CONTRACT

[Raincoat]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this, and I'm writing from abroad in Europe. I'd like to hear from someone who has closed a deal. How do exclusive and non-exclusive contracts work? In addition to the percentage, are there also upfront cash payments, and if so, could you provide me with a range.

Thank you

[cosmicdolphin]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this, and I'm writing from abroad in Europe. I'd like to hear from someone who has closed a deal. How do exclusive and non-exclusive contracts work? In addition to the percentage, are there also upfront cash payments, and if so, could you provide me with a range.

Thank you

Hi - Also in Europe here

Usually whatever you're offered will be the standard terms for that library so it will be a case of " take it or leave it " i.e. there won't usually be any room for negotiatin as all the writers are on the same deal in my experience.

The typical scenario is 50-50 : so you would keep 100% of the writers share, and the library would keep 100% of the publishers share of any backend royalties generated. This usually applies to any Sync Fees ( one off licence amounts for special usage ) although they are rarer unless you're writing tailer music or songs that may get placed in Film or Advertising. You typically won't get sync fees for instrumental cues in catalogues dealing mainly with reality TV etc. which makes up the vast majority of the music used.

So basically on a typical deal if you make a Euro, they make a Euro. Beware of anything less than this 50-50 split and look into it carefully, some libraries do take a % of the writers share which many musicians don't agree with but it depends on the circumstances. Sometimes it can still work out benficial long term if it generates a lot of placements.

Unless you're very experienced and well connected it's pretty unlikey that you will get anything on upfront, although I have personally received $100 per track as an upfront fee some years back I had to give away some writers share of those tracks. Up front payments used to be to cover recording costs and now we all record at home it's pretty much gone away.

It's very hard to make money with library music, however a few people I know have done really well at it. A combination of great music, great work ethic and bring in the right place at the right time seem to be part of the recipe for success. Most of the rest of us have taken the slower more gradual path and the are many who persist despite struggling to get even so much as a Taxi Forward let alone a libray contract or TV placement.

I have documented my jourey over the past 7yrs and will post my 8th year update in a couple of months. This is not to say your journey will be the same but just to provide some transparency which is somewhat lacking in this game.

seven-year-update-t150215.html

Mark

[Telefunkin]

As for the type of contract, here's my take on it....

Exclusive - the library/publisher has exclusive rights to a track so it cannot be signed to anyone else either before or after the deal. This is the most common type of contract being offered now, and the deal is usually 'in perpetuity', ie forever, although a few library contracts might include the option to get back your track if they fail to secure any placements for it within say, 5 years.

Non-exclusive - the library/publisher might be only one of many that represents your track, but any/all other contracts on the same track must also be non-exclusive. Its common for the library to re-title your track so it appears to be unique to them but the same track might be represented elsewhere using a different title. This type of deal is more likely to include an option to get your track back if it is not placed within a specified time period. The number of non-exclusive deals being offered is dwindling these days for a number of reasons.

Some have always considered that exclusive deals are more likely to get more/better placements. Others have preferred non-ex, thinking that in the worst circumstances they would want their track back eventually. Personally, I prefer exclusive deals but even with the odd non-ex that I have I still treat it as an exclusive deal (so I would never sign that track anywhere else).

Your PRO will collect any performance royalties, and publishers might (or might not depending on their particular deal) pay you any mechanicals or your share of blanket license fees.

If you are lucky enough to have contacts who are music supervisors for TV shows etc then you might be able to sign contracts directly with them (rather than via a publisher), and in that case you might be able to keep the publisher's share as well as the writer's share of the royalties (paid by your PRO) AND get all of the sync fee paid by the production company. If BMI is your PRO they'll pay you both the writer's and publisher's share (according to the track's registration), although with other PROs you would have to register as a publisher as well as a writer in order to get the publishers share.

One final word of caution - if you have already released tracks on online platforms those track might already be considered under contract (depending on what you agreed to), so be absolutely sure of what existing contracts your music is under and whether you can end them before assuming it is unencumbered and available to sign exclusively to a publisher/library.

I hope that helps.
(BTW I am not an attorney and no legal advice is implied).

[Raincoat]

Thank you very much for your comprehensive explanation; it was exactly what I was looking for. Let's just say that if I had some doubts about joining Taxi before, now my uncertainty is even greater. I'm not questioning their professionalism, but it seems that, in the end, the earnings are not that great. It appears more like something to do as a hobby in one's spare time. We are a large professional studio with several in-house producers, and we were looking to expand our earning potential, but it seems that the Libraries system here is quite slow and labor-intensive with meager returns. What are your thoughts on this?"

[Telefunkin]

Earnings potential is a tough one. If you have studio chops already then that's a big advantage right from the start. If you can also turn out up-to-date music tailored for sync that fits listings/briefings, then you're on your way from the start. Taxi listings vary, although some styles get repeated more often than others, and include songs and instrumentals. If you pay the premium to also get Dispatch listings there's even more! In theory, if you were great at everything you could be submitting as fast as you could turn tracks out. Similarly, if you were great at everything then a good proportion of those submissions should get forwarded, but even the best writers still get some returns and few writers are great at everything.

Once a track is forwarded its entirely up to the recipient whether or not they like it and want to offer a contract on it, but that doesn't always happen. If they do make an offer they might also ask whether you're interested in making an album of similar tracks. Once in that library you might be able to keep offering them new albums (subject to their approval), whilst potentially adding more libraries to your portfolio via Taxi submissions.

Assuming the libraries are working fast and hard on your behalf, it will still take a few weeks to a few months for them to release your tracks and alert all their clients, and some totally unknown time until they get used (but some might never be used). When/if the tracks are used, it could take 6 months to 2 years to see the performance royalties depending on country and PROs involved.

The amount of royalties you are paid varies wildly. Long placements on prime time shows on the most popular channels can pay well, but a few seconds on a streaming platform can pay just a few cents. Therefore, the trick is to have LOTS of music out there so there's always something being broadcast somewhere. If its also repeated many times in the home country then syndicated around the world with more repeats on shows that are likely to keep being shown for several years, you've set up a long-term income stream that will grow as you add more tracks to it. There is a lead time before anything happens though, so you have to be willing to accept that upfront investment.

Taxi is a great way to build connections with legit libraries, but there are alternative approaches. If you already have library connections or some insider knowledge of the better libraries, and if your music is top notch and sync-ready, then you can approach many of them directly. With top-notch music in top-notch libraries who have top-notch clients you shorten the odds of getting the best paying placements.

Another way is to approach music supervisors directly, provided you are willing to handle the admin yourself in return for the potential extra benefits of sync fees plus keeping the publisher's share of royalties.

There is no quick way to earning a fortune, but there are ways for those with the right talent, knowledge, connections and work ethic to make more money faster. Michael Elsner (look him up) explains some of this in his free material, but for those taking their first steps into production music Taxi offers the opportunities to connect (plus other things including the rally), and its entirely up to members to make the most of all that's on offer. So YMMV.

Here's a member who did well, with more than a hobby income from it....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWAr8T4TySY

Good luck with your music!

[crashgates]

.

[cosmicdolphin]

Just wondering do major artists from major labels get the same sort of royalites/sync deals if their music is used verses your music being used?
and I guess if not why not? like are they on some special rate?

I was under the impression the networks pay a blanket licence fee to the PRO's to use whatever they want

It depends

If you're a known artist and someone wants to licence your song into a big movie then it will be a big @$$ sync fee and the artist gets the same back end as everyone else but likely a lot more because of the number of eyes on the project.

If you're an unknown Taxi or independant artist that's written a great song but that nobody has heard of, you will likely be offered a lot less than a famous artist to be placed in the same project. Even if it's the same spot.

As a famous example is the Rolling Stones ' Start Me Up ' was licensed for Win 95 by Microsoft which went for $3m and was the first time the Stones had ever licensed a song into a TV Ad campaign. So a huge up front payment but any PRS backend royalties generated would be at the same rate as any other PRS member.

I don't know about outside the Uk but the BBC pay a blanket licence to PRS so they can use famous music without paying a sync fee or broadcast coverage of Glastonbury without having to negoiate with every artist on the stage. Remember though that the BBC is the national broadcaster, they are funded by the TV licence so there are no ads on the BBC.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/10/prs-fo ... nationally.

Mark

[cosmicdolphin]

Thank you very much for your comprehensive explanation; it was exactly what I was looking for. Let's just say that if I had some doubts about joining Taxi before, now my uncertainty is even greater. I'm not questioning their professionalism, but it seems that, in the end, the earnings are not that great. It appears more like something to do as a hobby in one's spare time. We are a large professional studio with several in-house producers, and we were looking to expand our earning potential, but it seems that the Libraries system here is quite slow and labor-intensive with meager returns. What are your thoughts on this?"

Yes it is slow, it's usually a business you have to build up over a number of years and probably more suited to part time gig work than someone needing to ramp up relatively quickly to full time income. People do manage that too though, I'm just not one of them even though I've worked hard and stuck at it longer than most.

There might be a couple of other options. If you are producing songs with artists then they can release them and also get them placed with a Sync Agent. Someone who knows what songs are in their roster of artists and goes looking for sync opportunites and takes a cut if they get anything. This is better suited to someone who has a lot of songs and is more focused on the artist side.

I also know someone who used to live round the corner as kids who now owns an 8 studio complex in Thailand and produces tracks for some huge brands. They work directly with Ad Agencies etc and he makes most of the income from Sync Fees. Probably a tough one to crack but you keep all the income.

Personally I am playing the long game and building it up as a retirement income which is 14yrs away if I retire at normal age. There is a very long tail to someof these TV royalties as they get repeated and make their way around the world and into syndication if you're lucky.

If you read my 7yr update , with one more quarter left this year it's looking like I'll earn around double my 2022 total. Still not huge but starting to pay more bills.

Mark

[crashgates]

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[Casey H]

Since we are all unknown writers, not The Rolling Stones or Taylor Swift, it's pretty irrelevant what those stars can command. If one us became THAT successful, I think it would be fair to say we wouldn't be submitting to Taxi and having this discussion on their forum.

"Blanket licensing" when it comes to libraries and their clients refers to the library offering access to a large catalog of songs for one fee. Some libraries share a portion of the fee with the composers, some do not. But even if they do, it would be a small amount. You can consider these 0 sync fee deals. With these deals, the money is in the back-end PRO which as nothing to do with that blanket, it's a matter of how often, when, where it broadcasts, etc. That back end however can be lucrative if your track gets used on a popular reality TV show such as Catfish, Kardashians, etc.

My own experience is you don't see this as much with vocal songs as with instrumental cues where it's very common. And the majority of instrumental cue placements do not have any upfront sync fee. Vocal songs can often earn a sync fee, but not always. MY network TV placements upfront sync fees have varied from $0 to $1000. I had one $3K deal with 2 co-writers. The publisher gets 50% of those fees and the writer's share is split among co-writers. (Others may have had bigger ones). There are larger deals out there-- major ad campaigns, etc. and I know some Taxi members who have landed them- even $10-$20K. But realistically, in today's market, very large sync fees only come a long once in a while. Back end from a large number of placements is where the majority of income comes from. Reruns are our friend.

This is not a get rich quick business by any means. The folks I know who make 5 or 6 figures did it by incredibly hard work over 5-10 years, building up hundreds or even 1000 cues in libraries.

Cosmicdolphin, who works very hard at this, has documented his journey with respect to cues out there and money made. It's all on this forum.