SteveBaruah wrote:I don't know if it's so much the ownership as the EXCLUSIVE ownership. Music supervisors must like the fact they are not going to get bombarded with the same cue 7 times.
By definition Steve - a non-exclusive publisher doesn't own anything. Neither does an exclusive who doesn't explicitly transfer your copyright to them (if that even makes sense).
The only ones who "own" anything are exclusive publishers who have copyright transferred to them.
Discussion of semantics.
There are definitely libraries at different tiers in the industry, and not every one deals with the gratis deals and zero up front payments. Expecting that this (gratis deals) are typical, usual and normal is sort of saying that there is no money in production music and everybody is racing to the bottom.
I don't think this is the case. There is certainly money there. How else would you meet people who are receiving WFH payments to create albums? If the publishers weren't making any money, they likely would be in a different business, and they certainly wouldn't be offering up front money expecting to never make it back.
Maybe the discussion should be more about those kinds of situations where people are earning money. What kinds of contracts are fair (to us as composers)? What are the types of libraries that are earning in the top echelons? How does one access those libraries? What kinds of music do they look for?
Exclusive or non-exclusive is only one part of the puzzle - but it's an important clue.
IMO.