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Guys
the more i work in the music library world, the more I make that simple analysis : the biggest or most well known library are not the best payers..
I earn more money with independant music library, not very well known, than all the big library like BMG, Universal, Immediate Music, Extreme Music… (they are actually the worst! not had a single placement in 4 years)
Actually, I had decent placements with universal,but iit’s certainly not what I dreamed of.I’m talking about TV placements and back end royalties (with PRO), I’m not talking about royalty free library.
I’ve had the opposite experience – just talking royalties (like not including trailer libraries generating sync fees), the big ones like you listed have been by far the biggest earners for me.
For me the big libraries have been the best (Universal, APM). Everyone has different experiences I guess!
I guess it must be all over the map then…. Long term, continual money making placements? The best of the smaller boutique libraries that I’m associated with have out-earned the bigger libraries like the ones listed above ten to one.
Do you all have roughly the same number of tracks at majors vs boutiques? Or at least enough at each to make a rough estimate per track? I feel like (just a wild guess) anything under 20 tracks at a single library isn’t enough to really know.
They are all over the map. Hundreds, no, I guess thousands of tracks. I haven’t done a “scientific” study, but the majority of placements for me seem to come mostly from one smaller boutique library.
I think the comparison of big labels vs boutique libraries and the performance a composer experiences with either probably depends a lot on:
– what genres you’re writing, and the demand, shelf life etc for those genres
– if your music is in the core library as opposed to a sub-label
– how polished it is… like is it recorded live, has a pro mix etc.
– and to be blunt, how good it is – the potential for re-use, better placements (themes etc).