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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. Newbie ASCAP question here. I currently have 15 “works received” songs registered with ASCAP. While I labeled myself as the writer, sole performer for all my songs, all my received songs are labeled as having “no publisher” since I wasn’t sure if I could put my own name in that space.

    Is it okay for one to put his/her own name in the Publisher portion of an ASCAP song registration (as long as he/she holds all the rights to it, which I do in this case), or should the publisher section be left blank if there is no official publishing company that holds the song?

    • kingseamus,

      The best thing to do is form your own publishing entity, like “kingseamus music” for example and have a publisher account with ASCAP.

      From what I have heard/read if you don’t do that then you are leaving the publishing money in limbo and you won’t receive it.

      If you don’t have a publishing entity of your own and your work is not published by someone else I think you are not supposed to check the “this work has a publisher” box.

      Blind

      • So say I sign up for ASCAP/BMI as a songwriter/composer (not a publisher) and am fortunate enough to get a placement through a music library. The library would be publishing the song, correct? Thus I would not worry about registering as a publisher as well?

        • In general, you should set up your own publishing company with your PRO.

          In the instance of a music library getting a placement they will typically register the song with them as publisher.

          • Thanks, Art. So wouldn’t you only need to set up your own publishing company if you were going to try to directly license your songs to companies? Just asking ’cause I was looking into signing up with BMI, but hesitated when I saw it’s $250 to sign up as a publisher. If I can just sign up as a composer for free and not worry about the publisher part of it, that would be nice.

              • I wonder if this is unique to the States, in Ireland (IMRO) and I assume the UK (PRS) you do not have to have any publisher assigned to collect 100% of the total. Any non US assigned writers want to chime in.

  2. ASCAP general question: I have the great iPhone App to check my ASCAP info, but can’t seem to update the “Year to Date” which says 2010. Is this right? Since I have no cue sheets and only 107 songs listed, I’m not sure what is up … probably should wait until I have cue sheets, yes? It’s part of my daily check list … just like my Awaiting Review tracks (2 since Dec 4) at Crucial. I’m a glutton for punishment … oh well!

    Hope everyone has a great week!

    Cari

  3. I’m pretty much a newbie myself and I’m sure these guys have the smartest answer but in my opinion, you may have the same song in 10 libraries. Maybe of the 10 libraries one gets picked and the rest don’t….ever. Based on that possibility, which I don’t think is far-fetched, I don’t see how saturation is really an issue. The odds that your song is showing up on everybody’s desk and they’re all sick of it are not very good. Might even be a problem I’d like to have. If non-exclusive music was an issue, they wouldn’t bother with it.
    Again, let me emphasize, that’s my knee jerk thought without alot of experience.
    I just thought I’d escape all this funky metadata I have to do today by answering your question even if only for a minute. Fortunately, I have to go to the bathroom now so I can buy a few more minutes. lol

    • LOL! I love it! No, exactly Pat I hear you, that is why I ask. On one hand it seems like a problem I would be lucky to have, but is there a risk of looking like a stock music library slut if we placed the same music in 75 libraries for example? 😉

      • Don’t get me wrong after certain age, being associated as a “slut … anything” is not so bad probably. I am not of that age yet however and even though I will put out pretty easy for my present age, I think you get my drift…. image isn’t everything, but apparently it can be a help or a hindrance in our business.

        • You want to do metadata for 75 libraries be my guest. I’m in only a few by comparison and I’m trying to get out of it by talking to you. What’s that tell you?
          I actually started targeting every library that would take my music. I was up to like 25 libraries. I’ve since decided over time that there are libraries that do nothing but act as a parking garage for tracks and there are libraries that do something if they stand to gain so I started shedding.
          I was spending so much time uploading and doing metadata, I didn’t have time to write music.
          Now I have a handful of libraries to submit to and try to only target libraries with some kind of track record or the new ones to give them a chance to see what happens there.
          I spend only the weekend doing metadata and have so far been able to stick to my two cues every 5 day week (no matter how many hours it takes).
          When I get enough tracks out there, I will also submit to some exclusives.
          Again, just my view which could change as soon as these more knowledgeable guys show up with their views.

          • I agree Pat. I started submitting to many different libraries and finally settled on only a few to work with. Like you say many seem to be just a place to park tracks and not much more.

            • Yes! Thank you both! We are getting into the juicy stuff here. Even though I did not type it what you (Pat & Art) are saying is also rattling around up in here. 🙂 At first when we get into the business it is all just trying to break in etc. But then after a while writing a track that is likely to get picked up is not so hard and becomes even something we bank on.

              This ties into another post I read here today. (sorry don’t have the link handy..) about “wanting a few more like Jingle Punks.” Yes Please!!! Me too and also. Even though there is a very structured system, how many tracks you can upload, time frames, sincerely I think they gett’er done faster than most. The log jam of track review and integration into the system can be large for a one or two person team. Especially if you would like to place a few hundred pieces with a library. (not to leave out the many other potential composers and recordings entering the system)

              I appreciate hearing what you had to say, because you can see I have been thinking about this. It all ties together for me, because a system of submissions can clearly get us into many places. But is that what we want? And then and also balancing, how much work it can take to get tracks into a company and creating new content…. not looking like a stock music slut, all at the same time. Seems then to just get down to finding the right balance. Thank you both! looking forward to reading from others more on it too.

              • Worry less about what you look like and focus on what you sound like yogi. You’re selling a product not a personality (although personality has it’s place because you’re also establishing relationships in a sense with each submission). I’m just saying get the priorities in good order. If your music isn’t good, it really doesn’t matter how you appear to people except maybe as a nice person with not so hot music.
                Don’t analyze, utilize. Now get writing.

  4. How Much Is Too Much Exposure?

    I have not found other posts touching specifically on this. When you have a body of tracks you are licensing non-exclusively and you want to get them into as many libraries as you can, how many is too many before the content is going to start looking over saturated?

    For example some non-exclusive libraries, we could pick Jingle Punks for ease, re-title by simply placing a JP at the end of the track title. Which is meant to help with accounting and proper payment. Others (less and less it seems) may change the name of the track to read something different entirely. Same recording & master with radically different title. (I sorta prefer the latter)

    How many libraries can a track be in, with the ‘mostly’ exact name, and not be reaching the point where editors or music supervisors are internally saying…”Geez! I see this track everywhere. That’s the 5th library this week. (just making this up as I go folks!)

    Is this something to give thought to? Has anyone direct experience with getting a track title into toooo many libraries by the same name? Certainly it is the music that counts and most would probably recognize the same music after hearing it again…. or maybe not right? Many will have the experience of sending the same track to the same person a few months later only to hear “where have you been hiding this!?!?”

    I would love to hear from people who track re-title for their own marketing purposes. If you do, how do you keep track? At what point should we consider it? (how much is too much exposure for a track?) Yes, no exactly! Subjective question coming in… would love to hear from others on it still. Thanks!

    • I re-title mine for different RF libraries and some libraries want their own titles. I built a relational database to keep track of everything. Each tune in my catalog table has the capability to add aliases to the main title. I also have a field in the alias table for the library that title is assigned to.

      I also have separate tables for libraries and writers. All told I might have 7 or 8 tables that all relate together. This way I can view the data in a myriad of ways.

      It’s very easy to keep track of who has what and when it was sent.

      • Art, when you register those alternate titles with your PRO, do you list them as alternate titles of the original work, or do you register them as new titles? Or do you just let the library register them?

        • If they are RF libraries I usually don’t register them. If it’s a library that creates their own titles then they register them as new.

          But my “titling” approach leaves a lot to be desired from a PRO point of view. As an example I have one particular cue that has been purchased many times from an RF library. It has it’s own title that was unregistered my PRO. It recently started showing up on a number of CBS and NBC shows and was picked up off of the cue sheets with the wrong publisher info. Even though the RF library had the PRO info for that cue. BMI will straighten it out and I did register that title finally but lesson learned. I have to get a better handle that aspect of my titling efforts.

    • Sounds good, Pat. I dig “The Warrior”, cool arrangement. Out of curiosity, is the classical-style acoustic guitar recorded live, or are they loops?

      • Thanks Dude. I used my trusty 3 fingers to play the Omnisphere guitar patch live (Live so to speak since I can only play a few notes at a time then chain them up together).
        I guess if you can’t tell if it’s live or loops, that’s a good thing.

  6. Do you guys agree that it isn’t necessary to register tracks with BMI, that they only look at cue sheets filed? I register every track as I complete them. Is this necessary and are there any decided disadvantages to doing so. So far I only sub,it to libraries.

  7. From those with many placements over years time, what has your experience taught you? is it “good business” or “risky business” to list shows that have gotten your music through a music library as a “credit?”

    i.e. your PRO statement says “TVSHOW-X” used 10-15 seconds in several episodes. (background use, not title or theme) then you list that shows name on your web sight in your list of credits for example. “Credits: Tv Show-x, etc.”

    Or even more to the point in today’s world maybe… making the entries on the show’s page at IMDB. Do you do this for your “library track” placements? I have seen a few credits at IMDB listed as “Stock Music” or something like ‘extra music” How do editors and production companies feel about this? Thanks in advance.

    • @Yogi:
      You get traction where you can,so listing placements
      shows someone is picking your music for that cue,a good thing.
      In this business though you are only as good as the last job you got
      if you get the work on your own. The way to make a whole lot more money is
      placing cues directly with production companies who then put those shows on tv. It could take years to develop those relationships .
      A mix of library/custom work if you can get it will spread the income over more sources, and great for your BMI statement,good luck.

            • Hey Art, thanks! Yes, no exactly I am of the same mindset now. I am going to use the ‘additional music’ category and submit a few.

              • One has to have a PR person’s mindset when dealing with credits. I usually just list the credits like:

                TV Credits: History Detective, ABC Promos, etc.

                You wouldn’t want to say..

                TV Credits: History Detectives (10 second spot buried, almost unrecognizable), ABC Promos (5 second spot – mainly an effect)., etc.

                If you treated your resume for a job like that, you’d never get the job. Gotta remember that your competition is going to use and abuse every credit they have.

                Think PR!!! And good luck!

                Best, John 🙂

                • Thanks John (the other John)! this gets down to it. Thanks for the examples. Thinking like a PR person has not come as natural to me as writing the music. I like what you said here about not laying things out like “History Detectives (10 second spot buried, almost unrecognizable),” lol!

                  adding “History Detectives (Still getting paid for what I did for them)”… is probably a little over the top I’m guessing? 😉 (but actually very true if I changed the name of the show) snicker! Hey it’s 10 cents every time it airs, how many others can say this?… a few hundred, a few thousand (maybe) over 37 episodes right 🙂 seems like inflated numbers actually

                  your plainly stated approach makes most sense to me also. “TV Credits: History Detective, ABC Promos,” Thanks John (the other John)!

  8. Hi MulletKid,

    To answer a few of your questions:

    You will only see royalties IF you had any of your music placed on a show with a network that pays PRO royalties.

    Selling 300 licenses does not mean they were used for a royalty paying placement.

    Some libraries only register cues if they get placed on a show.

    Royalties usually show up 6 to 9 months after being used, though the delay can be much longer.

    Placements can get picked up off of cue sheets and paid, even if not registered.

    And finally, I’m speaking for U.S. situations and even at that I’m not an expert! 🙂

    • “Placements can get picked up off of cue sheets and paid, even if not registered.”
      I found that statement very interesting Art. Are you saying that even though I may not see a cue sheet filed when logging on to my BMI account there still could have been a placement?

      • no he is talking about individual CUES not being registered, not the cue SHEETS. If a work is NOT registered you can still be paid IF the cue sheet is filed. So with BMI you would see the cue sheet show up in your works catalog. If you don’t see a cue sheet pop up with an unregistered work then there will not be any payment. In the article the author was implying that if a cue isn’t registered, you won’t get paid. But that isn’t true (at least it isn’t with BMI). As long as the cue sheet is filed you will see payment even if the cue isn’t registered. But if the cue sheet is NOT filed, then registered or not you will not be seeing payment on any placements.

        If the cue IS registered, then unlike with ASCAP you will NOT see a “cue sheet” show up in your works catalog. But you will still get paid assuming the cue sheets were filed properly.

      • Basically it means that the track will be registered from the cue sheet, so it won’t show up until BMI is doing the accounting for that quarter, nor is it necessary for you or the publisher to register the tracks as long as the cue sheets are correct (in fact BMI or Ascap woun’t even look at that, they go soley by cuesheets). It’s only necessary to (pre) register the tracks with the PRO for certain uses like radio play and certain song usages in order to recive royalties.
        In the case of BMI they pay 3 quarters behind, so 1st q of 2011 was paid around sep/oct.
        All this info is also available on their website.
        Happy new year!

  9. Hey guys. Firstly, thanks to Art for this great site – wouldn’t have had half the (limited) success without it. Alright – so basically, at this point, a year into doing this, I have my music with 6 exclusives and about the same amount of non-exclusives. Each has about 10-15 of my tracks. Again, its been around a year. The question is, when did you see your first royalties come in through your PRO? I still havent seen any in my quarterly statements, although I know that I sold around 300 licenses altogether. I also have not been registering most of my tracks, because the libraries insist on registering them themselves. However, am I right to assume that I would see the tracks being registered under my “registered works” section of my PRO? Literally, only one library has registered any works on my behalf (and its a non-exclusive). Im a bit confused about this whole PRO process, and regrettably didn’t read up on any of this information before shopping my music left and right. Anyways, thanks in advance.

    • Hi Mulletkid

      When you see royalties depends on where you are based. A US resident with a royalty derived in the US may see a payment within 6-9 months as Art says BUT a UK resident (PRS) it may take 18 months +for a US payment. Non US PROs will delegate a US PRO to collect on their behalf. In Ireland (IMRO) they use ASCAP by default. This arrangement goes both ways of course.

      I would assume an Exclusive would register your tracks ASAP, but they may only do so when they get a license. If you are concerned I would get in touch with the Library and ask what their procedure is.

  10. Does anyone have advice for how many libraries a person should be on with and how many songs minimum per library in order to get the ball rolling? I notice that some libraries are getting more picky about accepting songs because they’re getting glutted. Are there any recommendations for increasing the odds of getting stuff sold if you have 50 songs ready to go? (I’ve got lots of rough drafts yet to be produced from 6 copyrights, but I let the music go and got into other interests, after seeing so few results)

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