How to say NO...?

[PnoManLV]

I received an exclusive offer from a library in Europe. I visited their website, and am not impressed with the quality of their tracks, nor can I see a list of clients or placements. I don't want to sign with them. How does one gracefully say "no"?

[Telefunkin]

Hi, the fact that you're asking leads me to assume this is one of your first library offers, although I could be wrong and you already know the things I'm about to say. Anyway, before you decline the offer here's a few things to consider:

- Taxi will have 'vetted' the library to make sure they are legit.
- The Taxi listing might have contained some clues with wording like.. "globally distributed Music Licensing Company that's had a lot of success landing TONS of Major Network placements every year".
- You're right that showing details of recent placements is a good indicator, but lack of such detail doesn't necessarily mean they are not securing placements.
- If you want to know more about a library you might gain some opinions from Music Library Report https://musiclibraryreport.com/
- You could always ask the library themselves whether they have info on recent placements and the styles of music that work best for them.
- Libraries often have thousands of tracks, so are you sure you listened to a representative sample of accepted music by which to judge them?
- If its a just an instrumental or two that you're signing away would that be much of a loss to you? You can always write more tracks and probably better ones if you're in the early stages of your journey.
- Even if signing away the tracks turned out to be a total loss, at least you'd gain first hand experience of dealing with a library, change requests, delivering alts/stems/cutdowns, providing metadata and signing contracts. Every library has different ways of doing things, but you'll have more confidence when doing these things with your next library.
- There's always a chance that the library might exceed your expectations and get you some placements, although that's a gamble.
- If you really think your music deserves to be in a better library, then simply decline their offer. You don't have to provide any reasons, but you could always say that the tracks are no longer available.
- It might take a while before you get your next library offer, and if you are very selective about who you work with then it could be quite some time before the same tracks find a home.

I hope that helps with making your decision, and if it makes most sense for you to decline then there's absolutely nothing wrong with that - its your music and entirely your choice. I think we all have music in some libraries that are not working for us whilst others have surprised us. Its not always easy to tell up-front.

Good luck!

[Casey H]

Graham (Telefunkin) makes solid points. That doesn't mean you absolutely should sign, it has to be right for you. But definitely give serious thought.

2 questions:
How many tracks are involved? How many do you create a year? Can you create many more in that style?

Is the contract in perpetuity or can you exit after some term such as 3 years? This makes it a bit easier to take a shot. However, libraries with international distribution generally have in perpetuity deals because once the tracks are with partners all over the world, there's no way to pull them back.

Best,
Casey

[PnoManLV]

Thank you TELEFUNKIN and CASEY H for your thoughtful advice. And yes, this would have been my second library deal. However, it turns out that they only serve Scandinavia, Poland and Eastern Europe,. Russia is their new big player. They only sign albums of 10 tracks at a time. Deal is exclusive, in perpetuity.The tracks I auditioned were the ones in my (piano based) category that appeared on their "Featured Tracks" page. VERY poor production and composition IMHO. The link in the email returned "Page Not Found", and redirected to three affiliate companies, including a large RF library. My gut said NO, and I politely replied that I was not prepared to send a complete album at this time.
I am submitting my piano tracks to Taxi's recent compilation listing.

I am still in the early stages of proficiency at production and mixing, but my tracks are still considerably better than what this library was offering.
I am eager to learn, and would love any constructive comments on my material. If you feel like taking the time, visit taxi.com/members/pnomanlv
Piano-Based tracks are marked with a heart...

Thanks again!!!

[Casey H]

Sometimes it's just not the right library for you, you say a polite no, and move on. Best of luck!

[minoruchan]

I received an exclusive offer from a library in Europe. I visited their website, and am not impressed with the quality of their tracks, nor can I see a list of clients or placements. I don't want to sign with them. How does one gracefully say "no"?

I have been a taxi member since 2012. I actually had the same problem as you. According to the advice I got from the first friend I met in taxi,
You have to sign contracts for 10 libraries and commit at least 10 songs to each library. Along the way, you'll learn which libraries are beneficial to you.
Who knows if your favorite great library will work for you, and an unexpected library might play a key role in your musical journey.

I signed 11 tracks with my first library .The owner told me to send as many as I wanted whenever I wanted, but I didn't because there was no placement.
I thought about sending all the songs, but music industry is one inch ahead of darkness, so I couldn't bet everything on just one company. His library went out of business after a while, so I think I made the right decision.

Web maturity doesn't mean a company is great.
Companies with great achievements don't even need to list placements or high-profile clients on their homepage.
My most favorite library doesn't list any placement these days. No sub-publishers listed

The lack of good songs in your genre in that library is to your advantage. If the owner likes you, he will put your song on top. Top libraries in the area may have some placements coming soon.

There are so many new Nordic suspense dramas regularly broadcast on my country's popular satellite channels.
The cues feel looser than those used in American shows, but they seem to be broadcast all over the world. Each country has a slightly different way of thinking about the cue required.

In addition, if the library is connected to a big RF library, I think you should be very careful with the deal.

[Paulie]

one inch ahead of darkness

This sounds like a fantastic title for a tension cue or dark song of some sort

[AlanHall]

one inch ahead of darkness

This sounds like a fantastic title for a tension cue or dark song of some sort

hmmm.... I've got a cue for an upcoming submission where the working title isn't really fitting the music well. "One inch ahead of darkness"? I'd feel really dirty using it as written; maybe I'll change one word and call it my own

[minoruchan]

one inch ahead of darkness

This sounds like a fantastic title for a tension cue or dark song of some sort

That's what happened when I translated a Japanese proverb directly into English.

[melodea]

Thank you TELEFUNKIN and CASEY H for your thoughtful advice. And yes, this would have been my second library deal. However, it turns out that they only serve Scandinavia, Poland and Eastern Europe,. Russia is their new big player. They only sign albums of 10 tracks at a time. Deal is exclusive, in perpetuity.The tracks I auditioned were the ones in my (piano based) category that appeared on their "Featured Tracks" page. VERY poor production and composition IMHO. The link in the email returned "Page Not Found", and redirected to three affiliate companies, including a large RF library. My gut said NO, and I politely replied that I was not prepared to send a complete album at this time.
I am submitting my piano tracks to Taxi's recent compilation listing.

I am still in the early stages of proficiency at production and mixing, but my tracks are still considerably better than what this library was offering.
I am eager to learn, and would love any constructive comments on my material. If you feel like taking the time, visit taxi.com/members/pnomanlv
Piano-Based tracks are marked with a heart...

Thanks again!!!

Hi there

This library sound like the one that reached out to me last week after a Taxi Forward (also last week). Just like you I checked out their homepage and listened to the releases. The quality is inconsistent, with albums that didn't impress me at all and other ones that are top-notch, from top-notch composers. BTW you hear some "not so impressive" albums in almost every library, especially in their first batch of releases. The particular library is affiliated with a big company that covers the territory you mentioned which is quite big and therefore a good provider of opportunities. I'll give it a shot with a 10-track album and will see what happens. Yes, it's a small fish affiliated with a big one, yes it's quite new, and yes it has not a big credits list under its belt but hey, didn't we all start small!

Best of luck with your music!

Chris