Forward for listing S240930SF 50s style Sci-Fi Instrumental with funny feedback

[douglasricketts]

Hooray! Very excited to have two more of my tracks forwarded.

Here's the listing:
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Lots of 1950's-Style SCI-FI INSTRUMENTALS are needed by a New Music Licensing Company started by a seasoned industry professional! They already have distribution for their catalog, and because it's a new company this is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor and build a new relationship with an awesome, new Music Library!

This Company is looking for Instrumentals in the general stylistic ballpark of the following references:

Title Theme from "Creature From the Black Lagoon" by Herman Stein

Main Theme from "The Mummy" by John Hollingsworth

Title Theme from "The Day The Earth Stood Still" by Bernard Herrmann

Main Theme from "The War of the Worlds" by George Pal

Title Theme from "The Deadly Mantis" by Irving Gertz

IMPORTANT: This Company is looking for tracks that recreate the authentic, vintage sound heard in the references and others like them! Your tracks SHOULD NOT actually be from the 1950s, but they should sound like they are!

QUOTING THE CEO: "We're looking for orchestral movie underscore-style writing for monster movies of the 1950s and early 1960s, such as Creature from the Black Lagoon, Tarantula, and The Blob. The use of a Theremin is optional. They need to stick to a singular emotional tone for the duration of the track while focusing on a simple story element. (Monster attack, scientific discovery, escaping danger, etc.) The goal is to emulate the size and types of orchestras used for those productions, ie, smaller ensembles, close mic placements, etc., and with stylistically appropriate orchestrations. In addition to the usual alt mixes and cutdowns, a mono mix (of the main mix only) will be required."

Please submit original, well-crafted orchestral instrumentals that capture the authentic, vintage sound and style characteristic of 1950's Sci-Fi movie scores! Your submissions should have other-worldly melodies, solid arrangements, excellent musicianship, and one central motif that focuses on a single emotion. Orchestral instrumentation in the general stylistic wheelhouse of the references will work best. Please ensure that any virtual instruments or samples you use are very high quality, genre-appropriate, and sound very realistic.

TAXI Tip: A good way to ensure you are on the right path with new renditions of vintage-style music is to heavily rely on reference tracks while in the production process! The devil is in the details, and the more you nail the authenticity, the better chance you'll have of getting this company's attention!

Your submissions should be between 1.5 and 2.5 minutes long, give or take. Non-faded, buttoned/stinger endings will work best. Do NOT copy the referenced material in any way, shape, or form. Use it only as a general guide for tempo, tone, and overall vibe. Do NOT submit any material with unauthorized samples of any other artists’ music, sounds, or any other form of media. Era-appropriate Broadcast Quality is needed.

AI ALERT: This company does not accept or sign music that has been melodically composed using generative AI, nor does it accept backing tracks or full instrumental tracks created with AI.

This Company offers an EXCLUSIVE deal, so the material you submit for this request CANNOT be signed with other publishers or catalogs. Sync fees will be split 50/50. The Publisher will get 100% of the Publisher’s share, and you’ll keep 100% of the Writer’s share. You must own or control your Master and Copyright to pitch for this opportunity. Please submit as many Instrumentals as you’d like, online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI. Submissions must be received no later than 11:59 PM (PDT) on Monday, September 30th, 2024. TAXI # S240930SF
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I've been taking the demos apart with a stem isolator (RipX DAW) and listening to each individual part. In the case of one of these, I heard a human voice in it that was not prominent in the demo's full mix and I incorporated the idea into both of my pieces. Success! But one funny bit of feedback on one of them:

"I think you could improve this song by
Let's be more creative with our titles."

I'm pouring all my creativity into the music! I gotta be more creative with titles too? Don't the publishing companies end up renaming whatever they use anyway?

[telefunkin]

Congrats on the forwards, but yes, it helps to be creative with your titles too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6vvoPfWhU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOxjWfCh6ko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_6qEfCFfLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1AkWxmxPbo

[douglasricketts]

I appreciate your reply, you've given me a lot to think about.

How many of your commercial placements do you think were a result of a creative title versus a simple descriptive title?

[Casey H]

I appreciate your reply, you've given me a lot to think about.

How many of your commercial placements do you think were a result of a creative title versus a simple descriptive title?

Titles matter a lot. Remember, a supervisor will have hundreds or even thousands of tracks to sort through. You want yours to stand out in a sea of tracks. While non-exclusive libraries re-title, they don't always change the full name to something else. Often they just add a tag at the beginning or end of your track such " LIB-X-My Dog And Me" instead of "My Dog And Me".

As far as knowing whether the title helped getting a specific placement or not, it can be hard to know what happened behind the scenes. But ALWAYS tilt the odds your way.

A title that screams, "I am a driving rock cue", for example, will stand out when a sup is looking for that type of track.

Best,
Casey

[douglasricketts]

I see what you mean. It's just funny to me, the track was labeled as "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 01." I guess I could have called it "The Saucers Invade." I had two demos forwarded, "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 02" did not receive the same feedback. At any rate, thanks!

[telefunkin]

the track was labeled as "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 01." ............ "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 02" did not receive the same feedback.

Imagine every Taxi submission being called some variation on '50s Sci-Fi Instrumental' with a 1 or 2 or A index? Now multiply that up all the similar tracks in all the music libraries!

Of course, that wouldn't happen because we're expected to be creative in solving problems for our customers, and thinking up interesting and relevant titles is part of our job. Besides, at every stage of the process we might just increase our chances of standing out from the rest by having a great title, even at the final stage when a show editor with a 'bucket' of track options can choose our track or skip past it.

[Casey H]

the track was labeled as "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 01." ............ "50s Sci-Fi Instrumental 02" did not receive the same feedback.

Imagine every Taxi submission being called some variation on '50s Sci-Fi Instrumental' with a 1 or 2 or A index? Now multiply that up all the similar tracks in all the music libraries!

Of course, that wouldn't happen because we're expected to be creative in solving problems for our customers, and thinking up interesting and relevant titles is part of our job. Besides, at every stage of the process we might just increase our chances of standing out from the rest by having a great title, even at the final stage when a show editor with a 'bucket' of track options can choose our track or skip past it.

I just name mine, "Track 1", "Track 2", "Track 3", etc.

Seriously, telefunkin is right on the money here. We all make mistakes and learn. Been there, done it the wrong way.

Casey

[douglasricketts]

I've taken everyone's advice to heart and just named my latest submission "A Positive Beginning." It was going to be "Uplifting Piano String Instrumental 01."

Now I've got to start a database to keep track of what I call things in my DAW versus what I submit them as!

[cosmicdolphin]

Now I've got to start a database to keep track of what I call things in my DAW versus what I submit them as!

What you should be doing is not using "Uplifting Piano String Instrumental 01." as the name of your DAW project file and use the actual proper title for both project and submission. If you have to change the name of it again later on ( sometimes you'll sign a track to a library and they will change it or that title may already exist in their catalogue and can't be re-used ) then it's a good idea to rename the profiles as well.

Believe me it will make lisfe much easier when you've hundreds and hundreds of tracks if wach one has a unique descriptive name that's relveant to what it sounds like - I would still keep a database of them as well to keep track of what's happened to each of them..rejected - forwarded - signed etc. There are many options, I use Google Sheets as it's free and cloud based.

[douglasricketts]

Now I've got to start a database to keep track of what I call things in my DAW versus what I submit them as!

What you should be doing is not using "Uplifting Piano String Instrumental 01." as the name of your DAW project file and use the actual proper title for both project and submission.

I don't think I have the brain space to memorize what every piece I've composed over the years is stylistically based on name alone! We're talking nearly 200 cues & tracks in the can over the years, thirty-four of which I've done specifically for TAXI submissions. Maybe you're just better at this than me.