Help me define success

[mani]

Can we phone a friend for this one??I'm guessing it's number 2... The gong is the giveaway!

[matto]

Quote:1. Judges talk, background, percussion / keys2. Tyra makes decision, prominent, gong / toms / keys3. Models come before judges, guitar / synth / piano4. Winner announced, rock pop, guitar / keys / bass / drums5. Montage about winner to end credits, dramatic power rock.And the winner is...number 3!! During that last scene it was on for only 15s. Earlier in the show, when they eliminated the No 3 girl, it was on a bit longer, like 45s. That elimination scene keeps getting shorter as more and more girls are eliminated.Quote:Do you think this music was most likely provided by a music library? Does one person provide the little clips all together or does the library provide little clips to the tv sound editor to mix into the video?Afaik all the music on Model comes from libraries; it's from a number of different libraries, and the cues provided would be full length. The music editor(s) on the show will cut the pieces together to form the final underscore. Quote:When you spoke of making custom music, what kind of length do they ask for, full length songs, 45 seconds, 30, 25, 10?It's almost always "full length", typically around 2 minutes. Some will want broadcast edits (= 60s, 30s, 15s and 10s) in addition to the full length tracks, but often they will make those edits themselves. Typically they also want a version w/o vocals if it's a song, or w/o lead instrument for instrumental tracks.Quote:What are the most successful libraries in LA?I can't answer this question.1-You shouldn't just focus on LA, there are good libraries all across the country, and actually the music library concept originated in Europe so there are a lot of major players overseas.2-"Successful" is relative. Some may make millions of dollars in a year, but also have thousands upon thousands of copyrights. Others may make a lot less, but have perhaps only a few hundred songs and thus make more on a per track basis. Some may offer every kind of music, but make the lion share of their income from only a few styles. Whether a specific library will be successful FOR YOU depends on too many factors.3-It would be rather unprofessional and quite foolish of me to endorse certain companies I do or may want to do business with, and dis others, on a public forum... If you'd like to start a demo mailing campaign, get the Music Business Registry's "Film and Tv Directory", or even just google "music libraries" or "production music libraries"; these days most libraries have a website where you can listen to their catalog, check out recent credits etc. Once you find some companies you'd like to send a demo to, email them to ask permission.And of course submit to all Taxi listings from music libraries.

[nomiyah]

#3 was my favorite!!! nice mood.i understood your answer about libraries. if success is defined by income then there are lots of avenues. there are lots of indie films and cable tv shows, etc. but there are only a handful of major movie and tv companies in la. so i was just curious if there are one or a few libraries that are considered the first go-to when a major wants music.i haven't tried a demo mailing campaign because i assumed it would be 99% rejections for unsolicited material. am i wrong? in your experience, do such campaigns work?thanks for your time and congrats again on top model and everything else.nomi

[matto]

Quote: there are lots of indie films and cable tv shows, etc. but there are only a handful of major movie and tv companies in la. so i was just curious if there are one or a few libraries that are considered the first go-to when a major wants music.It's true that there are only a few major movie studios and tv networks, but there are LOTS of production companies and, more to the point, LOTS of music supervisors, the large majority of which are freelancers. They get hired on a production by production basis much like a film composer or set designer, and they are the people actually selecting the music (obviously the director [film] or producer(s) [tv] will have the final say).Which libraries such an individual will reach for first largely depends on their past experience with them, personal relation with a person at that company, reputation of the library with regard to the style of music being sought etc.Thus, there are many go-to libraries...Quote:i haven't tried a demo mailing campaign because i assumed it would be 99% rejections for unsolicited material. am i wrong? in your experience, do such campaigns work?Well, there will always be FAR more rejections than bites, but really, they are not rejections per se, it's not like somebody calls or writes you to say "YOU'RE REJECTED!!" , they will just ignore you if not interested.I wouldn't just randomly send out demos, but if you ask for (and receive) permission like I said before, then your submission will no longer be "unsolicited". Nor will you be wasting demos on people that are not at least somewhat interested.

[nomiyah]

matt,thanks for the explanation. i understand what you mean about there being lots of different people in the process.but i suspect there are a small handful of libraries that are considered the best by the majors, the ones that have been the most reliable, most established or run by people who are well connected. i also suspect there are some who are not as good in that they don't get music placed. but i can understand why you won't talk about it here.it's just theoretical at this point because i haven't started getting offers and when i do i'll likely just accept to get a foot in the door. but i was hoping to identify the "players" and the "scammers".nomi(ps, i noticed on your bio you're swiss. i was in geneva last year and had the best fondue in the world. yum.)

[nomiyah]

matto,i'm in danger of making everyone mad because i'm asking all the questions. you have other groupies, i know... but i'm going to take a chance and ask one last question... there are a number of different music users in taxi listing, such as:Clearing House, DJ, Entertainment Company, Independent Label, Management Company, Music Library, Music Licensing Company, Music Producer, Music Publishing Company, Music Supervisor, Production Company, Record Labeli know what most of these are but would like to understand the differences between library, licensing, publishing and clearing house companies. also what is an entertainment company?thanks so much for helping my career by answering my questions. i've really learned a lot so i'll stop taking all your time.love,nomi

[hookstownbrown]

nomi,. you could never offend anyone on this board by asking intelligent questions... Nuff said...

[matto]

Quote:but i suspect there are a small handful of libraries that are considered the best by the majors, the ones that have been the most reliable, most established or run by people who are well connected.From my experience, this perception is wrong. The number of libraries that regularly get major movie and network tv placements is quite large, some of the reasons are in my previous post.Quote:i also suspect there are some who are not as good in that they don't get music placed.Well, no library is gonna stay in business for very long if they don't get ANY placements ...Now, for me personally, some companies have done better than others. But here is the rub: one company that hasn't done a very good job with my music has done spectacularly well for a friend of mine. Another didn't make me a dime for over 3 years and then suddenly started making me thousands of dollars. So sharing my personal experience with specific companies on a public forum would not only be inappropriate, but also misleading.One person's "player" may seem like a "scammer" to somebody else...Entertainment Company: could be an umbrella term for any company working in the entertainment industry, but more typically used for companies that work in more than one field within it. Dreamworks SKG, when it was founded, would be a good example.Music Publishing Company aka "Publisher": A company that acquires and exploits musical copyrights, by pitching them to artists, tv/film, advertising, multimedia, ringtones etc etc. Traditionally they only deal with the song itself, not the recording of the song (which would be controlled by the record company).Music Licensing Company: Similar to a publisher, except they don't pitch to artists, and typically control both the rights to the song and the recording of it, thus offering one stop licensing to their clients.Music Library: Essentially the same as Music Licensing Company; some companies don't like the term "Library" as it may be associated with the cheesy "canned" music from yesteryear. A "real" music library regularly releases their own CD's which are organized according to style and are widely distributed to music supervisors, editors and production companies. A licensing company might just represent indie artists' own CD's for the visual media.Music Clearinghouse: this is normally a company that can be contacted when you need to clear the rights to a song, perhaps because you wanna use a sample of it or place it in your movie. They will track down the owners of the copyrights for both the song and the recording and negotiate with them on your behalf. This is how this term is usually used. However, a company that calls itself "music clearing house", but is looking thru Taxi for material to represent, is probably really more like a music licensing company.Ultimately the terminology isn't that important, nor is it very reliable. Regardless of what they call themselves, you're never really sure exactly what a deal entails until you're offered one.

[nomiyah]

matt, thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks. that seems like all i ever say to you. but once again, thanks. that was extremely educational.love,nomi

[nomiyah]

hookstown,thanks to you to for your encouragement. btw i'm imagining you moved to hookstown because it's such a cool name of a place for a songwriter to live...love,nomi