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Great advice for Peter regarding getting into PMA libraries, but I think the core of his question was about whether to keep his day job.
So…is your experience with PMA libraries that they provide the key to quitting your day job, or do they only provide another nice source of income?
Derek mentions this in his post. Most libraries that offer an automated online submission process are interested in quantity over quality. You’re not going to get the same sort of feedback and relationship building by interacting with a user interface that either accepts or rejects your cues without any further conversation.
Building these types of relationships has made writing for libraries much more fun and rewarding for me. I can’t imagine doing it any other way now.
The personal relationships and mentoring that I experienced, especially with late PMA founder Andy Mark (the PMA has just initiated an award in his honor) were invaluable.
There’s what I would call an “artist development” approach that generally doesn’t exist in the online marketplace because the traditional library is investing in you and in producing your music.
That said, I don’t think there has to be an either/or approach regarding PMA vs RF. RF is good if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and don’t mind all of the tedious work involved. The two models don’t really overlap very much. For the most part, RF libraries have a clientele that would not generally be licensing tracks from upper-tier libraries. Of course, there are always exceptions.
There are many composers who write for both PMA and RF libraries with no problem. Some go to great lengths to keep those worlds separate, using pseudonyms etc. Others, who are very well known in the industry, simply see RF as a viable source of additional revenue and don’t bother with the cloak and dagger routine.
There are PMA libraries that sell RF content (without the automated submission process). If they see potential in the RF marketplace, maybe it shouldn’t be dismissed.
Looking at library as the only outlet to me is sort of like a major league ball player saying that they’re only going to focus on catching ground balls while ignoring line drives and high flies.
Great analogy Kiwi! For me, composing library music was a way to bridge the income gap between bespoke composing gigs. It has never been a sole source of income. Then, as many know, I decided to go to law school.
When I left my practice to compose again, I was unaware of how much the business had changed. Hindsight is 20/20!
Hey Kiwi,
It sounds like we have quite a lot in common. Do you have an email I could contact you at? Feel free to send me a PM if you want.
So what is a PMA? Can you give some examples?
Thanks!!~
I would caution anyone against assuming all PMA libraries are equal. I know of a couple that have pretty crappy deals although I like the ones I’m involved with.
This is absolutely true. Do not assume that being a PMA member is a measure of success, or that every PMA library pays upfront or offers great terms. There are 670 publisher members, and people only seem to mention 5 or 6 of them here.
The farther down the PMA ladder you go the more the scales tip in favor of the DIY RF approach.
It’s no different than the RF world — hundreds of libraries, but a relative few that really matter.
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