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Pretty ridiculous (“It is that simple”?) since in many or most situations like this you have no means to contact them anymore when they are out of business. Most composers find out a library is out of business or suspect they are out of business when all efforts to contact them no longer work, the website is gone, etc.
If contact cannot be established and a resolution cannot be found, the deal still stands.
It would just be better to not worry about those cues until contact can be established. I don’t see what is so difficult about these situations.
If you can get back the rights to your songs, do it. If you cannot get back the rights to your songs, move on. Why all of the frustration and speculation?
Don’t fall into a trap where you create a bunch of problems and extremely unlikely scenarios which prevents you to further exploit your music.
This makes sense.
A defunct company is not going to sue someone to keep the rights to music. You have to think of it this way: a defunct company has music from hundreds of composers. If the company couldn’t make money from licensing the music, the company doesn’t have enough money to force hundreds of composers into staying in a deal. What would be the benefit?
Just contact the library and see what response you get. I have gotten the rights back from exclusive, in-perpetuity deals just by asking. Sometimes the company hasn’t made any licenses or sales and doesn’t want to further restrict the composer.
The worse thing that can happen is that you are told that the rights to your music was sold to another entity. Even then, the new entity may opt to not publish your music anymore. Companies don’t want to hold on to songs. They want to make money. If they cannot make money, the songs don’t really hold much value.
Communication with the publisher/library cuts out all of the speculation and guessing. Every scenario is different. Working directly with the source provides the best answer all of the time. It is that simple.
Contact the company and ask for the rights to the music to revert back to you. Get a formal document signed by both you and the library stating that the original contract is voided and that you retain the rights to your music. It is that simple.
6 months seems excessively long to me, but it is what it is. Thanks guys.
Once a month seems reasonable.
I will definitly check those pma library and propose some new work in some weeks…
Yes. Those are the best libraries for someone with your talent. Good luck!
There are many writers in PMA libraries, myself included, who sometimes don’t make a dime over the upfront fee (if there is one). I think Mark Petrie can confirm.
Many of the “big” libraries don’t share sync fees. The PRO’s don’t pay more because a track came from Big Library XYZ. The theory is that you get better placements — maybe, not always.
So, if your advice is based strictly on earning potential, don’t rule RF libraries out.
The big exclusives are far better than royalty free libraries.
There may be some exceptions, but as a whole the big exclusives trump most royalty free companies. This isn’t necessarily because the quality in the RF libraries is bad.
There is plenty of quality music in those libraries. But it is just that most of the royalty free companies don’t have access to the same clientele as the bigger libraries. The relationships and access to high paying clients is there with the larger exclusive libraries. That is why the competition to get in is higher.
@DI and SCP …either of actually in any PMA libraries? Just curious.
Nope!
But I listen to music from those libraries all the time. Dan’s music has the production quality, style, and feel of the music I hear in the PMA libraries and the big PRS music libraries. Those libraries are high quality. Composers make more music from those libraries.
If I made music on Dan’s level, I would be sending my music to DeWolfe, KPM, Warner Chappelle, etc. Even though I am not in those libraries, I think it is helpful for me to help others get into those companies.
Dan, please go to the websites of the libraries I listed earlier and compare the quality of the music to other libraries. There is a difference. I believe that your music is great and should be in better libraries. From what I heard from your music, you have no reason to settle!
Great tracks Dan. My advice would be to stay out of the NE / RF sites all together – it’s fairly crowded and the best sellers seem to get most of the traffic. Your tracks are well written, arranged and produced. Any of the high end PMA exclusive libraries would be happy to hear from you. Best of luck.
Those were my thoughts too after listening to his work. His stuff is really good. I know this may sound funny, but some of Dan’s work sounded like some of the library tracks used on SpongeBob SquarePants. That show uses a lot of ukelele and island themed music. I believe that a lot of the music from that show comes from the DeWolfe Music Library.
I encourage Dan to audition for these libraries:
DeWolfe
Sonoton
KPM
Imagem
Audio Network
Killer Tracks
Megatrax
Warner Chappelle PMTry Killer Tracks
The important thing to remember is will you be able to get your music licensed or used.
Having a publishing company does not automatically result in more money. You also have to be able get your music used on your own. Getting music used on TV shows, movies, radio, etc isn’t as easy as one thinks. That is why a good publisher will make way more money for a songwriter than the do-it-yourself method for most people.
50% of nothing is….
I don’t think you need to ask any customers (if you even could). Just think about human behavior and your own behavior when you go searching for something on the web.
Everybody behaves differently.
But no worries. You guys will figure it out.
The best advice I can offer is to ask some customers what they prefer. Customers know what they want.
Customers hold the answers to these questions because they are the end users and purchasers of the music.
Composers can only guess without information.
Are suggestions based on sales, layout of website, ease of acceptance, number of views, percentage of payout, etc?
There are many different criteria for composers. My only criteria would be based on the money I made, but others may have different factors that come into play.
Let us know!!!