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The only solution to your quandry would be for Art to post this message: To all future library composers,wannabes, hobbyists and amateurs(especially those using loops) the library buisness is now closed. There are too many of you, making too much music (most of which lacks artistic merit). Please stop and go away, because you are causing the value of my labor (I use the term loosly) to go down.
LOL! Thanks MichaelL, if I had been drinking coffee at the time I read that it would be all over the keyboard. Hilarious and made my day!
@Glen: I don’t have any argument about what you are saying except when the conversation turns to trying to defining “good” or “bad” music. That will always set me off.
I for one am pretty much non-exclusive except for JP. They have done a great job placing our music (including major networks) so I don’t mind sending a few exclusives their way to see what happens. If I can get a few more into SK I will do that also. Both of those companies have contributed a lot to my income over the last few years. It’s a small risk as far as I’m concerned. Anyone else then no, unless it’s very compelling (not even sure what compelling would be!). I will stay non-exclusive as at this point it’s the only thing that makes sense.
As far as RF sites? I think we are all feeling our way on this as to pricing. It’s a work in progress.
The “good” music, “bad” music argument has been debated numerous times on MLR, almost from inception in 2009. Those who think they are “experts” in determining this only illuminates how clueless they really are.
“I certainly try to funnel in some artistic and compositional”
@Glen: Just because you think you are “artistic and compositional” does not make it so. It’s all subjective.Anything else is just chucking a heap of crap onto an already mountainous heap of musical dung.
@mr.composer: Really? Another “expert” I presume.
I am talking about “in perpetuity” terms…not 3 to 5 years.
Yes but you have to define “in perpetuity”. In most cases it means “in perpetuity” for the show or project it’s placed in.
If I am not mistaken, Jp wants cues in perpetuity Art.
Once again you have to define “in perpetuity”. In JP’s case their exclusive contract is 3 years and “in perpetuity” is for the shows that the music is placed in (IIRC). If they did not have that clause then years down the road the show would have to start replacing music. The last time I looked at the contract that’s what it appeared to me. If you know something different I stand corrected.
“you should never sign over any of your copyrights to a publisher without being properly compensated. Most reputable exclusive libraries in the U.S. provide upfront compensation in exchange for these rights.”
Glen, You are mixing apples and oranges here. There are two types of exclusives. One where a company represents your song/cue exclusively for a set period of time but doesn’t take copyright ownership and a company that would own the copyright forever. I very much doubt you will get a music library to pay you $1000 to exclusively represent your track for the typical 3-5 year term.
“I convert my tracks directly in iTunes from the masters so I can bulk-convert all the cues in a track and add them to the library in one go.”
I do something similar. I also use “Tag&Rename” for bulk updating of the MP3 tags (Windows only though).
I looked at the Advanced Settings and it looks like you always have to import.
“Are our non-exclusive tracks losing their value?”
I believe the value is always there. It might take some thinking outside the box but a product is a product. Don’t let anyone define it’s value.
My music is much more polished now than it was when I started out…
Great point Mark and agree. Mine has improved with time, or at least I like to think so!
Does that mean 1000 completely unique tracks, or total number of tracks though duplicated across a number of different libraries?
I would think unique tracks but it could be different depending on your skill set and “luck of the draw”.
The number of 1000-1500 pieces of music is talked about a lot here as the number you will need to make a decent living (6 figures).
Does that mean 1000 completely unique tracks, or total number of tracks though duplicated across a number of different libraries?
Hi Titus, much of this is covered here.
I organize mine by keeping each genre in a separate folder, though over the years some of the genres cross over. I always use a master song number and keep track of the titles in my database (sometimes I might tag the title after the master number). As an example a funk track would be “FK0001.0” or “FK0001.0 – song title” and it would be in the Funk folder. If a version is radically different I would name it FK0001.1
When I mix, the full mix would be FK0001.0, a DnB might be FK0001.1, a bed FK0001.2, etc.
Everything sorts nicely that way and I find it easy to keep track of things.
I think we all initially struggled with the same issue. Most come to realize that this business is really a numbers games and requires a LOT of effort. The number of 1000-1500 pieces of music is talked about a lot here as the number you will need to make a decent living (6 figures). It could be less, a lot less. I know of one composer who will make 7 figures off of one cue! That is the exception rather than the rule though. You also need a number of income streams to achieve this. I would stay away from low ball sites and pricing your music in the $5 range. Many composers on RF sites price in the $40 to $50 range and do well. I always tell people patience and persistence. This passion of ours is very hard work!
The PROs should be able to sort this out for you as long as you have proper documentation from Tunecore that the PROs will accept. Sometimes those changes can take a while. It shouldn’t be a problem with the other libraries (once again with proper documentation) but I am NOT a lawyer and if you are unsure you should contact one.