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Hey Guys,
I don’t want this to turn into another Exclusive vs Non-Exclusive topic but I was wondering if your Exclusive libraries use your track more than once.
I am a little frustrated when I write for a brief or upload a track for the library to find that they only use that track for the actual brief and sometimes not.
Does anyone else have this experience? Are Music Sups at a point now where they can demand exclusives and don’t want to recycle them for another episode or show?
I don’t want to get into any names or people here. I am a little frustrated because the industry is changing in such a way that they think they are doing us a favor to play 10 seconds of an exclusive then request more.
It’s just another reason why I stay away from exclusives. My last go around was a couple of years ago and I’m over it.
Are Music Sups at a point now where they can demand exclusives and don’t want to recycle them for another episode or show?
I made a very similar comment in a particular library’s thread Daniel. I had a bad experience with exclusive tracks that were never placed a few years ago. I think it’s the same one Art is referring to. I stayed away for a while, but I started writing to some exclusive briefs again last summer after a dip in my PRO income. I have gotten placements for most of those tracks. I should know in the next 6 months if those shows will re-use those tracks or push them aside for new ones.
I was wondering if your Exclusive libraries use your track more than once.
I am seeing those tracks used on other shows. Most of the shows are low paying cable shows, so I will need a lot of placements.
I am a little frustrated because the industry is changing in such a way that they think they are doing us a favor to play 10 seconds of an exclusive then request more.
I agree. I recently saw a library request exclusive tracks for a Netflix series. Based on the follow up emails, they got enough music. Wait until those poor composers see their royalties. 🙁
My “rule” for writing to exclusive briefs is to only create simple, fast to produce tracks. No microphones, no elaborate arrangements, just clean, easy to edit tracks.
My “rule” for writing to exclusive briefs is to only create simple, fast to produce tracks.
I’ve been trying to do two different tracks per submission, one for them, and one for me to keep non-exclusive.
It’s just another reason why I stay away from exclusives.
So Art, does that leave you mostly contributing only to RF libraries?
So Art, does that leave you mostly contributing only to RF libraries?
At this point, yes.
Yes, I just received a request to do exclusive tracks similar to what I had just completed and wondered if they have even used the tracks from 2 months ago… Having said that I just received my biggest fee from any library, from an exclusive.
As far as the No Michrophone’s rule… That’s the world I live in in hopes that it helps me stand out… but it is time consuming. Plus I’m a guitar guy not a trained pianist…
I was wondering if your Exclusive libraries use your track more than once.
Yikes!
Pretty much the only reason you’d want to give ownership of your music to a library is that they’ll do their best to get your tracks used HUNDREDS of times.
but Mark how could anyone be sure that’s what will happen? even if they library in question has a good rep of placements thats no guarantee that the next exclusive track one gives them has the same success so there has to be an element of gut feeling with this no?
For the OP (Daniel): I’m primarily writing to briefs for a small selection of exclusive libraries (each having their own niche). Sometimes they get used for that particular project, sometimes they don’t. It’s always possible that somebody else’s music was a better fit. However, I am definitely seeing that many of my tracks are being used not only in multiple episodes for shows but also across a number of shows as well. Some tracks get placed a lot faster than others; it’s a track by track and project by project basis. All we can do is write the best music we can write with good structure (thinking like an editor would), put it out there, keep tabs on it, and move on to the next one.
I know this isn’t the message you’re sending (Daniel)…but I feel like it needs to be said. It’s not always the library’s fault as to why your track(s) aren’t placing. I wish we were all a little more honest about that.
I think these are essentially the same rhetorical question:
but Mark how could anyone be sure that’s what will happen? even if they library in question has a good rep of placements thats no guarantee that the next exclusive track one gives them has the same success so there has to be an element of gut feeling with this no?
In theory that’s correct but how do you compel a Lib to use your track?
If they have 300 awesome Investigative Tension tracks and need 9 for a few new shows, how will the odds pan out? Also, consider the fact that they may be receiving 10 plus more tracks a day in the same genre.There’s of course no way for a composer to compel a library to submit tracks to their clients, or to somehow make the client use them. Quality and usability count for a lot though – that’s probably the closest you can get to ‘compelling’ them to do anything. Limiting your exclusive deals to just higher end ‘PMA’ companies or well established boutiques will improve your odds. Avoid the low hanging fruit, like a company that puts out an email to 1000 composers requesting music with no money upfront.
Otherwise, you’re probably a lot better off sticking to non-ex deals. I speak from experience on this 🙂
Early in my career I gave hundreds tracks to a couple of libraries who did barely anything with them. Luckily I got connected with better performing ones and after a few years my royalties ramped up.
If you’re going to give away the rights in an exclusive deal – where a company will own your music forever, it makes sense to only work with libraries that have a long track record and a wide range of potential clients (not just a handful of reality shows). You want to aim for a company that will get the same music used frequently for many years.
The amount of music they’re churning out each month vs how many clients they have is also a big consideration when deciding whether or not to write exclusive tracks. A big ‘PMA’ library will have lots of music coming out every month, but they’ll likely have offices pushing the music in every region, with a massive potential for placement. Or you might find a smaller yet successful boutique company that has sub-publishing deals throughout the world.