As composers, we often think that our music has to be the best of the best in order to compete with the ever-growing number of songs submitted to music libraries. We often talk about other composers devaluing the music business by flooding libraries with mediocre tracks. But don’t libraries themselves add to the problems?
Are there certain practices that you have encountered that made you feel bad about having your music placed in certain libraries? If so, how did you reconcile these issues? Are there certain characteristics of music libraries that make you steer clear?
See if you can answer these questions:
Would it be a fair deal for a songwriter to give up half of his writer’s share and all of his publisher’s to get songs placed on a popular TV show on a major television network?
Say you have music with a music library that has registered your cues with your respective PRO. If the music library issued a direct license to a TV network that did not pay a sync fee or backend royalties, would you pursue legal action against the music library and/or the TV network?
Let’s say you signed music to a major music publisher on an exclusive basis. You heard nothing from this library for a few years. One day you discover your music added to another music library that licenses songs on a retitle, non-exclusive basis. You also find those same cues on a royalty-free music library site. Would you feel betrayed?