Track Length?

[Art Munson]

Hi I’m new here and am learning as much as I can as fast as I can.

I had a question about track length for Non-Exclusive libraries. I am starting with writing for these outlets in diverse styles such as Ambient, Ethnic, Pop Rock, Metal and so on.

I’ve heard some say 1:00-2:00 minutes is ideal, while I’ve noticed some libraries request longer.

Listening to shows on TV and the like seems to imply short but any advice and tips is welcome, thanks.

[GaryW]

Welcome!. This site is going to be an invaluable resource for you just starting as it was for me starting out.
As far as song length, I write all full-length tracks, no alts. I’ve learned that my best selling tracks are between 2:00 and 2:30, so I now write to that time length.
Also remember to not use fade-outs a good hard ending is best. IMHO
Good luck to you!

[Advice]

When writing for the general library market, in the absence of a special request or target (such as 60 seconds for advertising), over 2 minutes is usually best. If we’re talking instrumental, that gives time to develop structure such as A-B-A or A-B-A-B and provide edit points for the sup.

A good total length varies from 2-4 minutes with a sweet spot around 2:30-3:00. What matters is that you are sustaining interest throughout. If not, cut it. And GUIDELINES are not rules in this discussion. (They ARE rules if specific library or end user requirements)

Remember that the most critical thing is to grab the listener’s interest right from the get-go. Like most music execs, music sups are impatient, busy people and if they don’t hear something of interest in 15-20 seconds, they’ll go on to the next track.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a placement whereby the music used wasn’t from the start of my track. The exception would be if it had a cool sting ending and they either looked for that or the library sent them a sting edit.

😀

[Wildman]

I don’t think I’ve ever had a placement whereby the music used wasn’t from the start of my track. The exception would be if it had a cool sting ending and they either looked for that or the library sent them a sting edit.

I have placements every single day from all kinds of positions of my tracks. Sometimes they just use the hook and sometimes the verses or the bridge. Sometimes the track starts from the beginning. So it`s totally different.

I try to create a nice and short intro, 30-40 sec verse, 30 sec hook, with interlude or breaks in between so that the cutters can jump in or go out of the track. For Tv I write cues between 1:30-2:00 min and for the stock market cues between 2:00-3:00 min.

Form I use mostly: Intro-Verse-Refrain-Break-Verse-Refrain-Bridge-Refrain-End

 

Best,

Wildman

[Mark Lewis]

Don’t forget to slide those endings around and create a package of edits, 30 sec, 60 sec, etc to go along with your full length track. Customers love edits and request them all the time.

-Mark

[Wildman]

Don’t forget to slide those endings around and create a package of edits, 30 sec, 60 sec, etc to go along with your full length track. Customers love edits and request them all the time.

Edits might be a good for the royalty/stock market and it`s useful to do them because there are a lot of private and semi-pro users who can`t really edit or cut.

On the other hand I just do edits if the selling price is a normal market price.  On sites like AJ or simular sites I don`t offer extra edits.

But even though I make edits of my TV cues in 95% of cases they`ll use my main tracks because TV stations have a professional cutter 🙂 That is my experience.

 

[MichaelL]

All of the exclusive libraries that I’ve written for want the following:

Full
underscore
:60
:30
:15

That’s a pretty standard professional package. I do the same for RF libraries. Editors really  do not want to carve a :30 spot out of a full cue. I make sure that the edits work musically. Do not let the library make the edits for you, unless you don’t mind having your work butchered.

_Michael

 

 

[Kenny]

Don’t forget to slide those endings around and create a package of edits, 30 sec, 60 sec, etc to go along with your full length track. Customers love edits and request them all the time.

Good to hear that this is actually requested from customers. I`ve had my doubts about the value of making these edits because I hardly sell anything but the full tracks on RF sites.

[Mark Lewis]

Not to labor the point but here is direct quote from the professional editor of a popular TV branding company
🙂

“Hi Mark,
I have been a big fan & frequent user of Musicloops.com. I especially love the songs that offer multiple mixes to accommodate your edit even better. Can you please stress to your composers that us editors need choice? The more stingers, loops and underscore versions we get, the merrier.
Thanks,
Richard”

(Stressing that point now Richard)

[Art Munson]

I’m currently doing the following:

Full
DnB
Bed
Loop
15 sec
30 sec
60 sec
Sting/Bumper

[chuckthompson]

Art, Please excuse the ‘newb’ question, but what exactly does ‘Bed’ refer to in your response?

[Art Munson]

@chuckthompson. It’s a version without the melody.

[buildingcastles]

So, can someone tell me what they’d do for the 15 second edits? What exactly do you put in there? What does the structure look like for that?

Oh, and when you do shorter versions of a cue, do you just do one of them with full instruments? Or do you do, say, a 30 sec full version, no drums, etc?

Thanks

[Art Munson]

So, can someone tell me what they’d do for the 15 second edits?

It’s hard to tell when you are not writing specifically for a project. 15 seconds is not much time so I use the biggest part, musically, of the cue.

Oh, and when you do shorter versions of a cue, do you just do one of them with full instruments? Or do you do, say, a 30 sec full version, no drums, etc?

I’ve seen them both ways. I do full but I’ve been thinking about alternates for 30s.

[Scary_Bodega]

I was thinking about submixes for my shorter edits the other day. In general, end users love sub-mixes. I’d say that I sell just as many subs as I do full tracks. Sometimes I feel like the full tracks sort of end up being showcase pieces that lead people to the submixes. I’d say it’s worth a try. Uploading can get a tad unwieldy at some point, I suppose, but I think I’m gonna start doing this.

[Author]

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