A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

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SteveBaruah
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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by SteveBaruah » Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:02 am

Good point! I might as well flip a coin to decide which of my cues go to excl. or non-excl. libraries, there's no decision making process that goes into it. Both types of cues are as good as each other quality-wise.

I'm just thinking, what would I do if I was a music sup. There's no way id touch the mess that the non-ex side is in. Not when it's just as easy to take exclusive cues. But as i get placements through my non excl. cues maybe I'm missing something.

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by crs7string » Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:39 pm

An element of the non-exclusive vs. exclusive discussion that is frequently overlooked is international distribution.

A library has to have exclusive representation of their catalog to enter into sub-publishing agreements with libraries in other territories.

The "big guys" like MegaTrax and Warner/Chappell have better than 50% of their revenue coming from productions that originate outside the US. There is a lot of money on the table that is missed when one subscribes to just a non-exclusive contract approach to business relationships.
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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by andygabrys » Sat Sep 02, 2017 3:51 pm

I think most people are going to subscribe to the "balanced portfolio" option.

Chuck mentioned foreign distribution which is certainly an attractive point of exclusive signings.

There are advantages to non-exclusive signings as well - like being able to pitch music that has already been placed non-exclusively to other non exclusive placements (such as direct to supervisor, ad agency, or film). If you write music a film, you may be able to repurpose that music for other films or even non-exclusive libraries.

So like Desire Inspires noted - why not do both?

Re: exclusive and non-exclusive music being available for the same price?

That might be true, and that might not be true.

When blanket up front payments are in place, and the library doesn't offer you a cut, you really don't know whether the deal truly is gratis with back end only - or a blanket where all you see is the back end.

One thing that is certainly true - not all libraries compete
At the same level or have the same goals.

Good luck!

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by eeoo » Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:27 pm

I don't know anything about a trend toward exclusivity but over the last couple of years the publisher making me the most money (by far) and getting the highest end placements (primetime network placements on scripted shows) is non-exclusive. That said, like Andy mentioned, i try to spread things out to both non-ex and exclusive libraries and base my preferences not on whether their exclusive or non-ex but my impression of their business and often times on the personal relationships I have with them.

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by SteveBaruah » Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:46 pm

Ok, Good points, maybe I'll go for a 50/50 split and see how it goes.

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by Kolstad » Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:55 am

Actually, I believe non-exclusive remains the "trend", as exclusive has been the norm historically. There will always be those who lobbies for more rights, and this "fight" returns to the surface from time to time, but in the end it comes down to how well the libraries and publishers perform for you as a composer.. they should have to earn exclusive rights, not just "get them" by default. An exclusive contract is your "bet" on that particular publisher, with non-exclusive, you don't have to gamble as much. Gambling creates winners and losers, cooperation does not.

50 years ago, you were dependent on a publisher just to release your music. Today you can just put it on the Internet yourself, and basically you are "published". However, the good publisher guys do more, as they bring your music to their contacts and clients and feed regular pipelines, so as Andy says, publishers are not created equal. There is a hierarchy you need to consider..
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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:52 pm

I've been researching libraries, and I have a spreadsheet now with over 1900 lines listing all the Library names I have found.

As I stumble across info on various forums I try to find out whether they're exclusive or not but anecdotally there does seem to be a shift towards exclusivity. I.e I'll find an old post saying that a library is non-exclusive but when I go through their current website they say stuff like " we are now only accepting exclusive submissions " and I've found this quite a lot.

Currently we're at almost 100 cues with 4 Libraries split 60/40 in favour of non-ex. Most of this is pretty recent so no placements as yet but it will be interesting to see how it pans out.
Last edited by cosmicdolphin on Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by SteveBaruah » Tue Sep 05, 2017 11:57 pm

cosmicdolphin wrote:I've been researching libraries, and I have a spreadsheet now with over 1900 lines listing all the Library names I have found.
WOW.

IMHO the market will go predominantly exclusive at some point, just because it's probably better for the end-customer, and the customer is king. But there is a lot of people out there with better knowledge on the subject than me...

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Re: A Shift Towards Exclusive.....?

Post by Casey H » Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:29 am

eeoo wrote:I don't know anything about a trend toward exclusivity but over the last couple of years the publisher making me the most money (by far) and getting the highest end placements (primetime network placements on scripted shows) is non-exclusive. That said, like Andy mentioned, i try to spread things out to both non-ex and exclusive libraries and base my preferences not on whether their exclusive or non-ex but my impression of their business and often times on the personal relationships I have with them.

EO
+1
There is sometimes an incorrect assumption that exclusive libraries are better than non-exclusive ones just by nature of their exclusivity. What matters is their track record of placements and how well your music fits their catalog as far as their client's needs. It's best to choose libraries based on that.

It is true, however, that some libraries that used to be non-exclusive went exclusive because their clients were demanding it. So there is SOME trend toward certain networks/shows preferring exclusive. But again, for example, a very Taxi friendly non-exclusive library in LA gets Taxi members excellent placements on network TV and in feature films.

As far as a trend in TAXI LISTINGS, you can't call something a "trend" based on a few months or even as much as 6 months. There is ebb and flow all the time as far as what Taxi gets for listings.

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