries and the other type of tracks to different libraries (i.e. masterpieces go to Crucial and “cues” go to MusicLoops)?

    I would really love your insight on this! And of course any examples of specific libraries for the specific “types” I’ve mentioned above would be invaluable. 🙂

    Thanks in Advance!
    Nhyne

    • Nhyne:
      Glad to hear you have had success with placements already!

      I think everyone approaches this differently. I’ve only been involved in submitting songs to libraries for a little over a year and a half so I too am a bit of a newbie to this, and have learned a lot from this website.

      Like you, I concentrate on writing 2-4 full length tracks in various genres. I tend to write quickly and usually spend a total of 10-12 hours on one track from inception to mastering.

      Have learned that you really have to get to the point quickly in the tracks. No long intros, and making everything count as you said. The first 10-15 seconds should set it up.

      Currently selling track through 6 different libraries with close to 160 tracks, and have to say I’m pretty pleased with the success I have had in this short time. The key is quantity (but don’t sacrifice quality) the more tracks you have out there the better chance you will have in selling.

      Hope this helps.

      • Thanks for the reply Gary!

        Have you put your stuff on any of the royalty free site? If so, do you put all of your songs in all 6 libraries you are with or do you only put some of the best ones in the “higher-end” libraries and put only the other tracks on royalty free sites (not your “hits”)?

        I would love to hear your experience with those type of sites if you have any!

        Also, it would be really awesome if anyone with over a 1000 tracks could give me any insight to my original question – if they should be so kind 😉

        • Currently I am on Musicloops.com, Productiontrax.com, Audiosparx.com, tunesociety.com, musicsupervisor.com, and auditivenetwork.com all non-exclusive. The last one auditive network sells primarily to the Scandanavian countries.

          I have all of my tracks on musicloops. audiosparx, and tunesociety. Eventually I hope to get all of my tracks on all, but it does take time to do it. I try to devote at least one a per week for track maintenance and uploading on the various sites.

          I started with musicloops back in May of 2010, and gradually got on the other sites. Most of my sales have come from musicloops as well.

          If I were you I would check out the comments on this site for these and others to see how others do with them as well. This is a great resource for someone just starting out with this.

            • Michael:
              Basically it is uploading tracks to sites, and going in and adding or changing keywords, and descriptions on existing tracks. Really nothing to do the the track itself, more site housekeeping than anything..

              Gary

              • Hey Gary,

                Thats kind of what I thought. I couldn’t imagine tweaking mixes, or anything like that, after I’ve uploaded the track. Gotta keep moving.

                Cheers,

                Michael

          • Wow, thanks for the detailed response! It sounds like most people are doing a mix of royalty-based placements and royalty-free placements. The two main libraries that are getting my placements are Crucial and JinglePunks. I haven’t received any cue sheets in my ASCAP account yet as most of the placements started coming in during the Spring of this year. I only know about them because I have a TuneSat account.

            I think I will take your advice and put some songs on the royalty-free sites to try to see if I can make some steady money from them. Thanks again for your advice – it is greatly appreciated!

        • @nhyne: “Matt”, a regular contributor, I believe has stated that he has over 2000 tracks and last year did around $150k. This is a mixture of royalty free, non-exclusive, exclusive and custom work.

          • Hi Art, great site! It’s a wonderful resource and I can’t thank you enough for creating a place for everyone to discuss this important aspect of the music industry 🙂

            I’d read a few other posts on here where people have said that with 500 quality tracks in the right catalogs one can make $50k/year and with 1000 quality tracks in the right catalogs one one can make $100k/year. I’m sure this varies drastically from composer to composer and with luck but I thought it was a nice baseline to help understand the earning potential of licensing music.

            I would imagine if you have 500 tracks/cues that a majority of them are short 1-2 minute ditties and the rest are “hits” that the composer spent significantly more time on. Am I right in thinking this?

            Also, do most composers put the songs they spend a lot of time on into the royalty-free sites too or does this bring down the value of them (should other, higher-end libraries such as Shockwave Sound see them on these types of site)?

            • yeah that sounds about right to me. One important thing to point out is that it will take at least year or two after that 500th track is signed to see royalty statements that would add up to 50k per year. It takes a while for the tracks to get out there, some production companies/networks are notorious for filing cue sheets late, and even if everything goes perfectly it takes 6-9 months from the time of placement to get paid.

              I will have signed a little over 500 tracks by the end of this year, but I don’t expect to start seeing a quarterly statement of $12,500 until 4Q2012 at the EARLIEST. Thats why its good to diversify into sectors that pay a little quicker like royalty free libraries, commercials, and (if you can get in with them) libraries that pay up front for tracks.

            • “I would imagine if you have 500 tracks/cues that a majority of them are short 1-2 minute ditties and the rest are “hits” that the composer spent significantly more time on. Am I right in thinking this?”

              No you imagine wrong. Thats 500 full length tracks, with all the related edits and underscores on top of that.

              Personally I aim to place a minimum of 50 tracks, plus those pesky edits and underscores, with exclusive libraries every year.

              • I guess that’s good because I’ve only ever written full-length tracks (haven’t done the pesky editing yet for the different versions though), but I have seen quite a lot of people on this site recommending to keep tracks less than 2 minutes or even less than 1 minute…

                • Less than a minute seems a bit short IMO. I usually shoot for 2 minutes on most cues as a general rule. Most libraries that I’ve worked with ask for 2 minute minimum, but there have been a few that have asked for 2:30-3 minute cues and at least one that I can think of that likes 1:30 cues.

                  Of course, if you are being asked to do bumpers and stings then that is a totally different story. Then you are looking at 2-30 second type cues.

    • I recommend limiting your tracks to around two minutes. Some customers like longer tracks, but they’re more of an exception – producers who make infomercials, and maybe industrial videos. TV shows (especially reality TV) use music in short bursts, usually 5-20 seconds.

      Get to the main point / energy of the track fairly quickly, and don’t change much throughout. Make sure you’re sticking to one main idea, emotionally and genre-wise. An editor usually wants something specific, and might use more of your track if it works well throughout the scenes they’re editing. A/B/A (last ‘A’ being bigger) is a common structure for TV, A/B/C/A is what I usually do for the big libraries (who pay upfront).

  6. I wanted to find out if symphonic compositions need to be as realistic as possible, utilizing orchestra samples, etc in order to be commercially marketable. I have an older synth workstation with some nice sounds, but not as realistic as some of the Jukebox compositions I’ve listened to.

    I wondered how classic Vangelis-type synth orchestrations fare nowadays, or tunes that find a middle ground of being less synthetic than his classic stuff, but more synthetic-sounding than modern sampled orchestrations.

    Thanks for any info, and does anyone know what genres are most successful?

    • “I wanted to find out if symphonic compositions need to be as realistic as possible, utilizing orchestra samples, etc in order to be commercially marketable.”

      I’m sure others will disagree, but yeah, you need orchestral stuff as realistic as possible. You don’t have to go wild and break the bank to get good results though, but you will need something a bit more “realistic” than a long in the tooth all in one workstation synth.

      • I agree. It really comes down to how much you want to spend on virtual strings software. I use Garritan Strings, as they are not that expensive. They are not the best, but with some tweaking you can get a decent and fairly realistic string sound

      • “I’m sure others will disagree, but yeah, you need orchestral stuff as realistic as possible.”

        Absolutely. If you are going to do orchestral mock-ups you can’t cut corners. Garritan is fine if you’re layering a string section in a pop tune. But if you’re doing orchestral mock-ups, you need a combination East West, Vienna, LASS, CineSamples etc., to start with.

        The caveat to this advice is that it depends on where you’re putting your tracks. I hear a lot of long in the tooth sounds on some of the RF sites. But those tracks might not sell well, or at all.

        East West usually has the “complete composers bundle” on sale. You may want to check it out. However, if you’re still using an old synth work station, that’s another story altogether.

        _Michael

  7. New Question(s):

    Is it important to compose songs that conform to BPMs that are based on “5”s or “10”s (i.e. 105 or 110 vs. 103 bpm)?

    Does anyone know if it’s necessary to register song titles with ASCAP if the library retitles anyway – I understand that the library would report the title to the Pro if sold to a client, since they are handling publisher duties at that point (I’m signed with ASCAP as a writer, but not a publisher)….

    Thanks for any info

    • I’ve never paid attention to BPMs. If the library is registering the titles then you should not. Might be a good idea to check and make sure they have.

    • BPMs just give editors a quick idea of the tempo. If they’re looking for something fast, say 152 BPM, they can skip over slower tracks easily.

      • Yes but BPM can be misleading in that the feel could be half or double the BPM. I find that in a lot Latin music but it’s true of other genres.

        • Thanks for the info – I have used a BPM measuring program and Art is right about the doubling problem. It has trouble if any notes are detected in half the timeframe and gives a doubled value.

  8. My first post here – great information and insights here for sure. My (dumb?) question is, if I have released an album through CD Baby, etc., does that mean I can’t submit the tracks to an exclusive library?

    • I would seriously doubt an exclusive library is going to touch anything available elsewhere, even if it’s CD baby.

      Exclusive tends to mean they own the rights, full stop.

      • Thanks – that’s kind of what I thought – what do you think about about posting tracks that I would like to submit to exclusive libraries on SoundCloud with the download option switched off?

        • That’s exactly what I do. This way people can hear your tracks as mp3’s without any audio watermarks, but they cannot download them. It’s worked well for me.

            • Anything I sign to an exclusive library stays 100% exclusive. It’s not ethical to display an exclusive track without permission. Besides, even with the download option turned off, there’s no guarantee it won’t show up somewhere on the Internet in the future.

              • My understanding is that you can release a cd commercially but cannot license the tracks to anyone. Here’s a response i got back from an exclusive library about this.

                “You are free to release the material on commercial records anywhere, but you can only grant the right to use the recording but you cannot grant rights on the composition to anybody.”

                KP

                • That brings up a question. I have some tracks on iTunes that were put up by a distribution partner with one of the libraries that I am with. (BTW I have no exclusive agreements with any library.) So what would keep someone from downloading those tracks from iTunes and using them commercially?

                  • “So what would keep someone from downloading those tracks from iTunes and using them commercially”- Gary

                    Only scruples Gary.

                  • Someone could also get any of the tracks we have on previews in any library and copy them. If it plays out of a speaker it can be copied. Granted there is watermarking and lo quality mp3 to deal with, but still it can be done. its the same with any piece of music wether on CD or in the ether, if someone wants to use it without paying they can and will.

                    The upside being that any broadcaster in a major territory, where you will earn decent PRO and sync fees, will demand to see the paper trail associated with anything the broadcast.

                • “You are free to release the material on commercial records anywhere, but you can only grant the right to use the recording but you cannot grant rights on the composition to anybody”- KP

                  That doesn’t make any sense KP. If you can grant the “use” rights of the recording to anyone, it isn’t exclusive. Doesn’t even sound like professional lingo.

                  • What he is saying is that you can sell your cd commercially, just as anyone can, for private consumer use. You cannot license the compositions for any other use, however, if you’re with their exclusive library. This is from a large exclusive German library, a response to a personal inquiry, hence the non-professional lingo.

                    Hope that makes more sense.

  10. “I submitted several music to exclusive RF library”

    cool – but which is you’re favourite exclusive rf libary? u didnt specify

    i have several but not sure which is the best – i like these libraries best beause they are literally the best of both worlds – exlusive on the one hand rf on the other so essentially your approaching the market from two distinct angels

    also i have placed 7 tracks with rf libay and was wondering how long is it until i see real royalties come thru? i see on some websites it says they can take up to 1 maybe 2 years

    not sure i want to be waiteing tht long really 🙁

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