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Hello all,
I’m relatively new to the world of actually trying to make money in the library business, however I have been a dedicated musician and audio engineer for a couple decades now. No placements for me yet, but I’m aware that I’ll need a lot of cues out there and that this takes time.
My business skills are still very much in development, so I’ve really appreciated the folks who have been willing to share their expertise in this area.
So, on to the question: Right now I have about 10 cues put together. I’m feeling pretty good about them, and some or all have been accepted into a number of non-exclusive libraries like Crucial, MIBE, Getty, etc. Getting accepted doesn’t seem like too much of an issue for me so far.
What is an issue is the amount of time required to submit new tracks to the growing number of libraries I’m contracted with. I find that, as I’m accepted into more libraries, the submission process really cuts into the time I would normally spend producing music.
For those of you who deal with a lot of non-exclusive tracks, how many libraries to you generally maintain catalogs with? Financially speaking, does anyone have an opinion regarding how many libraries it’s worth regularly uploading new tracks to before you reach the point of diminishing returns?
Thanks,
Matt
None. Only deal with exclusives. Non-exclusives have made me almost no money.
None. Only deal with exclusives. Non-exclusives have made me almost no money.
On the other hand I have made way more with my non-exclusives than exclusives.
It’s been about 50/50 for me. I started out working only with non-exclusive libraries. As time passed I started to figure out which ones worked for me and which ones don’t. I probably work with about 10 non-exclusive libraries and 4 exclusive libraries now. The ones that I keep around are usually the ones that have made me consistent quarterly income and have a relatively easy submission process.
In regards to your issue about not having enough time, I created a calendar that I follow. Each day is a different task (i.e. instrumental cue day, vocal song day, submission day, misc day, etc) and each week the tasks are in a different order so it lessens the monotony.
I’m with Art here. Not only have I made more money with N/E, but I’ve had plenty of cues collecting dust in exclusive libraries, that I could otherwise be making money with else where. This is a common occurrence sadly with others as well.
Also, if you’ve poked around here, you’ll notice that a theme that gets repeated is that there’s no one formula for success in this business. There are so many variables it’s impossible to say what can or can’t make you money. It’s A LOT of trial and error unfortunately.
FWIW, in my experience it comes down to fostering a relationship with a library(s), whether or not they are exclusive is arbitrary. If you can get in good with a library who can place your music consistently, and who sends you briefs for more material, then that is, at least in my limited experience, gold.
edit: oh and in regards to submission taking a long time, I’m with dCsoulplusmind. Another way to cut down on time is to keep an updated metadata spreadsheet so you can easily copy and paste if a library requires you to do your own (an increasingly more common situation unfortunately)
@Squidward obviously composers make money from both, if not, neither would exist. The sensible thing is to diversify and spread your catalogue. There are no absolutes in this game.
I worked with non-exclusives when I first started out… Now I work with the big hitter exclusive libraries. I just don’t see a reason to send your tracks to non-exclusives. If your tracks are good enough to be in Megatrax, APM, 5 Alarm, etc etc all the top libraries… Then sign to those libraries. [Moderator removed unnecessary snarky remark. A good way to get banned Squidward!]
Squidward, I recently got two albums accepted in to Sonoton. Do you consider them a top Ex? They are connected with APM. My only hesitation is that they are exclusive in perpetuity.
Yeah, Mojo.. I definitely would. Congrats on that! They’re represented by APM/Imagem. That’s a great place to be.
And I should add that it didn’t take me too long to move from working with non-exclusives, to working with big hitter libraries. Only took about 2 years for me to do that.. As my music got better, I worked with better libraries.
Squidward, 2 years and now you’re working with the top libraries? I’m still trying to get there after 3 years of music licensing lol.
Hi Squidward
Could you tell me wich exclusive libraries have been more succesfull with your music?
Thanks!
J