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You can have 1000 Cues/Tracks, but if they are not as hot or hotter than your musical Piers/Competitors. You will just have a lot of tracks..
Quote of the Day!!!
I’ve given up trying to predict what sells, you just never know.
Spot on.
Krisemm…you been lighting up the forum. I’ve been on both sides of this business for a long time.
1. No one can predict what will sell or get placed.
2. No one can predict a) if you will make any money, b) how long it will take to make any money, and c) how much money you will make.
3. Competiton is fierce.
a) Music schools like Berklee and online trainers like Thinkspace are creating hundreds of new composers every year.
b) Many composers devalue the market and sell at rock-bottom prices.
c) Subscription services are eroding sync fees…the list goes on.
4. The vast majority of people engaged in this business DO NOT earn a living from it, no matter how many tracks they have, so they have other jobs in the music busines or not.The upshot is that there are no short-cuts, no quick answers, no guarantees. Building a career as a composer is a long and arduous path for which you need a long-term plan, no matter how many hundreds of tracks you already have.
Hockey legend Wayne Gretsky said “I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”
Also, why, specifically, is there a better benefit to having 2 or 300 tracks on an RF site ?
Because you’d have 288 more chances to sell something. Two tracks will hardly get you noticed.
“Repurposing might not be your answer…
Repurposing old tracks that weren’t originally written to be used in productions could be a lot of work for little return because they need to function properly, not just be shorter.
Also, be careful about following trends too closely.
Spot on. Tomorrow, today’s trends are yesterday’s news.
1) Commit 5 years to learn a new instrument. I mean weekly private lessons with a pro and 1-3 hours practice per day. I did it and it changed everything.
In the era of keypad composing and loops, learning an instrument, any instrument, would increase one’s musical skill set and vocabulary exponentially.
1) Learn how to write for instruments not for “sounds.” Trumpets, violins, percussion, guitars, etc., are instruments, not just sounds on a keyboard. If you don’t write for the instrument instead of just using sounds your tracks will sound synthetic no matter how good the samples you use are.
2) Write music with function in mind. If you don’t know what your track can or could be used for no one else will either.
3) Get a brutally honest evaluation of your music. Most people have no idea how good or bad their work is and they look for external explanations when their tracks don’t sell…usually blaming the library.
Maybe here. They’re new.
It’s also helpful if your catalog covers a broad range of genres. 300 iterations of similar tracks will only have you competing against yourself.
You are, unfortunately, in a tough spot. This is not the best business for generating quick cash.
It will take 9 months, even a year, before you see income from the TV-based exclusive libraries and on the first go round you might make only a few dollars. Additionally, they’re not looking for 6 minute tracks. They need shorter 1:30 to 2:00 minute cues with a lot of edit points.
The music you describe doesn’t sound like something the upper-tier libraries would look for. That said, even if it were, they operate on fairly locked-in production and release schedules and it can take a long time for music to actually be released and then generate income.
It may well be that RF libraries are your best hope of generating income quickly. Some pay monthly and some pay quarterly. But…6 minute tracks may be a tough sell because they would require editing for most customers.
For that reason, what often sells best on RF site are the edits, :60, :30, :15, bed mixes, and stingers. AND…your meta data, including titles, will make or break a track. Make sure that your titles clue buyers into what the track’s purpose is and that your meta data acurately reflects how it might be used.
Good luck.
If I use a track on a RF site and price it at £50, just to test the waters, and it starts selling ( I read one example on here of a track that was priced at £16 which about 2,000 uses ), and I think, ok, I’d now like to pitch this to a non-exclusive site or exclusive, would I have essentiallu shot myself in the foot by releasing on RF because the track is screwed forever, and the non-ex and Ex companies wouldn’t then want anything to do with it ?
You need to familiarize yourself with the “food chain.”
First, you’ll have no way of knowing if the track that’s selling well at £16 is selling well because it’s priced at £16. Maybe that’s its price point and all that it’s worth.
Non-exclusive libraries won’t care if you’ve been selling in RF libraries because they are non-exclusive.
Understand the various types of exclsuive libraries:
There are exclusive libraries that take your music, pay you nothing and distribute it for the most part via gratis deals with reality TV producers. You earn money via royalties. They won’t let you sell the same music in RF libraries at the same time, but it shouldn’t matter if it has been in RF libraries and removed. (Note not all RF libraries let you remove music).
There are upper-tier exclusive “work for hire” libraries that pay upfront money to buy your copyright and they will care if it has been in a RF library.
“Testing the waters” is a waste of time because the various business models function in different spheres and what works in one model might not work in another. Just write more and write with a purpose. Make your music functional.
I’ve read the forums and read things about crucialmusics dealing with rumblefish, and opting everyone in, rather than giving them the option to opt out.
The Rumblefish/Crucial situation AND the CDBaby/Rumblishfish situation arises from Rumblefish’s involvement in YouTube Content ID, which causes problems for RF libraries because legitimate licenses get hit with copyright violation notices. As such. a number of RF libraries including MusicLoops and AudioSparx will not accept artists involved with Rumblishfish and ContentID.
As far as how libraries treat composers, we are unfortunately snowflakes in a blizzard. It’s not the libraries that devalue composers work but rather the sheer number of “composers” and the amount of content that’s being dumped into the market that dictates the value of music today, especially EDM/Electronic music. Kids in grade school are being trained to use Garage Band and they’re cranking it out.
I’m afraid Dannyc’s correct. There’s no “fast forward” button in this business. There’s no teacher like experience.
The list of libraries to avoid is long. I would say to definitely avoid any library that promotes its content as “copyright free.”
That is possibly a poor translation of “Royalty Free” but the legal implication is that the music on the site is in the public domain.There are a number of e-books out there including Art and Robin’s “Make Music? – Make Money!” that will answer many of your basic questions.
Hi Terri,
I am a lawyer. Is your proposed musician name/pseudonym a really great name, worth fighting for? Will it make a big difference to your business and establishing your brand?
Art is correct that an LLC is formed at the state level. Generally, you can conduct an online search of the LLC names regeistered in your state. There’s an initial registration fee and some states also charge an annual fee.
Conducting a comprehensive trademark search is not inexpensive and then registering your mark with the US Patent & Trademark Office is also not inexpensive. You also have to renew and maintain the mark, which adds expense over time.
That said, when possible we didn’t hassle folks using the name for their local/unrelated things.
Actually, there’s case law that supports the right to continue using a pre-established name within a geographic region if their use pre-dates yours.
Hi Good Bear Studio,
You can join ASCAP as a publisher but most libraries, with the exception of royalty free libraries, will want 100% of the publisher’s share.
Writers who are familiar with Jingle Punks and Crucial can answer the catalog browsing question.
Best,
Michael
You can browse most libraries. For example, you can browse Megatrax here: http://www.megatrax.com/browse.php. You can browse Killer Tracks here: http://www.killertracks.com/#!/en/browse.aspx. You can browse DeWolfe here: http://www.dewolfemusic.com/page/production_music
And clearly, you can browse all of the Royalty Free libraries.
As far the “competition” goes, we’re pretty much snowflakes in a blizzard. Just do what you do, the best you possibly can.
With the exception of royalty free libraries, many libraries will want (require) your publishing.
@Mark….when do you actually sleep!?!?!? 😀