Question about Exclusive music deals but also releasing the music yourself

[CsFire]

Hey there all. Hope your good and hi from Helsinki. Hey can someone confirm that have any of you come across exclusive placements for libraries that allow you
to release your music digitally ( Spotify, Apple) but that it still qualifies as exclusive? I have stumbled across this online but not sure if any of the libraries Taxi deals with
roll like so?

As an artist obviously its important for me to get my music out to the masses and not just create library music. Obviously there is the less lucrative path, non-ex.

Many thanks!
C

[CsFire]

looks like i may have found my answer here spotify-vs-exclusive-t145339.html =)

[RealPickle]

Hey there all. Hope your good and hi from Helsinki. Hey can someone confirm that have any of you come across exclusive placements for libraries that allow you
to release your music digitally ( Spotify, Apple) but that it still qualifies as exclusive? I have stumbled across this online but not sure if any of the libraries Taxi deals with
roll like so?

As an artist obviously its important for me to get my music out to the masses and not just create library music. Obviously there is the less lucrative path, non-ex.

Many thanks!
C

When in doubt, it's best to ask the library. But one thing that you must be SURE of, is not to sign up for the publishing option that the distributors (TuneCore, DistroKid, etc) are now offering. Because if you do, then you've already signed your publishing over to them and the library can't use it.

[cosmicdolphin]

As an artist obviously its important for me to get my music out to the masses and not just create library music. Obviously there is the less lucrative path, non-ex.

Generally it can be a mess and cause headaches for the library if you've self released ( many musicians don't realise what they've signed up for when ticking various boxes with their DSP )

I would advocate for keeping your artist music non exclusive and writing specific sync tracks

[CsFire]

thank you very much guys @realpickle especially this thing relating to Distrokid who i happend to sign up with a few months ago. Is this issue you mean related specifically to this:


Social Media Pack · Your music has been added to:
YouTube's Content ID, Creator Music, and Shorts music libraries.
TikTok's music ID recognition service.
Instagram monetization with Meta Rights Manager.
Facebook's recognition service using Meta Rights Manager.

I think by default they do this, and not sure you have a choice either. But i think especially this "YouTube's Content ID, Creator Music, and Shorts music libraries" can be a turn off / problem.

[TLovato]

As a general rule of thumb, you should keep your artist music and sync music separate.

It's a bad look to submit music to a library that's already released on the streaming platforms, because the terms of use of music distributors take away certain rights that exclusive publishers need to fully acquire your music. The libraries most likely won't want to deal with it, and they'd just pass on you. It would be a shame to finally get the attention of a good library, only to lose it to this!

Also worth noting, some libraries release the music they've signed to streaming platforms as albums, so you might be covered there!

[RealPickle]

thank you very much guys @realpickle especially this thing relating to Distrokid who i happend to sign up with a few months ago. Is this issue you mean related specifically to this:


Social Media Pack · Your music has been added to:
YouTube's Content ID, Creator Music, and Shorts music libraries.
TikTok's music ID recognition service.
Instagram monetization with Meta Rights Manager.
Facebook's recognition service using Meta Rights Manager.

I think by default they do this, and not sure you have a choice either. But i think especially this "YouTube's Content ID, Creator Music, and Shorts music libraries" can be a turn off / problem.

I'm with TuneCore, so I don't know what DistroKid calls it, but Tunecore simply calls it "TuneCore Publishing". It's an extra thing you opt in to that they'll pitch as helping you collect all the money you're owed. Essentially it's you signing up for them to be your publisher. If you do that, those tracks are 100% off the table for any exclusive libraries. This is different from releasing a track int Meta, TikTok, Youtube, etc.

Regarding just generally releasing tracks you hope to sign to libraries, it's really hit or miss. I signed an exclusive contract once that explicitly states that I reserve the right to release the tracks on Spotify etc. Another library wanted a track that I'd released Spotify and all the socials. I offered to removed it from everywhere and they said it wasn't necessary.

Having said that, I agree with the other comments here that it's safer and easier to just not mix your released music with your sync music. If by some stroke of luck you got a prominent placement on a show or movie and you felt like people might Shazam it and you want it streamable, you could talk to the library at that point. Otherwise, the minimal streaming revenue isn't worth the hassle.

[CsFire]

Thank you all for your input here!!!

[Casey H]

I'm with TuneCore, so I don't know what DistroKid calls it, but Tunecore simply calls it "TuneCore Publishing". It's an extra thing you opt in to that they'll pitch as helping you collect all the money you're owed. Essentially it's you signing up for them to be your publisher. If you do that, those tracks are 100% off the table for any exclusive libraries.

Just a note that those tracks would also be off the table for NON-EXCLUSIVE libraries as well. The agreement is essentially an exclusive publishing agreement so signing a non-exclusive deal would be prohibited. Many of us know that Cr****l Music, a Taxi friendly, non-exclusive library specifically asks about this and will not sign any tracks that have that kind of deal with CD Baby, Tunecore, etc.

So, if you want your tracks available for sync at all, never sign the publishing option with those companies. Or, as been said, keep your artist and sync songs separate.

Casey