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Sorry for the long post..I received this e-mail and i would like to ask for some help about how we deal with this?
Greetings!
I’m an indie game developer and am in the process of creating my first game. I’m very far into the project and am in need of a song to use for my game’s menu screen.
I was on Pond5.com and found this particular song that you had created:
“LINK”
It’s a beautiful song. Very nice work.
I’m not an attorney, so I’m having a hard time understanding Pong5’s commercial policy. Since you’re the owner of this song, what would you charge to give me rights to use this song in a game that I’m making? When this game is completed, I will be selling the game via digital download at Steam.com. Your song would be the game’s menu theme.
Thank you! I’m really looking forward to your response!Some information that might help:
1. This is a well produced world/ethnic track produced in a top notch studio. (only real instruments)
2. The price in Pond5 is 69$ and sells relatively well
3. Googling client’s name found only 284 results? have received similar email again, so I always wondered: Provided we agree on the price what should i send to him, certifying that he legally purchased the track from me?
Are there any templates of something like “Proof of Purchase”?Thank you for your time!
Pond 5 has sales people and a music director to handle this. E mail pond 5 support and ask them to negotiate the license terms based on how popular the game may become. If this is an independent game developer, perhaps the game will be played by hundreds. If this were done for X box and be a smash hit game that sells millions of copies, that should be reflected in the license being sold.
Simply stated: Big client with big bucks = charge as much a you can get away with, always quote very, very high. Small client with few clients typically =’s smaller license fee, unfortunately maybe the $69 license would work. Try to at least sell the premium license, and Pond 5, if you are listening here, the premium license needs to be higher or introduce “custom quote” so these scenarios can be negotiated.
It sounds like this customer is ready to spend more than $69, so it woulb be a shame to foolishly leave money on the table, but that’s the nature of stock music. It always disgusts me when national TV spots in the USA hit the airwaves for a petty $50 to $300 sync license. SAD! PATHETIC! SHAMEFUL! RECKLESS!
But I don’t know who to blame because composers are complicit in these stupidities. We all have collectively devalued ourselves to cheap commodities. I always come from the school of thought that it just takes some balls to ask for more money. Just ask for it! The worst thing that will happen is they will counter offer. I can tell from the letter that this customer wants your track no matter what, so you have the upper hand.
“what should i send to him, certifying that he legally purchased the track from me? Are there any templates of something like “Proof of Purchase”?”
Literally just google “music license agreement template”. Fill in the relevant info for both parties and make sure to get their signature on a copy. Too easy! And then there are plenty of invoice templates online if you need more for your records. Heck, you can even create invoices via PayPal.
I love your thought process.. really enjoyed reading this post.
I’m new to this field but I am seeing that our devaluing ourselves by going to these companies that give us few little for our hard work, in the long run, is going to be even worse for us. Are there any Music Libraries that you’d recommend checking out that don’t have these practices and where composers can do well if they have the right music?
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