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Hi all..Im sure everyone has different experiences and opinions on this, so in your opinion how long do you give a specific library before evaluating its fit for you? and would you base it on views/hits, placements, or money earned? 6months?, 1 year?, 3 years?
And would you place a request to pull out or just leave your tracks there to automatically renew and hope things might turn around in the future?
I guess this pertains to NE RF & Traditional Libraries with short terms since you cant pull out of an RF/E/NE with perpetuity….thanks
that’s a great question and also a difficult one. for me i think 1 year to 2 years is enough to know if a library is gonna work for you. but there are other important factors you need to consider such as do you have a good relationship with the library, do they respond to your emails or calls. is your music a good fit for that library? are they curating the music they accept and not just interested in getting a huge catalogue? do they actually get placements?
i’m still fingering this all out but one thing that is definitely true that was told to me early on is that this is a slooooowwww game.
that’s a great question and also a difficult one. for me i think 1 year to 2 years is enough to know if a library is gonna work for you. but there are other important factors you need to consider such as do you have a good relationship with the library, do they respond to your emails or calls. is your music a good fit for that library? are they curating the music they accept and not just interested in getting a huge catalogue? do they actually get placements?
Good morning to all. The unfortunate thing here is that it literally takes about 2 years to see if the Library(s) that you have “entrusted with your masterpiece’s is really a good fit for you”..
Some of the original libraries I am with were sending out reports (along with a check for a portion of the Needle Drops, and Blankets Licenses) that would let you know your where you stood; and how many licenses you were getting each quarter. This was VERY helpful to see what to expect; and as well what styles you should write more cues/tracks in!
Now, it seems that everyone is “hush hush & almost covert as to how, and if they are getting a decent number of placements/licenses for their composers”..
I usually work towards being optimistic, but I am starting to side with LAWriter. These are NOT the days of old, and the “influx of a large number of VERY hungry & naive composers/writers” is making the once transparent libraries change how they are conducting their business.
Some of the original libraries I am with were sending out reports (along with a check for a portion of the Needle Drops, and Blankets Licenses) that would let you know your where you stood; and how many licenses you were getting each quarter. This was VERY helpful to see what to expect; and as well what styles you should write more cues/tracks in!
You got a point there. I can’t even say if any of my Exclusives give a report, statistics, needle drops, syncs, etc.
Gee, come to think about it, the most recent placement I actually knew about was hearing it one of my favorite shows 🙂 .
However, I would not get caught up in a depression about “The good old days”. Be original, and an innovator. If you continue writing for the industry norm, you become the industry norm.
Not all of the newer composers are “Naive” or ignorant about the business. I believe the leaps in recording technology are evening the playing field.
“Back in the day”, rounded and experienced people like LA writer where poundidng away on their Studer 24 track tape machine and Neve console.
Nower days, kids are using pre-baked samples on their iPad and writing “Music”. It may not sound fair but it’s now reality.
Not all of the newer composers are “Naive” or ignorant about the business. I believe the leaps in recording technology are evening the playing field.
Not meaning Naive towards business, but just settling for a “Much Lower Standard of what is appropriate in this business!” Meaning, they are settling for some rather crappy terms, and a LOT of the Lower-to-Mid Tier Libraries are mainly concerned with how many pieces of music they have in the catalog(s) so they can entice music/cue licensors with “numbers”..
Nower days, kids are using pre-baked samples on their iPad and writing “Music”. It may not sound fair but it’s now reality
To be honest, pretty much all of the “O.G’s/Triple O.G’s” know this! It is what is keeping us sustaining a decent-to-fairly good living still! “Reality, and the $10.00-25.00 cues are all that music is getting. As well, it is keeping those writers OUT of the Top Tier, and Custom Writing Gigs”..
Getting Five Figure, and Six Figure Monies playing “The Stock Market” is not going to ever happen. I keep saying.. “They don’t want music their pre-teen kids could make. They would have their kids make it!! Big Money takes BIG SKILLS!!”
“Back in the day”, rounded and experienced people like LA writer where pounding away on their Studer 24 track tape machine and Neve console.
No offense, because I am just coming from an honest place. My friend, WE are in a very strange, and unique time. We call ourselves O.G’s to show how long we’ve been in this. But here is the catch. We know the Old School & The New School; and are able to mix/match/blend/utilize in a way that the majority of the “New Breeds” can’t do..
I usually work towards being optimistic, but I am starting to side with LAWriter. These are NOT the days of old,
Actually, I AM optimistic, but I’m not optimistic that old paradigm ways of doing business will survive. The jury is out on the new paradigm and how much it will actually pay, but the opportunities are hugely greater.
“Back in the day”, rounded and experienced people like LA writer where poundidng away on their Studer 24 track tape machine and Neve console.
Ha! I wish. MCI here, and the Neve was a dream away……
Old paradigm – again, this is MUSIC LIBRARY REPORT and that’s the context I am commenting on – I’m not a rock star or popular artist – the Old paradigm – you sign an EXCLUSIVE contract – in perpetuity, get paid $1000+ per song, write 10+ songs, hire musicians and produce and mix the songs, turn them over to music library who now owns your master(s) and your copyright(s). Maybe you have some money left over from the buyout, maybe you don’t.
The “old school” way to “make money” on that paradigm is on Back End PRO royalties. Unless there is serious forward motion on the Streaming Royalty department, or unless TV shows and films quit signing over content to Netflix, Hulu, etc., that paradigm is apparently in very serious trouble – at least for the writer. My estimates based on both my music and a few trusted writer friends is that BMI is paying approx. 1/100th what they pay during a quarter for streaming (ALL streaming) as compared to what a cable show would make a quarter. It’s a rough guesstimate, but accurate enough to be extremely scary. Even if I”m 90% off, it’s still a disaster. Music Library’s based on that paradigm can still earn income by doing blankets and needle drops, although they will inevitably take a serious hit as well. But it’s the writers who will suffer the most.
The “new paradigm” – for me at least – is to keep my copyrights, retain ownership of my masters, and use any and all avenues possible to monitize them – focusing primarily on front end sync’s until streaming gets worked out. Getting 1/3-1/2 of my current PRO income in up-front sync’s – for me – is looking way better than 1/100th of my current PRO royalties 5 years down the road.
History and business has shown that ownership of content is where the money is at. It may be small money or it may be large money, but if you don’t own your content and are reliant on streaming royalties to survive….well, I’ll remain optimistic and let you draw your own conclusion.
At any rate, there are new ways of doing business, and this business is changing way faster than I can even grasp. Those who are determined to hold on to the past….well, history shows pretty clearly where they tend to end up.
We desperately need a union, a guild or some form of organization that is forward thinking, not trying to pull in old money for old composers, and one who is dedicated to forging new pathways for up and coming writers. Some organization that will stick up for us and lobby for us. I do not see that on the horizon however. I think at this point it’s every man/woman for him/her self….
We desperately need a union, a guild or some form of organization that is forward thinking, not trying to pull in old money for old composers, and one who is dedicated to forging new pathways for up and coming writers. Some organization that will stick up for us and lobby for us. I do not see that on the horizon however. I think at this point it’s every man/woman for him/her self….
Very interesting. In most productions, the Actors, Lighting Staff, Set designer, Wardrobe, Grip, etc, all get pain for every show but somehow, the people who create the music for the show are treated like third class citizens.
Some of the recent discussions here keep bringing to mind an article from Sound On Sound in the early 90s (might have been earlier) proposing a Musicians Revolutionary Army!! Can’t remember who wrote the article but I wrote to him, fully prepared to get “tooled-up” and take no hostages – he told me he was working on it from the inside! Maybe it is now finally time for the MRA 🙂
Brother SteveW, I TOO AM READY TO FIGHT FOR THE CAUSE!!!
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