Lots of questions …

[minkus]

Hello all! I’m a kind of veteran composer who has only just started the process of submitting to libraries. So I’ve composed for years because I love doing it but only recently figured out I could be making money from it.

This happened because a few years ago a submitted one track to a UK company as an experiment … and it got used on a UK TV show (I’m based in London). I only got £50, even though I thought it was a prime-time show (on at 6.30 in the evening on a terrestrial channel). I didn’t get any PRS/ PPL payments because I wasn’t then a member of either. I have since joined.

Since then I’ve composed around 100 tracks and I’ve now picked out some of those and put together a portfolio. Happy to post for review.

Anyway … I’ve no idea what I’m doing really so first question:

Should I send this portfolio out to all exclusive libraries at once (scattergun-approach) and wait for the best offer, or should I send out to, say five, wait a week and then send to another five … etc.? (discerning-approach)

How long should I leave my tracks with libraries before moving onto another?

I have received an offer from a London based exclusive library – I’m being cautious and last week sent my portfolio to the first five. They want to keep the music for two years (if a track has not sold more than three times in two years I can have the track back apparently). They also want a 50% share of royalties. is it fair that they get that much of the writer’s credit?

I’m especially interested in people’s views on the issue of the strategy they use for sending off tracks – as in exclusive first then non-exclusive.

Thanks – though I’m sure I’ll have more questions.

[Paolo]

Hi Minkus,

Welcome to the forum. You’ve got plenty of company – we all had similar questions when we started.

The moderator of this forum, Art Munson, has nicely assembled a section for newbies that answers many of the questions you asked…and answers questions you haven’t yet asked 🙂

Start here – enjoy!

Newbie Info

Paul

[minkus]

Yes I read those; thanks.

Nothing there really answered my question about scattergun approach vs discerning approach.

My gut is the discerning approach – as in give the exclusives time to reject my music then move on to some others.

Anyone got a view on this?

[Kiwi]

In my experience, either of the two different approaches can be appropriate but, these days, I generally prefer the discerning approach. I find the scattergun approach to be more appropriate when submitting to what I think of as “upload oriented” libraries that don’t usually have a lot of personal contact. They either accept the music as is or they don’t and you either accept their agreement as it is or you move on. There’s not much interaction and they don’t seem to be offended if the tracks aren’t available after a period of time.

Over the last couple of years I’ve been aiming at higher end libraries (including some old school UK exclusives) and my experience is that they tend to be a lot more relationship oriented with much more of an ongoing conversation. I’ve definitely learned to take the discerning approach with these types of libraries. I learned this the hard way when I sent out some music last spring to a handful of companies and got a great response almost immediately. This was fantastic and I was thrilled to have opportunities and choices but I could only pick one of them and unfortunately I alienated another by not being able to follow through. Now I try to be more careful and to go slow starting with who I most want to work with and going out from there. It’s still tricky though because people are busy and sometimes can’t respond. It’s not unusual to have someone get back to me 6 months later and say “Hey, are these tracks still available?” But, in that case, I have a very solid excuse if the tracks aren’t available and no one tends to get offended in that scenario. I’ve also found that if tracks are no longer available these sorts of libraries will sometimes ask for similar tracks when they are available. I love it when this happens because I then have some direction and a chance to build a new relationship without having to shop around.

My approach is to go slow, have a plan and stick to it and to try as hard as I can to never be guided by emotion – this is a slow steady game. Oh, and always be as nice as possible. That’s never a bad way to go.

[Art Munson]

Hi minkus.

Welcome to the world of production music!

The approach to exclusive submissions has been discussed a number of times here and there seems to be no definitive answer. I would say trust your gut.

I only got £50, even though I thought it was a prime-time show (on at 6.30 in the evening on a terrestrial channel).

Don’t know what the going rate is in the U.K. but there are a number of PRS composers here and they may be able to answer that question.

They also want a 50% share of royalties. is it fair that they get that much of the writer’s credit?

Are sure they are asking for 50% of writers or the publishing royalty share? If the it’s just the publishing share (50% of total royalties) then that is not unusual.

You might also check this out. https://musiclibraryreport.com/forums/topic/exclusive-vs-non-exclusive-strategy/

[Tbone]

In the UK 50/50 on total broadcast royalties (otherwise known as PRS or performing) is normal at all libraries I’ve dealt with. We don’t say 50% of “the writer’s share” we just say 50% of broadcast which is your complete writer’s share.

Your £50 may have come from the MCPS license fee. I’m not sure how Sentric works so I don’t know for sure. As an individual composer in the UK you can’t and are not supposed to join MCPS normally – the library is an MCPS member, collects the total MCPS fee and then gives you your %. Less than 50% on MCPS is not unheard of, particularly on big opportunities.

So your monies…

MCPS: Channel 4 primetime could well be £50 in MCPS – I’ve had less for similar things. But don’t know for sure in your situation.

PRS: I think it’s about £30/minute for Channel 4 primetime, very approximately. (You can look this up on the PRS website somewhere). Depending on how often it aired and how long your music played for in each airing you could have missed out on a little bit. Very difficult to say without cue sheets.

Which library in London have you got an offer from?

I recommend the discerning approach. Also, call up the library and ask them what they are looking for right now. Then submit that if you have it.

[Desire_Inspires]

I would go with the discerning approach as well, but only for submitting music. My first thing would be to use the scattergun approach and make initial contact with as many libraries as possible.

A brief message describing your music and asking if they are taking submissions should work. Some will not respond and others will state that they are not seeking music. The libraries that respond with interest are the ones you should submit music to. If you have 10-14 tracks in a particular style they need, then submit.

As far as the royalty split, the library probably means that they get the publishers share of royalties and you get the writers share of royalties. That is how most music libraries work.

Good luck and have fun!

[minkus]

Thanks everyone. It’s the performance royalty – my mistake.

Here ’tis.

We pay the composer 50% of the download fee for each track that is used by our clients. Of any performance royalties earned as a result of usage, we share these with you 50/50, so again 50% to you and 50% to us.

[Author]

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