$2000 for one, or $2000 for all?

[jonathanm]

Hey, guys. What do you think the $2000 covers in this listing?Y090227INACOUSTIC GUITAR OR PIANO INSTRUMENTALS for Retail projects and Film/TV placements are sought after by a Major Music Publisher with distribution through a huge Production Music Library. This Publisher is also an Emmy-winning Composer for daytime television and this is a fantastic opportunity to be introduced to a Publishing/Licensing relationship as well as the possibilities of future composition projects with a VERY successful industry pro. Excellent arrangements, performances and recordings are a must! These pieces should feature one instrument primarily, though a slight dose of additional instrumentation will be considered as long as the overall tone is simple and uplifting. This is "music to shop by" ó nothing dark, heavy or serious. This Publisher will be looking to sign 8-12 tracks for an upfront "buyout" fee that will be in the $2K range. While it will be an exclusive purchase of the material, this Publisher will not take any portion of your writer's share. He won't be looking for custom compositions, but rather a collection of "B" material ó tracks that are laying dormant in your catalog. While we can be a bit more liberal for this one, you'll want to be sure that the compositions themselves are very well written and the recordings are Broadcast quality. Please submit 2-3 instrumentals online or per CD, but be prepared to send more if the Publisher gets in touch with you. He will ultimately be interested in signing 8-12 tracks for the buyout fee mentioned above.I'm thinking, since he's shopping cheap for "B-sides" he's paying $2000 for the complete set of 8-12 tracks. Is that how you read it?

[jonathanm]

Well, I first should have read the similar thread for the similar listing here.

[davekershaw]

Hmmmm, wonder if he fancies a day out!

[jonathanm]

Jan 16, 2009, 6:08am, davekershaw wrote:Hmmmm, wonder if he fancies a day out! I'll bet he would, and you could crank out 7 more to complement the set!

[remmet]

I'm trying to find a reason why this would be a good deal. But $2000 for 8 - 12 pieces in an exclusive buyout just doesn't make sense to me. Sure, if the pieces got a ton of use, perhaps the writer's royalty share might make the deal worth it. But that's a LOT of music for a low buyout price with no guarantee of any future income - combined with the inability to market the pieces anywhere else. Unless there's something I'm missing, I plan to stay away from these listings.Richard

[slideboardouts]

Jan 23, 2009, 11:30pm, remmet wrote:I'm trying to find a reason why this would be a good deal. But $2000 for 8 - 12 pieces in an exclusive buyout just doesn't make sense to me. Sure, if the pieces got a ton of use, perhaps the writer's royalty share might make the deal worth it. But that's a LOT of music for a low buyout price with no guarantee of any future income - combined with the inability to market the pieces anywhere else. Unless there's something I'm missing, I plan to stay away from these listings.RichardThis was discussed at length in another thread. But here is the summarized version:Generally, you get nothing when you sign songs to a library. You're income will be from the sync fees and performance royalties...IF your music gets placed, which is not guaranteed. Moreover, it can take years to get placements. So, getting a guaranteed $200 dollars a track upfront is great.Also, the performance royalties from buy out type deals like this really can add up if it is a good publisher/library. I know a composer who got a placement from a buyout library where the royalties added up to over $5,000 for one song on one show. There was another show that generated another $3,000 dollars for this same composer. These were all buyout situations where he was paid a few hundred bucks up front per song with no cut of the sync fee. Also, these were shows that most people probably have never heard of.You can avoid these listings if you want, but IMHO they sound like a great opportunity.-Steve

[guest4254]

I always get a kick out of people who refuse to give up any of their songwriting/publishing, and I always say to them...so you've got 100% of nothing, or you could have, say 50% of $200, plus your foot in a door, and a name on your resume....