# Track rejected at the last minute



## Conor (Apr 1, 2013)

Just had a very unpleasant experience.

Last week an online video production company approached me about doing a short logo/flourish/fanfare track for a new video series. I offered to do it for not much money, because I like this company and would be proud to have my work at the top of their videos.

I sent my contact person a sketch on Thursday afternoon, and on Friday we went back and forth making adjustments until it was just how he wanted it. I spoke with him on the phone on Friday night to confirm everything was good, and he seemed thrilled with the results.

The first in the new video series went live this morning, and my track wasn't in it.

I sent my contact person a brief "what's up?" email, and got this response:

_[My boss] made an executive decision on Saturday night to ask [our in-house music guy] to make a track. I guess he felt like it still sounded a little too synthesized and [in-house guy] had availability. I only found out about the switch after he'd requested [in-house guy] to make something. We'll still definitely pay for your work. Sorry for the situation._

I replied:

_Thanks for the update. I appreciate your offer to pay for the track anyway, but I'm not in business to write music that never gets heard, so I would prefer to keep control of it. With that in mind, I think it would be best to just call it a wash. Keep your money and I'll eventually get the track in front of someone who will use it. _

Despite the smiley, I am incredibly fucking enraged right now. Because ultimately his boss was right, the track DID sound a little bit artificial, and they replaced it with something less interesting but better-produced. Apparently production value is all that really matters, and I still suck at it.

But back to the topic... I know this kind of thing happens sometimes and I'm wondering how you guys respond to it. Would you have done what I did, or would you have just taken the (small amount of) money and buried the track?


----------



## IvanP (Apr 1, 2013)

Well, I can't comment on the good / bad answer, as I'm not sure what would be the right call...this always sucks. 

I have listened to some of your soundcloud examples and, while your mockups may sound a bit "sequenced" and quantized, I think you are an excellent composer!

Great harmonic language, great writing and a fresh change from the current musical vibes. Not everybody can write in that polytonal style and you do it very well. 

Keep up the good work, mockups will improve with time 

Regards, 

Ivan


----------



## Daryl (Apr 1, 2013)

This may or may not have anything to do with your track or its suitably for the project. In advertising this sort of thing is quite common. In fact I've had a track go through many, many revisions, only to find out that the gig has been given to the Director's "friend", and when I've seen the ad on TV, the picture sync, and musical ideas bear a striking resemblance to what I wrote. :shock: 

Two lessons learned:

1) Make sure you always get a fee, but in the event of non-use, ensure that contractually the Publishing returns to you (in the case of a cr*p fee, this should be non-negotiable).
2) Don't take rejection personally. I know it is personal, but having heard "Creatives" talk about music many times, there is no point in getting upset about their lack of knowledge, or in this case, ethics. Just don't work for them again.

D


----------



## Conor (Apr 1, 2013)

Thanks for your reply Sascha. I think you are at least partially right, however I do want to clarify how this went down:

- "Bob" contacted me and offered me the gig.
- I spoke with Bob to confirm the details, and got him to send me a reference track and tell me what he liked about it and what he wanted to be different.
- I wrote the music and sent Bob a rough mix. He was generally happy, but wanted me to remove A and add B.
- I sent Bob the revision. He was even happier, and just wanted me to tweak X, Y, and Z.
- I sent Bob the revision. He was completely happy, said the changes were perfect and it worked really well with the picture, and he considered it finished.
- Bob then submitted it to his boss "Jim." (I had no idea there even was a Jim.) Jim thought it was meh and decided to go another route.

I believe the communication between me and Bob was excellent. Unfortunately it turned out not to be Bob's call.

(EDIT: Whoah, and thanks for the other responses too, reading now. )


----------



## Conor (Apr 1, 2013)

@IvanP - Thanks for the kind words. 

@Daryl - That's a good tip, I'll make sure that's in the contract in future.


----------



## sluggo (Apr 1, 2013)

This is very typical of gigs I have done with major corporations. Producers will sometimes get over-ridden by their exec producer/head of network who is hearing it for the 1st time even after you've locked down a version after many revisions with the producer. 
The fact that he offered to still pay you is good and means he isn't a douche.
He should have given you another chance though. And yes, it IS infuriating to find out that your music wasn't used by seeing the product in it's final state.

I once turned on the tube to watch something I did for a MAJOR awards production just to hear the temp track instead of my score. The temp had tons of A list score in it. I was baffled how they could have used it. I found out years later that a tech put in the wrong tape and they got in big trouble.

If you like the track enough to keep it and own it then you did fine. Although the client might think you were being a bit 'fussy'. 

Remember, you are the well, not the water. I'd take the money. You might not hear from that client again. Or, send them a track when your production values meet or exceed your compositional talents so they can hear that you are back on the level. 

Yes, production is more important than ANYTHING else. 

The other night a producer I met was telling me that he really enjoyed hiring 'anyone' who came out of Hans Zimmer's studio. Simply because "he has the best samples".

No point arguing that with a producer. 

Bone up on your production...it's a life-long education.


----------



## Synesthesia (Apr 1, 2013)

Daryl @ Mon Apr 01 said:


> This may or may not have anything to do with your track or its suitably for the project. In advertising this sort of thing is quite common. In fact I've had a track go through many, many revisions, only to find out that the gig has been given to the Director's "friend", and when I've seen the ad on TV, the picture sync, and musical ideas bear a striking resemblance to what I wrote. :shock:
> 
> 
> D



haha... I had this too, to the extent (on a 50k global campaign) that a musical 'in joke' between me and myself (believe me, no-one else would have got my 'comedic' use of this particular sound) was reproduced in the final on air.

When I saw it, I couldn't believe that someone had ripped off my demo so utterly that they even copied an out of context sound they didn't understand.

As ever, I later discovered it was a 'mate of the director'.

C'est la vie!


----------



## Conor (Apr 1, 2013)

sluggo @ Mon Apr 01 said:


> He should have given you another chance though.


I can't fault him for this at least... I was out of town all day Saturday & Sunday and he knew that.



sluggo @ Mon Apr 01 said:


> I once turned on the tube to watch something I did for a MAJOR awards production just to hear the temp track instead of my score. The temp had tons of A list score in it. I was baffled how they could have used it. I found out years later that a tech put in the wrong tape and they got in big trouble.



LOL! 



sluggo @ Mon Apr 01 said:


> Remember, you are the well, not the water.



Ugh... yeah, I know this intellectually but it's hard for me to really GET it for some reason. I can't seem to just say, "yup, that was crap, now quityerbitchin' and get to work on the next one."


----------



## sluggo (Apr 1, 2013)

The word you need to focus on today is...'perspective'. Imagine you are the producer and how you choose a composer reflects on you. 
As composers, we are here to make producers look good. You do that for them, you will work more. You don't and you'll have the decision to get out of the business made for you. 

I think you GET it. You just have to have a thick skin for this gig. 

Learn from it. What was bad about your production? Do you need a new sample library. Better plugins. Maybe a 2nd set of ears would help BEFORE you send to the client. 

Now send me my check in the mail. Your hour is up.


----------



## Dean (Apr 1, 2013)

Hey Cobra,

I think you've learned some invaluable lessons here,rejection in any form is the best motivation to improve.Theres nothing like a good kick in the face to wake you up!
Your production skills really need to match the calibre of you compositions,theres no excuse,otherwise this will keep happening and you'll lose clients and gigs to the other guys who spend the time on production aswell as composition.

As Daryl said,
Find out up front if theres a small demo fee for your time and if the gig does'nt happen you definitely keep the rights the demo,..theres nothing fussy about it,no exceptions.
Its ruthless out there,its a good idea to grow a very thick skin,Ive lost tons of gigs in much worse situations,but thats all thought me a lesson worth its weight in gold,absolutely nothing is for sure.I recently landed a huge trailer gig but the use of my cue was only confirmed when the client who hired me actually heard the trailer in the cinema opening night,..talk about a nail biter! D


----------



## charlieclouser (Apr 1, 2013)

I've had more than a couple of cues rejected over the years, often at the last minute when the project is on the dub stage and I get the call to re-do a cue in a couple of hours. Many times it's been a cue that took two days to put together, and now I'm asked to provide a better replacement in no time flat, which just serves to illustrate that the decision-makers place no value on how much effort went into a cue, they only hear how well it works with their picture. Fair enough.

In situations like this, I try to remember the sage advice of King Ad-Rock in the immortal classic "Shake Your Rump" by The Beastie Boys:

"I got more rhymes than Jamaica got Mangos."

And that illustrates the essence of being a successful professional composer, or any creative professional really - the ability to keep coming up with a steady stream of creative output.


----------



## Christof (Apr 3, 2013)

Last year I scored an Austrian TV series (12 episodes), with three directors!!(each did 4 episodes).

One director was totally happy with my music, he loved it.

The second director hated my music, gave me really rude and arrogant comments.

The third director didn't care at all about the music.

Imagine my emotional roller-coaster ride, I was proud, angry and offended at the same time.
As this was my first bigger gig I was quite overstreched mentally.

I told the producer that it is impossible to work under such circumstances, so he told the directors to shut up and let me do my work.


----------



## AlexRuger (Apr 7, 2013)

CobraTrumpet @ Mon Apr 01 said:


> Thanks for your reply Sascha. I think you are at least partially right, however I do want to clarify how this went down:
> 
> - "Bob" contacted me and offered me the gig.
> - I spoke with Bob to confirm the details, and got him to send me a reference track and tell me what he liked about it and what he wanted to be different.
> ...



Ouch. Crappy situation, and honestly you and "Bob" did nothing wrong. I guess things like this just come with the territory...

Also, I would avoid the use of smileys in emails--I would have taken that as sarcasm, given your overall message. Worth pointing out.


----------



## Greg (Apr 7, 2013)

You got paid AND got feedback from the client? That's more than you'll usually get in these cases.

Bite your tongue and keep writing better music, if you can't handle rejection, stop writing music for clients and make your own library or something.


----------



## Tanuj Tiku (Apr 7, 2013)

Advertising over all is very crappy when it comes to decision making because there are too many people who take calls right till the end moment where you find that the ultimate guy who has the say comes right in the end and bombs something because he does not like that one sound. 

Keep cool. These things keep happening. I have worked on over 150 commercials and this is daily business in some cases. Some production houses and agencies (executives) are known for this and when you work enough, you know most of them and sort of do the job accordingly. 

However, I must say that advertising in India seems to be a much larger industry than the US and UK. They always contract a composer - its almost never licensed from anywhere. Its all tailor-made. And in 95% of the cases (even if they do not use your track and copyright remains with you), they pay you your full composing fee (this is also the case because there is no copyright into effect in India for royalty generation - there are no royalties). 

So, you take an upfront fee ranging from $500 to $2000 plus edit charges, language translations and if they want to run it more than once - there are buyouts (including copyright) ranging from 1 year to perpetuity for which the fees range from $5000 to $40,000. Plus there are various media buyouts - cinema rights, radio, ring tone. So you can end up making a lot of money from it whether or not the ad campaign does well. They have to pay you if they want all this and like it. 

But, there are people who mess with you - change your tracks at the end moment because some other composer gave a deal or back-stabbed you. It happens everywhere. 

And, we finish a commercial in 2-3 days - mostly just a day. So, I know guys who work on 25 commercials a month - not quality specific of course.

As Daryl said, do not take it personally. These things becomes less of a problem as you gain prominence in the scene. All industries have problems. For example in India, the minimum turnaround time for them to pay you is 3-8 months after the commercial has been aired. Sometimes, they default on you. Oh and they are always asking for discounts!


Tanuj.


----------

