Chris Jones recently wrote an article about re-titling over at SonicScoop. I thought it would be of interest to many and Chris kindly gave us permission to re-post it here.
By Chris Jones
With master recording licensing and synchronization now being the current revenue-generating and promotional system in the music industry, we see all the traditional recording exploitation boundaries disappearing.
Music libraries take on scoring gigs, produce artists/songwriters, and ad work while maintaining their catalogs of TV-ready production music. Record labels seem to be fully hitched to omni-lateral licensing pie, artist-endorsed ad campaigns, single tie-ins, whatever. Add the quick-and-easy factor of digital delivery AND soon-to-be ubiquitous audio recognition tech AND deeper metadata AND the slippery slope of what passes as acceptable quality both audio- and video-wise AND this is America, the land of excess. Production = bigger and faster, but not always better.
Point: The “production music” pool is one big pattern-recognizing server of every kind of gang. It’s all our turf. Can you dig it?
One of these “gangs” or business models in production music specific publishers is the re-title library or (to illustrate points using metaphor and acronym) “inert” libraries. It’s a (typically) Independent Non-Exclusive ReTitle music library that will rep your catalog after they give your (only) master a unique title. The library then registers that unique title to their PRO (be it ASCAP, BMI, et al.) as that titles’ “publisher” and can then go forward and collect future performance royalties on said title and also collect any other fees (direct license, sync) associated with licensing. From the research I’ve done, this model has the composer world polarized yet unified in one aspect: we seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
On the surface, one would think: What’s to lose? I have tons of crap sitting on my drive doing nothing for nobody no-how. If someone can make me money and wants to take 50% please be my guest. And it’s non-exclusive? Even better. I’ll look up every re-title library and get cracking. Man, I am sitting on a f*****g gold mine.
So, should I sign with an inert library? That question creates more questions and that is the universal choking sign of a deal to me. I agree that the inert model could be a positive way to crowd-source useful, high-quality, and (most importantly) available masters. But I speak from the viewpoint of a composer that has a specific agenda of producing a high volume of library music for the big exclusive Production Music Association (PMA) libs in addition to what I’ll call “custom” music like songwriting, sound design for composers, remixing, whatever.
There are many ways to poke holes in the inert model, but let’s start with imminent ubiquity of audio pattern recognition technology. BMI acquired BlueArrow almost 5 years ago, and ASCAP has been working on Mediaguide since 2002. These are technologies and services that give your audio/masters a fingerprint via audio analysis, not traditional watermarking (which is hit-or-miss and distorts the file). The tech then monitors broadcasts looking for matches. Soon (the sooner the better) all broadcasts are going to be monitored with this robotic vigilance. Unfailing accuracy. Amid endless dirty AM radio ads, it will be searching for your singularly unique combination of digital DNA. Wait, what-the? This track has 5 titles and 5 publishers…the robot computes.
I’m curious how that’s going to work.
Plus, I thought the whole idea in business was to be exclusive. Where’d that go?
So I send this stupid breakbeat track called “A” to inert lib A. Inert lib A registers “A” to ASCAP as publisher. Already I’m uncomfortable. I send the same exact file to inert lib B. All the way to f*****g Z. I have 26 people claiming to publish my tracks? Are they all undercutting each other or is there a standardized fee? The fee is nothing because you gave sync away in lieu of the slow buck? You just gave away my 50% of shared sync but I guess the contract says you are publisher so you have that right. Oh and the gig was non-broadcast so there is no slow buck. No buck at all.
Oh well I’ll see money on the back end.
Holy s**t, there are 50,000 tracks on this drive! The editor, overhearing my subconscious italics, says 50,000 is way too much b*****t to wade through and goes back to cutting a backend-less corporate video. Then he looks closer. He’s p****d because it’s the same 50,000 tracks the guy from inert lib G left last week. He went through a random 100 or so and they all sucked so he figured they all must suck. Therefore, all inert libs must suck, he thinks. No wonder he waived sync. To charge would have been criminal and there’s no way he paid for this music.
I only have 25 tracks on that drive. I hope the users find them. Back-end may not enter the picture because there’s tons of s**t you never see called non-broadcast. It’s all front-end. So if they waive sync I’m screwed. If they direct license I’ll do better at .0002%, unless it’s .0002% of zero.
I hope A-Z keep tabs on the reporting process. I hope the drives aren’t circulating. I hope an exclusive deal on a track doesn’t come along because that would mean having to turn down a lot of money. I wonder if I could call every editor in the world that FTP-posted or p2ped my slutty one-offs and say, “I own the copyright on these masters and I want to sell them.” Seems like inert libs and their supporters wave the flag on “copyright control.” But how do you retain total control if your choice to sell exclusive is removed? Note: I worked with one inert model that had an “OK to buy” option but again…how could you repo that master if it’s in A-Z and beyond? I fear being the real publisher of these types of masters for these exact scenarios of potential ass-biting to be honest.
So, no, I don’t like it. I want people selling my stuff like they own it because they do. If you own music and want to re-purpose it please do. But why not re-cut it into expected TV format and sell it to a proper exclusive library with sales, search, and broadcast (back-end) clients? Refuse to re-cut because you “channelled” something or claim “it would just feel like murder”? You are a precious lazy b*****d. It’s a reject of some kind. That’s why it’s sitting on your drive. Slap some make-up on and make a :30. If you get frustrated because you cannot re-cut a through-composed orchestral film score, just think what a TV editor will say.
Regardless of what type of library model you love or hate, consider this: you still have to go away and make amazing tracks appear out of thin air every day. None of these arguments apply to composers that are unaware of their music’s failure to meet the creative and technical requirements to be broadcast in the 21st century.
Yadgu has been banned. I’m sure to the relief of many!
I’m beginning to agree that this is a joke or we’re dealing with one sicko puppy. It might be better to ignore his posts and hope he goes away. I won’t waste any more time on this ignorance.
Yea, I’m done with him. I think we have all given him more help and encouragement than he probably deserves. Yadgu has been banned.
Hi Art, and everyone else.
im contributing to this debate again, cause
a) ive been added to the reply list and noticed a beehive of activity just from here
b) i actually care enough about people to want to say something
c) i love music and its encompassing spread in the fabric of our lives.
Yadgu
Dude, you need to take a serious look at WHY you want to do – or dont- do this AT ALL. Make no mistake, even with this fantastic site that art has taken the time and effort to keep going, as well as all the contributors, whom id like to believe , actually come on here with GOOD INTENTIONS to help and please, you still have to have a MODICUM of understanding the framework of the business and social strata of the industry youre wanting to be a part of . In other words, SOCIAL AND PEOPLE SKILLS are not only a must, THEY’RE ESSENTIAL if youre to make good on your artistic contribution.
If you feel youre getting ripped off, rejected all over the place, and suffering too much from a pragmatic perspective doing this, then dont JUST DO THIS, but do other things as well. Make no mistake, i dont think ANY OF US here have just done this in itself on its own from year dot- i could be wrong, in which case, feel free to correct me, and no offence meant or intended- simply cause this industry now has A LOT OF PEOPLE competing for the pies and cakes. Admittedly, there are LOADS MORE pies and cakes, as it were, to go around for all – e.g. the gaming industry is now worth BILLIONS as well- but talent is not even half of it dude. That’s not to say it doesnt matter, but PEOPLE SKILLS , and PATIENCE are integral. Most importantly, you have to LOVE, LOVE and LOVE again what you do, to the point where your focus is realistic, yet bright and strong enough to cut through the rejections.
Invariably, if its all bad news, then just leave. Pure and simple. After all, although god loves a tryer, no one loves a kamikaze pilot.
People like Art himself, DP above, and many others here are grafting away for the LOVE of it. Of course, we all want due rewards, but if it was ONLY about money, then im certain most of us would do other things full time, which would be less uncertain, but not as fullfilling on other levels. Dp is also right about the numbers involved; the more you have, the better the chances you have. Knocking off stuff like an automaton doesnt cut it, and thankfully the better licensing houses arent happy to have the dregs either.
Have passion, man. It’s tough out there, yet there are SO MANY ways to make a little for yourself too.
Big L to all
S R Dhain
Juicy Audio Productions.
Thanks S R, great comment!
Yad you got the wrong attitude.Without trying to find something positive in all this you will fail.
I have made 150-to 200 thousand dollars a year for the last fifteen years and last year was a bad year.I made 90 thousand from royalties and another 20 thousand from some part time teaching.I worked freelance for someone else who actually has a library here at MLR that I cowrote nearly everything in the entire library but I wont go into any specifics since I don’t work there anymore and never had a contract.My biggest mistake.
Now I am making deals here with some of the companies here at MLR.I have an exclusive with 1 of them.I made all of 200 dollars from them in 2009 which was their first year in business.I split that with my writing partner.I have heard others say it takes a good 3-5 years to build up your own library and make things happen.
I Made more from another job I got on my own and royalties still to come.This is really the only way to make any kind of money until you can have upwards of a couple hundred tracks
and a good deal of those making money for you.I have recently completed our 5th cd and as we all know to have any kind of quality takes time,time,and more time but there is no choice,I have to remain optmistic.
Yad also says, “I only seek out the day to gain enough power to cheat other people.”
Wow and I encouraged you and gave you positive feedback? You’re definitely on my non-grata list. Sorry.
It’s not my fault. I was conditioned to be like this because I know that I was weak and naive before. I was a sucker for doubting myself. I should have never been such a sucker. I have to be as hard as nails to get in the industry and make some money.
I do not want to be this way. But I have to be like this at least for a while. Once I establish myself to the point where I have a huge disposable income, I can actually use my power to help out others and teach people. But for now, I am not at that level.
I wish this were a joke. But reality is indifferent. I have to make the difference myself.
Yea, and to think I felt so sorry for him I asked him to call me to help him through his last “crisis”. He did and I thought we had a rational conversation. I think he must be off his meds again. LOL!
Hi Art! Moto-Wrays tonight in Brooklyn. I’ll think of you during Shake and Stomp.
Surfs up dude!
Hey Art,
I enjoyed our conversation. I think you handed me some good advice. I think you insight into the business was vey helpful. I know that you have worked hard and long to attain success.
Unfortunately, it was not the right advice for me. I am a different breed of musician. Not better or worse, just different. I respect the opinions of most of you guys here. I am not here to belittle or heckle anyone. I just do not believe that following the paths of others will benefit me.
I am no genius but I am smart enough to figure things out.
Yad says:
“I can actually use my power to help out others and teach people.”
“I only seek out the day to gain enough power to cheat other people.”
“I constantly laugh at elitist musicians here who scoff at signing exclusive deals for no money.”
“I think that some of these people here have you fooled. They aren’t doing anything. Many people here make great music. But they don’t have the hustle or drive to make things happen.”
Yad, how do you reconcile the above with this:
“I am not here to belittle or heckle anyone.”
Chris, sorry to see that this conversation got dragged off course by a stray bitter self-absorbed, self-pitying attitude. Your original article was thought provoking and not the least bit SPAM (in fact your open association is more like a disclosure in this case).
The good people on this site have given thoughtful contributions to the discussion and probably (altruistically) spent too much time trying to teach the unteachable.
I haven’t done any library work, so I am trying to learn the game options from anyone who has any level of experience in it. Seeking advice is not a waste of time IF one has an open ear/mind and the capacity for discernment. It’s a strange and volatile industry with ever shifting paradigms and anyone willing to offer freely of themselves from what experience they have should at least be treated with respect and not dressed down as though they were liars and scammers conspiring to keep someone down, or ignorant fools who know nothing. My music work has been client based, and if there is one thing I DO KNOW, it’s that if I were to display an attitude like the one in question here, I wouldn’t have any clients real fast.
Guys,
This Yadgyu guy is a joke, literally…it HAS to be someone playing a prank. Nobody would really say those things and mean it. I’m totally convinced this is a joke.
“Yadgyu”, keep posting man, this is some entertaining stuff. You should start a blog!!!
Good news!
I am about to sign about 30 tracks with an exclusive publisher in Europe. I will NOT be receiving any advance or fee. My tracks will be signed to this company into perpetuity. I have been told that this is a bad move. I have been told that I will probably never make a dime from these songs. But I don’t care now.
The more I read the posts on this site, the more confused I get. I do not know of anyone here making big money from doing music. I am sure some of you are getting nice checks, but no one person really is going to give the scoop on here for free.
I am not seeking to make better music. I am not looking to work with the best companies. I am not looking for answers any longer. I now realize that no one is going to hand me the answers. I understand that no one here is really going to look out for me. I am going to have to learn things the long, hard way.
If this means being cheated, then so be it. I have been cheated my whole life out of many things. But that is a part of life that most people will never escape. I only seek out the day to gain enough power to cheat other people. This sounds nefarious, but this is how the world works. I realize that being nice and working hard will not get me anywhere.
I am just going to take risks until I establish myself. There is no other way to get ahead in life.
Feel free to argue amongst yourselves.
Yadgyu says: “I only seek out the day to gain enough power to cheat other people.”
Sigh… Yadgyu, you’re are so misguided it’s hard to know where to start, so I won’t even try.
So true , Art. Nail on the head:)
One usually gets back the attitude one gives. There is only one primary rule to the music biz …learn the game and the playing field and go play like like it matters, or invent your own game and be prepared to support it.
As Composers, griping isn’t in our job description and I don’t like to make it part of my free time either;) I really don’t know anyone who has succeeded at complaining their way into a job/contract;)
Yad,
Quit acting like there is some magic bullet answer to your questions that everyone is withholding from you. People here have offered great and sincere advice and very few of us here have anything remotely like a definitive magic answer. Every deal is a negotiation anew. standard pricing does not (and in most cases probably should not exist).
I know someone who makes a living from doing only exactly what you sat you are doing(because the European model works a little different than ours), BUT, He produces state of the art broadcast ready tracks which began to prove themselves as sale-able material…once proven he gets specific requests to create genre oriented tracks.
Yup, you are right, it sure is long hard work, and a lot of figuring it out for yourself!
But not because anyone is holding back “secrets’ from you.
It’s because everyone’s music, skill, business model, & resources are different…and every negotiation is just that. If you want a step by step, paint by numbers procedure that will make everything easy for you, you are in the wrong business.
That is my point, my friend!
I had the assumption that there was a magic formula or some secret society that would help me. I finally realized that no one cares about me. I realized that no one here can give me the answers because people here do not have the answers. They are just as confused as I was before.
I am beyond being sad and depressed. I am just going to submit my songs and let them do what they can do. I was wasting time trying to seek advice and help. Time is wasting away and putting too much thought into deals is only going to kill my momentum.
Also, I believe that American libraries are a waste of time to anyone who does not own equity in that particular library. How can a composer make any money from a non-exclusive? The owners of these non-exclusive libraries do not actively push songs. This is why most people who have songs with these companies make little to no money.
Europe is the place to be. America is over as far as the music industry. I think Asia will dominate in the later half of this century. But for now, I am working Europe hard. I will possibly going to be tackling Australia in the next few months, just for the challenge.
The money is out here. I can smell it!!!!
I smell somethin…but it ain’t money.
Keep posting though!! Can you make videos and post them on youtube.
Yad say, ” I do not know of anyone here making big money from doing music.”
I don’t know how you could possibly make such a statement without any knowledge of the people here and what they have accomplished. There are several of us on this forum who are making a very healthy 6+ figure income from music. Misinformed statements makes you look like a fool.
Yad also says, “I only seek out the day to gain enough power to cheat other people.”
A life seeking negativity and harm to others is a life doomed to failure.
This is not true. If people were that successful, they would be bragging about it. I know that I would. Why come here and play innocent if you have the knowledge and the money?
I think that some of these people here have you fooled. They aren’t doing anything. Many people here make great music. But they don’t have the hustle or drive to make things happen.
As far as cheating goes, you are going to get cheated for a while unless you wise up. Once you do, you gain power. You then use that powere to make things happen for you. You do not have to cheat all of the time. As a matter of fact, most successful con artists know when to cheat and when to play fair. It is only the fools who cheat into oblivion.
Negativity is all around us. You just learn how to play the game and become great in your own right.
Yad: You’re doing a fine job of spreading the “Negativity”.
@MusicLibraryRpt Not sure why you thought that was spammy? Because he named the source of the infomative article? It inspired discussions.
First of all, great site ART.
This is a very interesting discussion. I just submitted to one of the big re-titling libraries. I am still awaiting a reply but in their blurb when you submit it states that their biggest client no longer accepts re-titled tracks. They have some other way around it. I will wait until I hear back from them and then post it. Could be that things could be changing.
Hi Denis,
Glad you like the site.
What some libraries seem to be doing now is to prepend or append their own code or number to an existing title. That way it’s not a strict re-title but they can still keep track of the accounting.
That’s a smart workaround! The fact remains however, that multiple libraries will still be submitting the same tracks, which what I imagine is the biggest beef the music supervisors and editors have with re-titling.
They have tons of music to sift through without coming across duplicates, and the headache of having to choose which one to go for if they like a track with re-title duplicates. Is the cheapest offer legal? Why is it cheaper? etc etc
I’m beginning to think that the re-titling concept will be banished to the online royalty free world, where it doesn’t matter as much.
Yep!Until your pro’s catch on to this we’ll see the status quo for now!
One of the companies right here at MLR said that they will not retitle but put there company name in front of my Track title.I think this in most cases will work fine.
What we need is Standard fees everybody can agree with.{wishful thinking}But everybody would benefit.
I have looked online at some of the local licensing companies in SF bay area where I live and found some companies charging 3 -5 dollars for music.The tracks are you can guess barely begining 101 music class for novices who deluge the market with complete crap.Art,hope thats not too slanderous!
That is exactly what they are going to do.
There are many royalty free music libraries out there, some of them decent and ethical, others less to say the least. My advice is that each time you find great music suited for your needs in one of these stock music catalogs try just a track or two each time, see how they operate, how they correspond and feel them. If they seem nice and act according to your ethical standards, then they probably have legitimate contracts with their composers and partners, and no legal problems should occur. Get tips and referals from colleagues minimize your risks. After all, there is a reason that most productions don’t use original music, its the price! Like everything else, pros and cons …
is this a very spammy ad in disguise?! Not cool, reflects very poorly on the site you are advertising – Hollywood Production Music. Especially considering you mention the unethical practices of some of your competition!
Hey matt, sorry you feel that way. The fact that i am active in a music library doesn’t mean that i don’t have something to contribute to this debate. What i wrote comes from personal experience and I think it can help the readers. I prefer not to go anonymous, and i am happy to give HPM as an example of one of the good guys … I don’t think it reflects poorly on the site and i don’t think that this is their niche target anyway.
It just seemed deceptive to use a link to your site with the words ‘there are many royalty free libraries out there’ and ‘one of these stock music catalogs’.
Felt like the zillions of spam emails we all get every day.
Think of it as a signature, just not only at the end of the comment … Its certainly not the main message of the comment. But you know what, i think i understand where you’re coming from and i’ll take your words into consideration next time i comment. Its not worth risking credibilty …