LIbrary Request. What Would You Do?

[Danny]

Hey Guys,

Just want to get some opinions here.

I have tracks in a few Non Exclusive and an Exclusive library . In all of the libraries, I have full songs placed as is, with the understanding that if there is a need for a stinger, bumber, bed, etc, of course I would provide it if the network, etc requests it.

Now the question. I got a contract for a new library that prefers Exclusive but take Non Exclusive too. They require ALL tracks to have an instrumental version, 30 second cutdown, bumper, and stinger for every songs. That's a lot of work, not to mention the fact that I don't remember the mastering preset I used for the original tracks, etc. There is no up front and no guarantees of anything. They have a decent placement rate as any other reputable library.

I guess from now on, if I write any new tunes, it would be easier to provide alt versions but going back on a bunch of pre written songs may be a pain in the butt.

What would you do? Some opinions please..

Thanks in advance.

[Paulie]

Give them what they want, that's what I do. Always save your projects individually so you can do edits, remixes, etc. later.

Congrats on their interest!

[Danny]

Thanks for the input Paulie. My basic concern was to spend all that work on alt versions for only 1 Lib that is asking for it. IOW, I can just not sign and focus on creating new songs, not alt versions of my hardrive. ??

Yes. I always save all files...

[Cruciform]

Simple.

If you want to write for that library, you give them what they want.

If you don't want to give them what they want, then you don't sign anything to them.

[Danny]

Rob,

Would every single bed, bumper, stinger, 30 second ver, etc have to be registered to my PRO as seperate entities? Could they be attached or grouped to the main original track?

[Cruciform]

Let the library take care of registration, that's part of why they get publisher's share. In any case, I only see the main mix title appear in my PRO (apart from some NEs who register everything individually). Typically I've only ever had to register titles when the publisher's details haven't come through and that's probably due to someone's lazy handling of the cue sheet.

[Danny]

So if I'm understanding correctly, you just have your main version of the song in you PRO but the music library will register alts of that tune?

Since we can mention libraries, it's hard to get some points across...

[Cruciform]

Most libraries I'm with only register the main title. They don't register all the alts and stems. As long as the main title is correctly noted on the cue sheet and registered properly by the library then it seems to cover usage of the sub-mixes or what-have-you. Only two non-exclusives that I have music with, register every alt mix, cut, whatever as separate titles. That may be more to do with their overall business model and target demographics than anything else.

But basically, let the library handle it. Some register everything as a matter of course, others only register cues when they get used.

As a rule of thumb, the only music you should need to generally register yourself is self-published work. (There is one popular LA non-exclusive that is an exception to this.)

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Danny, be careful when you think like this: "with the understanding that if there is a need for a stinger, bumber, bed, etc, of course I would provide it if the network, etc requests it."

In my experience, a network will rarely - if ever - reach out to a composer for adjustments to a track or ask for cutdowns. They're just too busy. What usually will happen though is that they'll find another track within their batch of cues that has the same key and similar tempo, and take their sting ending from that separate track and place it on the end of a song that didn't have one. I know this to be the case because I've had numerous placements where a show has used 2 seconds of one of my tracks - just the sting ending (last few notes or last chord). When I find that show on TV and watch it, I find that my endings had been tagged on to the end of someone else's cue.

THAT'S what will most likely happen if you don't supply this stuff up front to your library. Someone else gets part of the money you could have easily had.

So by not making these smaller edits, you're just costing yourself opportunities and money.

P.S. From the verbiage of what the library wants - and the word choices they used - that you've mentioned in your post, I can almost guarantee they are a library I work with very regularly. And they get me tons of placements, and they're incredibly nice people.

~~Matt

[Danny]

Hey Matt,

I meant the network would contact the library for alts, not the composer. Still unlikely I guess.

So do you submit all of you stuff to your PRO like this?

Matt's song
Matt's song instrumental
Matt's song 30 sec
Matt's song sting
Matt's song bumber