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Apologies if this is a tired topic, I couldn't find a search bar...

Pretty self explanatory I guess, I'm pretty inexperienced in library land. I signed off 2 albums back in May after one forward. The tracks still haven't been registered with APRA, my PRO here in Australia. I like the guy and the whole setup he has going, but this seems like a very long time.

I was excited to deliver these albums but this has kinda killed my enthusiasm to do more...

Have the tracks been added to the actual library (if they have a searchable on-line database)?

In my experience (with BMI in USA), some libraries will register the tracks quickly, while other libraries may wait until the track is actually being placed in a program. In that case it would never be registered if the track is never placed.

Libraries all have their own schedules and priorities. I deal with one library that compiles tracks into albums for release to production companies. An album might be put together, released and registered all within a few weeks ... while another album might take up to 2 years. I don't get too concerned because this library has given me some of my best placements.

Or another library was pretty quick to add and register my tracks with the PRO ... and then never placed those tracks anywhere in the last 10 years ... of course, placements could still happen ... never give up

Here are some things you might try, in no particular order ... (1) Contact Taxi to see if they know anything about the library and whether you should be concerned (2) Research the library to see what you can find out from other composers ... you can't do that on the Taxi forum but you could try Music Library Report or other forums (3) Email the library to find out what's happening ... for example did they expect you to do the registration (I doubt it, but it's possible I guess)

Hopefully everything will work out. Congrats on getting the contract, and good luck with the albums!

Jim

Thanks Jim for being so generous with your time. This is great info.

I guess the more I do, the more relaxed I'll be about it all.

jdstamper wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 12, 2022 5:10 pm

In my experience (with BMI in USA), some libraries will register the tracks quickly, while other libraries may wait until the track is actually being placed in a program. In that case it would never be registered if the track is never placed.

Yup. Exactly. I have songs in some very reputable libraries and only tracks that get placed (or are in a very serious pitch sometimes) get registered. So many of the songs have not yet been registered. Whether a song is registered with your PRO yet or not is not a measure of how good the library is, how much they are working to pitch yours songs, etc.

Casey

Ahh I see, thanks. Well I'll just have to cross my fingers I guess

Are there any similar situations in which you would register the works yourself? Perhaps before you even shopped them around?

kazr88 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 12, 2022 1:18 am

I couldn't find a search bar...

Click on the 3 horizontal lines at the top left of the Forums bar, then click on Search.

kazr88 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:12 pm

Are there any similar situations in which you would register the works yourself? Perhaps before you even shopped them around?

If you are pitching to Film/TV music libraries, it's best not to register songs yourself. They will do the registrations as needed. If the library is exclusive, they generally will register under original title and your own registration just makes more work for them. If the library is non-exclusive, the will register under a re-title, which could be a totally different title or more often, your title with a prefix or suffix such as "LIB X - Please Don't Leave Me". Remember, they need to have the registration setup so they collect their publishers share.

The exceptions would be if the library asks you to do a registration, one library many of us work with does. Or if there is a placement such as direct to supervisor or by a sync agent where they don't take any publishing share. Then you should register so you can collect both writers and publishers share.

So, basically... Just sit back, relax, and create/pitch more tracks.

Casey

Is the library in question American? If so, it is very likely they use ASCAP/BMI as their PRO, which means you could use their combined search facility to look up yourself and see whether your tracks appear there. If that is the case, you have the following option: you may ask APRA whether they can see your tracks in the global database, and if so, you may ask them to add the tracks manually. That is what I did with my PRO for a few tracks that were not appearing in my PRO, but were listed in the aforementioned ASCAP/BMI search facility.

Again, thanks guys for all your help. I have left it with APRA, what a great organisation they are!

Just to reiterate. Whether the tracks are PRO registered or not at this point is totally irrelevant.