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In my experience, libraries like “projects”. 10-24 songs in the same style. All with alt mixes and broadcast edits.
I’ve only got two words to say :
Goldman Sachs.
Yeah, the new “FOR PROFIT” thing with BMI is a serious, serious bummer. It means less for writers / publishers. They might as well have just said that. All the “excuses” and “reasons” in the letter were totally bogus IMO. How about something serious like implementing watermarks into their workflow. Oh wait,,,,,yeah,,,,that removes the opportunity to move money around and make bigger profits for them. This is a bad time upcoming for BMI writers.
BMI is not the savior here IMO. They have significant problems of their own, although somewhat different than ASCAP.
Whether or not they will be better for you – only you can determine, and it will most likely take years to know for sure.
As for longer statements and lower payouts – that’s a BMI thing too. My statements are 4-5x’s longer than they used to be, and littered with $0.01 payouts. When questioned about my catalog and placements being 3+ times larger than in the past, but payments not growing accordingly, BMI had no answer other than “their computers figure it all out and they are always right”.
That was back in the day when you could actually get ahold of a human. Post Covid – good luck with that.
Best of luck with your decision.
User Generated Content tracks suck as far as earnings go. 153 MILLION for me last quarter. Generated $454.00. Just stupid.
Oops. Never mind on question 2. I spelled it Eisner not Elsner. Doh! 2 Credits I see. The course better be pretty reasonable if he only has 2 credits. 🙂
“Feel free to let me know if you have other questions about it.”
Two questions – one, how much is the course? Two, why can’t I find any credits for him on IMDb?
Writing for trailers and hoping that they will be placed is kinda like saying I want to play for the top National league team, starting pitcher in the World Series – and that’s the only position I’ll play.
Yeah, it’s a possibility for a few guys. If that’s your ONLY acceptable position, you odds are not good.
As has been mentioned, versatility, and a broad range of composing skills is demanded for most who attempt a “career”.
I know career composers who are writing solid B level $3-5M films consistently with solid music budgets on every film, who have been “trying” to get trailers with small, very well connected companies for years. No success yet.
– Mark is a rockstar! 🙂
Current trend is production company gets the retitled publishing, and supervisor gets 40-50% of the writers. Just the way things are rolling these days.
Those who can, do. Those who can’t teach. I can’t comment to ALL the various “courses” out there, but many are being taught by people who are really not getting that many placements. Check the person’s cred’s on IMDb and see how many placements they are getting.
Paying out a lot of money is not necessary IMO. The reality is all the info you need – or at least most of it – resides on this site. Isn’t there a summer sale going on right now? Well worth the price even at full price.
Honestly, hard work, persistence, and keeping your eyes/ears open is all you really need to do. These courses prey on people who just want everything dropped into their lap – “Do A, B, C and then you will be working full time in the biz”. This is ABSOLUTELY not reality. Every path is unique and different. What works for me will not work for you, and what works for you will not work for Art, and etc., etc.. You’re got to find your own path, and that is done with persistence, long standing stamina, and sheer will power in spite of the odds.
Before paying out for a course, be aware – you are entering an industry that is contracting and in decline vs. expanding and offering exceptional well paying opportunities for newcomers.
Best of luck.
Similar but a bit different here. I’ll modify a bit…..
If you have:
1. a lot of Talent
2. are alligned with the right music libraries that really get your music on air
3. know how to create multiple revenue streams with your music catalog
4. produce 200+ very useful tracks a year for about 10 years straight
5. Stumble upon lucky career breaks, where you land a few placements that really produce high royalty payouts….I think you may be able evolve into a full time music producer after probably 10 years.
So many variables though. Where you are located being one. How old you are being the second. Married with kids being the third. Mortgage of your own or living with a friend/family being a fourth. Have a wife/SO with a killer income being another…. So many variables. And again, I’d underscore – don’t quit the day job!! This industry is closer to crumbling than exploding at this stage. Hedge those bets.
Just a note to say I’m happy… my latest BMI payout (May 2022) is higher than all payouts combined from Jan 2021 to Feb 2022 (6 payouts).
I was just about reaching the point of frustration (too much effort not enough returns)… this is a much needed boost in morale! ?
Thanks to all here at MLR and best of luck!
Awesome!! Congrats!!!
Payout here was the lowest in a couple of years. Mediocre, but not horrible.
$500 per “track” is not unusual for me – but that’s spread across dozens (sometimes hundreds) of placements and dozens (hundreds) of plays. So “per play” we’re down in the single to two digit range. Depends on the show, the time of play and OF COURSE – the length and type of play. My show themes obviously pay much more than underscore. And WAY more than 5-12 second underscore placements on streaming shows – which generally pay out between $0.01 and $0.05.
I’m not so sure about that. I’ve made more from my last 100 tracks than I have from the previous 2000.
Quality over quantity has proven to be a winner for me.
You write for trailers though right? Or am I mistaken?
A pretty exhaustive study for me has shown a 95% reduction in payout per placement with streaming. Zero doubt TV focused cues are earning less – all things being equal.
Definitely agree about the quality needing to be high.
All of those variables are always 100% out of your control.
That ^^^^^^^ is truth. It’s one of the terrifying and also hopeful things about this business. I have faith. That keeps me positive. I can’t remember how long it took to get to the first 4 figure payment to be honest, but it didn’t take 4 years. Also, getting the RIGHT library for you is critical. 400 tracks is nothing at this point IMO. You need a lot more. If I had to rely 100% on TV tracks as 100% of my income, I think I’d be looking north of 3000 well written, produced at a high level, unique titles – each having 5+ alternate mixes. If you have a family and mortgage and college tuition – more. The business has collapsed. This is evidenced everywhere you look.
The best thing you can do is analyze each library you are in very, VERY, VERY carefully. Feed the ones that are working, and jettison the ones that are doing nothing. Write everyday, get extremely good and fast at what you do, keep doing it. When the 400 reaches 1500 and they are in the right libraries, you should be seeing some significant improvement.