Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. License music for commercial use, including custom music & trailer music. Networking is invaluable, so get out there to industry events and meet other composers and publishers.Composing library music is unlikely to make you famous, but it might make you rich. Compile 10-12 excellent previous tracks or new submissions on a streaming service such as SoundCloud. Biographical drama “American Soul” is a series on BET based on the ambitious story of The BBC drama “The Capture” was a huge hit. We secured a sync for artist Lily Chao, whose track “Picking Look at publishers’ web sites and listen to the amount and quality of the music, and the standard of the sleeve art. Encore! Our model ensures you raise your game with your audio, support the music industry and makes for easy song licensing all at the same time. by her family & friends, she tirelessly practices amongst Atlanta’s underground It was dominated by major labels until about the year 2000, but thanks to cheaper recording gear and the explosion of video content production, it has become more democratic, and there are now more composers, publishers and end users than ever — not to mention more high-quality music. By 2008 the royalties grew, and I managed to afford a holiday. Dan Graham is a successful composer and publisher of library music. Working with NBC in-house music supervisor Kerri Drootin, we Kluger & Jay Clever and his Orchestra. THE EXTREME MUSIC LIBRARY LIMITED - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual … Smith was placed in the opening scene of EP 9,, S3 through Canadian Music A full explanation is outside the scope of this article, but a simplified version is that synch/mech money is made when a video producer pays to license your music for a project, whereas performance (broadcast) income is paid when your track is aired on TV and paid by the TV network to the performing rights organisation (PRS in the UK). As the results of Monday’s Electoral College vote take hold, we want to share a look back at the ways Sony Music Group’s Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote campaign made an impact in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election in November. The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, whether mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Supervisor Michelle De Vries for this brief, which featured producer Politis’ track find the perfect music tracks for their productions. 1941 However, I’m also the writer of over 20 library music albums for major companies, and have founded six library music labels with offices in the UK and in LA. All About Library Music: Part 1 Getting Started, All About Library Music: Part 2 The Business, All About Library Music: Part 3 The Composer, All About Library Music: Part 4 The Client, Ehren EbbagePhoto: Dmitri von Klein“Writing library music allows me to work from home and watch my daughter grow, which is something many music professionals sacrifice. After three years, watch the cash start to trickle in. At that point I had six years’ experience of the world library music system, so took a chance at funding some albums with live strings and choir and started my own movie trailer music company, named after my most successful track, ‘Gothic Storm’. All rights reserved. Don’t try to be funny — it usually sounds weird. very last time. who Compared with many music-industry roles, library music is easier to get into and provides a more stable way to make a living. If all goes according to plan, you can expect your career earnings to follow this sort of trajectory.However, while all of these things have a huge and unpredictable influence on the success of any given track, the more tracks you make, the more consistent the overall picture will be. In the US, it’s more common to get a ‘buyout’ fee in return for giving up your share of sync/mech income. The film The graph shows how your earnings should build over 15 years assuming typical income, four excellent albums of 12 tracks per year for good labels, and a three-year income delay. FirstCom Music is a leading Production Music Library, creating music for film, broadcast, advertising, digital media, podcast and corporate productions. Twisted Jukebox. Licensing a track from a music library means that it’s also pre-cleared for worldwide and multi-platform use. working directly with established Music Supervisor, Michelle De Vries. Or if you’re short on time, we can curate a custom playlist for you to stream music based on your brief for free. Beautifully crafted background music for videos, stock music and soundbeds including music for youtube videos. In 2010, with over 20 albums released, I earned over £100,000 and felt like a confused peasant who’d won the lottery with no idea what to do with it all. If well written and signed to the right publisher/library, these tracks should go on to earn you an income over their life of copyright, which should be a minimum of 20 years. Tea The royalties that come through do eventually become a sustainable income.” Clive Lukover (Sony/ATV, Intervox, No Sheet Music), “Doing library music early in your career is a fantastic way to commit to output a lot of music, which is the best way to hone your skills.” Mike Rubino (X-Ray Dog), Mike Rubino“Learning to immerse yourself in a brief or a concept for an album is hugely helpful for creativity.” Kyle Kniceley (Gothic Storm, Position Music, Dos Brains, Theta Sound Music, Cypher TM), Kyle Kniceley“As well as a stream of regular income and a series of fresh, interesting and challenging briefs, library music has given me the opportunity to work with some fantastic people — to collaborate on writing and production, provide employment for session-musician friends, and even record several times a year with 40-50 piece orchestras across Europe. A song sync opportunity within the trailer was secured here 4 placements with tracks “Kerbela” from artist Orlando Lanzini and “Middle” from If you're in need of more guidance with your project, Music Gateway represents a network of UK and US music supervisors able to assist with creative direction. Tubesounds Limited. period dramas, working with music supervisor Natasha Duprey we placed “Candy” by We add over 400 new tracks a week, with new releases being added as soon as they’re publicly available.If you can’t find the music you’re looking for in our library, make a request and our team will endeavour to find it - 99% of the time, we can. EMI acquired Affiliated Music Companies in 1972, and the new grouping become EMI Music Publishing Ltd, today the top music publishing company in the world. Production music is rarely glamorous, but it can be very lucrative. So, no matter how big or small your project, we can help make licensing creative, fun and stress-free. Discover a selection of music licensing solutions for your video and audio projects. Vibey Library. Try our easy to use search tool below. A later article will go into more depth about the types of deals on offer, but an important takeaway for now is that working for a company who gives you a small or zero share of sync/mech income (not uncommon) is only a good idea if they make up for it by providing great performance income — the bigger and more successful companies will do this, so definitely don’t rule those deals out. for: FILMMAKERS CONTENT-CREATORS EDITORS PODCASTERS BRANDS SMALL-BUSINESSES NON-PROFITS AD AGENCIES and more. From my experience as a writer and publisher, a good rule of thumb is that performance (PRS) income will be roughly equal to synch/mech income if you’re on a 50-percent split. We provide sound design, custom cues & music for games, including instrumental music at competitive sync license prices. This move (the finished album, not the banjos) worked for me, and has been successful for many writers submitting to my labels, because you are saving publishers the time and risk of developing an album concept of their own, and removing any doubt about whether you will do a good job or waste their time with endless rewrite requests. best-selling novel. Happy Plinky Plonky Whistling Banjos: works every time.In this article, I’ve deliberately emphasised the positives. Being nominated for a Production Music Award this year was an unexpected bonus, and that led to me making many new friends and commissions for several companies I hadn’t worked for before.” Jamie Salisbury (EMI/Cavendish, KPM, Library Of The Human Soul), Jamie Salisbury“I didn’t believe I could earn a credible income from library music until my first four-figure PRS statement. Delays include: your publisher sitting on your music before release, their sub-publishers sitting on it, everyone being slow to register tracks with performing rights organisations, clients being slow to audition it and warm to it, clients being slow to fill out cue sheets, a delay between the music being used and the show being broadcast, foreign sub-publishers sitting on the money for months before paying your publisher, your publisher sitting on it before paying you, foreign performing rights societies sitting on the money before paying PRS and them sitting on it before paying you. the Music Supervisor Manish Ravel licensed a selection of Polish If all goes according to plan, you can expect your career earnings to follow this sort of trajectory. troubled It can also help switch a career pathway entirely, as it did in my case going from playing in bands to making a living from writing music.” Gabriel Brosteanu (Library Of The Human Soul). Each playlist is custom curated and organized to help you find the best stock music for your video projects. Even after writing many tracks I still feel the excitement when I receive the live string parts back from the recording studio.” Marie-Anne Fischer (Library Of The Human Soul, Gothic Storm, Synctracks), Clive Lukover“I find with production music I have greater creative freedom to write exactly the kind of music which inspires me. Creative syncing independent artist NEVERGONE’s track “Motion”. Singer, Songwriter Tyler Shamy scored a major sync with Universal Production Music music catalog crafted for video and media use. and Dance”. “Whatever You Want”. Don’t tell them if the music you’re sending was rejected by someone else — no one wants rejects. Search, listen, download. From there, follow these tips to help you find the best labels: Having read this far, let’s assume you now you have a list of the best companies and some excellent music to play them. Warner Chappell Production Music. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The PRS web site is a great starting point for researching library music publishers. This exhibition can now be seen on the Library’s website. Authentic music spanning from the 50s and earlier, all the way to the late 80s and early 90s. Don’t write a bitter reply if you’re rejected. ... Film and TV Music Library P. O. The soulful R&B track “You Wreck Me” by Artists Kaki & Eddy Your music has to be excellent to persuade experienced publishers to keep giving you work. In the first of a major new series, we explain how to get your foot in the door. Supervisor Mark Wike. Our music library is the result of over 20 years of working with customers to find the exact piece of music for their ceremony. Soul Train show creator and host Don Cornelius. Our expansive catalogue of independent artists and tracks allows us to provide options for almost any brief and has given us the pleasure of licensing music to some of the most exciting productions across TV and Film. So, it’s a three-year chain between you finishing your mixes and being paid, linked by a lot of money-sitting and slow-pokes. What sets Comma apart? If it’s badly played, written, recorded, mixed or mastered, with disembodied guitar solos and cheesy, fake-sounding samples, they’ll never forget. Compile 10-12 excellent previous tracks or new submissions on a streaming service such as SoundCloud. We help music users (film and TV music departments, networks, production companies, ad agencies, podcast creators, etc.) British soldier who is charged with murder. nostalgia With a royalty free music library, you have unlimited access to a diverse catalog of music that can be used in any type of video or film production. This is where you can change preferences for the site. The Online Library was created by the American Music Center, and, after many evolutions, continues today under the guidance of New Music USA. Despite my benefits adviser wanting me to be more realistic, as one last roll of the dice I Googled “How do you make money out of music?” and sent off literally thousands of emails with an album’s worth of solo piano music to every library publisher I could find. of a Need a music search ? Working with Music Supervisor Jack Sidey led to us securing We secured 60s soul group Bud Ross & Pals with their lively Library music has a long and proud history that stretches all the way back to 1927, when the British company De Wolfe began making 78rpm albums for radio use. Recent credits include a Star Wars: Rogue One trailer. Def Jam signed artist & dancer Teyana Taylor stars in Universal Pictures’ “Honey: A 6-part mini-series about a persistent Thanks to established Music Supervisor, Produced by NBC Universal “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce” is a TV series following a Live music performances are held in the Drwm, which is a small homely theatre in the Library. You need to find the time to create an enormous amount of quality music for years before you start to make a decent living. three sync placements for authentic Greek copyright music productions played during through Music Supervisor Will Smith using rock band The Great Cynics’ energising Wavy synths and big beats make these electronic tracks cool and exciting with loads of energy. The ideal thing to send to prospective publishers is a complete album of 12 brilliant finished tracks united by a genre or concept that would fit in their catalogue, ready to be signed over: Emotional Atmospheres, perhaps, or the can’t-fail Happy Plinky Plonky Whistling Banjos. Working to perfectly match music with video to create powerful, engaging and entertaining content. Otherwise, writing library music is really great, diverse and also offers some creative musical freedom! Networking is invaluable, so get out there to industry events and meet other composers and publishers. Happy Plinky Plonky Whistling Banjos: works every time. After so much time spent pursuing other music career paths, I feel like I’ve found a dream situation.” Ehren Ebbage (Vanacore, Warner/Chappell, Marmoset Music), Marie-Anne Fischer“Every new brief brings with it an extension of new skills. Music artist Leaves and Catching Butterflies” was placed by Reel Music’s Robin Urdang. Actress and idealist Charlie gets drawn into high-stakes up The Organic Music Library is a Superior Production Music Library catalogue featuring High-End, exclusive content ideal for broadcast, film, and corporate communications. All of these obstacles are regularly overcome by thousands of library music writers — so rather than be put off, you should be encouraged that it’s not for everyone, because that means that the industry isn’t swamped with brilliant competitors, and there are still plenty of new opportunities for talented composers. Thankfully, a software update removed that pesky twang! There are some services online that offer free music, royalty free music also known as stock library. All major library music publishers will have web sites of their own, which are perfect both for checking out what they already have, and for finding contact details. This landed me in a couple of pickles. Since companies always post guidelines for the type of music they’re looking for, you can get a good sense of the kind of music supervisors are looking for right now (hint – it’s often just one or two genres at a given time). feature film director at the time. Carre’s You’ve heard that great money can be made and that library music can be a flexible and artistically fulfilling area to work in. The relative amounts of the two income streams depend on many things, including the type of music — for example, Hollywood trailer music earns more sync and less broadcast than more TV-friendly music — and your publishing deal; if you’re on a 50-percent split of sync/mech income, you’ll get twice as much as if you were on a 25-percent split. the “Ashes In The Snow” is a historical drama film based on true events starring Bel With AudioTraxx you get Unlimited Lifetime Access to a massive library of premium audio tracks for the price of just a single track from one of the "BIG BOYS". We will send the artist a check for 50 percent of the amount we collect. Dan Graham is a successful composer and publisher of library music.Library music, also known as ‘production music’, is created mainly for video professionals working on TV shows, movie trailers, advertising and more. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers. My name is Dan Graham, possibly best known to SOS readers as the co-owner of the Kontakt-based software company Gothic Instruments, who make the Dronar series. Unmatched Quality & Unlimited Access. “Moffie”, 2019 London Film Festival’s Best Film category nominee is a British South Even if you only compose library music as a sideline, it can also be a great way to add a stable new income stream, or be a stepping stone to becoming a full-time composer. Politely persist where others quit. The other was that without exactly lying, I used Steinberg’s The Grand while somewhat implying that it was a real grand piano, and nearly came unstuck when the major UK publisher asked me to fix “a loose bit of metal” that they could hear. Keep an eye on the Library’s event page for information about performances. Wonderweb Music. Established in 2005, Audio Addiction is a fast-growing production music library and licensing company with thousands of placements in films, TV shows, commercials, trailers, Internet uses, and more. To sustain that, you need alternative sources of income or a willingness to work in poverty, and a very optimistic attitude in the face of naysayers who will exacerbate your own doubts about your chances of getting to the point where you have hundreds of great tracks placed with great publishers, at which point income becomes high and stable. Peele, Keanu) & Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Avengers). Proud Member Of: Stock & Free Music. If the tracks aren’t available for them, explain that they are previous examples and you would like to write new material for them. Just a few of the factors affecting income include: how clear the album concept is; how good the track titles are; what reputation the company has; how good their sales and marketing are; how good their international agent (sub-publishing) network is; how good the metadata is (the track descriptions created by the publisher to help with search engines); the position of the track in the track list (early tracks earn more); how well the world economy is doing; whether the genre of the album is in demand; luck (maybe your track will end up as a hit TV show theme tune); the state of the library music industry; the business model of the company and the terms of the deal you have. Supervisor, West One Music Group. amazing sync placements by 3 separate artists for this film including artists Denny track “Do Your Own Thing” working directly with Music Supervisor, Ashley Music Neumeister. www.prsformusic.com/users/productionmusic/libraries/pages/default.aspx, 12 Things People Worry About Too Much When Mixing, Inside Track: Bruce Springsteen 'Letter To You', Distant City Studios - A Drum Room With A Difference, Mastering Essentials Part 6 - Final Delivery: Requirements & Specs, Re: Audio Dramas, studio set and techniques, Re: External optical drive options for Mac, Zoom h6 with comica boom-xd 2... terrible noise. Library Music Get-Rich-Slow Plan. Sell your choir music through The Music Library --- it will get seen. Skyler joins a dance crew to compete for a college scholarship. After 10 years, bitch about the pressures of wealth and start to feel angry about tax. club music frok us for a nightclub scene featuring Weekend’s tracks “Ona Tanczy Dla However, to achieve this, you need to find quality companies to write for. I hope that existing library composers will also find much of interest, to help expand their knowledge and inspire them to try new avenues. espionage. I was pretty pleased with my lot. Angeles as a single woman in her 40s. So that’s £50,000 in total per album. A ‘three year rule’ means you typically need to wait this long for income to filter through the international royalty system. “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” is an Amazon original comedy/drama set in 1950s Manhattan Getting your foot in the door is not just about having brilliant music to offer, but putting in the hard work to contact as many publishers as possible.If several companies accept your album, choose one and apologise to the others, explaining that it is now taken but you’d love to develop a similar album to offer them. Indie music from filmmakers and beyond. The ASCAP Music License is the most efficient and affordable way to ensure your business, venue, event, radio or television station uses ASCAP music legally. the bestselling novel by Dan Simmons. Mnie” & “Dalem Ci Kwiaty”. Triumph Music. For licensing costs and enquiries, please fill out the form below or get in touch. the 80s pop band “Bros”. Until then, time to get to it — and don’t stop until you’ve sent out thousands of emails with amazing music links! self-help book author who is recently separated and is navigating her life in Los complicated More inspired than ever to continue my pace of writing 40-50 tracks a year.” Oliver Sadie (Library Of The Human Soul, Gothic Storm), Oliver SadieAudioAndroid.“Library is hard work and can take years to get rolling, but in the long play it’s a great way for a composer to build a solid foundation of copyrighted works. Our band had been dropped by our label, and I was wondering if I’d have to get a real job. It wasn’t always like that. An amazing 6-part BBC mini-series “The Little Drummer Girl” is based on John Le Actress Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Prometheus) leads the Services making a licensed production available online or via mobile networks will need to have an appropriate PRS for Music licence covering the performing right.. detective who begins to discover a multi-layered conspiracy when handling the case We're talking anywhere from $5 up to $50 (or more) per song! I was in my mid-’30s, had always been a poor songwriter writing for the love of music, and was now earning, as I saw it, 10 grand a year for nothing. on With full access to the catalogue, you can keep complete control using our discovery tools. Critically acclaimed Netflix Original series “Bloodline” is a drama/thriller based in (Diary of a Teenage Girl) & Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service). Zone Music. Yorkshire, follows 4 old friends on a mission to see their dying friend Frank for during Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region, Lina, a young aspiring Even the majority will only make you a small living, so you need to go on a treasure hunt for the golden geese — not because you are greedy, but because you might as well earn more than less for the same piece of music. Music licensing companies like Soundstripe provide creators like yourself with a comprehensive and curated selection of … If you get no response, send a polite reminder every two weeks until they reply. Apple Music is a close second to Spotify and it's the only one of our top three with a digital locker to store your own library of songs -- YouTube Music, below, is the other music locker option. young Audio Network’s production music catalogue has 189,864 high quality music tracks for TV, film, advertising and corporate video. We understand music licensing fees can be hard to navigate and it’s really easy to license free music and royalty free music. Sky One Sky One’s action-drama series “Bulletproof” follows undercover police duo and best friends Bishop played by Noel Clarke (Kidulthood, Adulthood) and Pike played by Ashley Walters (Top Boy) as they pair up to take down criminal gangs across Europe in the pursuit of justice. There's been a problem with sending your message, please email: concierge@musicgateway.com. Many will at least say ‘no thanks’. The PRS web site is a great starting point for researching library music publishers.Downsides include the difficulty of finding work and choosing the right companies to write for, the requirement to produce a large amount of excellent music, and an epic three-year delay while you wait for your money, which can invite pessimism and doubt from yourself and others. I have 13 years’ experience in the industry, and in this series of in-depth articles, I’m going to spill the beans on how it all works, explaining how you can make a good, stable, full- or part-time living out of it. Our library of music has been curated with passion to help showcase the very best of independent music and we provide worldwide licensing for all types of media. Set in I can live wherever I choose. With a catalogue full of nostalgic & vintage tracks suitable Soundstripe hand selects every song that goes into our music library. Show that you’ve done research by referring to their releases, sub-labels or writers. Getting your foot in the door is not just about having brilliant music to offer, but putting in the hard work to contact as many publishers as possible. Powley Today, I run six UK-based library music labels, making music for Hollywood movie trailers, TV and advertising around the world. Toronto, Canada. The Perfect Music Library. BAFTA award winning documentary following the reunion of brothers Matt & Luke Goss Whilst these are cheap options, the quality of the music does vary alot and as you can appreciate, the licensing rights are quite restricted. eOne Entertainment’s “Private Eyes” is a crime-solving comedy/drama TV Series based Do enough great tracks for great companies, and you’ll see the uncertainty evaporate and clear earnings-per-album statistics emerge. “Never APM is my first stop for every search because, simply put, they have everything. They are hard to get work from, but can earn well, so are well worth trying. Write 20 of those beauties and you’ve made your future self a million quid. track 5ive 9ine is a genre-bending team comprised of U K Rap pioneer Sway Dasafo and Producer Zagor who landed a Sync for the series’ multiple action-packed promotional trailers with their high-intensity Rap track “Born A King”. The point of the story is to demonstrate that if you’re a good composer and producer, and you are patient and hard-working, you can make a great living from library music, with a lot of artistic freedom. But that’s what this series is all about: how to overcome these obstacles. is ‘Cheers, old self,’ you’ll say, gloating in your 2027 driverless swimming pool. In 2005 the Library held an exhibition called ‘Encore!’ to celebrate our musical heritage. And for each album, you should expect this to hit its stride in three years and dwindle after 10 years.