Hypothetical Situation With Exclusive Listings

[Danny]

Hey folks,

Let's just suppose for a moment that you submitted tunes for an exclusive listing and you get a forward.

Now, time goes by. Maybe a year or more and you never get a deal from that forward.

Does that mean that your song stays in a cyber black hole? I mean if it is an exclusive listing, you can't pitch it to anyone else.

Meanwhile, you spent all of that time on the song(s) but 1 or 2 years go by??????

Thoughts anyone??

[Cruciform]

Keep pitching until it's signed. It's your's until you accept an offer.

[ComposerLDG]

Keep pitching until it's signed. It's your's until you accept an offer.

+1

[Danny]

So, what if you pitched and got it in 3 non-exclusive libraries but no deal. Then, you finally get a deal from the original non-exclusive Taxi listing. Would you pull the tune from the non-exclusive libraries?

[Cruciform]

So, what if you pitched and got it in 3 non-exclusive libraries but no deal. Then, you finally get a deal from the original non-exclusive Taxi listing. Would you pull the tune from the non-exclusive libraries?

Signing it to a non-exclusive library is a deal. When you sign the agreement, you are legally agreeing to the terms of representation whether the library is exclusive or not.

Maybe you mean what if it was in some non-exclusives but hadn't been licensed by any end users yet? If so, it still depends on the agreements you signed. For instance, some NEs require perpetuity which means you can never withdraw the cue from them. You are still free to submit it to other NEs but just not to an exclusive. Maybe you can get the cue back from all 3 NEs, if so, that's a decision you have to make.

But exclusives aren't necessarily better than non-exclusives. Depends on the individual libraries in question.

FWIW, my opinion is sign and move on. If the exclusive comes back to you a year later, it's easier just to say, "I've signed that elsewhere but I'd love to write some more cues in that style for you."

The mantra around here is always good advice: write, submit, forget, repeat.

[ComposerLDG]

Danny, are you confusing a forward with a deal? They are two different things.

[Danny]

LDG,

I guess if you have music placed in a library due to Taxi or by any other means, it's like a "Forward" I suppose.

You can have a contract with a library and supply music to them but have no purchases of your music from a client yet. Yeah I guess it came off as sort of confusing but that's what I meant.

I know every library has different terms. I have songs in libraries that have terms from 1 year to 2 years to indefinite.

Danny

[guscave]

Hi Danny,

A "Forward" by Taxi simply means they've forwarded your song to someone at the library to listen to it. They will then determine weather it will get added to the library's catalog or not. Until you actually get a contract from the library, your song is a "free agent". You can shop it around anywhere you like (exclusive or non-exclusive).

I've had several situations where I've sent songs to an exclusive library and after not hearing back from them ( I usually wait about a month), I've placed it in another library. The exclusive libraries have then come back and asked me about the song. I've told them that it's already been licensed but I can offer them another similar track. Those situations have usually help me establish a new working relationship with the libraries.

[Danny]

Guscave,

I totally get you and understand Taxi's process. It's that I personally don't see a "Deal" until money is in my hands

The confusion here is that some people on the forums consider it a "Deal" by merely signing songs in to a library. Nobody in this thread has said that but I have seen this quite often in forum chatter.

I guess wrote my post in a confusing manner where I sould have been more specific.

Thanks guys for your input.

[ComposerLDG]

Ok, I see where the confusion is. Personally, when I sign a contract with a library, that's a deal, even if there's no up front money. If and when money comes later, any sync fees are going to come from the library I signed with, since that's part of the deal. Of course, royalty money will from from your PRO.