Same old question... exclusive vs non-exclusive

[daveydad]

Most of my music is in non-exclusive libraries but I do have about 40 tracks in 2 or 3 exclusive libraries. I have never been paid an advance for these and, as of yet, have never had any of these tracks placed/licensed, which does make me wonder if the advice given recently by a non-exclusive library owner below is perhaps more true than not. Agree? Disagree? What has been your experience? Thanks!

"I would not sign an exclusive deal with a company that doesn't pay an advance and doesn't have a crystal clear end term to your agreement. Also make sure they don't want part of your writer's share. That happens a lot. In my opinion, you should license to other libraries non-exclusively. When it's exclusive they can hold your track hostage forever and ruin your chances of ever earning money from it."

[guscave]

I’ve had songs placed by both exclusive and non-exclusive libraries. I’d say right now it’s about a 70/30 split with non-exclusive getting the most placements.

I try not to submit music to exclusive libraries that do not pay anything upfront but still want your music in perpetuity, however I have done it on a couple of occasions due to my relationship with the owners and an assurance of back-end royalties.

I also will not give “ANY” of my writer’s rights to a library or publisher. Weather or not I’m getting money upfront. 90% of my music income comes from back-end royalties.

[daveydad]

Thanks for the feedback. A dozen of my exclusive tracks are in a library where I was paid nothing and promised nothing; kind of regret that decision now. The rest are being used on compilation albums being sent to media outlets all over the world and I'll get 70% plus backend royalties. We shall see... these were tracks that had been sitting on my hard drive for 2-3 years and I figured why not see if they generate some income.

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Dave, I think a big factor in the exclusive vs. non-exclusive debate is how quickly you can crank out tracks. If you're the type of person that only writes 50-100 tracks per year, then each cue is going to be more... um... "special" to you, and my advice would be to spread them out non-exclusively, thereby making those 50 cues turn into about 250 (if you sign them all to five different companies).

However, if you're super-prolific at this game and can churn out 300-400 cues per year, then each cue is more "expendable". You can drop a bunch in exclusive libraries and not worry about giving away your entire catalog, especially if some of them never get used. Ever.

I still try to spread things out as much as I can, and I'm nearing the 1,000 cue mark. I'm probably doing about 65% exclusive, and 35% non-ex. I'd like to change that and focus on more non-exclusive, but it seems like a small handful of exclusive libraries are sending me music requests all the time which means that I'll write on-demand for a specific show, exclusively.

I've gotten all sorts of splits at this point in my career, from the standard 50/50 royalty deal, to stuff where I also get 30% of publishing, to stuff where I get upfront money, to stuff where the actual TV network gets the publishing share and I split the writer's share with the publisher (seems to be more common than you'd think). From 50% of synchs, to 25% of synchs. And some in-perpetuity, and some with reversion clauses.

But since I've got a "day job" that allows me to write a TON of music, I'm not so worried about the possibility of tracks dying in a library where they never get used... I'll just make five more to replace the one that never materialized to anything. So I write for nearly every opportunity that comes my way and don't worry about exclusive vs. non-ex right now. And when I keep doing that, I also keep getting surprised by placements on TV shows I've never heard of, using music that I'd long since forgotten about. It keeps me happy and motivated!

Just my perspective on how I approach this whole thing!

~~Matt

[daveydad]

Exactly, this is slowly becoming my "day" job so I compose quite a few tracks each month and don't mind sending a few off to exclusiveville if it leads to something. I'm also composing as requested for an exclusive library from time to time. Recently had several tracks signed exclusively that will be used in compilation albums that will be sent out to media outlets around the world and also for sale on iTunes, etc etc. Anyone ever had this situation? Curious how well it pays... my cut is 70%.

[hummingbird]

Just a comment on the publisher taking part of the writer's share business... according to what I've read, this is a slippery slope, where a less than ideal library offers their client (music supervisor, etc) part of the writer's share to rope them in, and the writer agrees to this in order to get the opportunity for placement... if this continues, soon everyone will want part of the writer's share. It devalues our music as a commodity when we are willing to give up what is rightfully ours, reducing our share of the income that may come from back end royalties.

[guscave]

a less than ideal library offers their client (music supervisor, etc) part of the writer's share to rope them in, and the writer agrees to this in order to get the opportunity for placement....

I haven't come across this yet, but I do know of some reputable libraries offering the client 50% of the "Publishing", then taking a portion of the writer's share to make up for the loss.

[crs7string]

Every deal has to be judged by it's own merits.

I think that judging a library by how many placements one has gotten with that library may have some flaws.

If one only has five cues with a given library, how can one expect fabulous results. However, when a composer starts getting placements with a library, what does he do next. Send them more music. With more music in a given library, one should expect better results. Now we like the library.

I think, no matter how we try to analyze it, this business always comes back to: it's a numbers game. It takes a "critical mass" of music to see regular and consistent placements.

Patience is also crucial in this business. I just had a placement on the new Bravo show, "Odd Mom Out". It is an Asian cue that I signed with a library in LA in 2008, as a result of a TAXI forward. It took seven years for this particular cue to see the light of day.

I also seem to be getting regular placements showing up on my BMI statement from cues I signed with libraries in 2011 and 2012. (three and four years ago)

We can't control what happens to our music once it is "out in the world" . We can control how much music is "out in the world".

And, over time, both the quality of our music, and the quality of our business partners should improve, if we are producing a ton of music.

This is "a marathon, not a sprint" (which is the title of my class at the Rally, for a little self promotion)


Chuck

[daveydad]

Chuck, great info! Especially how past tracks may be used years later. Question... a few libraries I belong to mentioned that my tracks were on drives sent out. Are these actually hard drives that they send out to potential clients?

[crs7string]

Yes. It is fairly common for hard drives to be sent to clients.