1,729 thoughts on “General Questions”

  1. I am a music composer and musician with almost six hundred songs in my personal library.My question is this. I have a deal with a music library for all my songs, but the owner is interested in a buy out of all my music. So, how much is my library worth. I write much psybient, ambient, space music, industrial, and Persian electronic music.
    I just would rather sell out, because for almost five years I have been promoting my music every where, and ran out of options, should I sell out. How much would my songs be worth?

    • If by “buy out” you mean publishing AND writers, think long and hard. That’s not a great deal.

      Even If you’re just selling the publishing rights alone you’re talking about a number in excess of
      six (6) figures. If they’re not offering that kind of money for 600 tracks, you’re being ripped off,
      and they’re not serious, or hoping that you are a fool. IMHO.

      Get a lawyer, BEFORE you get taken for a ride.

    • If you are a writer in it for the long term and do not want to cash out then never give up your writers share. I have received this advise from quite a few professional writers with many number one hits under their respective belts. If you are selling one song and giving up the entire pie, both publishers and writers share, then $500 to $1000 is what I have been offered in the past. BUT, I have never sold a song lock, stock , and barrel. Consider how much time you put into your great songs. Is it 20 hours for the music, 20 hours for the lyric, 10 hours for the recording? $500 is a steal and the publishers/music libraries know it. Based on that formula you are working for $10/hr.

    • That is an easy question to answer. If you are in love with all 600 of your songs then you should not take the deal. If you only love 200 of your songs, keep.those and sell the rest.

      Many people here will tell you to take the long term view of your music career before signing over any music. That is great advice. But you should also diversify by doing quick deals that net upfront money. I can guarantee you that all 600 of your songs are not the best.

      I have a few hundred songs in music libraries. I already know that half will never be licensed. Many that are licensed will net a few bucks. A handful will pull in most of the money. I would have loved to sell a hundred songs for a $20,000 gain. I would have used that money to reinvest in equipment, join some music organizations, attend some workshops to network with other professionals, and saved a few bucks for a rainy day. Waiting for a royalty check isn’t the only reward in the music business.

      Think about selling some of your catalog outright and investing your money back into your music career. Corporations sell off assets and invest those profits back into the business. That is a better long term investment than holding on to the asset while it isn’t making money. You as a composer are a business. You have to invest in yourself.

      Congrats on your deal!

  2. First off, thank you all so much for your comments and, Art, for this library in the first place!

    I am pretty happy with the libraries I’m in right now but they all seem to be more geared toward internet, film and t.v. Are there any that do more ad work that you would recommend looking into?
    Thanks so much!

      • Thank you, Art! I’d started to upload music to them but had issues with their system and got overwhelmed. But I think I’ll try again, in light of this! 🙂

  3. Does anybody happen to remember which library it was that wanted HGTV sounding stuff? I remember coming across it here and the owner I guess it was came on and stated that he wanted stuff that sounded like it belonged on those types of cable channels but I can’t remember who it was.
    Thanks
    Pat

  4. Observation based on anecdotes: to what extent are libraries and lic.cos. partly responsible for driving down the synch value of music? Reading comments from music supes, some of them are annoyed at libs that try to market themselves on the basis of offering cheap or no upfront fees. These libs are not perceived as working hard for their writers. When we have allies in the trenches battling against the devaluing of music, we ought to pause and think about how our personal choices increase or decrease the value of music overall.

    And it appears that quite a few supes are baffled/irritated at receiving the same track under different titles from multiple libs at different rates. This has been stated before and judging by the supes who comment on it as well, it most definitely is NOT just protectionist propaganda from exclusives. There’s a definite downside to retitling. Think carefully about your goals before jumping in.

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      • Synth, I know that you don’t want to hear what I have to say. But…

        It’s supply and demand economics. The more places that you put your music and the more cheaply that you sell it, the less it’s worth.

        Supply and demand also means genre. If a million writers are producing dance-based tracks, you’ve got a million competitors. If the market is saturated with whatever genre the value of that genre goes down. So, increasing the value of your music catalog is like increasing the value of an investment portfolio — diversify.

        If a writer does not want to, or cannot, diversify then they have to raise the bar on the quality of what they’re doing above the competition.

        I truly wish you all the best Synth. It’s a tough game and I know you’re putting your heart into it.

      • My 2c on the personal solutions… and I can’t add anything that Michael hasn’t already touched on.

        1) work genres that aren’t saturated

        2) if 1 isn’t an option, become better than the masses in your genres. Make the quality of the music impeachable

        3) Be professional and be easy to work with. Repeat business and juicier business is more likely if the lib/supe/ed has confidence in what you bring and the way you bring it. This is still a people business.

        4) Don’t devalue your own music by spreading it everywhere. Retitling has some pros but plenty of cons so be thoughtful about it

        5) Don’t sign to libraries that devalue your work eg. offer their catalogue for no sync fees

        Of course there are valid exceptions to all of these but this is my personal philosophy.

        • So typically, do you get upfront sync fees from all of the songs that you have licensed?

          Are you signed to only exclusive libraries?

          Do you usually get paid a buyout fee when your music is acquired?

          What percentage of the music that gets placed in libraries actually gets licensed?

          When do you know if a deal is a bad deal?

          How often are your songs rejected by a music library?

          Out of the songs that are accepted, how long does it take for you to learn that you have been accepted?

    • Different libraries may vary, but I think that for most it doesn’t matter if it’s been released as long as it isn’t available for licensing elsewhere.

  6. Hello, I’m glad I found this forum two weeks ago. I have learned a lot already.

    My specialty is recording instrumental tunes with a band. I have released two CDs that are available on CD Baby, iTunes and other venues, and my music has gotten some radio airplay on non-commercial stations.

    I’m looking at licensing opportunities and looking for a music library that would be a good fit. Since my music is already “out there,” would that prevent me from being represented by an exclusive library?

    Thanks.

  8. Art and all,

    Just wanted to say I always find this community a breath of fresh air. I don’t see ego, arrogance or condescension from participants. There are disagreements but they tend to remain markedly civil. It’s a stark, stark contrast to a number of other very well-known and populated forums. I had to come here to be reminded of how it can be after spending some time tonight on one of those places. :-/

    Kudos to you and all for cultivating such a culture.

    • Thanks Rob,

      I am constantly amazed at the lack of civility in this world. It seems to be getting worse instead of better. It’s one of my pet peeves so I will do my best to keep MLR as civil as possible and thank all who have chosen to be so.

      • Lol @ Pat! 😉
        I couldn’t agree more, finding this community was a big and important step for me and I’m always amazed at how helpful and nice everyone is!
        I bought the lifetime subscription here and it says it ends on DECEMBER 9, 2211: That’s gonna be a bad day for me! 😉

  9. I am a music composer and musician living in Okeechobee, Florida USA I have almost six hundred songs in my personal library, and was wondering if your company would be interested in what I have. My songs are on ebay, up for sale. I have contacted every music production library known, and record labels, to no prevail.
    If interested, please let me know. Thank you

    • Mr. Jenkins,

      The Music Library Report does not license or sell music.
      It is forum where composers and songwriters share information about production music, production music libraries and music licensing. If you want to learn about the production music business, this is a great resource.

      I don’t know about selling music on eBay. You may want to consider selling downloads on CDBaby.

      Best of luck in your endeavors.

      Michael

    • You should try to get your songs on Audiosparx. I think you could sell licenses for your songs by adding them there. You should definitely take all of your music off of Ebay and focus solely on licensing your music through Audiosparx. You have an eclectic sound that would get more attention and make more money from licensing. Don’t give up!

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