Publisher relationship query

[GuitarKit]

Hi wonderful experienced people.
I have been with my publisher for a couple of years now. Placements have gone a bit quiet so I would like to ask them about that. It could be covid or maybe I suck.
Is it fair enough to ask them how the land is lying with them and clients and my submissions? I have heard people say, don't peeve off your publisher. They are too busy. However I need to know what I am working towards.
By the way, happy new year.

[melodea]

Hi there

I'm reopening the book of sync music after a long (I mean looooong) period of absence in this business. I keep on hearing not to bug the publishers, sound libraries etc. because they're sooo busy. Well, aren't we all sooo busy? IMHO if your music, which you managed to create in your very busy life, lands in a catalog of a library, you have all the rights to ask from time to time: how's the weather out there? I mean at the end of the day they have YOUR music, signed with a mutual agreement.
It depends all on common sense not to bombard them and stay polite and humble.

Happy New Year and lots of success

Chris

[cosmicdolphin]

Hi wonderful experienced people.
I have been with my publisher for a couple of years now. Placements have gone a bit quiet so I would like to ask them about that. It could be covid or maybe I suck.
Is it fair enough to ask them how the land is lying with them and clients and my submissions? I have heard people say, don't peeve off your publisher. They are too busy. However I need to know what I am working towards.
By the way, happy new year.

I am guessing most publishers would paint a rosy picture if you asked, and that may be perfectly true for some of their writers and not others. Your milage can vary massively between different libraries and apart from giving them high quality music that fit the briefs they are asking for which I am guessing you do , then everything else is out of your hands.

If that library have gone off the boil I would start pushing more tracks to some others and see how it goes.

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Kit, I'm gathering from the opening line of your post ("I have been with my publisher for...") that you only have music with one publisher. If that's the case, your music - and your income - is going to be completely at the mercy of one entity. Not good. Many publishers / libraries go through dry spells, have contracts expire and not renew, have health issues that prevent them from working, etc.... If all of your eggs are in one basket, you're setting yourself up for one heck of a roller coaster ride. Try to expand your net, and get music with 10+ publishers. That way, when one is in a drought, another might be in harvest mode. It's much easier to maintain a smooth ride in this unpredictable business if you've spread your bets around the proverbial table.

~~Matt

[Casey H]

Hi wonderful experienced people.
I have been with my publisher for a couple of years now. Placements have gone a bit quiet so I would like to ask them about that. It could be covid or maybe I suck.
Is it fair enough to ask them how the land is lying with them and clients and my submissions? I have heard people say, don't peeve off your publisher. They are too busy. However I need to know what I am working towards.
By the way, happy new year.

Normally, you should not check in with a publisher to see what's going on with your tracks. It's generally not appreciated. Assuming they are still in business, they work their catalog. It's such and up and down thing. If you have concerns, they are not in business anymore, that's different. You might want to check with peers, co-writers, etc. to see if they've had any contact such as accepted submissions, etc.

As others have said, definitely have your music spread around many libraries.

Best,
Casey