1,729 thoughts on “General Questions”

  1. Definitely makes a lot of sense Shekhar!

    One other possibility is the smaller libraries will flourish because clients will prefer the simplicity in working with a smaller library (with fewer choices).

    Also, I think clients may stick with one or two libraries for there needs. So it could be an even split of business across the board for the little jobs. But the high-end mega-force libraries will still deal with the big boys.

    I wonder if the score composers will start losing gigs because of more and more films turning to libraries to save a buck.

  2. Just pondering…

    Music libraries are becoming more and more popular. They’re adding more and more tracks to their already inflated libraries. Some like DSM Producers have hundreds of thousands of tracks.

    Do you think because of this developing trend that it will become harder and harder to get placements. Is it possible that five years from now there will be an unimaginable amount of music available so that most of us will get lost in its enormity?

    Just this website alone has created additional competition with good and bad consequences. The good is that we have many more libraries to submit our music to. The bad is that the submitting process is taking longer and longer – and the libraries are splitting at their seams with music.

    I imagine it’s becoming more complicated for these libraries to keep track of all their music – and for their clients much more difficulty in the selection process. Can you imagine wanting to find that perfect cue for a romance scene and having thousands of tracks to weed through.

    Anyway, where do you think all this is going – 5 years from now, 10 years from now? Throw into the mix the ever-increasing technological advances in the music Industry and it all becomes a little disturbing. At least it does for me.

    Just pondering…

    • Hi John hope you’re well.

      Im sure i gave an unwitting answer to this question somewhere else here on this forum a few months ago, but in any case, ill reiterate my answer for you, and maybe even remind MYSELF of what i feel and think is the future regarding the library music industry. Your viewpoint is ONE SIDE of the same coin. There’s the other side too.

      Put simply :-

      * Libraries will be ameliorated by the BIGGER ones, creating a smaller pool but with lots of music in each one

      * Some will not be able to survive simply cause the proliferation of quality music has reached a point where the value of an individual track means loads of 1c deals, meaning that volume is PART of the solution, but unless the smaller guys (remember this is hypothetical) can then add value for themselves by getting some “name” composers into their roster, then quality alone may not be enough for them to cut it. Remember, some of the biggies have more money to spend on marketing and P.R. and may even be more entrenched within the top ranks of tv and film than we can put a figure on, which means a smaller share for everyone , but exponentially ( i hope that makes sense without me having to draw a diagram 🙂 )

      * those who survive and/or are thriving may demand EXCLUSIVITY on the deals with musicians, simply to a) add leverage with music supervisors and b) hence keep upfront prices higher.

      * More music will be rejected, simply cause the volume of music being submitted is now reaching stratospheric levels compared to before. Some of this may have been fed by the crumble in the “record industry” as it used to be known. I DO know that some of the hardware and software manufacturers have suffered the knock on effect of the loss of recorded music sales.

      So there we have it and it’s not all doom and gloom John ( at least i dont see it that way). I havent mentioned minutae like re-titling et al, simply cause im looking at the economic impact of killing re-titling in a climate where everything seems to be a bit “three legged” , so to speak. By killing re-titling right now, for example, the PRO’s themselves would lose out , as would all the ancilliary industries related to them, leading to a change which would be too drastic and haphazard for all. It will eventually go, but i reckon it will take the next 10 to 20 years to be phased out gradually, which may be brought on by tunesat and related technologies being used far more extensively across the board.

      Hope the above all makes sense, and hope you keep making music for as long as you love it 🙂

      Shekhar Raj Dhain
      Director
      Juicy Audio Productions.

      P.S. Oh that reminds me, ive done a few interviews recently, but im not sure if i can link back to them here using the url. I tried putting links in posts in the past, but it used to crash the page.

    • Hi John,

      It doesn’t really disturb me. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the business over the years and, as in any business, you have to stay nimble. I think it’s hard to tell what the future holds but keeping an open mind will serve us all well.

  5. Hey Art,

    I am a music library composer wannabe and I discovered this site about a week ago. I think it is great! I’m am learning every day from it. One question, would it be convenient for you to add a date posted field to the comments. I was researching the All American Music Library (who have some tracks I want back) and I didn’t know if I was responding to a year old or day old comment.
    Thanks again for this site. Hopefully it will lead me to an actual license or two ;~)
    Best,
    Alan

  6. Thanks Art! Um…so, is this the right place to ask for some advice and guidance? I want to find any libraries that deal in kids music and other adult genres like country/folk. Any help is appreciated.

    • Hey Duncan, check out http://www.peteralsop.com/ and send him an e-mail. He is not a music library but maybe he will have some tips for you. He’s been in the field for a long time and recorded a number of his albums at my studio. We go back a long way. Good luck.

  8. Just throwing this out for responses but; does anyone know of any libraries out there that are interested in other genres of music and other types of media? About a week ago I sent a few “adult” songs to MLReport and am waiting to hear back but prior to that I sent them a variety of kids songs – all were rejected. This may have had to do with one of two things. They didn’t like them or they’re just not into accepting kids songs. I’m a firm believer that there is a market out there for my children’s music, especially in the area of television commercials and product association. I also think there are opportuinties out there somewhere for a cartoon series based on my songs but where that “somewhere” is?? I’m not sure, I don’t know and that’s why I’m asking. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Here is an example of a collaboration between myself and a friend. I am the copyright owner of the music, and she is the creator and copyright owner of all characters. If you have small kids in your house I would appreciate very much if you would test it out on them. Thanks!

    Whoa Nellie
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywK6fUEJIE

    • “Duncan said: About a week ago I sent a few “adult” songs to MLReport”

      Huh? We are not a music library so not sure what you mean here.

  9. Thanks, Art. Yes, thats what I thought. There is a part of me that says not to worry about it, as anyone who is going to use it in any meaningful way ( network , film or cable tv that pays back end) will have no interest in stealing it or using it without a license. On the other hand I would hate to get burned in some unforseen way by an unscrupulous editor,etc.

    The audio overlay is one way to go – does that turn people off to previewing your music if they know they will hear “awesometraks” ( or whatever) every 10 -15 seconds?

    I would be interested to hear how other people handle this issue.

    Thanks

  10. I dont know if this is the right section to post this question but I am wondering what people here do in order to protect their music on the internet? More specifically, I am getting together my library to put up on my website and wondering if there is some way to encode the mp3s the way that ISRC codes work with CDs.

    I have actually tried doing a bit of research on this but havent seemed to be able to get a definitive answer. As far as I know just embedding info onto an mp3 doesnt neccessarily stay with it for the life of the mp3?

    Any info on this would be appreciated.

    Thanks

    • MP3 is free of copy protection. I think maybe at one time copy protection was tried but MP3 has become the defacto standard for an unprotected lossy format audio file. Embedded info (MP3 tags) can be stripped out. If you are using MP3s for clients to preview your music you could use a short clip, a lower bit rate or overlay beeps or voice every 10 or 15 seconds.

      I’m sure folks here will offer other suggestions.

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