Can I have some advice concerning libraries and such?...

[LittleRedChurch]

Hi

This whole blurb is going to sound a little too... self assured but I need advice from those in the know. A taxi friend has offered to let me have someone at one of his libraries listen to my songs. The problem is, he himself is not sure if that's the best route to take. He was saying that this library makes you sign the songs to them, exclusively and they take a substantial % of anything that's used. On HIS ADVICE (and i appreciate it) I'm putting this out there... Are all libraries created equal? Should I be thinking of letting them have rights to as much stuff as they like. Is this blatant conceipt and i should NOT be looking a gift horse in the mouth!!!? Assuming the horse has any interest in the first place??? Are you laughing at this little upstart with the gall to question/bite the hand that feeds him??!!!

Any thoughts at all?

TY

Graham

[eeoo]

Hey Graham - You are wise to do as much due diligence as you can and this is what this forum is priceless for. There are plenty of discussions you can look up concerning exclusive vs. non-exclusive deals, that's one factor. In my experience, which isn't that much, a typical library deal is a 50/50 split. You keep the writer's share of royalties and your publisher keeps the publishers share, which only makes sense because they are doing all the work that a publisher does. Any upfront money from licensing fees is split 50/50 as well. This isn't every deal but it's fairly typical, once again in my limited experience. So if this is what this library is offering and you want to be in the game and you think they're a good, reputable operation i don't see why you wouldn't go for it.

Oh yeah, i suppose another factor is if they offer a reversion clause where you can have your songs back after x number of years or if they control them in perpetuity. I can understand not wanting to give your babies away forever. For me though, I generally don't mind because I always feel like the next thing I write is going to be better than the previous one. I guess it depends on how great a library it is in that case.

I'm sure other more business savvy folks will chime in with the straight dope, just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

At some point you gotta dive in though!

eo

[Kolstad]

Its difficult.

On one hand there's so much great music out there to compete with your songs, that almost any type of (legitimate) deal is a win. Especially when starting out, thats a concern.

On the other hand, some deals can just get too lousy, where your only win is to be associated with a particular brand. That may be big in the business world, but in the world I live in, it can also be a hazard.

So it comes down to your own value system, what you find attractive and what you don't care about.

As a songwriter it's easy to become so attached to your songs, that you won't let them go to ANY market. On the other hand it's equally easy to give up everything, and just settle for getting over the lowest of bars.

When you're starting out, maybe think of it in terms of an investment portfolio, and spread your risk. Do some exclusive deals, some nonexclusive, some where you give up a little more, and look for the good ones all along. Bear in mind you can also gather and (self)publish your music on CD's and put them on CD Baby, Bandcamp and Amazon ect.

With nonexclusive library contracts you can still do this, which is what you want if your song is used somewhere, and you want to sell a few items on top of the licensing fee. With some exclusive contracts you can't, so there you need to be sure or compensated in some way.

I'm not that business savvy myself, though, so hopefully some of those writers will chime in on you also..

[CHuckmott]

YEs 50% is standard. If you are pressing your friend by saying "Will the place my song" unfortunately there is no right answer. You can research the library if you like, I'll pm you. In general though, if you are the kind of person who writes LOTS of songs, and it is a pretty reputable library, I would go for it with a limited number of tracks and see how they do.

[cassmcentee]

"Don't Look Back" and "Trains"
I'm no pro at this but.... I would never sign an "exlusive" deal with those two, give 'em anything else!
Some songs pop out more than others and I adore these two.
Just sayin'
Cass

btw Soundcloud is playing you today!
I'll get to that critique once my roomie who is sleeping in awakes...
Cass

[eeoo]

I think if licensing your music is the goal there are some very good exclusive libraries out there that you want to be in, also, from what I understand, the big networks pretty much only deal with exclusive publishers and those are by far the bigger paydays. I personally would not rule out signing your best songs to exclusive deals. Also, there are exclusive deals that will still allow you sell your music on i-tunes, bandcamp etc. as long as your not licensing it.

eo

[cassmcentee]

Good call Ethan!
Thank you for the info,
Cass

[Kolstad]

there are exclusive deals that will still allow you sell your music on i-tunes, bandcamp etc. as long as your not licensing it.

eo

I didn't know.. thanks for posting that (I've edited my a bit too square post above..)!

[kclements]

I would agree with most of what is said. Here are some of my additional thoughts:

- 50/50 split is pretty standard either exculsive or non-exclusive.

- For upfront money or sync fees - sometimes a library will split them with you, sometimes not. I work with both kinds of deals.

- Some of the exclusive libraries require you to assign them full copyright. I have one library that does this. I am not too concerned about it, because I do all instrumental tracks for them - but I am not so sure I would assign copyright away on a song. You never know what might happen with it . If you assign copyright away, you're out of luck with any future income. You will get backend for your recording, but if someone covers it and makes it a number one hit - you get nothing. At least that is my understanding. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

- I agree with EO - do as much research as you can into the library. Ask around (off the forum of course) and see if others are with them and their reviews. Before you sign anything, it's always good to ask around - the Rally is great for this

- Look for the reversion timeline. There may or may not be one, but it is good to know going into it.

Good luck.
cheers -
kc

[cassmcentee]

per Kayle: - Some of the exclusive libraries require you to assign them full copyright. I have one library that does this. I am not too concerned about it, because I do all instrumental tracks for them - but I am not so sure I would assign copyright away on a song. You never know what might happen with it . If you assign copyright away, you're out of luck with any future income. You will get backend for your recording, but if someone covers it and makes it a number one hit - you get nothing. At least that is my understanding. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.


That's is my worry for those songs, that you don't lose any of your copyright.