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Streaming = the FUTURE
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, et al = pennies (at best) on the traditional PRO based back-end dollar.
Streaming = The end of Network TV and Cable TV as we know it.
The End of TV = The END (for all intents and purposes) of backend performance royalties for composers who write for libraries, TV or Film production.
Writers with all their assets placed into exclusive libraries who only do blankets (most) or who do not share front sync’s (most) or who do not make huge up front buyouts for publishing and master rights (most) are playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette. Sooner or later, this industry will have transitioned off an old paradigm – Network / Cable / Radio paying out backend royalties which can support a composer – into a new one – Streaming which can’t support my dog’s monthly dogfood bill.
Those with assets in old paradigm investments (traditional exclusive libraries in perpetuity – you know, what the PMA espouses and promotes) are screwed.
This is not a good era to be entering into “writing for production music”. Well, that is if you intend to make a living at it.
I’ll be quiet now and go back to writing disposable music.
-=LAWriter=-
Front End = the new Back End.
Musicmatters – I’m down in the Newport area from time to time. Usually pretty slammed when I’m there, but if you want to PM me your contact info, we can try to get together sometime.
TerlinguaMusic – Thanks.
In-light-Tone – Dipping ones toes in used to be a warm experience. These days it’s more like visiting an Arctic lake and dodging ice flows. LOL Good luck.
It’s been awhile since this thread was alive. 🙂
Since my second post in this thread, I’ve continued to struggle with “what to do” with the music I create – specifically and most urgently – the 4 large projects that push close to a hundred titles. The lure of the big PMA libraries remains strong, but their performance numbers continue to not add up – leaving me with the undenied feeling that the old paradigm doesn’t work for me – long term – anymore.
Several PRO statements have come and gone, and a few facts have been solidifying in my mind and resonating with me :
– the bigger PMA libraries I’m with have not been performing as I expected them to. No explanations given.
– the smaller Non-Ex libraries that I’m in have been holding their own and growing. Both back end, and front end sync’s. Win/Win. Non-Ex is the backbone of my PRO statements. PMA libraries are only the frosting, or maybe sprinkles on the frosting.
– Streaming has taken over the number of pages of my PRO statements exponentially, while adding just this side of nothing to the financial bottom line. The future looms perilous….
– BMI, ASCAP, SESAC and the US government seem completely impotent at fixing the streaming “problem”. I suspect that keeping the general populous happy with commercial free drek for less than $10 a month appeals to the powers that move and shake this country.
And so, after letting those 4 large projects sit for a few months, I have come to a decision. The upfront monies that 75+ songs might generate is substantial. (And I could really use a new car!) But the minimal back end that the companies that can pay substantial up fronts, and the continued movement of content into streaming sites is not making Exclusive a winning long term solution for me.
I am retaining ownership of my music, and taking a contrarian approach from what industry pundits and from what traditional thought has always told me “I’m supposed to do”. It will cost my bottom line THIS year, and net me more NEXT year and most likely the rest of my days….
At this point, in 2017 and forward, I don’t see any more music going to Exclusive libraries – PMA or otherwise – unless they dangle a very large, very lucrative carrot in front of me. (And I suspect that’s doubtful, and will become even more unlikely in the coming years.)
I think those halcyon days are gone. What lies ahead are more turbulent times for composers. Old models wither and die. Like it or not. Think smart, or be left as fodder for the entertainment wars battleground.
For me, there are too many unique and new avenues I can use to exploit the music I hold – both inside the music library world, and outside as well.
My crystal ball tells me the old days are fading quickly, and I have taken heed. One must have ownership to take advantage of new paradigms.
My thoughts, January 2017
-LAWriter-Best of luck to all who compose music and collectively make this world a better place!
No payment schedule in the agreement? Well….that’s a pretty egregious oversight. I suppose 12 months is OK then. Longer than 12 and I wouldn’t expect to get anything, I’ve never had to wait 12 months on any agreement / payment – then again, they all had schedules for payment included in the contracts.
From my perspective, sharing royalties is an all around fail for both sides and a bad idea IMO.
1. – you split royalties on a sax solo or drum part and you get a $3500 license. That was an expensive overdub, and it’s almost certainly going to KEEP paying the instrumentalist. Of course, he/she is elated but you are probably never going to split a royalty for a simple overdub again….
or;
2. – The song never does anything. Yes, you are off the hook for paying the musician, but they will never want to work for you again. It’s a loose / loose for both of you. Although you didn’t put out any money, you are not going to get them to play for you next time.
3. – Accounting. From here on out for the rest of your career, you’re going to have to administrate all these little deals…. Ugh. That might be the worst part…
Anyone who tells me I’ll get credit, it will help my career, OR THAT THEY WILL SHARE PROFITS with me gets an automatic write off. Musicians are one of the most taken advantage of professionals out there. Take care of your musicians and they will make your music POP. and you’ll make money.
Buy em out up front. No sharing of royalties. Find the money somehow and pay them fairly up front. Yeah, it hurts to pay up front, but the downsides of sharing royalties are a pita all the way around. The extra accounting, and then the loss of royalties down the line more than make it a loosing situation to share royalties.
I’m supporting my entire lifestyle, home, studio, family, and other habits, etc. on royalties of one form or another.
Back end is OK, but stagnant – they are not growing as they should be. Probably due to the switchover to streaming. Front end royalties are growing steadily.
My only hope is that when back end royalties tank from streaming concerns that front end will make up a good portion of it. I’m not sure that will ever happen though.
-LAWriter-
Well….the good news is that the distribution channel will almost certainly want to “own” the music outright if it’s a major studio. They don’t want you controlling the destiny of the film – especially if they broke the contract by not paying your full fee.
That’s good for you, as they will have to come back to the table to negotiate that, and you’ll be in the drivers seat at that point. The only thing they could do is not pay you and pull all your music out, at which point, c’est-la-vei – you’re better off without them. Move on, live joyfully, and look forward to better gigs.
It’s almost certain that if your attorney goes after them, things will get nasty, and you’ll get paid, but it might just not be worth it. Best of luck. This gig is hard sometimes…..
-LAWriter-
Do we want to hear reality or think happy thoughts?
Starting off in any career worth a dam takes time and hard work. How long does it take to be a doctor? How long does it take to build up your practice AFTER your education is done? Yeah, a lot of time and a lot of money invested. You’re not making $200k a year when you decide to start out. You’re looking at a decade to two decades. 4 years of college, then medical school, then interning, THEN gradually starting your biz.
Music is no different. You’ve got to pay your dues. I do not consider 100 tracks anything more than dipping your toes in to see if the water temperature is to your liking. To be successful and make a living you have to go all in, and it takes extreme dedication, greater than “above-average” talent (something that many of us are a little optimistic about), and huge money and time investments. (Studio’s and sample libraries are expensive, although time is the most expensive of all.)
Side note for those thinking of a simple short cut to jump them to the top with library investments : Karma is a cruel beast, and for those who torrent and steal libraries, it will come back to haunt you at some point in your career. (NOT SAYING ANYONE HERE IS DOING THAT….) So those who try to bypass the front loaded financial strain – beware of what you seek to do – i.e make licenses on creative efforts. That is no different than the sample library developers….. (end rant)
So….1000 UNIQUE titles with multiple alt mixes and broadcast edits of the above, at a top level of production quality in a myriad is unique styles (you can’t do 1000 hip hop beats) will get you into a zone where you can ALMOST start making a decent living.
Yeah, that’s a wazoo load of writing, mixing, editing, mastering, metadata tagging, and uploading. Not to mention your own personal managing, and databasing. Yes, it IS a lot of work. Years or decades depending on how much time you can put into it.
It’s not something your’e going to start off in, and be “successful” next year. (Unless you are extremely lucky) And even then – LONGEVITY – is in diversity and numbers, so there are no shortcuts IMO.
Yes, the business is getting tougher. Every day. That 1000 songs will probably become 1500 to 2000 songs needed before you make the 1000. Writers write. All day long. Every day. It’s not a “fun game”. It’s a grind – although one I love very much.
Good luck.
-LAWriter-
PS – to Terlingua – I do not consider simple piano arpeggio pieces to be full production pieces, although one should definitely scatter simple, along with complex pieces into one’s portfolio. If you look for shortcuts, you’ll only be cheating your long term sustainability. Work. Then work. Then work some more. Then keep working when you can’t stand to work another minute. Then…. yeah, you got it…..keep working. In addition, you’ve somehow got to figure out your creative muse somewhere in the process or you’ll burn out.
To those considering this path – if this is not for you, no worries – it’s not for everyone. Sleep is over-rated and really for old men. Making it via music licensing is a demanding and difficult way to earn a living.
Do not believe everything you read online. The RF business is currently growing at at much more attractive rate than the old school PMA libraries from what I can see. What the future holds is beyond my pay grade so take it with a grain of salt. That blog is such a tiny narrow slice of reality that it’s hard to draw any realistic conclusions from it at all.
All I can say is having 1000 hugely diversified tracks rather than 100 in a couple of genre’s will net you a much smoother and longer lasting ride – one that is not prone to current fads. In this game, more IS better and diversity breeds longevity.
Anyone who can make a living on 100 tracks is exceptionally lucky, or has hit the tip of what people want today. Also, those numbers aren’t “making a living” unless you’re living in one of your parents bedrooms and they are feeding you. Can you live on $14-20k a year in LA? Haha! I don’t think so. Quadruple those numbers and you might be able to pull that off.
Hard work, diverse and large quantities of tracks, longevity, diversity of placements, consistently high quality productions and a little luck will get you to a “realistic” living. Maybe.
-LAWriter-
Michael – while I agree with your definitions, it is interesting how common use of language often changes definitions over the years. Annoying, but definitions change whether we want them to or not.
My favorite musical definition pet peeve – R&B now meaning hip hop instead of classic tunes of the Motown era. 🙂
Art – my point is, I don’t think it deserves a new topic, but I’m unsure about the “definition” of “on topic”. IMO composer f’s comment was “on topic” but argumentative. So…. go figure. I’ll continue to browse and mostly keep my mouth shut. I value what you’re doing here and don’t want to derail…. Cheers,
I have thoughts on all of this, but honestly, I’m not sure if I can stay “on topic” enough. What seems on topic to me has been in the past honestly described as off topic, so I will refrain so as not to derail the conversation.
I will say I enjoy the topic and discussion, and believe it’s one that should be discussed openly and candidly.
First, you should contact an entertainment attorney. That’s the only REAL way you are going to get solid, legal answers. I’m not sure what country or state you are in, so there are so many variables that it’s difficult to comment. Also, keep in mind I’m about as far from being an attorney as you can get, but…..All that said….
You own the copyright. I presume you also own the master (sync) rights, and granted that to them in exchange for the ENTIRE payment, which they did not make.
You mention they are “distributing” the film, but I find that just boarderline insane. I don’t know any distribution outlet that would touch the film without ironclad contracts with all these things neatly and tidily taken care of.
If it’s in distribution, that puts you squarely in the power position. You can stop their film from seeing the light of day – ESPECIALLY if their goal is to sign it with a larger studio for distribution. You might just want to wait, and then pounce when they try to get real distribution?
Or, what I would do, I’d have an attorney draft a cease and desist style letter saying that due to their default on the agreed upon contract, they do not have permission to use your music in their film. Please remove your music and pull down all copies or risk legal action.
When they apologize and agree to send a check (and believe me, they will), mention that your attorney is handling these matters now, and that the agreed upon contract is null and void since they didn’t pay. Then let your attorney negotiate a new contract for you which includes his fees, a significant “raise”, and whatever else you feel is fair.
Keep in mind one thing – do you ever want to work with/for these people again, and how tied into the industry are they??? Cause they are NOT going to be happy with you if you lock down their film – even though you have every right.
>>>>If they are working professionals, I’d send the above letter and hope for the best, then drop it if they don’t pay you<<<<
Word gets around quickly and it’s a small industry. If you shut them down they will almost certainly tell all their associates what a $##@!##$ you are. Of course, they would be liars, but that’s how this industry is, and people will remember the scenario – and you. If you don’t see anything positive happening with them or their associates in the future, go ahead and set your attorney on pulling down the film, and then do whatever you like with the music you created.
Again, please consult an attorney and don’t take anything I say as legitimate legal advice. It’s just how I’d handle things.
BTW, I’ve see things like this happen on MAJOR Hollywood blockbusters where a staff attorney at the studio wouldn’t treat a composer fairly, and refused to budge on the composers reasonable requests. Eventually, time moved forward and the film was dubbed with said music in place, and when it was ready for release (2 weeks out and trailers had already been announcing the film for a month), the composer made a call to the director who went ballistic on the studio and music supervisor for not taking care of business. The legal team came to the realization that they screwed up and that the Composer still owned and controlled several songs in the movie, and hadn’t signed the miserably one-sided contract they tried to ram down his throat.” FIX IT!!!!!- was the order of the day. You have NEVER seen such @$$ kissing and apologies to the composer. LOL When something is ready for release and the details have not been taken care of, oy!! Their butt is in a serious place of hurt. This could have cost them 10’s of millions as the film might not have been able to be released or it could have cost them dearly to buy out the composer.
To his credit, the composer played cool, cause it was the long term industry-wise thing to do. He literally could have asked for a $500k license for each song and it would have been paid. And the legal team for the studio would no doubt have been fired. But he didn’t and now, they love him for being reasonable and not playing hardball.
Keep that in mind. I told you this story so that you can see the positive of helping the producers get their stuff together. It can work in your favor if you are a reasonable person.
You have the controlling position. Stay calm, act responsibly, take the high ground, and get good council. Who knows, you might end up being a producer on the film with partial ownership. LOL