Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive

[matto]

So that would be yet something different though from taking the same track and placing in 4 or 5 (or more) libraries by simply giving it a different title, which is really what we're talking about here.

[admin]

FWIW, I was at a luncheon the other day with a panel of fairly big music supes. They were asked how they felt about using re-titled tracks and they all, without hesitation blurted out, "I won't use them!"

Sooooooo many people are calling themselves libraries, and soooooo many composers have the same tracks in several libraries that all of the supes on the panel said it is commonplace for them to get the same track from several sources for the same pitch and it's just plain dangerous for them. So, in the end they all said they would only use tracks/songs signed to exclusive deals from now on.

My take on that is that they will TRY hard to not use re-titles/non-exclusives, but some will still get used.... but in much smaller numbers.

As the record side of the business has become harder and more label people are out of work, they migrate over to the film/TV side. Most of them are a little clueless and never really get traction. They think it's all about knowing cool music, but it's much more about pushing paper and dotting "I"s. We've also seen an influx of techie types who can build a site that looks like a library/licensing company, but they don't know the business or have the contacts. From what the supes said, they are getting tired of being inundated by all these newbies and are now tightening their circles a bit and going back to their old school rules of using people they know well, who have the music and business chops totally together. I think that's a good thing.

Hope this helps,
Michael

[mazz]

Thanks for posting Michael. This seems to be the direction things are headed and you've just added more confirmation.

So that being said, how does that impact your decision to take on a library for listings? Not trying to put you on the spot here, but I would imagine eventually this will come up in TAXI's business strategy as well. Based on what you now know and the direction the business seems to be going in, are you going to start being even more selective than you already are with certain libraries that offer only non-exclusive contracts? I guess part of it will be based on the track record of the company, which I think is already a requirement for listing with TAXI anyway, but will it have more bearing going forward? And will that impact the opportunities for TAXI members? It's a fine line, it seems.

Thanks!

Mazz

[admin]

You're so smart Mazz Yes, there are some strategic improvements in the making, but sadly, I can't go public with them as most of our competitors read the TAXI forum.

Not a lot of people are really aware that before TAXI, VERY few Indie musicians made it into Film and TV at ALL. We ran our first listings for Film/TV back in 1992. We were the laughing stock of the industry because it wasn't cool to do Film/TV back then. It was considered to be the trailer park of the music business. Now, even major labels are begging to get their artists in Film and TV, and some of the actual people who laughed at me back then are either on our A&R team or trying to compete with us.

Because TAXI is neutral, and not beholding to anyone, we are in a perfect position to do some interesting things to put MORE money in the pockets of the songwriters and composers who create music for Film and TV. There are other companies that have tried to copy us, but they don't have the contacts and respect that we do, nor do they have the ears that we do.

I know people love to complain about the fact that we filter music. Other companies purport to get your music directly to the end user with no filter, but if you think about that for more than a second, would you rather hear 20 excellent tracks or 479 tracks that include a few HUNDRED that weren't even close to what you wanted if you were a music supervisor?

So many of the newer "libraries" and "music licensing companies" have lowered the bar SO far, that it has actually been a really good thing for TAXI. All the sudden, the need for the filter is more evident than ever. Crowd sourcing doesn't work because the crowd only knows what they like, not what will actually WORK -- there IS a difference!

Sending hundreds of tracks doesn't work because nobody in their right mind would take the time to screen (or PAY a staff of people to screen) them all when TAXI will do it for them for FREE.

Anyway, I digress... but yes, we have a strategic plan in place, and our focus is on two targets, making the industry happy and putting more money in your pockets in the process.

Michael

[bigbluebarry]

Yesterday, along with Chuck (crs7string) and Lydia (crystallions), I had the chance to attend a couple of panels at the Nashville Film Festival that dealt with licensing music for film and TV. The first panel consisted of 6 music supervisors with a wide range of experiences. One of the panelists was Randall Poster who's worked as a music supervisor in a TON of films with George Clooney's Up In The Air being one of his more recent ones. There was also Evyen Klean who's currently the music supervisor for the Fox TV show Lie To Me.

While I'm sure there was much more that could have been taken away from the sessions, there were 3 main impressions that we came away with from the panelists in both sessions:

1) They want to work with nice and friendly people.
2) They want to get their music from trusted sources.
3) They want the submissions to be filtered and targeted.

I didn't count how many times that each of the different panelists mentioned that they only wanted to work with nice people but it was enough for all of us to notice the trend. It was mentioned about how this is really still very much a "small business" and people have to work with each other a lot. So if you try to "nail them to the wall" on a deal, they're going to remember it and the next time, you might not get the call.

When asked how they get music for their projects, nearly all of them said that they have a small circle of trusted sources that they go to. Some of them said that they don't mind getting music from independent artists directly, but for the most part, they prefer getting it from someone that they know. One of the reasons being, they are often in a time crunch and they need to know that they will be able to get the music cleared asap.

One of the panelists said that if they gave you permission to submit your music to them for one of their projects and you sent them 4 CD's worth of material, then you have just basically closed the door on yourself from ever getting another opportunity to submit to them again. They said do some research into they types of songs that they've used in previous projects before sending it to them so that you can have an idea of what they like. They mentioned that if they like the song but it doesn't work for their current needs, they'll file it away and use it when the right project comes up for it. I'm not 100% sure but I believe Randall mentioned that the song that was used on the ending credits of "Up In The Air" was a song that he's had on "hold" for 10 years. That might be the wrong movie, but you get the idea.

It was a very entertaining session.

- Big Blue

[mazz]

Great stuff Michael and Barry!!

Hmmm, seems like the film/tv business is like a lot of service businesses: Be easy to work with and give the clients what they want. Sounds simple, but harder to pull off than it looks!

So exclusive seems to be the wave of the near future and having great music chops, great people skills and business chops will become more and more important as the business continues to evolve.

That's what I was getting from the tea leaves which is one reason I started the thread, to see if anyone else had more insights and intuition. Let's keep it going!

Thanks!

Mazz

[Hookjaw Brown]

I listen a lot to shows that I can't stand just to see what music is being played. What stands out is good hooks and melodies. The lyrics are buried by the show so why bother. The melody is always unique and there are billions of them. Some work, some don't.

Digital recognition of melodies is here. Why bother submissions to re-titling libraries when the melody will be recognizable to anyone. Just my thoughts, I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)

le Hook

[farfisa]

Interesting topic. I think another point to consider is that in the world of advertising, many big ad campaigns want to license a piece of music that is signed to them exclusively for a period of time, often one year. So if they are looking for a track from a library, they will only go to those companies that are exclusive. I had music on a few national ad campaigns over the past year and they were all exclusive licensing deals between the libaries and the ad agencies. It never would have happened if those tracks were in non-exclusive libraries. And usually when you get those exclusive advertising deals the money is far greater. One good commercial could earn you 6 figures between the license fee and PRO royalties. Who would want to lose out on that kind of money by signing tracks to several non-exclusive libraries

[k o star]

Thanks Mazz for starting this fantastic topic..
Thanks All for sharing..
I'm convinced.
I'm steering toward the Exclusive direction now yea..

K

[mazz]

Interesting topic. I think another point to consider is that in the world of advertising, many big ad campaigns want to license a piece of music that is signed to them exclusively for a period of time, often one year. So if they are looking for a track from a library, they will only go to those companies that are exclusive. I had music on a few national ad campaigns over the past year and they were all exclusive licensing deals between the libaries and the ad agencies. It never would have happened if those tracks were in non-exclusive libraries. And usually when you get those exclusive advertising deals the money is far greater. One good commercial could earn you 6 figures between the license fee and PRO royalties. Who would want to lose out on that kind of money by signing tracks to several non-exclusive libraries

in fact, our friend and forum member Bob Mete just went through a saga with a high end licensing deal involving exclusive vs non exclusive. It was enough to make one stop and think twice about which direction to go!!