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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”?
It depends on what interest rate I have to pay back my (earnings) with!! 😉 🙂
The email I got was the standard one with the exclusive contract. No answer to questions either. My feeling is just give them time to settle down. Given that it’s unlikely (as of today- it could change) I’ll sign any exclusives with JP, no biggie to me.
Maybe, with so many artists emailing them, they’ll send out a broadcast email with FAQ about the new exclusive option.
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I emailed artists@JP asking for details, contract, etc for the exclusive option and just got a reply with the contract. Didn’t read it yet but my email WAS answered.
It could be they are overwhelemed right now with all the artists calling and emailing about this exclusive issue. It’s only about a week since this announcement. Maybe in a few weeks, when things calm down, things will return to more “normal”… We shall see. Breathe in… Breathe out…
The bottom line is, like it or not, JP’s business model is built around blanket license deals and they will do what they need to survive. And we all have free choice as to which libraries to put our music in. Their deal was non-exclusive up to now and their contract is fairly short term, meaning pulling tracks (if you choose to) is easy. No one’s been harmed and many of us had placements. Dissapointed, but not harmed…Â
I’ve always known that their model gives strong preference to their in house team as composers. But on the positive side, that opened lots of doors for the rest of us. They were able to build good relationships with the right people. If, for example, Jingle Jared custom composed a theme for a TV show and as a result of that was able to get a blanket licensing deal for the rest of the library, I’m VERY OK with that. In fact, happy about it.
I’m much more interested in what happens in the industry as a whole than what’s going on with JP.
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Ian
While I agree with you that commitment to quality is key, I don’t think you can define quality based on live vs. samples. That is, if by “samples” you mean anything virtual and not live. We certainly know very experienced composers who make a living (including major placements in film and network) and use zero or near zero live performers.
But yes… mediocre tracks result in pennies earned. Quality is the one thing you can control. Now more than ever, it’s critical to up your game. If you can’t do it alone, network with other composers for collaborative efforts. Get your tracks in libraries that are not in the blanket market. No one said it would be easy.
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It does appear that blanket licensing issues are a big part of this whole exclusive/non-exclusive thing. As mentioned earlier, TV shows do not want to sign multiple blanket license deals only to find the same tracks in the various catalogs.
Audiosparx is jumping in the blanket licensing game as well. Although they will offer both exc and non-exc tracks, it does appear that as time goes on, exclusives will have more and more of a better shot. If you are with AS, plesae DO NOT share here any artist communique emails they sent out. They clearly ask us not to do that.
I used to think all this exclusive stuff had to do with the higher end of the chain– vocal songs on major TV networks, etc. It still might but what we are seeing right now is on the so-called “lower” end. In fact, Crucial isn’t concerned about all this. It’s the blanket dependent libraries that are.
Personally, I have a very hard time giving exclusives on instrumental tracks that will be background on cable reality shows and pay very little. However, I’m a realist and if that becomes the only way to be in this game, I will have to adapt or get out.
As far as JP having 25,000 exclusive tracks now, most likely, those tracks are from the company principles and inner circle. I know that JP staff names are always on the cue sheets along with ours for placements. Since those tracks were not signed elsewhere, it would have been very easy for JP to simply call them exclusive now. I can’t see accusing them of anything dirty. If any of us had treated our non-exclusive tracks signed with them as exclusive (e.g. not signed them elsewhere), we’d immediately have the same option now. They didn’t set out to take advantage of anyone (IMHO). The industry changes and that’s the way it is.
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My comment with the now infamous “name calling” was not directed at you, Scott. If someome has a very specific situation to resolve, in can be very appropriate to contact a music sup or production company directly.
I was referring to more generic, unprofessional behavoir– calling music sups for minor, trivial things or hounding them with many phone calls, emails, etc. A number of libraries have sent out warning emails that their clients have been annoyed with all sorts of calls and inquiries. Libraries can even lose good clients this way.
Common sense… Professionalism… Always needed.
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I apologize. Art, feel free to delete that comment.
Name calling? I was referring to people who hound music supervisors directly about placements from libraries. Did it seem otherwise?
It that was inappropriate, I apologize. 🙂
“Someone needs to start a “boot camp” on how to navigate these waters in a businesslike and professional manner. Failure to do so is the musician’s Achilles heel”…
So true about non-professional behavior… Sadly, within any large group of people, there will be some a-holes who make it bad for everyone else.
LG
The word “sync” is used incorrectly here, just so you know. That refers to front-end (up front) license fees which PRO’s do not get involved in.
As far as back-end PRO royalties, the pay is about the same when averaged over a number of different placements. One may pay slightly more on one while the other pays better on another. For most folks who do what WE do – film/TV cues, there really isn’t a financial difference.