Library Blanket Licences....Good for the writers?

[jdhogg]

Thanks Matto again for your thoughts, the fog is starting to clear.

My question came about after viewing a vid on mazz' A glance into the world of music libraries, where she said it would cost less for the broadcaster.
I am sure there are many different blanket agreements with pros and cons.

If I recall she calls it a "win-win" in the video because it's cheaper for the network and gets their music used all the time. She could've called a win-win-win since of course the composers also benefit if their music is being used all the time.

I am playing devils advocate here so take this with a pinch of salt

N.B. I WOULD place something with a library with a blanket that does not share the fee! ..........pros and cons!

So...What if all libraries went to a blanket fee in the future to reduce admin costs?
This is a business as you say, so if I was running a network I would look into getting all my big libraries on a blanket. Are blankets becoming more common?

If the point comes that all tracks used are via blankets then the advantage of getting your track used more will not exist.
Net result if the fee is not split is the writers get less.

As you say the business world like it or not is dog eat dog. You dont get anything for free...and it is supply and demand...there is a lot of well recorded music out there.

But....Its just as hard to write a great melody as it was 50 years ago, I am thinking that will become the more lucrative side of the demand and supply equation for the writer? mmm......most library music is not meant to be too melodic.......I am going to have to do a bit more thinking about this...

Thanks again Matto for your reply

[matto]

So...What if all libraries went to a blanket fee in the future to reduce admin costs?
This is a business as you say, so if I was running a network I would look into getting all my big libraries on a blanket. Are blankets becoming more common?

If you are a major network (or a divison of one or some other major content producer) you already have blanket agreements with all your major music suppliers and have probably had them for a couple of decades or more.
While blankets have been a staple with the large libraries, they are increasingly common with smaller ones because of the proliferation of reality programming which typically uses large quantities of library music of some sort, rather than "scored" music.
This is a trend outside the control of the production music industry but it has obviously adapted to this change in one of its more important markets. While one could bemoan the rise of reality programming and the associated increase in blanket licensing, it should be pointed out (and I can personally attest to this) that it has led to a considerable increase in the use of production music in tv programming and to a corresponding increase in the royalty revenue available to the composers of such music. Add to that the fact that many of those programs are on channels that didn't even exist 20 years ago and it becomes clear that we're talking about a significant net expansion of the overall "music for tv market".

If the point comes that all tracks used are via blankets then the advantage of getting your track used more will not exist.
Net result if the fee is not split is the writers get less.

As I pointed out in my first point the blanket license model is only attractive to certain types of clients; for others (such as producers of scripted tv programming, motion pictures, ad agencies) the needle drop model remains far more cost effective.

As you say the business world like it or not is dog eat dog. You dont get anything for free...and it is supply and demand...there is a lot of well recorded music out there.

True but well recorded music is just one factor in this service business, as Ms Sill so aptly calls it. Many upstart libraries are faltering because they were assuming that well recorded music is all it takes.

But....Its just as hard to write a great melody as it was 50 years ago, I am thinking that will become the more lucrative side of the demand and supply equation for the writer? mmm......most library music is not meant to be too melodic.......I am going to have to do a bit more thinking about this...

First, a LOT of library music is very melodic. That being said, it's true that writing great music hasn't gotten any easier...although arguably the resources available to help us hone our craft have become far more plentiful. More to the point, it has become a lot cheaper to record/produce that music which has enabled far more people to enter the market. Add to that the collapse of the record business and the increased visibility of the music licensing sector and it all adds up to much more competition in the production music field.

The upshot for the serious production music composer, and the quality production music libraries, is that much of this competition consists of inexperienced and frankly often third rate composers making erroneous assumptions about the market, many of which are represented by upstart libraries who do the same. In other words people who are not dedicated to their craft, or the business, and are just viewing it as a way to make money with mediocre music and minimum effort.

And in my experience, even in a dog eat dog world the cream usually rises to the top.



P.S....I had to type all of this twice since the forum decided to log me off while I was typing...it did the same thing yesterday too...is this a new "feature" of the forum?

[ibanez468guit]

P.S....I had to type all of this twice since the forum decided to log me off while I was typing...it did the same thing yesterday too...is this a new "feature" of the forum?

Matt, I don't know for certain, but I had gotten into the habit of typing in notepad or word first (especially long posts), a year or so ago, and then just doing a copy & paste in the reply box. Haven't had any log-offs since.

ibanez468

[coachdebra]

It could just be Mercury Retrograde - I've been having all kinds of wonky things happening. Blog posts disappearing while I'm in the middle of writing, blog comments disappearing, firefox just closing for no apparent reason (not even with a warning - the window is just gone).

Oh, well - I think I'll have to start creating more in TXT and cutting and pasting.

[jdhogg]

My simple solution to not losing posts is to just ctrl c (copy) all the text in the reply box before I hit submit.
Its there on my clipboard to paste back in if I have to log on again.

Anyway thanks again Matto for your enlightening info.

My thoughts are that I dont think I would enjoy knocking out 15 average tracks a week.....Id rather attempt to write 2 great ones....... so I am going to have to hope that for me quality will win over quantity. Good to hear that is not an entirely hopeless choice.

[matto]

My simple solution to not losing posts is to just ctrl c (copy) all the text in the reply box before I hit submit.
Its there on my clipboard to paste back in if I have to log on again.

Yeah that's my solution too...if I don't forget! And of course we shouldn't have to do that, the board isn't supposed to just log you off....

Anyway thanks again Matto for your enlightening info.

You are welcome...

My thoughts are that I dont think I would enjoy knocking out 15 average tracks a week.....Id rather attempt to write 2 great ones....... so I am going to have to hope that for me quality will win over quantity. Good to hear that is not an entirely hopeless choice.

You're definitely on the right track there, as far as I'm concerned.

First, IMHO if you want to become really successful at something you must love doing it or you'll never be able to compete with those who do, nor have the stamina to keep at it for as long as it takes.

Second, I my experience it's extremely rare to get your foot in the door, with any library you'd actually would want to be in, with a mediocre little track you knocked out in a few hours. Getting your foot in the door, stepping all the way inside, and closing the door behind you, are three big steps and without them nothing can happen. You're typically not gonna accomplish these steps with something any of their existing writers could do in an afternoon...