How many cues created on a weekly basis…

[Peter]

Extremely tiny market for that. You’ll sell a thousand corporate tracks for every “romantic sweeping symphony piece.”

Geez, and I thought they would sell as well 🙂

Will it sell because it is trendy and simple? I hope so.

very disheartening.

I don’t know that I would call P5 a “garbage” site!

Pond5 have been good to me since I started. Good site.

[MichaelL]

I don’t know that I would call P5 a “garbage” site!

I agree. Not sure why you would say that Vlad.

Now as regards Art vs. Commerce: after listening to MichaelL and Composer J I have started to try speed writing

I’ve only pointed out that there are some people who write very quickly. I do not.. I used to, when I was under deadlines. I hated it.

I can spend days, or more, on a track. Do I think that I deserve some special award for that, or that I’m creating “art?” No. But, I do want to enjoy the process.

Right now, I wish I could at the pace I did in the past.

[MichaelL]

Will it sell because it is trendy and simple? I hope so.

very disheartening.

Why? The library business is about commerce — selling functional music. In order to sell there needs to be a market for what you create.

There’s also a place for true art. It’s called a concert hall. 😉

[ChuckMott]

No, Pond 5 is probably my selling site as far as number of sales. Might even outperform several NE and Exc. sites. But I do believe quality matters there as well. Which isn’t the same thing as saying they only carry quality tracks.

[Alan]

bump

[OverDub]

I shoot for (and usually complete) 5 a week. If I was writing full time I’d be shooting for at least 15 a week.

[Vlad]

Didn’t mean to upset people with the use of the term ‘garbage’. What I meant was, marketplaces where the top selling tracks routinely go for $20-ish. And it is a very mixed bag of quality. And to those people doing well there, more power to you.

With regard to the P5 site itself, it is a great site in terms of being cutting edge/modern when looking at it from a customer standpoint.

And obviously I derailed this thread, please continue on the original topic….

I shoot for 1-2 per week of higher end content, and 1 week per month I do speed writing instead and get at least 5-8 that week.

[pcomp]

I don’t know that I would call P5 a “garbage” site!

Haha, exactly! It’s my very top earner and very consistent! There may be lots of so-so tracks on there but the site is absolutely great!

[pcomp]

I’ve only pointed out that there are some people who write very quickly. I do not.. I used to, when I was under deadlines. I hated it.

Me too (I’m Composer J). I didn’t say that I was speedwriting, I like to take my time and the tracks always sit for at least a week before finalizing mixing/mastering and uploading.

Now, I personally don’t like the sound of corporate tracks, but there is an art to making good ones. The ones doing it well, sell very well. But there are thousands that never sell.

[GM]

>Now, I personally don’t like the sound of corporate tracks, but there is an >art to making good ones. The ones doing it well, sell very well. But there >are thousands that never sell.

I agree with this. Which leads me to a more general point. I do agree that you need a market in order to sell. That’s quite obvious. But I also learned that I sell more of the genres that I can do better, that I like better. An example. I did my share of corporate tracks. I actually think they sound ok, for the most part. But I just can’t sell them. Why? I’m not sure, but my guess it’s because it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m just not “in sync” enough with that kind of market. I just can’t grasp what people want. Instead, I am much better at acoustic stuff. That’s the music I love, the music I’ve been playing for 30 years and more. That music, I can sell quite easily. The market is smaller, sure. But it’s a market in which my music better resonates with customers, and I guess it’s because it’s the music that resonates with me. I guess my point is: it’s important to be aware of what the market wants but, in the end, it’s also about whether you are able to actually translate your experience, your skills, your passion, your taste into music. I just find it much harder to sell music that I don’t really “love”, that I don’t really “know”, even if the market for that music is much bigger. But maybe it’s just me 🙂

Which leads me to my final point. I am sloooowwww 🙂
I’ll make 1 or 2 tracks per week, at the most. That’s especially true for acoustic tracks. Admittedly, I wouldn’t be able to make a decent living with just this kind of production … if music production was my only source of income, I would definitely have to produce more.

[Rob (Cruciform)]

Which leads me to my final point. I am sloooowwww 🙂
I’ll make 1 or 2 tracks per week, at the most.

Then call me a comatose snail. 🙂 I can happily take weeks on one song/cue. I could never do anything I liked in one day let alone doing 2-3 a day.

[Pat]

Thanks for posting that MichaelL. That gives me an idea of what of what we’re talking about realistically.

[Kiwi]

I’m very glad to see GM and Rob’s responses above. Right now I’m averaging about 2.5 days per track and I’m fine with that. Just so you know, I’m full time in music production but only part of that is as a writer/ composer.

About a year and a half ago I decided, after a period of “cue cranking” for a cable production company that I was becoming burnt out and dissatisfied with my output because I felt a pressure to regard quantity as highly as quality. I decided that it was time to change my approach and I wanted to get into better libraries so I began to focus on music that was predominantly played on real instruments by real players (mostly me although I’ve done some collaborations as well). Almost immediately I began to get responsiveness from libraries that seemed inaccessible before. Now I’m several albums in and I’m much much happier making production music. I don’t know what the payout will be financially yet since it’s too soon to have a scope on that but I can’t imagine that it will get worse. We’ll see.

As far as artfulness, I try to infuse as much as I reasonably can while keeping things useful. I’m very aware that this is functional music but making it as artful as possible seems to draw in the best publishers and distribution. They know the difference even if their clients don’t always.

[MichaelL]

Thanks for posting that MichaelL. That gives me an idea of what of what we’re talking about realistically.

Realistic only if that’s what you want to do musically. It’s quick, it’s functional, it will sell on RF sites.

It’s not how I work, I wish I could. I’d spend 6 months doing that, then I’d take the money and use it to finance what I really want to do.

[Peter]

I decided that it was time to change my approach and I wanted to get into better libraries so I began to focus on music that was predominantly played on real instruments by real players

Interesting, as I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing as my style is mainly around real instruments. Wouldn’t mine hearing some updates as you progress with that @Kiwi.

Using real instruments certainly does stand out in a world of sample libraries. Although most of us are talking solo instruments as I just can’t afford or fit that chamber orchestra into my home studio at the moment. I think adding something real and organic into the track just seems to add life to it.

Ideally I try and do a track a night when I come home from work but mostly I end up finishing it the next night with some minor changes. My partner is studying so we spend some time together play with the dog then retreat to our rooms to work/study. I usually get in about 4-5 hours each night. But I’m also studying orchestration so 2 nights are dedicated to home work for that.

I’m also trying for the more higher end libraries but I’ve decided to use some real instruments which will in fact take more time to complete.

Can you really have quality and quantity? – maybe not all the time. One things for sure it’s a slow road.

[Author]

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