Question for you more experienced folks

[chrishowes]

Hi there

I was curious about something and thought I would ask the question here as it pertains to a Taxi situation.

If I write a song on spec(which i do ) for a Dispatch listing for an "exclusive library" or an big deal Ad Agency, is it smarter to hold that song in private hard drive limbo for a month to see what happens (forward)/not forward) and if successful continue to hold it in Hard Drive Limbo for another 6 months to see if anything is going to happen? Or is it more prudent to put said song into my Non-Exclusives right away?

I guess my question is, on the lucky chance that I land the deal would that deal be in jeopardy due to the fact that the song is represented by a non-exclusive royalty free library by the time the deal comes through?

It just seems that if an consumer can go to a cheaper library and purchase the license for $150 - $300 - why wouldnt they? and likewise why would a higher end library take interest in a product that is readily available in a cheaper venue.

The keg doesn't go to Macdonalds for their latest Burger do they?

Hopefully some of you with a bit more experience than myself can give me your thoughts.

Thanks

Chris
http://www.chrishowes.ca
http://www.reverbnation.com/Chrishowes

"What do you mean your music is'nt Free????!??!"

[Casey H]

Hi Chris
Good question... It's been asked many times on the forum.

The answer is ALWAYS keep on pitching until you acutally have a deal somewhere. Remember, even if your song gets forwarded for a great opp, the overall odds that your song will get that deal are still small. A forward is a pitch with an edge, but it's just a pitch like many others.

As Dave Walton put it, it's like putting your car on the market for sale. Until someone shows up with a check in hand, you keep showing the car to more potential buyers.

Don't live by "what if's"...

All this being said, in general, when you do get offered a non-exclusive deal on a track, read the contract carefully as far as the terms. Some non-exclusive deals allow you to readily pull the track from the library. Others after an initial term (e.g. N years). Others are forever. There is no 'good or bad', just different types of libraries and marketing approaches.

As you know, you cannot enter an exclusive if a track has outstanding non-exclusive deals.

Couple the above with the reputation and track record of the library and how marketable you think your track is based on solid, professional feedback. That will help you decide if you feel giving a library a long term or permanent non-exclusive is the right move. Often, a bird in the hand...

But to reiterate my answer to your original question... NEVER stop pitching your music until you have a deal.

Good luck!
Casey

[mazz]

The reason these high end agencies with high end clients don't use library music is that the clients absolutely want something that no one else has, which is one reason why they pay what they pay to license this stuff. If it's in a library, then it's on hundreds or thousands of hard drives all around the world, which kills the unique quality they are looking for. It's like a logo for them and so it has to be "one of a kind". If it's a song by a big artist on the radio, etc., then it's all the better for them but they paid a big chunk of change to take it off the market in their product category for a certain time.

As far as keeping it on your hard drive, that's a personal decision. Most of the Dispatch and Ad Agency listings are quick turnaround, for the Ad Agencies it's probably days or a couple of weeks at the most so you need to keep that in mind.

For Dispatch listings to publishers and not ad agencies, there's a chance that you could hear back some time in the future, maybe months or years, in fact. It's just sometimes the way things in the production business roll, that by the time they got the CD from Taxi, they may have gotten the right music from somewhere else, so they don't need it now. But that doesn't mean they may put it in when a different project comes up and at that point they may call. If you've signed the track, which they are probably half expecting you to say, then you can offer to write them a similar one. After all, if you're writing on spec for the listings, then you should be able to knock one out for them fairly easily.

Just my 2c,

Mazz

[chrishowes]

Perfect.

Thanks

Chris

[Casey H]

Just to add.... You mentioned putting the track in non-exclusive libraries you have current relationships with... Obviously you can wait until you find out if you got the forward-- a few weeks most & a no-brainer. After that, it's up to you if you want to wait another 2-3 months (For these ad agency listings, my guess is you'll hear quickly if they love your track for the current opp). If you have good relationships with these non-exclusive libraries, you'll be able to sign the tracks with them later anyway. Beyond that, I think I'd go for the bird in the hand and like Mazz said, if you get contacted a year from now, offer to write another one.

If the non-exclusives you work with now have solid track records, give that a lot of weight.

Mazz mentioned that sometimes a track gets forwared, the listing party doesn't think it's right for their current needs but holds on to it for later projects. That definitely happens and people get contacted years later. I would guess (going out on a limb a little) that with an ad agency as opposed to a library or music sup, that is less likely. My gut tells me that if they don't think your music works for the current pitch, it won't be saved. I could be wrong!

Best,
Casey

[chrishowes]

So Mazz,

You would say its better to hold it for a while? What I get from your post is that it could potentially be a "deal killer" if you get lucky on the forward and it goes to the Ad agency and they like it and find out its already available in non-exclusives.

Which would make it wiser to hold the song - at least for a month after it got forwarded (if it did). You said it potentially could be short turnarounds anyway (in the case of Ad agencies).

Yes? No?

Thanks for the info guys..

Chris

[ernstinen]

Good advice, everyone!

This may be off-topic, but something I've wondered about is getting a $$ payment upfront (non-exclusive), or taking a semi-annual or quartarly payment to have a library use your music to pitch for bigger $$?

I chose a non-upfront payment, and my checks are not worth the postage they're sending me, like 85 cents quartarly!

Also, how do you get out of an exclusive contract if the library hasn't done anything with your music in, say, 10 years? I received over $1k awhile ago, and then it's dried up. --- I want my music back! Wah! Wah!

My Best,

Ern

[Casey H]

So Mazz,

You would say its better to hold it for a while? What I get from your post is that it could potentially be a "deal killer" if you get lucky on the forward and it goes to the Ad agency and they like it and find out its already available in non-exclusives.

Which would make it wiser to hold the song - at least for a month after it got forwarded (if it did). You said it potentially could be short turnarounds anyway (in the case of Ad agencies).

Yes? No?

Thanks for the info guys..

Chris

Not sure if your question was directed to Mazz, in which case I know he'll be back to answer. But my answer would be if you got the forward, it seems pretty harmless to wait 2 months before signing the track with any non-exclusive libraries. MY opinion is any turn around on an ad agency listing would be relatively quick or not at all.

What do you think, Mazz?

Casey

[mazz]

Again, that's up to you on how long you want to hold onto it. I can't recommend a time frame except to reiterate that the ad agencies seem to be working on "need it yesterday" timelines, so I would work from there and let your intuition be the guide. If you just recently signed the piece to a non-exclusive library, it may take them a little time to process it and get it on their site, etc., so you may be able to intercept it before it hits the streets. Once it's out there, particularly if it's on physical media like a hard drive, etc., it's going to be much more difficult, if not impossible to "recall" the piece, so keep that in mind as well. I say wait a reasonable amount of time before signing it and consider who you pitched it to when deciding on how long to wait.

Ern, I'm not familiar with a quarterly payment from a library, can you expand on that? Also, I would check out the contract to see if there's a reversion clause, some have it some don't. Your attorney may be able to shed more light on it. If the piece hasn't been performing, maybe the library would amend the contract to give you an "out". You may need to contact them after you've read the contract and see what you can work out.