# Music Licensing Library



## TheMusicSync (Oct 9, 2022)

Hi All,
Who have experience in Music Licensing Library?
- So many librairies, Shutterstock, Motion Array (get by Artlist), Pond5, PremiumBeat, MusicBedArtlist, Audio Network, Epidemic Sound, but is it a good strategy? Here the top 46 Sync Licensing Music Library ► https://www.millennialmind.co/top-sync-licensing-music-libraries/

Of course, some of Librairies pay very low (Shutterstock is really low compare to Pond5).
- Shutterstock bought Pond5: is it good for composers?
- A lot of Music Librairies do not accept new composers anymore - they don't accepting new applicants... Apply to join some librairies is actually impossible, why? (e.g. Audio Jungle, Marmoset,...) and others i don't remember now.
- Which Music Librairy can we hear the most in Netflix?
Thank you for your help, experience and advices


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## christianroovers (Oct 19, 2022)

I'm wondering the same thing. Looking for a resource on good libraries that will lead to placements. :D


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## Luminous Muse (Dec 15, 2022)

I've been in the Music Library business for a long time - first as a composer for Omnimusic (recently bought by APM) then with my own library. I'm sure it's tough to get into one of them now but the one piece of advice I came offer is not to go with a library unless it allows you to be a member of ASCAP or BMI. The lion's share of my royalties come from ASCAP - some on pieces I wrote 40 years ago! What you'd also want to check (if you can) is if the library is used a lot for broadcast, which is where those royalties come from. I don't know enough about streaming royalties to comment. Best of luck!


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## muk (Dec 16, 2022)

Dan Graham's articles in Sound on Sound are an essential read:






All About Library Music: Part 1


Production music is rarely glamorous, but it can be very lucrative. In the first of a major new series, we explain how to get your foot in the door.




www.soundonsound.com





It will answer a lot of your questions.


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## NekujaK (Dec 16, 2022)

Not only is it becoming more difficult to get signed on as a new library composer, but AI music will very soon start to cannibalize many existing music licensing opportunities and their associated revenue.

I know this is a hotly debated topic, but the writing is clearly on the wall. AI music just makes more economic sense to the clients who license music - and they always follow the money. Why would ABC or BBC want to license library music and pay royalties when they can use AI to create the music they need, pay no royalties, and own the music outright!? It's a no brainer.

We can debate endlessly about how good or bad AI music is, but all that matters is if the clients think it's good enough. And it will only get better with time.

I'm afraid the sun is setting on a good portion of the library music business.


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## Daryl (Dec 16, 2022)

NekujaK said:


> Not only is it becoming more difficult to get signed on as a new library composer, but AI music will very soon start to cannibalize many existing music licensing opportunities and their associated revenue.
> 
> I know this is a hotly debated topic, but the writing is clearly on the wall. AI music just makes more economic sense to the clients who license music - and they always follow the money. Why would ABC or BBC want to license library music and pay royalties when they can use AI to create the music they need, pay no royalties, and own the music outright!? It's a no brainer.
> 
> ...


Yes, if your music is generic, uses samples, has nothing original about it, you will be replaced, when the programme maker is not concerned about good quality.

FWIW, I see the profession fragmenting into two separate "camps:

1. People who are at the top of their game, using live instruments, and getting reasonably well paid.
2. Everyone else.

The trick is to get into category 1.


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## tsk (Dec 16, 2022)

Daryl said:


> Yes, if your music is generic, uses samples, has nothing original about it, you will be replaced, when the programme maker is not concerned about good quality.
> 
> FWIW, I see the profession fragmenting into two separate "camps:
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, for the network to care about quality music, the end consumer has to notice the difference, and I'm not certain about that. Anyway, Daryl has me blocked so I don't know why I'm replying to this


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## MeloKeyz (Dec 25, 2022)

Daryl said:


> FWIW, I see the profession fragmenting into two separate "camps:
> 
> 1. People who are at the top of their game, using live instruments, and getting reasonably well paid.
> 2. Everyone else.
> ...


So, you're saying sample libraries and the huge investment we put on them makes us in the "Everyone else" camp?


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## Epic Wonder (Dec 25, 2022)

MeloKeyz said:


> So, you're saying sample libraries and the huge investment we put on them makes us in the "Everyone else" camp?


Maybe, lol!


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## Mike Fox (Dec 26, 2022)

NekujaK said:


> Not only is it becoming more difficult to get signed on as a new library composer, but AI music will very soon start to cannibalize many existing music licensing opportunities and their associated revenue.
> 
> I know this is a hotly debated topic, but the writing is clearly on the wall. AI music just makes more economic sense to the clients who license music - and they always follow the money. Why would ABC or BBC want to license library music and pay royalties when they can use AI to create the music they need, pay no royalties, and own the music outright!? It's a no brainer.
> 
> ...


This.

Unless you're on a skill level that surpasses John Williams, or are constantly creating new trends and groundbreaking ideas in music (which you most likely aren't), then you will be replaced by AI in the future. No doubt about it.

It has already happened with working artists, especially at an independent level.

Composers are next.


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## jcrosby (Dec 26, 2022)

Here's a counter-perspective to the 'AI will decimate music licensing' debate du jour.

The most obvious of all points made in Benn's video is that the licensing industry itself has done way more damage to the music licensing market than anything else. From subscription-based licensing for a few dollars month that allow unlimited downloads, to already-made free-of-charge 'royalty free music' created by a human that already exists...

Not to mention that we now live in a world where content ID and copyright strikes allow people to claim ownership of someone else's music, and disputing a claim puts the burden of proof on the copyright holder not the infringer. 

AI is another nail in the coffin, but it currently isn't offering something that doesn't already exist; something made by humans.


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## Daryl (Dec 27, 2022)

MeloKeyz said:


> So, you're saying sample libraries and the huge investment we put on them makes us in the "Everyone else" camp?


Yes. Eventually. In my opinion.

BTW it's not a huge investment at all. It's not even the price of one orchestral session at Abbey Road.


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## GtrString (Dec 27, 2022)

Many of those in the link are not music libraries at all.

Don’t create background music, please!

You can often make more money just releasing to streaming services, keep all your rights, and register with your pro organizations.

You may still sync released works, and if they wont allow you, they are not worth making deals with. In fact many of these “libraries” just release your work to streaming, and take 50%+ from you.


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## MeloKeyz (Dec 27, 2022)

TheMusicSync said:


> - A lot of Music Librairies do not accept new composers anymore - they don't accepting new applicants... Apply to join some librairies is actually impossible, why? (e.g. Audio Jungle, Marmoset,...) and others i don't remember now.


Although it sounds like you wanna join music libs as in-house composer, I think you actually mean they are not accepting new submissions, not new applicants. Many sync music libs are currently accepting new submissions. I just joined an exclusive library 2 months ago just because I signed up in their newsletter, then got a request, wrote a track and track accepted. It was the most hassle-free experience. I'd check your music if it has the needed quality attributes and you MUST listen to tons of tracks in these libs to know what style of writing they need and what quality. 

AJ, Pond5, ES and the like are not sync music libs so I second @GtrString in this. These guys are accepting anything from bad to excellent quality, they won't refuse anything. When I was with Pond5, I uploaded the worst tracks I wrote and they accepted them. They are royalty-free libs and they won't allow you to sign up with PRO. Your tracks are actually being bought (not licensed) with a one time fee that you put. 

Finally, forget the "Top 46" google-search link and go to the link posted by @muk. It's the secret link, Period!


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## MeloKeyz (Dec 27, 2022)

And subscribe to this lad's channel https://www.youtube.com/@SyncMyMusic

He can do it at any given time


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## Serge Pavkin (Dec 27, 2022)

A difficult question for me now. Starting with iStock in 2009, unfortunately, I did not get any stable, large income in the sale of background music. Even now, my Motion Array income has more than halved in a year (the number of tracks increased by about 200). The rules are constantly changing and the author's fee is constantly decreasing. I have hope for PRO fees, which I started receiving recently. But so far it is quite little. Publishing on streaming sites also brings pennies. Perhaps it was rightly said that very few first-class specialists will remain in the business. So far without optimism.


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## Mike Fox (Dec 27, 2022)

I honestly think it can make more sense to invest in yourself as an “influencer” first and foremost, then your music can be a secondary operation to your brand.

Like, it’s hard enough getting people to even listen to your music with the amount of current saturation, but they are more likely to listen and buy your music if they feel like they know you on a personal level.

People want a face and a personality they can connect to.

This is marketing 101, btw, there’s nothing new about this concept. I mean, why do you think companies create characters for kid cereals? Captain Crunch, Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, etc., etc.

I think Ola Englund does a great job with explaining the realities of the current situation regarding saturation.



I also think it’s this influencer/personality thing that’s going to save a lot of musicians from AI making them obsolete, especially if all they’re known for is their music.

But even this is becoming more and more difficult to do, because of the saturation (seems like there’s a new influencer everyday), but it’s not nearly as saturated as the amount of musicians pumping out their music and just sitting behind the curtain, waiting for an unlikely stroke of luck to land on their doorstep.


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## NekujaK (Dec 27, 2022)

With financial investments, the guiding principle is to "diversify", and I think it's a wise approach to take when trying to earn a meaningful income from music.

The vast majority of professional career musicians I know do many different things in music to maintain a healthy income stream: composing, performing, arranging, songwriting, teaching, recording, producing, mixing, mastering, etc. They take advantage of all opportunities and don't label themselves as just doing only one thing.

I do also know a small handful of musicians who have ascended to the coveted position of being able to specialize in just one thing and make a living at it. But in every one of those cases there were two important factors that got them there: Luck and Excellence. They're insanely good at what they do, and when they were starting out, they just happened to be in the right place at the right time and met the right people to give them an opportunity to leverage their talents, and everything unfolded from there, often times through no intentional effort of their own.

And in fact, luck probably has far more to do with success than any of us care to admit. So it's important to get out there and exercise as many of your musical talents as possible in as many ways as possible to create opportunities for luck to bump into you. Write library music, record and license songs, offer to play on other people's tracks, find film projects to score, arrange other people's music, play piano at a local choir practice or elementary school, enter songwriting contests, teach someone how to play piano or guitar, make YouTube videos about your favorite libraries, and so on, and so on...

Leverage ALL of your musical talents, passion, and abilities, and if you're good at it, are a nice person to work with, and are very lucky, you just might be able to earn some meaningful money doing it.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 27, 2022)

Just looked at this 😂

Why would anyone give a shit which library was used the most on Netflix? 😀

I don't know about luck and excellence btw, but I DO know about distribution. If you have zero distribution then it won't matter if you're Beethoven.


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## NekujaK (Dec 27, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> Just looked at this 😂
> 
> Why would anyone give a shit which library was used the most on Netflix? 😀
> 
> I don't know about luck and excellence btw, but I DO know about distribution. If you have zero distribution then it won't matter if you're Beethoven.


Lots of musicians have distribution (a problem in itself because of the glut it creates), but if the music doesn't click with audiences or clients, or you can't break through the noise, there's not going to be any back end. Just having distribution alone doesn't automatically guarantee income.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 27, 2022)

Being any good at writing music for production purposes should be a given. But without distribution around the globe, that won't matter.


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## Ben E (Dec 27, 2022)

This is still the best music library on the internet.
https://qualityfreemusic.wixsite.com/qualityfreemusic


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## Ben E (Dec 27, 2022)

From the site:


If you are a really talented composer with determination and drive...

...and are on board with our 'free for all' philosophy...

...and agree that PROs are a thing of the past...

...and are not one those grumpy guys that demands a demo fee 
even when his tracks don't make it to the final ad...

...and are not obsessed with 'royalties'...

Then we would like to hear from you!! *

We are currently seeking tracks in a variety of styles** 


** Composers submitting tracks will be subject to a small admin fee.


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## MeloKeyz (Dec 27, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> Being any good at writing music for production purposes should be a given. But without distribution around the globe, that won't matter.


That's why @NekujaK said that you need both luck and excellence. Being any good at writing music is the "excellence" and having distribution is the "luck. Those handful of composers who work on only one discipline were lucky enough to have major publishers distribute for them. So yeah, luck plays a huge role in this over saturated industry of course.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 27, 2022)

No. Distribution isn't luck. This thread seems to me to be more about royalty free libraries.


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## asherpope (Dec 27, 2022)

Lots of doomsayers and misinformation here. I make my living from sync and performance royalties thanks to several libraries. Don't sign up with crappy royalty free sites. Waste of time


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## Daryl (Dec 28, 2022)

There has been mentioned a thing called "luck". However, whilst it can be important, one mustn't downplay the developing skills part.

For example, if you've spent 20 years learning to play an instrument, to be fluent at music reading, and to understand composition inside out, you are likely to have more luck than someone who has just started noodling around using a DAW a couple of years ago.

The important bit is that if and when the opportunity arrives, and you may need to work very hard to get this opportunity in the first place, you need to make sure that your craft is at a professional level.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 28, 2022)

A sports journalist once told Gary Player he thought he was pretty lucky out of bunkers. Player replied -

The more I practice, the luckier I get.


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## Johnny4Lonnie (Dec 28, 2022)

I wrote a song about luck

https://s.disco.ac/uvfhfcsymnuy


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