Genres and sales……..

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  • #17578
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    Can some more experienced guys speak on the topics below. One, I was watching a video that said, essentially that a relatively small number of libraries folks are in generate much of their income. This seems to be true from what I have been seeing here. Essentially the speaker is using the 80/20 rule to roughly 80% of your income comes from 20% of your libraries? Same video suggests writing less in genres that make don’t make money but focus almost exclusively on genres that are? No need for folks to rag on the source of the video if you are aware of it please. Also for those of us in our first couple years, how long or how many tracks would you it may/could/should take to get a handle on this stuff (genres, libraries that work, etc)?

    #17579
    MichaelL
    Participant

    If you are in AS, you can look at their knowledge base. They show what percentage of their sales are represented by each genre. That’s a start.

    That said, I’m not sure that “genre chasing” is a good thing. Not many people can pull it off well.

    #17583
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    Not necessarily genre chasing persay……More like , for example, I stumbled across one that seems to be doing fairly well , at least for a start that has generated practically all my income, of course that is based on limited numbers which is why I am writing this post. I have a hard time deciphering the numbers on AS site, because the genre with the greatest sales are also the genres with the most tracks. Sales are great but if you , like myself, write several rock tracks for example, you are competing against a boatload of other rock tracks on that site. You can up the odds by writing great quality tracks and doing as they suggest, which is to take a good listen to the best selling tracks first . I’ve sold more acoustic electronic ambient sorts of tracks by far then rock tracks, although you would think having gigged in rock bands doing classic and modern pop rock/danceable rock/classic rock/ country rock for over thirty some years I would be killing in those genres or at least outselling other genres I’ve recently gotten into. Again I want to mention I am basing this info on a relatively small number of sales (around 12)and time doing this (around a year and 4 months pursuing the composer/library goal).

    #17584
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    For the record though, when I did look at their in demand genres at AS, as I’ve mentioned before , writing a waltz, it has generated close to the most amount of views there. The last track that generated close to that many views for me generated a sale.

    #17586
    GM
    Participant

    Chuck, forgive me the off-topic … how can you see how many views a single track has generated on AS? I can’t seem to find that info. All I can find is a general count of views for all my tracks combined, not a track by track count.

    Back to your topic. I am also new at this game (almost 1 year), but I have over 30 years of experience as a musician, just like you. In this past year I tried composing both in genres that I’m very familiar with (acoustic music mostly) and also other genres that I am not so familiar with. So yes, I did a little bit of “genre chasing”, so to speak. My goal in my first year was basically to try a little bit of everything and learn from it. It turns out that … it’s very hard to learn. I sold very well tracks that I thought they would never EVER sell, and never sold tracks that I thought for sure they would be best sellers. Overall, I find sales particularly difficult to predict. My best seller is a vocal track .. go figure!! Most people say that vocal tracks don’t sell, and they’re probably right. So, I still don’t know why this track is selling so well. However, other vocal tracks of mine, very similar to my best seller, don’t sell at all. Again, go figure … I have no idea. So, after a year, I pretty much decided to stop predicting, stop chasing genres (actually, I stopped chasing sales, in a way …) and to just make the best music I can. To me, this works the best – both in terms of sales (paradoxically …) and, naturally, in terms of fun. So, now I mostly compose music within my “area” of expertise, but once in a while I compose other stuff, not because I think it’s gonna sell, but because … I feel like it. I just write the best music I can, the music I want to write in that particular moment, and that’s it for me.
    I’m realizing, instead, that other things are worth my time and attention for increasing sales (because at least I have some degree of control over them), like library selection, promotion, process efficiency, etc. That’s what I’m focusing on right now, and I think it’s working for me.
    Just my 2 cents.

    #17588
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    My account-Vendor Tab – Artist Administation – Artist Reports – Play History to view plays by track. Actually I really got into liking the post rock stuff, especially where there is a bit of guitar focus, or acoustic elements (acoustic guitar /mandolin) with synth elements, pads and things. Very easy to listen to and with a potential to be really creative. My opinion is that I have to have some sort of attachment to genres I’m writing in. I also like fooling around with some more dance oriented stuff, but the results there are mixed enough where most of it doesn’t see the light of day.

    #17590
    Shadrick
    Participant

    GM im in the same boat as you. I have about 300 cues up on different libraries, with some i felt I really nailed genre wise and would be heavy hitters, while others were just kinda formula written cues i cranked out just trying to increase my track number. So far the “meh” ones ive written have been the ones selling best so far, while the ones i spent hours perfecting and mastering have been getting good views but no sales. I quit trying to predict sales a long time ago, in this music library game, nothing is certain, and the standard rules of the music industry dont really apply here. I will say however that there are a few “fringe” genres I write in for my own musical group (extreme progressive metal) and ive actually gotten licenses on those tracks, which i would of never dreamed of since you dont really hear that kinda music in most commercial broadcasts. All I can say is to write what you love to write and dont expect or try to predict anything regarding how your cues will do.

    #17591
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    I actually do like the genres I’m writing, but am just a little surprised that the ambient stuff is fairing better. I am going to continue to write the rock stuff but focus on making those mixes a bit cleaner, better production. I still feel my production chops lag my composition and playing chops. Basically the question was though if you are writing in a certain genera and do it well, do you continue to diversify or , at least for a time, focus on that genre. I have another of those that are going out the ned t day or so, but am also writing more exclusive cues for another library that happened to pretty much go exclusive since I originally signed with them.

    I realize I pretty much blog and talk too much . Trying to control that . Good advice though and thank you.

    #17594
    AaronM
    Guest

    I really like writing in whatever mood I’m in. As some have said though, sometimes it’s wise to write with a particular purpose/genre in mind. When you have a track that’s performing well, sometimes it’s good to write more of the same for a while.

    I’ve noticed that a lot of people on here speak of reality show placements. Not an area I’m very familiar with. What sort of genres are these in and are they RF, E, NE?

    #17595
    Desire_Inspires
    Participant

    I’ve noticed that a lot of people on here speak of reality show placements. Not an area I’m very familiar with. What sort of genres are these in and are they RF, E, NE?

    For me, my placements for reality shows are in electronic music, hip-hop, and pop. Most of my placements are non-exclusive.

    #17596
    gigdude
    Participant

    Aaron, I believe most any genre can find itself placed in Reality Shows. I’ve placed Jazz, Funk, Orchestral, Novelty/Quirky, Blues, Ethnic and others. They use a ton of music in each show. Mostly just a few seconds of the tune. That’s One reason you might not want your latest masterpiece symphony which you spent weeks tweaking in the libraries that serve these shows. I would say NE and Ex Libraries . RF libraries mostly do Non Broadcast usage.

    #17597
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    Seems I’ve een a lot of requests for Hillbilly/ Southern Rock type stuff and Modern Black Keys style blues rock. And TV specific stuff like tension and mood cues.

    #17598
    AaronM
    Guest

    Thanks a lot for the insight guys! Perhaps I’ve been spending too much time in RF. Maybe it’s time I branched out a bit. I’m on board with one Ex and one Ne but I never send them anything.

    #17599
    Desire_Inspires
    Participant

    I would not say royalty-free is bad, but it hasn’t been good for me. I make all my money from placements on TV shows.

    #17600
    ChuckMott
    Participant

    Based on what I’ve seen here, it seems like in general folks make significantly more from tv and film placements.

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