Non exclusive to exclusive

[Art Munson]

But…Art and DI, what if a colleague approaches you and says “Hey, I am onto this opportunity…send me a track that has “blank” sound and I’ll split the fee with you if they buy it.”

I’m with DI. First I don’t plan to have many in exclusives to begin with. More of a test run to see if it actually makes a difference in dollars. And, I would never send a colleague a track that was exclusive to someone else. What would be the point? Just easier to write something new.

[More advice]

Only if there is time to write something new…

[Art Munson]

Only if there is time to write something new…

I don’t have a lot of experience in the music library world compared to many but I have learned that a lot of “what ifs” have very seldom, if ever, materialized, at least for me. I have always followed my gut instinct and I can’t say it’s ever let me down. So, I party on. 🙂

[Desire_Inspires]

I don’t have a lot of experience in the music library world compared to many but I have learned that a lot of “what ifs” have very seldom, if ever, materialized, at least for me. I have always followed my gut instinct and I can’t say it’s ever let me down. So, I party on.

+1. I can’t and will not worry about every “opportunity”. Those opportunities are like trying to hit the lotto for most musicians anyway. It is better to work on the things I can control.

[MichaelL]

Only if there is time to write something new…

Unless you’re talking about an immediate, within a few minutes, deadline I don’t see a problem. Back in the dark ages, I regularly got jobs in the morning, produced the cue and shipped it out on Fedex, later the same day. Being able to write/produce two minutes per day is a reasonable pace for film/TV composing.
@ DI, it’s not necessarily like “winning the lotto.” I regularly get calls from editors, asking if I have a specific kind of cue in MY library. If I have it, I send it off via yousendit in minutes. If I don’t have it, there’s usually few days lead time, so there’s plenty of time to write what they want. The cue then goes into one of my libraries.

_Michael

[Desire_Inspires]

@MichaelL, you have a wealth of experience and knowledge. Hopefully I will attain your level of success one day. Until then….

[Scary_Bodega]

If I have it, I send it off via yousendit in minutes. If I don’t have it, there’s usually few days lead time, so there’s plenty of time to write what they want. The cue then goes into one of my libraries.

This is almost invariably my experience.

[Tv composer guy]

I’m with more advice here, you guys are playing right into the publishers hands. Have you asked them outright which projects are strictly exclusive? They always say something vague like if your tracks are exclusive, you will get pitched to the ‘exclusive opportunites’, without actually telling you what exclusive opportunities they have.

I state again, I have custom composed music for a prime time network show, I signed a non exclusive deal with the production company & I kept the publishing, Jay stated earlier that his non exclusive track got used on a network show. Don’t sign your life away. Yeah sure, you could just write another track, but why not also use the tracks that you already have for opportunities you find yourself, or other markets (royalty free). Don’t blindly fall in line, just because the gate keepers tell you to…

[MichaelL]

you have a wealth of experience and knowledge. Hopefully I will attain your level of success one day. Until then….

Thanks DI.

This reply is not directed at any one individual. So, no flaming trolls please… I’ll only say this because it’s relevant to the subject of exclusive v. non-exclusive, and not to put forth an argument for or against.

I reached the point where an editor will call me for a cue from my library because of relationships and friendships that developed through working with exclusive libraries, for years. To be sure, the situation is different from the current argument because those exclusive libraries paid for every cue.

But, in a traditional exclusive situation, there are a lot of intangible benefits, that may not be known for years, one of which is “open doors.” In more than one instance, if I had gone into it with a major attitude, demanded a lot of upfront money, and non-exclusivity I would have lost incredible opportunities, for what, so that I could still offer those cues to someone else? That would have been a huge mistake.

Whether or not those intangible benefits exist in the new “no money upfront” exclusive model, I can’t say. Does the risk outweigh the possible benefit?

This is a business, and business involves risk. Do what works for you, and what you’re comfortable with. Some roads are dead ends. Some opportunities don’t pan out. And sometimes the rewards for taking a risk are greater than you can imagine.

Develop relaionships. Be a professional, not a prima donna. You won’t regret it.

Best wishes for your future success DI.

_Michael

[Desire_Inspires]

I state again, I have custom composed music for a prime time network show, I signed a non exclusive deal with the production company & I kept the publishing, Jay stated earlier that his non exclusive track got used on a network show. Don’t sign your life away. Yeah sure, you could just write another track, but why not also use the tracks that you already have for opportunities you find yourself, or other markets (royalty free). Don’t blindly fall in line, just because the gate keepers tell you to…

Well how do I go about getting these opportunities? I always hear about these things happening for others. I just do not see the chance for me writing for a network show outside of a music library.

And I do not understand how I am being taken advantage of by a library, especially those that have helped me to make money from placements in the past. Is signing with a library exclusively really that bad? I thought the big libraries (PMA libraries) were all exclusive. I have heard of guys making a lot of money from those companies. I don’t think they share license fees with composers.

I don’t know. You guys make some great arguments for staying non-exclusive, but I do not think that will work for me. I simply do not have the connections or money to fly out to LA or NY for conferences. I am not going to worry about it. Doing what I am doing will not jeopardize me. I may make less money, but the stress of chasing down strangers to get my music placed does not seem worthy to me.

Thanks all!

[Advice]

Develop relationships. Be a professional, not a prima donna. You won’t regret it.

Very well said! I think what people forget in this whole discussion about whether or not TV producers will accept non-exclusive or only exclusive is it can very much depend on WHO is providing the music. That’s what the phrase “trusted source” is all about. If you are a composer who they have dealt with directly over the years and they feel is a reliable, trustworthy, professional… well that carries a lot of weight. Some newbie who contacts them out of the clear blue with attitude… not the same. A library such as C***** with an impeccable reputation? Or another also ran library full of the same tracks as everyone else?

Another point is end users are probably more concerned when dealing with libraries as far as exclusivity then trusted composers. They know that libraries are full of duplicate tracks right now. And library conflicts are more on the radar. That’s not to say that a composer can’t give them a track that’s also in libraries and cause an issue. But I think (in some cases! Not Gospel!) non-exclusive libraries are getting a bad image with them right now.

I get annoyed when people view libraries switching to exclusive as the “big bad libraries” trying to give us a raw deal. They are doing what they need to do to survive as businesses in an extremely competitive market with low margins. If their businesses didn’t need these changes, they wouldn’t do it. However, we all have choices. I personally don’t sign a lot of exclusives yet.

As Michael said, do what works for you. It won’t be the same for everyone…. And be a pro. Avoid attitude. That will always bite you in the butt.

[Tbone]

If you are in the music library business as a composer, then the top libraries, for instance: KPM, De Wolfe, Extreme and so on, will only accept your music exclusively. If you have excellent music and want to make more money from music libraries, in general you will need to go exclusive.

If you want to contact sups directly or any such thing, then sure, go non-exclusive with those tracks.

From my experience, I’ve never met anyone who is in non-exclusive libraries only who makes over 100k a year. On the other hand, I know of, and also personally know, various people making much more than that purely from exclusive libraries.

I have no problem with exclusivity provided the library a) pays me something up front to show they’re serious and/or b) has a good track record (you can find this out by contacting other composers on their roster etc).

[moimy selfundich]

Are you sure? I mean, I made 3 sales at pond5 last year and yooka let me upload 17,000 trax

[More advice]

Regarding: “If there is time…” This happened in the last 2 hours:

1:19 PM E-mail for a cue request comes in today from a client.
1:25 PM I listen through the sample sent and then my own stuff.
2:00 Pm 6 tracks up-loaded by me based on the brief/ youtube link
2:05 PM I write back “sending a few over” in a bit.
2:15 PM response “I already sent some of your stuff, they were really in a hurry on this”…

This is not an effective way to work….

[Tv composer guy]

Well how do I go about getting these opportunities? I always hear about these things happening for others. I just do not see the chance for me writing for a network show outside of a music library.

Easy, contact music supervisors directly, like MichaelL said (he was talking about exclusive libraries though) slowly build relationships & be professional & on time, one thing always leads to another & it takes time.

And I do not understand how I am being taken advantage of by a library, especially those that have helped me to make money from placements in the past. Is signing with a library exclusively really that bad? I thought the big libraries (PMA libraries) were all exclusive. I have heard of guys making a lot of money from those companies. I don’t think they share license fees with composers.

I have tracks signed with exclusive libraries, most are members of the
PMA. Of all the libraries I have tracks signed with, the 2 the start with J & S (both non exclusive) majorly outperform the exclusive libraries. Some of the exclusive libraries haven’t made me a cent & some my best tracks are signed with them (my opinion), it disappoints me that I cannot do anything with the tracks as they are signed away for life exclusively, I can’t even pitch the tracks myself directly to music supervisors without the libraries taking 1/2. These libraries also look down upon retitling, even though they have partaken in it themselves.

They are doing what they need to do to survive as businesses in an extremely competitive market with low margins

Low margins? They don’t pay for any of the music they represent. Yes they have staff, rent to pay & a website to maintain, but so does every business. They could have banded together & set a minimum price for licensing a track (like other countries do) rather than under cutting each other all the time.

I’m only trying to show another point of view & hopefully educate newer composers to not sign their cues away for life in the vein hope of making big money, just because the library is exclusive. I also hope this does not become the industry norm, where everything is exclusive. I don’t believe in retitling, it’s like calling a lemon an orange & selling it as an orange, only for the customer to find out they bought a lemon. Non exclusive works if the track titles stay the same & a prefix is added to the title. This is what the big libraries do when they sign sub publishing deals with other libraries in different countries. To make sure the sub publisher gets a percentage of the publishing royalties of tracks placed in shows in their country, the track titles are registered with a prefix with the PRO in their country eg Song Name (BHG609).

There is another way to fix this problem, but the libraries/production companies are taking the easier way out, without taking the composers into consideration. Most of the composers on this forum seem to be of the opinion that they have no leverage. We do, just refuse to sign the new contracts, tell them you still want to be able to sell your tracks independently or in other markets. Believe in yourself & your product & don’t give it away exclusively for free.

[Author]

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