The importance of the track title in library music ? your thoughts

[uniqueplace]

Hi there,

Just wanted to start a discussion about song/ track titles.
Having been doing 10 years of library music, I can reasonably say the song / track titles had a STRONG if not more importance in a track success than the quality of the track itself.

For example, a track with a too original or too generic title would not work much.
“Neutral thoughts” for instance, would not work a lot.

A track with the word dog in the title would work tremendously. Especially in those animals driven shows. Which means the picture editor probably typed dog in a library music website and downloaded every track with dog in the title.

I just had a track being used a lot in cordreoronavirus related shows just because in my track there was “laboratory” in the title so it gets used a lot when journalists talks about lab analyzing covid19 samples…
A track with king in the title would get lof of use in historic tv series.

Just some random thoughts, that may seem too obvious to some of you, but it’s a good recall I think.
The track title should have most of the elements of the mood of the track, summarized in 2 words. It’s easy to do, but at the same time tricky.

[Art Munson]

Yep, I agree. Sometimes those titles come easy, other times they are challenging.

[UpFromTheSkies]

Definitely. Great point.

[Pat]

I agree. Replace the word “title” with “marketing opportunity”. The better the title the better the opportunity to engage. To me, the title is no less important than any tag or keyword and is in fact the exact same thing. It’s a focused preview of what’s inside. Most people don’t want to spend time guessing. A good title helps people see your music before they even hear it. It gives a clue of what they can reasonably expect to hear if they listen to it. A bad title can mislead or confuse people. If I’m really stuck for a title, I’ll google a random title generator and start marrying word combinations that fit the music. I’ve even come across some that deal with specific subjects like sports or mystery. Some generators are for books or movies. Doesn’t matter. It can be a good springboard if you’re having a hard time with it. I take care to make titles as appropriate as possible. It’s marketing tool to help make your music sell itself to a potential listener. People don’t like to waste their time. That’s kind of how I see it.

[Mark_Petrie]

Last November I recorded live strings and brass for a trailer track I called ‘Zoonotic’. I’m not saying I’m prophet, but… (I hope the library changed the name before it gets released)

[Michael Nickolas]

Lately I like to use rhymes like “Banjo Jazz Show” and “Meditation Dedication”. Not sure why exactly, it just seems catchy.

[Author]

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