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Generic, energetic rock guitar-based… Seems like the cable reality shows (which are, of course, the highest quality in TV programming!) always use those.
Maybe next would be world music.
That being said, my catalog is not large and therefore my stats may not be reflective of anything.
Happy Holidays!
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One could make the argument that if you are not prolific, you shouldn’t be in this game. Not a very nice thing to hear if you only write a handful of tracks per year (like me!), but every industry has qualities one must have to truly succeed.
Sorry, but that is an absolutely viable argument, and a very realistic one. We’ve done the math. It takes hundreds, if not thousands, of tracks to earn a living at this. Y0u are 100% correct. Every industry has “qualities one must have to truly succeed, ” or perhaps requirements. In law and medicine you must have degrees and pass bar exams and boards. Plumbers and electricians must be licensed. While there are no such formal requirements for success in this business, there are unwritten rules and harsh realities.
Michael
Just wanted so first say how much I enjoy your posts. You are always a voice of reason and experience and do a great job of informing and educating fellow composers. 🙂 Much appreciated!
I agree with your response completely. As you know, I was pointing out that being afraid to sign exclusives often goes hand in hand with not writing enough tracks such that you can sign a bunch, let ’em go, and just write some more.
As far as being in the game, not everyone has the goal of making a full time living at this. Some would like to earn some supplementary bucks, get pleasure and enjoyment out of seeing their music used in film/TV, etc. But yes, less tracks in the market, less chance regardless of what the goal is. And some of us who are not true f/t pros may be “weeded out” (for lack of a better term) as the industry shakes out, returns to primarily exclusive (except maybe so called “lower end” RF opps), etc. (I know some folks make lots of money in RF but they have a lot of tracks to begin with)…
BTW, one way to increase your output and quality is to network more with other songwriters and composers and collaborate. That’s what I do more of now and the resulting tracks generally get put it only one library, especially when the library is a really good one.
Thanks again, Michael!
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My understanding is the PROs are still slow to adapt watermarking or fingerprinting, so *right now* the issue is not PROs using technology, it’s what the end users (networks, shows, sups, etc) are willing to accept. They are our customers. Ultimately, if they demand music that is only represented exclusively, that’s the way it will be.
I have the same tracks in many libraries- something I started years ago before it became an issue. I’ve slowed down this practice quite a bit as I read more and more that down the road I could shoot myself in the foot. If I get a track into a quality library (like an occasional acceptance to that very picky LA library), I won’t put it elsewhere.
I’d be inclined to say that for tracks in RF libraries whereby the sale depends on end users coming to the site and finding your track, it MIGHT be less risky to be in multiple ones (though you are still competing with yourself and watering down the market). However, with the libraries that market their catalog to music sups via hard disks, catalog website access, etc and may be doing blanket deals, the risk is higher.
We’ve read on these boards how some end users don’t want to pay for blanket deals with multiple providers only to find the same tracks duplicated– a waste of time and money. Budgets may be too tight to support that. And even in non-blanket situations, all it takes is getting burned once with legal problems over who owns a track to set new policy.
One thing I’ve observed is many experienced composers who are very prolific will treat every deal as exclusive (e.g. one track/one library). They don’t need to protect every track as one of their “babies”.
But less prolific folks like myself are much more reluctant to sign exclusives for obvious reasons. Each track holds more importance.
One could make the argument that if you are not prolific, you shouldn’t be in this game. Not a very nice thing to hear if you only write a handful of tracks per year (like me!), but every industry has qualities one must have to truly succeed.
I think the most important thing is to make educated choices and understand the POSSIBLE consequences that go along with them. One shouldn’t assume the trend toward all exclusive isn’t real, nor should they panic either.
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I think it’s impossible to generalize about the quality of music in libraries based on exclusive vs. non-exclusive. In fact, it’s probably dangerous to even think that way when writing music. It varies so much.
Just write the best music you can all the time and place it where the opportunity for placement seems best, based on the info available.
My 2 cents.
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When I first read Del’s post, I also was wondering for a second if he was serious. But I think he was. So I responded with the approach that maybe we could help someone with the benefit of our knowledge and experience. And sometimes even if we don’t help the original poster, someone else learns something from our replies. You never know.
And if it was a all a joke… Oh, well… 😀
To be honest, one of the first things you need to do is be way more receptive to feedback from experienced folks:
“I did meet this guy on a forum who is a top composer and he had a listen and his comment was that the intro needs to be shorter. But then again, that’s not a very good comment as the idea is of a gradual build to get over the impression of marching ants! It wouldn’t work with an intro. And anyway, if it did that it would no longer last 60 seconds!! So perhaps not a sensible suggestion there.”
The above says it all.
Also, the fact that you continue to talk about titles so much, concerns me. It says to me you are not catching on that it’s about the MUSIC. A bad title can hurt you (such as one that is a Charles Dickens novel) but other than that, it’s not the most important thing.
Best of luck.
>>>>> Chances are likely that your music was rejected because: 1. they didn’t have a need for it right now, 2. your style/genre isn’t something they normally market 3. it didn’t meet their quality standards.
Yes, that is almost certainly why your tracks were rejected. Most trailer houses are pretty selective with very high standards.
The very long title did, however, make you look very much like a non-professional– something you’d rather not do in the future. It’s like sloppiness on a resume when applying for a job.
Best of luck!
Del
The title IS ridiculously long. If the music doesn’t speak for itself, putting the “story” in the title won’t change a thing.
More important would be for the title to somehow reflect the style, mood, vibe, etc.
Learn from the experience.
Best 😀
You have to contact them to email you the new exclusive contract. Once you sign that, everything you submit from that point on is exclusive.
>>>> “Hi _____, I sent in some great new tracks to your server in the non exclusive submission folder.I really think you will like these cues, they are well thought out and very relevant to what is on the air these days. Let me know if you had a chance to listen to them.
Although not relevant to this discussion or the response you got from the library, I don’t think I’d say my tracks were “great”, “well thought out”, etc in an email to a library, letting them know you uploading tracks for consideration. It could come off a bit… Well, not sure the word… Presumptous?
MHO is simply say the style, genre, etc… Words like “modern”, “contemporary”, “a la [artist X]”, etc would be better. It’s easy to turn off the other party with the type of language above. Again, JMHO and maybe not a big deal… And again, not the reason you got that reply about exclusivitiy.
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Did that library name start with “S”? 😉
BTW, I have nothing negative to say about JP. They’ve made placements for me and hopefully there will be more. I’m disappointed I can’t get more info on this one issue but I also recognize there is a lot of turmoil right now and even THEY might not know what to say.
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My only concern right now is getting info about what they will be doing with the non-exclusive side that I’m in. It’s not clear (probably not to them either!) what the future opps for these tracks are.
They sent me an email asking if I wanted to go exclusive and I replied I wanted more information about the non-exclusive tracks… no reply yet… I know they don’t seem to answer questions on this topic very well.
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>>>> I think that composers could better spend their energies doing other things
I think unless you are someone who makes their income or is looking to make their income from vocal songs, that’s easy for YOU to say. Some folks livelihoods are at stake.
What is “FP”?