Best approach to getting placements (esp. TV/film) for a band?

[Dogged]

I’m working with a *very* indie band–unsigned, and not likely ever to be signed. Their music, however, is totally straightforward pop, with absolutely endless potential for placements in just about anything. I don’t have any samples of the music handy, but trust me, this stuff absolutely can be and should be bringing in a steady stream of revenue for the band. With no connections, no label and no one to represent the work to music supervisors, what are our options for getting some placements?

The pay-to-play services (removed by moderator) seem like a crapshoot, and none of us have the time to do the necessary networking to go after music supervisors ourselves. Libraries would seem to be the only remaining avenue of any promise. But how promising are they really, in this situation? (This is where you fine folks and your expertise come in!) The exclusive libraries are clearly no good, because all of the music is going to be on iTunes, the band’s YouTube channel, etc. They need to be free to do as they wish with the songs. RF libraries could technically work, but it seems like a bit of a waste, since many of these songs quite honestly have some real potential to turn into huge hits if they get some exposure, and we don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where interest begins to surge, right after the band has just given away perpetual use on their entire catalog to the entire world for pocket change! Also, we’re talking about a small collection of songs here, and it’s my understanding that the RF model isn’t at all lucrative unless one puts together a large library of tracks, which won’t be happening in this case.

That would only seem to leave re-titling libraries. Here, I could definitely see us finding success, but would the re-titling itself cause problems for the band? These songs are like their children, and they won’t risk anything that might jeopardize the legal status of the catalog. If there is a fourth category of library that I’m overlooking, please do enlighten me.

I’ve also been told that, aside from the library scene per se, there’s a sort of parallel industry in which bands and other career-oriented artists can have their music represented to music supervisors for film/TV sync. I suppose this would come under the heading of publishing administration or A&R, but it’s certainly nothing to do with the Taxi-style pay-to-play model. Alas, I don’t know the first thing about that sector of the industry, or even whether it truly exists, so any information whatsoever on that would help a lot.

I know I’ve written a book here, so a HUGE thank you to anyone who’s actually bothered to read this far. I’m thrilled to be a member here and I know that some of the mind-bogglingly experienced professionals on board will clear up a lot of our confusion on all this. So, thank you in advance!

[Art Munson]

@dogged: Please start here:

Newbie Info

[Dogged]

Art,

Thanks for your reply. I actually just got done doing a pretty careful read-through of the newbie info, along with a wide range of other wonderful posts here. In fact, had it not been for all that, I wouldn’t have known nearly enough to formulate my question here in the first place, so thanks for that as well! I must confess I don’t entirely see how my particular angle on this warrants a “check the newbie info”. I’ve tried not to be too clueless here, but it certainly is possible that I missed something embarrassingly obvious, and if that’s the case, a gentle pointer toward the post(s) that address the particular issues I’ve raised here should be more than helpful. The “will re-titling be a problem” question that I touched upon has certainly been discussed to death here and elsewhere, but perhaps not in quite this context, and in any case it was more of an aside than anything else. Anyway, I do apologize for any inadvertent numbskullery on my part.

[Desire_Inspires]

Maybe this info will help:

4 Steps to Film and TV Placement

Next Steps to Music Licensing

[Dogged]

Desire Inspires,

Thanks for the suggestions! I’m always eager to have new primers, anecdotes and tidbits of advice. Having done an initial read-through of the two articles, they do contain some interesting food for thought here and there, but I’m running into the same problem I have with most of the other advice and guidance I’ve encountered, which is that in this case it’s a matter of a band having a small but significant catalog of music, already done and released, and most forms of exclusivity aren’t really going to be practical. That’s why my current hunch is that re-title libraries and perhaps certain kinds of publishing admin agreements (or some such thing) may be the only workable options. But I’m so out of my depth here that I’m a bit paralyzed and need to get some sense of whether I’m even remotely on the right track. I also note that the single most central pillar of the strategy advocated in the articles you’ve linked is pay-to-play (per submission opportunity, connection opportunity, etc.) In our case, some money actually IS there for that, and we’d do it for sure if not for the constant warnings against that model, and its general aura of semi-legitimacy. I am most certainly open to arguments for why I should take such services seriously, though.

[Desire_Inspires]

Perhaps finding a music supervisor would be the best approach. It takes a great deal of work. But if you are serious about licensing, it will be worth it.

[Mark_Petrie]

It’s a tricky position to be in, to try and monetize tracks from an unknown band, but also keep the ‘perceived value’ of the music high should the band suddenly become huge.

I think your best bet would be to work with libraries that: actively promote their artists (who knows, maybe they’ll get discovered that way), aim for higher end licensing, and give you the option of pulling out your music at any point. Audiosocket comes to mind – they’ve been pretty good to me, but others on here bashed them a bit. Your success with them, just like with any library, depends on what their clients are looking for, and how much music you can give them.

[Advice]

Dogged
I would *NOT* rule out exclusive music libraries. Many of them are exclusive ONLY to film/TV pitches or only exclude working with other music libraries. It is very common to have music in an exclusive library and still be free to sell the same tunes on CD’s, iTunes, etc.

[Dogged]

Thrilled to hear from you, Mark! I’ve long enjoyed your work, and your input means the world to me. It also seems like you very much get where I’m coming from with this. Your take makes perfect sense, and it helps a *lot* to have a specific recommendation on a library that will hopefully be a good fit. I’ll shortlist Audiosocket, for sure. Thank you!

Needless to say, any other suggestions any of you might have, whether for specific libraries or just on which types of industry professionals I should be seeking out and which types of deals I should be looking to do, will still be of immense help. 🙂

And, to “Advice”: I had gotten the impression that copyright buyouts are typical in deals with the exclusive libraries, often with reversion clauses in the event of non-placement. If you’re telling me we can get into the exclusive libraries without taking any chance on sacrificing copyright, even temporarily, that’s wonderful news, and it definitely opens up another avenue of opportunity.

[Mark_Petrie]

I would *NOT* rule out exclusive music libraries. Many of them are exclusive ONLY to film/TV pitches or only exclude working with other music libraries. It is very common to have music in an exclusive library and still be free to sell the same tunes on CD’s, iTunes, etc.

You would need to be very careful though, i.e hire a good entertainment lawyer to look through the exclusive contract. An exclusive contract essentially hands over ownership of the music. If the band is destined to become a huge hit, it might be very difficult (or expensive) to get the rights back to the songs.

It’s not a big deal to us instrumental composers, but to a band, with all those co-writers and other potential income sources and pitfalls, fighting over who owns the copyright and / or masters could get really messy.

[Mark_Petrie]

Dogged – you’re welcome! Your mileage may vary with AS, but off the top of my head, they seem like a good place to start.

[Dogged]

And, Mark’s last point about the potential legal pitfalls in signing with the exclusives was exactly why I had figured that there might not be much potential for us there, particularly when the songs in question are property of as impassioned and headstrong a band as I’ve been fortunate enough to get mixed up with 😉

[Art Munson]

@Dogged. E-mail or PM me as I have a couple of other ideas for libraries. Discussing the various merits of libraries on the forums gets complicated as everyone has a different experience. I also like to keep those discussions restricted to their individual listing.

[Advice]

Actually, copyright assignment is not always the norm with exclusive library deals. But yes, you need to read and understand the contract carefully and a consultation with a qualified music attorney is the way to go. But done right, AFAIK, exclusive libraries can be a viable option.

I’ll leave it at that since Art is going to take this offline with you, Dogged.

[Dogged]

I’d certainly be extremely careful about any contract I might sign with an exclusive, but it’s heartening to know that there’s at least a hope of finding deals in that sector that don’t require giving away the rights. Still, the impression I’m getting so far is that our main focus would best be elsewhere.

(And thanks very much for offering up your assistance, Art! I’ve PM’ed you.)

[Author]

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