listing TAXI # Y090226EL

[caitlinann818]

In my opinion, and I am new at this so I haven't built an enormous library of tunes - I'm not sure I'm ready to throw anything in the "B" column and if I were, I am not sure I'd want to present that material out there, no matter what price it is. The contact might be totally worth the payment but not representing my best work, since I want to build a reputation that is solid as a writer, I'm not sure I would want to do that. Maybe a placement is worth it though - I'm not sure. As a keyboardist, this would be simple to do but I'm not sure I would want to start my writing career off with B material. Still on the fence on this one.

[jonathanm]

Yeah, I'm not sure why the "B" side phrase is in the listing other than to communicate that the bar may be lower on this one than others?At first it seemed to me that the client was shopping for cheap deals, but some of the discussion here indicates that the fee may be within normal range.Nothing says you can't submit your good stuff.

[slideboardouts]

Jan 20, 2009, 11:10am, caitlinann818 wrote:In my opinion, and I am new at this so I haven't built an enormous library of tunes - I'm not sure I'm ready to throw anything in the "B" column and if I were, I am not sure I'd want to present that material out there, no matter what price it is. The contact might be totally worth the payment but not representing my best work, since I want to build a reputation that is solid as a writer, I'm not sure I would want to do that. Maybe a placement is worth it though - I'm not sure. As a keyboardist, this would be simple to do but I'm not sure I would want to start my writing career off with B material. Still on the fence on this one.I was kind of thrown with the "B" material thing in the listing too. The only thing I can think of is that he is in a hurry and doesn't have the time to have a composer do a whole CD from scratch.He wants 8-12 tracks ready to go...so not necessarily weak material, just material that is waiting to find a home. For example: the tracks I will be submitting to this listing are tracks that I have already finished and am planning on submitting to one of the libraries I work with...however, this particular library isn't accepting any new material until March. So, even though I think that the tracks are solid and "signable," they are sitting in my catalog collecting dust because I have no where to send them right now Thats my interpretation anyways, and whether I'm right or wrong I certainly won't be submitting "crap." -Steve

[matto]

I think the guy is just trying to be fair and say, "look, I'm starting a library here and I have limited funds (he's running 11 listings I think and if he's going to buy an average of 10 tracks each at an average of $200/track that's gonna set him back over 20k which isn't chump change in this economy), and I need an exclusive buyout type agreement so it wouldn't be in your best interest to give me an instrumental version of a song that has the potential of becoming the next Celine Dion smash hit, which you've been working on for the past 3 years"... That's my interpretation of the B material thing. If you have material that's sitting on the shelf, $200/track is a lot better than dustbunnies, particularly if the guy has solid distribution and chances for backend royalties are good.But he's basically telling us, "don't go spend a ton of time and (especially) money writing brandnew material, cause all I have to offer is ~ $200/track".In this day and age, library music is more than ever about the backend, especially performance royalties. And this type of work and arrangement is not for everybody, it's particulary geared towards prolific composers who write a lot of quality material on their home based DAW's.For that type of composer, IMHO this could be a great opportunity, certainly good enough to submit and see what happens...

[ceedub]

LIGHT/INSPIRATIONAL ELECTRONICA INSTRUMENTALS for corporate motivation and Film/TV placementsACOUSTIC GUITAR OR PIANO INSTRUMENTALS for Retail projects and Film/TV placementsAm I understanding correctly that "buyout" would mean the composer is not entitled to any front end (sync fees) income? If so, is it correct that one consequence of signing a buyout deal (like this one) is that the composer won't see any income from use for "retail projects" and "corporate motivation" in these listings because there is no back end money for those uses?If this is the case, the deal may still, of course, be completely worthwhile. Just trying to educate myself and play detective!Cheers.