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2016. Music that is not mastered fairly loudly will fall short in comparisons. If your track is up against another and not as loud – you (often) lose – even though the production, composition, performance, etc. may be better. The people choosing music in 2016 are getting younger and younger. Somehow, I seem to be getting older and older…. 🙂 Go figure.
These younger folks are not used to hearing dynamic range in music. They are used to loud and smashed. After losing some tools to upgrades, I ended up going much more analog in my mastering chain. A VariMu is helping a lot.
Get em loud! It’s about making the cut when the music is auditioned unfortunately — NOT how it’s going to sit under dialog. I used to never compress / limit orchestral recordings. Those days are gone now. Even stuff I submit to Disney needs to be mastered pretty hot or it gets bounced back for remixing / remastering.
Saddens me to say it, and I often like the music less after mastering, but it’s the reality in 2016. And yes, I’m licensing LOTS of cuts each month.
Yeah, I remember those days…. 🙂 Things will level off. Probably even turn out more like a roller coaster (up and down) than an uphill climb you’re currently on. When you’re starting out, it’s not hard to double your income every year for a few years. I had times where growth was up to 80% a quarter. Unfortunately, when you hit a certain stage, it just CAN’T hold that kind of growth. Wish it could…..
20% annual growth for normal business (of course music is anything BUT normal) would be considered exceptional if you could keep the growth up for years.
Music has value. IMO, it’s got a pretty long shelf life. Certainly more than 5 years. I’ve got music making me money from films and shows I did over 20 years ago. Those things hit syndication or end up playing foreign forever….. Then again, I don’t tend to write trendy EDM that’s passe in 6 months – I balance things out over music that (I hope anyway) stands the test of time.
So – to the OPs question – I think a valuation has merit – I just don’t think my banker will value it as much as it will actually earn…..
John – let us know how it works out for you. I’m intestred.
LAw
I’m seriously re-thinking “exclusivity” and why a composer should even bother in 2016.
At this stage of the game, the up front payout is not big enough to warrant giving away my creative works, the PRO back end is shrinking and in danger of serious destruction from streaming services, I have to indemnify the Ex libs up the wazoo and the potential downside to that in such a litigious industry could be catastrophic, up front sync licenses from RF libraries are growing very quickly for me, while at the same time back end (BMI) has been stagnant for years. And now – with the DOJ decision – that back end will no doubt become weaker still….
Why should we put our music into exclusive libs when the payout is not there? Even with A level companies?
I estimate that sometime soon (maybe 3-5 years) – the up front sync fees that my NON Ex library (which I retain ownership of) will be getting close to the amount of back end that the “EXCLUSIVE big boys” (And I do mean the A team) provide me via my PRO. And I’m barely even scratching the surface of getting my material into the Non Ex libs.
Plus, I still have ownership. It’s insane to give away your publishing and master rights for such peanuts. The EX libs are becoming as competitive as the NON Ex libs and that means their licensing power is shrinking. Their ability to EXCLUSIVELY get high end placements is a thing of the past. Tiny income streams are becoming larger than rivers for me.
It’s the elephant in the room that no one (at the BIG libs) will talk about.
I’ve found that pricing higher does not hurt you as long as your composition and production quality is up to snuff. On the non-exclusives I’m $50 or sometimes higher. No use leaving cash on the table. Sometimes clients will buy 10 songs and they don’t blink at the price. I agree, stingers and/or bumpers should be lower. I’m generally pricing them at $29.95.
The worst possible thing you could tell a publisher is….” oh you want them? GREAT!!! Oh, uh, ummm, I have to remove them from the music libraries they’re in first……”
Choose one of the other, not both.
Treating NE songs as Exclusive is dumb IMO. Equally dumb is randomly throwing them at 10-15 different NE libraries. Self defeating. Doing your due diligence is a good thing, and putting them where they will work is what will get you going.
IMO – I’m with some of the biggest Ex libs out there – EX libs are as spotty as NE libs. Some great things have happened and just as often, some losses where I feel I’ve wasted my creative energy.
Research and correct placements are the key. Giving tracks to EX libs without significant up front buyouts is crazy…..
JakeH – Are the “right” libraries becoming the “wrong” libraries? Very well could be. I’m seeing a shift. Traditional thought as you laid out was my way of thinking 5-10 years ago. Now…..I’m not so sure. Front end is the new back end. Back end is eroding… The majors are slipping. They’d better start stepping up or they will loose ground.
Make sure your desk ergonomics are right for you. I exacerbated an old tendonitis injury (off-road motorcycle induced) after switching to a desk from a console. The result was catastrophic and I’m still working thru it. Bottom line : if it hurts, you’re reinsuring it. The thing that fixed it for me the first time was elbow braces 24/7 and a little magic : Naproxen.
Know that it tends to be chronic and lies “just below the surface” of feeling it. Take care of it and it will go away over time. sometimes it takes a year or two of being careful and doing everything you can to alleviate the pain.
Hoping it will eventually go away is the wrong approach. Be proactive with it and hopefully you’ll be fine. Best of luck.
LAw
EDIT : BTW, my latest bout was brought on using a trackball. I gave up on mice a decade ago and a trackball has served me well up until the last year. It was the ergonomics of the desk that wrecked things for me. Get those ergo’s right at any cost. Chair, desk height, angle of arm to mouse/trackball and musical keyboard height. Get em all right.
Up 10% or so over last quarter.
re: Genre’s vs. Sales. Honestly, I don’t think you can predict it. My most used tracks are ones that I probably would have thrown away. My least used – some that I consider masterpieces… Go figure.
As for styles and what to write, I think you have to be wide reaching. If you’re only writing rock because it’s hot right now, you’re going to get the short end of the stick and see your sales drop thru the floor when tastes change. A wide variety of music and styles and types of libraries is what creates longevity.
Typical….. It’s been a month and no reply Art? It HAS been the holidays, but one would think they might be able to find a way to get to it. Very interested in this process as well. Thanks for reporting.
-LAWriter
Over the last 20 years I’ve seen no rhyme or reason to payouts from my PRO – BMI. Thank goodness they have been up a bit the last couple of quarters. Late last year and earlier this year were pretty bleak….
LAWriter