Library Contact after Forward

[DesireInspires]

Thanks for the info. I'm a newbie but it's very easy to find information on rf companies right when you first start looking into music licensing. And that listing was run as a dispatch listing? I thought those were only for rush or high end listings and for members that were already a part of taxi for a little while. Will be careful in the future.

Yes, be careful!

[SubRivers]

Sorry to hear about that "success".
Having searched around I am thinking about writing a song called preview and giving myself a forward directly to that site (Nah!)

Had heard of them (and dismissed the idea) in the past

[admin]

Hi CosmicDolphin,

This really isn't the best forum to post this on because it's about Success Stories more than, " I was offered a deal but have questions."

That said, I'm here, so I'll address it now, then pull the thread down later today.

There are hundreds of music libraries that have on site submission portals, so really good, some less than wonderful (IMHO). After speaking directly with my library owners as to why they have that on their sites, the answer is almost always, "FOMO! What if somebody submits something great to another library, and I miss it because I don't have a submission thing on my site?"

And I ask, "Do you really listen to all that stuff?" The answer is always, "No! I don't have the time to listen to hundreds or thousands of submissions on my own."

The dirty little secret is that the vast majority of music libraries (even some that have gold-plated reputations and are considered to be highly desirable) are really small companies with only 1,2, or 3 in their office/on the staff, including the owner. I can think of two that are super highly-regarded that have three people on staff!

Therefore, the decision makers have to choose between pitching music and making money or listening to thousands of submissions from everybody who thinks they've got the perfect music while missing pitches. Guess which one they choose? Are they going to tell the world that they spend very little time listening to the music clogging their portals? Nope!

So, while we used to turn away companies that allowed online subs, we don't dismiss them out of hand like we used to. We dig deeper to find out everything we can about these companies.

As to THIS particular company. Yes, they have tons of music in their system. So does APM, which is sort of the General Motors of music libraries! Size doesn't always mean you'll be ignored. Sometimes size means that's where the most people who need music turn to first because they have the biggest selection. It really depends on the size of the staff.

We used to run listings for the company you are referring to (in this post) years ago. We had a member whose music was placed in a soft porn video, so we stopped running listings for them. Turns out, the member didn't check the box to keep her music OUT of soft porn.

Operator error on the part of the musician. The library was not at ANY fault, but we didn't continue working with them.

Over the years, I kept hearing from members that they were consistently making income from that company after being connected by TAXI. Some of them have reported making thousands per year! I didn't re-kindle the relationship because we had plenty of other companies using us.

Last summer (if memory serves), we were contacted by the company, and we began to run listings again. I personally like the owner, and have never had ANY bad reports. So we started running listings again, and then last week, we found out that they had changed their deal from 50/50 to 60/40. Of course, they didn't let us know, and a couple of our listings for them had just gone out in the days that preceded that revelation.

We decide to stop running listings for them, we had some staff discussions about whether or not we should retract those listings, and I called one of our most veteran members and asked his opinion. His feeling was that with the deal only changing by 10%, it was no big deal, and we should just let those listings run their course (they were non-exclusive), and not run any more.

I would guess that there are still plenty of people who would take that 60/40 deal, but again, we decided to stop to running listings. Mind you, the only "sin" this company had committed, was to not let us know they had modified their deal AFTER we started running listings for them. Our info that it was a 50/50 deal was correct at the time that we started working with them again.

My personal feeling is that this company does make money for people, and while it may appear to be a sub standard company to some folks, other than the "porn issue," we've only had GOOD reports from our members over at least a decade.

Some of our highest earning members have music in that catalog, and now that you know that, I'll bet a ton of people who read this will run over there and try to get their music in there, 60/40 deal or not! I hear footsteps running as I'm typing

Bottom line for me is, why wouldn't you simply call TAXI and ask the question, rather than going on the Success Stories forum and asking it publicly first? There are several (probably many) music library owners and some music supervisors who visit this forum somewhat regularly. I know this because they call me and say stuff like, "Geeez, what was that dude thinking?"

In this hyper connected world of ours, sometimes it's just better to ask questions privately first, rather than making an innocent/legit question look like you could be the kind of composer who goes online and stirs sh#t about them.

The music library/music licensing community is relatively small, and while I don't think there is an official black list, I know library owners who are very aware of who posts what on certain music library websites, and they avoid those composers because they don't want to be the object of their complaints, which are often times unfounded.

While CosmicDlophin "hid" the company name, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out who it is, based on the way he put the "coded" version of their name up there

One more thought: I saw somebody on this thread say that TAXI Dispatch was supposed to be about running listings for "high-end" companies. I don't think we've ever said that. But, just in case we did, I'd really like to see where that is, please!

I hope this helps, and remember, I'm going to take this post down later today.

best,
Michael

[SubRivers]

Think the problem people have is every submission could have been forwarded for this "Preview" as that is how they operate.

I seem to remember jokes being made about levels of libraries and those that dub watermarks on tracks - must find that.

[cosmicdolphin]

Hi Michael

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I probably never would call your offices due to the transatlantic call charges and time difference , but mostly because I've had terrible trouble making myself understood to folks on your side of the pond by phone before so maybe I have more of a local accent than I think I do.

I appreciate a great many Libraries have some sort of online submission portal as my 'rejection emails' folder will testify. In a perverse way I'm happy to be rejected as it means they won't take just anyone...so they must be worth getting into. Taxi has helped me get past those gatekeepers into a couple of worthwhile Libraries, by that I mean companies that are actively sending briefs, communicating directly with composers, giving feedback and keeping us in the loop. With this particular Library none of this is the case, it's just an automated back end and I'm probably one of many thousands.

I don't even mind so much if someone reconfigures the deal post listing, or wants to use my music in adult movies. But in this case there seems to be no advantage whatsoever to paying for a pre-screening/introduction service when it appears that any tracks just end up in the same pile as the other 6,000 they'll receive each month and virtually any track within reason will be accepted by them regardless. If the listing had advertised RF Library I would have chosen to disregard it.

I guess the root cause of my post is I expected more from the type of opportunities I'm applying for. Imagine winning ' The Apprentice ' and being handed a McDonald's uniform the next morning. That's how it feels.

There is an inherent problem of not knowing who the listing is for and whilst I understand why you don't say up front, some sort of identification system would help even just to avoid submitting to listings from Libraries we are already working with.

Mark

[admin]

"But in this case there seems to be no advantage whatsoever to paying for a pre-screening/introduction service when it appears that any tracks just end up in the same pile as the other 6,000 they'll receive each month and virtually any track within reason will be accepted by them regardless. If the listing had advertised RF Library I would have chosen to disregard it."

If they reached out to us for specific genres, then it's really unlikely that the music would end up in the same pile as the others. Why bother to request it, then?

And once again, we've had more than a handful of reports from members who've made money with their music in that library. Frankly, I was surprised by the amounts they reported, and the consistency over a period of years as well. And, like I said, one of our six-figure members once told me his music is in there, and he makes money from the relationship as well.

My issue isn't whether or not the company or their requests for music from us are valid. My issue is that their deal was changed after we published some listings for them, and they didn't let us know. Not a mortal sin, especially as it's a non-exclusive company, but we don't like surprises like that.

best,
MIchael

[cosmicdolphin]

"
If they reached out to us for specific genres, then it's really unlikely that the music would end up in the same pile as the others. Why bother to request it, then?

I don't know but the signup address at the bottom of the email is just the regular public facing one, so it's unclear how they would know.

They certainly didn't notice we already have a bunch of music with them, but I will seek clarification directly.

One thing I find odd is the the A&R Director ( J L ) has contacted us from a Gmail address but I have had emails from other people that work there from their own @a********x.com email domain.

Mark

[SubRivers]

RF should be id with listings - no more intrusive the the non/ex labeling.

The company in question here is like screening for youtube - mcdonalds has an interview.

[RobBarner]

TAXI Dispatch was supposed to be about running listings for "high-end" companies. I don't think we've ever said that. But, just in case we did, I'd really like to see where that is, please!

Hi Michael,

My mistake, user error. I checked the email I recieved regarding Dispatch and the email states that Dispatch listings are "quick turn around situations" for more "seasoned" members and that the "percentage of Forwards that result in deals is probably higher with Dispatch". Members are notified about it once they have gotten some forwards under their belt. It doesn't mention whether they are high-end or not (thought I remembered reading that somewhere). Wasn't sure if I should sign up for it yet, but considering it. I've been a member for about 9 months... but have been composing for a long time. No harm or disrespect intended.

Best,

Rob

[ochaim]

i get what you're saying, but given the lack of communication from this company in terms of sending out briefs etc, isnt it a good thing you could submit something they are specifically looking for, rather than guessing from the 40 or so genres they list that they are looking for on the site's artist submission page?

or maybe the tracks you have with them arent performing well?