Exclusive vs. Non-Exclusive

[Kolstad]

Are we now talking about making b-tracks for non-exclusive and a-tracks for exclusive.. is that a direction you'll think we'll see?

[fusilierb]

I just attended a music supervisor "gathering" here in New Orleans. It was sponsored by one of the libraries I write for, which is a re-title library. After reading through all the posts here, I'm actually going to pose this question to the owner to see what he thinks of all this. It will be interesting to hear his take.

The gather was interesting, details can be found here:

http://www.jazzandheritage.org/sync-up/

Point is, the second panel was comprised of the music supervisor of Treme, the music sup for True Blood, Dexter, House, etc, the head of SEASAC, the lead singer for Better-than Ezra (local rock star) and some guy (don't remember his name) doing a VERY interesting documentary on the current most interesting new generation of Jazz musician's. The talk was all about licensing.

I learned that in the wake of the kind of downfall of the big record label's, new artists are really looking at licensing as a way to spread their name like radio was (is) all about. The singer for Better-than-Ezra has turned it into a full time job.

A lot of the talk was about clearing music and the importance of that. And how important it is particularly to the folks who are actually creating the content that this music has to be placed into. They only go to trusted sources for this reason, plus the obvious good job that those people do. And they trust them because they know the music is actually cleared.

Interestingly enough they also really harped on how there is only 2 entities that you have to worry about in clearing, the writer and the publisher. That's the split and both parties have to be on board. Re-title"ing" muddies up the publishing side of this coin and in the long run that will become an issue, an issue that the folks who matter who license music simply won't deal with.

2 years ago I didn't even know what music licensing was. 5 months ago, I had no idea the implications of re-titling. I'm not "in the know" on what's really going on out there in those worlds, but it seems like the exclusivity is probably gonna win the game.

B

[matto]

Are we now talking about making b-tracks for non-exclusive and a-tracks for exclusive.. is that a direction you'll think we'll see?

If it is your goal to make a nice living from licensing music for media, then it would be my advice to stay away from making "b-tracks" altogether...

Cause I think you'd find it very difficult to break into the business if it is your goal to be a "good enough" composer...

[mazz]

Are we now talking about making b-tracks for non-exclusive and a-tracks for exclusive.. is that a direction you'll think we'll see?

I think this is not a very good idea. IMO we should always strive to make everything we do an "a" track, even if it's a simple drum beat and bass line thing. The trick is not to look down one's nose at any style or assignment and to only give it your best effort 100% of the time, because everything you do is a reflection of you and your quality control and attitude. You never know when it will come back to either help or haunt you.

Part of the problem with the whole non-exclusive, re-titling thing is that it was originally set up so composers could be free to sell and promote their work to other markets and audiences outside of the production library arena. But lots of composers interpreted it as "hey, now I can put this song in tons of libraries and it'll have more chance of getting used". I think this strategy is starting to backfire, because the composers were only thinking of themselves and weren't thinking of the customers or even considering a long term strategy for their careers.

We have to start thinking about this in a more businesslike manner and consider our potential clients in everything we do and in all of our dealings. Musicians shoot themselves in the foot often in business, and maybe it's because we think that we are "special" because we can write music and we are exempt from having to deal with business. Well, all I can say is, keep thinking that way because eventually you'll be out of the game and there'll be more room for serious, business minded composers to be successful. Just kidding....

Greetings from NYC!!

Mazz

[admin]

There was a time when I used to suggest to "record" people that they take their "B" tracks (demos that didn't fly) and license those. My how times have changed

I'll admit that it bothers me when people post on certain unnamed websites that tracks that TAXI didn't forward got picked up by a library -- no qualifiers, such as, "It wasn't stylistically on target for TAXI's listing," -- just that we didn't forward it and it got picked up by another library. What they didn't say was that it got picked up by a "B" library It's amazing how many of those cropped up in no time at all. There are so many now that supervisors are getting inundated. So, if you take that assault and the combined risk involved in getting the same piece of music from several companies, the future of non-exclusive libraries seems grim.

With the exception of one gold plated company, we started refusing listings from non-exclusive libraries around 18 months ago. Another one or two that we've worked with have gone non-exclusive and started taking submissions on their web sites, so we've cut them loose.

As we shed those, we are getting more calls from supervisors who want to work with us. One of the top (and most well respected) TV music supervisors is moving into TAXI world headquarters this coming Wednesday as sort of a roommate. She's got her own business, but her proximity will very likely benefit our members.

I'm excited. She and I get along really well, and there will certainly be ways in which we can help each other. The future looks bright

Michael

[guitaroboe]

That's great news Michael (about the supervisor)

Even though I'm new in the game I sense that all the new libraries cropping up everywhere
will face an uphill survival battle.
The exclusives are the way to go and it's up to the composers to come up with kick-ass material.
Adonis

[guscave]

I agree. You shouldn't be writing B tracks just to try to get them into B libraries, or just for the sake of getting them in somewhere. Instead try re-writing them or maybe edit them down to short 10 or 15 second bumpers.

[Kolstad]

Well, I have no intention of writing b-tracks, guys. I wouldn't even know how to do that. It was probably an ill informed question..

Im happy to hear that Taxi is selective, and doing the a-list libraries. I like to know that when I get a forward, it's because the music is right up there, and not just a handout.

[mazz]

Since this is article was posted as a public web page, I'm pasting the link here. This is an article from an association that includes some of the biggest music libraries in the business. It's pretty much their stand on exclusive vs. non-exclusive and it warrants a serious look, IMO:

https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignP ... 9647bde1a5

[jdhogg]

Mazz

certainly was worth a look

Thanks

re digital fingerprinting
Looking to the future.....Why dont they just use the metadata in the audio files?