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!
thanks Deryn..
Any ASCAP members run into this ?
I recently registered a bunch of songs from days gone by .On my catalog page (in the registration staus) most say accepted or accepted with changes but a few say “possible match” – what does that mean ?- I checked the faq and can’t find my answer there – before I emailed them I thought i’d check here – thanks..john
Hi John
I’m with PRS, but I’m fairly sure all of the major PROs are similar in terms of their online database structures and jargon. “Possible match” usually means that the database has found another listing that could refer to the same track. Perhaps you submitted it to a library or non-exclusive publisher in the past and they registered it with ASCAP, or you registered it yourself and forgot that you had already done so. Another possibility is that a different composer submitted a track with the same name and similar properties. On the PRS database you can check all possible matches that come up against a track to see whether they are duplicate entries of your track or unrelated. If the entry points to your track but shows royalty splits that don’t look right you can get in touch with ASCAP and ask them about it. Likewise, if it’s a track that has nothing to do with you, you can contact them and inform them that there is no match.
I’ve had this problem come up quite a few times. It means that someone is trying to register the same track name as another track you wrote (and is registered with ASCAP). You can contact that dept at webreginfo@ascap.com
Explain that it indeed is a different track.
More embarrassingly, I’ve been in the situation several times where a library client is contacted by ASCAP for this same reason. ASCAP cc’s the other library on this email, so now the two library clients are intimately aware of the fact that I have been supplying the both of them. Not such a big deal I guess, but the inner workings of your business is not always something you want your clients to know, especially the better paying ones.
The problem is usually caused by a library re-naming a track after I’ve given it to them (I always check the name I give a new track against the list of all my registered work on the ACE database).
Should I be thinking about filing out the publisher application for BMI ? I have songs on sites like MusicDealers and was wondering about publishing and publisher share. I haven’t seen where they take publishing. Maybe I haven’t read enough into it. Just wondering. Don’t want to wait till later to find out I cold have had publishing if I was set up for it with some of these sites.
Thanks
Pat
Hey Pat……It’s pretty rare (in my experience anyways) that you will be offered a deal where you participate in the publisher’s share. So you may want to hold off and save your money.
One other thing……when you register your songs with BMI, you can put your own name in the Publisher field, and they call it an “Excess Writer Clearance”, which assigns all 200% of the royalties to you in the event you don’t have a publishing company.
Thanks alot for that ErikMusic for the info. Save me some time and money. I happen to be registering one now. It appears the writers is 200% as a default from what I can see so apparently even entering as a publisher isn’t necessary.
You’re welcome….put 100% for the writers share, and then in the publishers share put your name and 100% o…then when the track completes the registration process, you’ll see it’s registered as an “Excess Writer Clearance” with 200% assigned to you.
Got it ErikMusic.
Exactly what does a blanket contract mean?
They probably meant ‘blanket license’ unless they’re making up a new term for dealing with a composer. A blanket license is what a production company or network pays to use all the music in a library, for an annual fee. Composers are lucky if they get a piece of that, and it’s usually a small chunk (based off how much music they have in the library). Fewer and fewer libraries get blanket licenses for TV these days, due to the glut of smaller libraries offering their music for free (in return for usage on TV, and the resulting performance royalties).
This company is not in the listings – i offered them a few tracks non exclusive
does anyone know anything about them or have dealings ? thanks !
http://www.music2license.com/
Hi Dustin,
I have them listed now at https://musiclibraryreport.com/music-libraries-m-to-m/music2license/
Thanks for the heads up.
Art
Thanks Art – just wanted to say thanks for this great forum – its really helpful, and hope I can put something back in from all the information I am able to learn from you guys. Its a real life line knowing other people doing this work when I really do feel all alone doing it in my city, none of my friends are interested and my girl barely cares !! so thanks for it all !!
Glad MLR is helping. It can be a lonely business at times.
Yes, you can place your music in a royalty free library if you are a member of a PRO.
But, not all royalty free sites require their customers to file cue sheets.
What happens if I have a song registered with my PRO and my royalty free library places it with a TV station that plays it, won’t my PRO expect them to also pay royalties for airing it?
Only if a cue sheet is filed. Depends on where it’s payed.
If you are a member of a PRO, does that mean that you can’t place your music with a royalty free library?
I hear you Jello – you used to hang out with my mum etc etc.
But my point is to any library maker once you know the skills of production and with the rapid advancement of sample cd’s if you can remove yourself from too much personal involvement with certain types of music and analyse it clearly then you can make that music. the way people make music is by having a pre determined set of rules, whilst the creative process is working away your mind says yes or no to a line or an effect setting saying, yes thats v. cool hip hop or thats really pro rock. if you can train yourself then i think an artist can credably make any of the new music that is around today. take it seriously , learn the skills and be like an athelete who does tryatholon, you can do all the sports to a high standard.
We’ll skip over the age thing.
My point is that with knowledge, skill, experience, and as Dustin said, the ability to “analyze clearly,” you can figure out pretty quickly what’s going on in many styles — especially new music.
“I don’t want to shatter your illusions, but I’ve probably been doing this since before you were born.”
Yes, yes, I rather suspect you have Anon.
A tad snarky response, but yes, I’ve been around a while (like Art –our super host).
However, that translates into tons of experience. Knowing what kind of music works comes from having scored many types of productions and needing to write what was necessary.
I’m with Art. I COULD sort out an 80 piece orchestra, BUT, I’m blown away by the quality of todays samples. LASS, Symphobia, East West –they’re a dream come true. I love the instant gratification of having an orchestra at my fingertips.
…..not to mention the expanding use of the orchestral/electronic hybrid palette, which I find to be really interesting.
I probably have all you young whippersnappers beat. I was making music in the 50’s. So there; oh, wait a minute – that means I probably won’t be doing it much longer.
BTW, the “Unchained Melody” post was mine. My name disappears from time to time.
LOL! I wouldn’t be too sure of that John. I was also making music in the 50s and I plan to be around a lot longer!
OK, John (the other John) and Art, you’ve got me beat.
Well, that gives hope to a young whippersnapper like me. I’m just starting in production music at 35. 🙂
The issue for you in the short term is whether or not you have another source of income, like a day job.
The issue in the long term is that the market is becoming more and more saturated everyday, with guys “just starting in production music.” At some point, which is probably now, there will be far more supply than demand. When that happens, prices drop and everyone makes less.
That’s why everyone says you need tons of tracks to make a living at this.
The whole discussion of “how much can I make and when?” is a bit pointless. There are too many variables like…
1) Is your music useful to media producers?
2) how many tracks do you have?
3) do you write in many styles or are you a “one trick pony” e.g. do you only right hip hop?
4) are your production values any good, that is do you have cheap sounds, can you mix, can you master?
If you just dabble at writing “songs,” or you’re writing in only one style, you’ll probably need to keep your day gig.
Well, it’s not that difficult. This much we know…
a) You need tons of tracks – I think we would all agree on that. So that’s 2) sorted.
b) They need to be with established, exclusive top-tier libraries (IMO)
if b) then 1) is kind of sorted. As is 3) & 4) for that matter.
Your ‘variables’ aren’t really variables.
Well that’s a bit like saying “soccer (football) isn’t all that difficult, all you have to do is kick the ball into the net.”
The requirements/rule may not vary, but whether or not an individual has tons of tracks, can write in multiple genres, has good equipment, and is fortunate enough to get a foot into the exclusive top-tier library door will vary widely.
Ahh, ok. Thanks for enlightening me.
Well that’s a bit like saying “soccer (football) isn’t all that difficult, all you have to do is kick the ball into the net.”
ha – but you know wat in this game you can come from many diff angles – you know what is appealing to one person is not to another, and thats part of the fun of music – what appeals to your own judgement may not be what the masses want – but perhaps someone will enjoy it also – you can take a piece of classical music and put heavy metal to it these days, and someone will dig it.
its also like sex, you may not be a super stud but your girl likes it and in the same way you may not be don juan but someone somewhere will like your music.
ps. football to me always looks like some towners kickin a pigskin ! 😉
I’m with you Dustin, but you have to have the ability to come at it from different angles, hence many genres. If you are a one trick pony sooner or later your options are limited.
And in order to make a living –a lot of people need to like it.
If you are uploading music to the new generation of non-exclusive, never-gets-used libraries, then writing in many genres seems to be widely accepted. In doesn’t matter really because the stuff gets used so rarely and they seem to generate very little income.
As you go futher up the ‘library ladder’ the upper tier (Extreme, KPM for example) only want the very best in a particular genre – however, the upside is you earn very good money. The thing to do is to specialize and be the very best in a particular field. Are they gonna want the orchestral guy that cranks up East West Symphonic Orch with a Storm Drum ostinato? Or the dude that sorts out an 80 piece orchestral session. Well, with a good library they will pay for the latter. I have friends who do this all the time and are in big demand. Why would the libraries splash out on the sessions when they can get the cheaper East West guy? Because they want the absolute best.There are gazillions of crap orchestral library trax cluttering up the virtual ether.
There was quite a good sound on sound article from years ago from the guy who ran (at the time) Atmosphere. He reiterated this point.
If you write in many genres, chances are you’re not gonna be brilliant at everything.
“If you write in many genres, chances are you’re not gonna be brilliant at everything” – Jello
Yeah, but then how much music that’s making big bucks in film/TV is really brilliant? I certainly don’t hear much “briliant” music on TV.
Maybe you just have high standards John 😉
hey jello…I totally agree with being good at one genre is good thing but you know these days its important to look at your skill set and the world of music in general, you know what….its really not that different ?!!! its not. make heavy metal, make house music, make ambient… its just not that different.
It only appears to be and its completely all in your mind and the block and the tiny prison a person can build around himself with self identity to certain music.
I always remind myself of this. listen to all the classical music of hundreds of years ago…well i am an untrained eye to it… i listen to it and go …. er it all sounds the same really…
but at the time a person would have said thats a certain mini genre, thats really groundbreaking… but you know what, its all the same.
and the same can be said of all modern music today. its a trick of the mind to think otherwise.
my background is within house music, ive made it for years – recently i began library and started with universal, i then began questiioning myself and getting thrown other projects, and had to expand into classical. it reminded me of my thinking and its so true all music is the same and all the sub genres mean so so so little. The summerians began the music 5k yrs ago with the scale we are still using and thats just frequency which again means nothing.
to finalise my rant with a touch of insanity and physics, the infamous anti matter gravity particle no one has yet seen which app supposedly can travel tho 32 dimensions is thought by physics to be unaffacted by any kind matter, accept they think possibly soundwaves, if they can find this particle and shift it thro to the other dimensions then they can see where these dimensions are. now do that with sound involved …and that is something, that is wat music really was intended for and my thoughts are the real reason music affects the human brain with such impact, it suggests other worlds, it hints and pushes the brain there, even if we are to small to comprehend it.
I’m sorry but your final paragraph on physics, sound and its then relation to music in the human brain really make me grate. Have you studied science to that degree? It’s fun to have ideas and such but I just don’t want us to start sounding like homoepaths who use, and I quote, “zero point energy to cure arthritis”.
“I always remind myself of this. listen to all the classical music of hundreds of years ago…well i am an untrained eye to it… i listen to it and go …. er it all sounds the same really…” Dustin
I imagine you’re using the generic meaning of “classical” music, i.e., meaning serious music of the past.
If you think all classical music sounds the same, you haven’t listened to much serious music. Consider Mozart – Rachmaninoff – Tchaikovsky – Ravel – Chopin – Gershwin – Stravinsky – etc., – all totally different.
Music can’t be explained by science, it’s an emotional art. It affects every listener in correlation with that listener’s unique sense of life. Yes, it transports us to wonderful places – or scary places. It ignites our dreams and imagination. It’s pure emotion.
It’s amazing the massive amount of diversified music that’s been created with just 12 half-tones (and their octaves). And there’s so much more to be created.
All music sounds the same? I say balderdash!
when i say it all sounds the same – i mean the palette . you know a broad look is its all strings conforming to stuff, like look back at today in 300 yrs time at it all and it will all seem like a wash of sound of this period…a noisy time, and prob the most instant catchy child like melodies will be the ones that stand the test of time, the ones that still survive time in childhood refferences and a few others but i recon as much as people get so caught up in it all being so complex and sub genres that say you cant do this or that get lessened and forgotten over time and its just a blur. i remb this when writting, its so easy to get hung up listen to the latest thing and get a bit scared , question yourself, but its kind of a trick , im not entirely clear on what im saying , being a bit vague, but it helps me not to get too hung up on myself and just get on with it all, i like ref old classical, cause at the time i would of got so hung up going oh mozarts so good, i cant do that, but in retro spect its a sync
“when i say it all sounds the same – i mean the palette” Anonymous
Yes, most of us use the 12 half-tone palette. Like an artist using the basic colors; a never-ending amount of totally unique pictures (and colors) can be created. The same for the composer. An endless amount of tone colors can be created from the 12 half-tones.
The “palette” contains the artist’s raw materials. There are other palettes for the composer consider,i.e.,the quarter-tone palette. However the quarter-tone palette contains tones as well, so I imagine you would draw the same conclusion.
We do have limitations here on Earth. For instance; can you imagine a new basic color? Don’t think it can exist in the realm of Earth’s possibilities.
John (The Other John),
You’re wasting your time, arguing against stream of consciousness gibberish. If it “all sounds the same,” then the listener is not discerning the differences.
Certainly, when the instruments are the same or, as in out time, the “sounds” are the same, there will be the appearance of similarity. However, when comparing tracks side by side, I can tell which “epic” cut is the real deal, and which, although made with the same sounds, is clueless.
I think it comes down to not knowing what you don’t know. But… that leads into entirely different discussions as to whether it even matters in our culture, because the average person, the consumers can’t tell the difference between real and fake or good and bad.
32 dimensions? what physics have you studied?
Even in M-theory it postulates a maximum of 11 dimensions…or do you know something that Stephen Hawkins doesn’t?
oh god – you got me there, maybe it was only 11. i saw it on a science documentary, but who knows it’ll be 999 dimensions in a few years time prob, its always changing.
@Jello
I don’t want to shatter your illusions, but I’ve probably been doing this since before you were born. I’ve written for many libraries –all exclusive in the US, the UK and Australia. I write in many styles because I can, AND because the libraries ask me to.
Personally, I think that cranking “East West with Storm Drum ostinato” is crap writing, but it works for a certain audience. Some people specialize in, and are the very best at, creating virtual orchestras AND they’re work IS brilliant.
With respect to non-exclusives, you over generalize. There are some fairly heavy Hollywood cats that sell tracks on non-exclusive and even “royalty free” sites. If they weren’t making any money they wouldn’t be there.
The business is defined by economics. The non-exclusives exists because they fill a need. There are hundreds of thousands of media producers who produce a broad spectrum of programming, including countless non-braodcast products. They all use music. The fact is that the small corporate user will not pay top $$ for exclusive top tier library license fees when they can get very good tracks for $34.95 and use them forever. Go to Shockwave or Royalty Free Music and look for tracks by Jason Livesay for a reality check.
One thing that you should learn from this website is that there are no absolutes.
The whole exclusive/non-exclusive, top tier yadda yadda yadda is just ego crap. Check it at the door if you;re in it for the long run.
@John (the other John)
You’re correct. Brilliance is not required. In fact brilliance can be an impediment to connecting with the mass audience. Brilliance is for concert music which I also write,but probably not very well because it’s yet another genre. 😉
The problem with being a one trick pony is longevity. If your only “brilliant” at the musical flavor of the month your days are numbered, because your style will be yesterday’s news before you know it.
“The non-exclusives exists because they fill a need” – Anonymous
Exactly!
If a track works in a film/TV scene, that’s the bottom line for most clients. They could care less if it’s been used in other films. I’ve heard “Unchained Melody” in several films. It doesn’t stop film producers from using it again and again.
I think this non-exclusive issue is way blown out of proportion. The music either works or it doesn’t.
@Jello. OK, where do I start.
You have made a lot of broad statements and assumptions. Not everyone is able, or wants, to “sort out” an 80 piece orchestral session. Though I have never produced an 80 piece session I have produced 30 to 40 piece sessions and hundreds of smaller ones and, for me, the thrill is gone! I enjoy sitting in front of a computer and creating music in a variety of genres. I do have the advantage to have played many styles of music either in bands or as a session player so that helps. Is it the greatest music in the world? Probably not but that is very subjective and I find that almost everything I write does sell and get used somewhere.
As far as non-exclusives go, I do think there is a way to make money with that business model. Am I making $100k a year? Far from it but each year does get better and better. I’m also stubborn and hard headed enough to think I can make it work!
Just my 2 pennies worth.