# Production/Library Music Albums Approach



## jimjazzuk (Apr 26, 2021)

Hi all,

I'm keen to get into writing library music albums and I wanted to ask you experienced people for some advice. Here are a few questions for starters:

How do you approach writing for this purpose, in contrast to say writing for fun or a concert? Do you purposely write things which are more simple/more bland? Do you aim for strong melodies or is the vibe/style/mood more important? Is it better to write 'filler'/background music than music which could be more categorised as a song/piece? How do you write in a simple/unobtrusive way without it getting too bland or too complex?

Many thanks!


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## muk (Apr 26, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> Do you purposely write things which are more simple/more bland?


Err, no. Go to the catalogs of some of the top tier libraries (Universal, Sony/Extreme, Warner Chappell PM, Bruton etc.) and listen to the tracks in the genres that you would like to write. This should give you an idea of the composition and production standards of library music. 

This series of articles by Dan Graham (owner of Gothic Storm) in Sound on Sound cover a lot of ground. A real treasure trove of information about library music:






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


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## Daryl (Apr 26, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'm keen to get into writing library music albums...


Why?


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## Synetos (Apr 26, 2021)

muk said:


> Err, no. Go to the catalogs of some of the top tier libraries (Universal, Sony/Extreme, Warner Chappell PM, Bruton etc.) and listen to the tracks in the genres that you would like to write. This should give you an idea of the composition and production standards of library music.
> 
> This series of articles by Dan Graham (owner of Gothic Storm) in Sound on Sound cover a lot of ground. A real treasure trove of information about library music:
> 
> ...


Great read, thanks!


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## jimjazzuk (Apr 26, 2021)

Daryl said:


> Why?


I love composing and would like to make money from it


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## Daryl (Apr 26, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> I love composing and would like to make money from it


Sorry to be so vague, but it is important to know what you expect to get from it before giving advice.

So, in addition to the advice form above, in the end, it is either your primary focus, or it isn't. The first option may make you a decent living, but it may not. The second option won't make you a decent living under any circumstances. So, it all depends on what you want to put into it.


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## AdamKmusic (Apr 26, 2021)

Well a couple things, first of library music is a long game. You won't see a good amount of money coming in from royalties for a few years & when composing its exactly the same as working to picture where dialogue is key. Although that doesn't mean you just have to do 2 -3 drone or underscore albums all the time! 

To start off I'd say maybe write an album (8-10 tracks) of a genre you like writing in. But try & do something a little different or push your voice to the front, because its the same as trailer music where there is currently huge saturation (COVID hasn't helped because less films/TV productions etc so more people have moved into writing production music). It's a greate avenue to allow you to experiment & do things you wouldnt normally do if you were working on a film or TV show!


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## Valérie_D (Apr 26, 2021)

If I can give you a scope of my part-time library venture so far, I have about 170 tracks in a few libraries, some which I joined recently are top-tiers like BMG and APM, I have made about 2-3k a year for the last 2 years.

Before that, my royalties were very small, between 10 $ and 200 $ each quarter.

One of the company for which I work, they're very kind to work with but they take out too much, 75 % : they take 25 % of the writer's share, lesson learned.

My website is designed for library music, by collections of moods which help clients who seek library music for their projects but don't know how this industry works.

My 2 cents


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## Nils Neumann (Apr 26, 2021)

Valérie_D said:


> I have made about 2-3k a year for the last 2 years.


That's really tough for 170 tracks. Do you think the work will pay back over the long run? Or is this just a side avenue?


I always felt that library music is just not worth it, considering the quantity you have to produce over such a long time span. Music today also ages quite quickly. What if your catalog is outdated when you stop for a few years?


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## muk (Apr 26, 2021)

Valérie_D said:


> I have about 170 tracks in a few libraries,





Valérie_D said:


> I have made about 2-3k a year for the last 2 years.


For 170 tracks that is not enough, by far. In my opinion you should reevaluate which libraries you write for. It seems they do not generate enough placements for you, and/or are taking too large a cut (the one that takes a part of the writers share - that's a huge red flag right there).



Valérie_D said:


> some which I joined recently are top-tiers like BMG and APM


Normally you can expect higher returns with these libraries. I hope that will be the case for you. 

I don't have huge experience myself. I am writing library music on the side and have nowhere near as many tracks as you have. My numbers are totally different from yours though, so I sure hope your numbers will ramp up with the top tier libraries you are with.


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## Valérie_D (Apr 26, 2021)

*It depends, Keep in mind that I worked full time in the family business while I was building my studio which allows me to do much well polished music today.

My albums were released very slowly since 2014 and my favorite music, which features Christof Unterberger at the cello, is regularly placed and does not get old but of course, it might be more ''trendy'' at times, ups and downs.

Also, my biggest placements are sometimes not in tv or films : I received 900 $ in february for a piece that played one time on the radio in Europe. International placements can be surprising.

A few composers told me to not place my music in libraries since the quality of the music was bad. I think many libraries have tremendously good music, hence the importance of a great final product.

Bottom line in my experience so far : some of my greatest music have not received much placements to this day but, since it was released recently, only the future will tell.


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## Nils Neumann (Apr 26, 2021)

Valérie_D said:


> *It depends, Keep in mind that I worked full time in the family business while I was building my studio which allows me to do much well polished music today.
> 
> My albums were released very slowly since 2014 and my favorite music, which features Christof Unterberger at the cello, is regularly placed and does not get old but of course, it might be more ''trendy'' at times, ups and downs.
> 
> ...


Good luck with it!


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## Valérie_D (Apr 26, 2021)

Thank you!


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## MarkusS (Apr 26, 2021)

I find that writing for libraries demands a certain mindset that you need to have if you want to make it in the long run. What always disorientates me if I write for libraries is that you write for picture but without the picture. You can do anything you like music-wise but if you fail, your track will not get picked and you will make zero from it. If you somehow make your track "not editable" it will make zero. If you place your track with the wrong library, you will make zero. If the track is too specific, you will make zero but if the track is too generic, it might work, but libraries won't pick it, because they need to stand out.

So you need to find the magic formula between original, but not too much, easy to edit, working within a lot of contexts, in a very specific and easily identifiable style or mood. Then you need to find the perfect library to place it which is almost impossible to know in advance. So when you try out a new library you wait like 3-4 years to know if it was a good choice to give them exclusively and forever your music (for no advance). And if it was, until the royalties start rolling in - you probably don't work with them anymore.

Now, I know many composers are very success full at this business but know that it's a tricky field to get into.
You need to be creative on your own, working quite isolated from the industry and putting out high-quality stuff with no certainty whatsoever to get a return on investment.

Also today the market is mercilessly over saturated because you can produce library music from anywhere in the world and sample libraries and DAW are easily accessible for many.

Publishers take little to no risk when they pick up music and with the huge amount of composers out there, often at the slightest inconvenience, they will move on to the next guy/gal. These days they almost never pay an upfront fee which somehow was a guarantee of quality work on their side to the composer and also allowed a composer to live from his/her music before the royalties arrive (years later).

Offer and demand are not in your favor.

Definitely not for everyone but some make it there big time - I wish you good luck!


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## Valérie_D (Apr 26, 2021)

All true Markus, I guess I try to take into account all of these factors but not to the point of being blocked creatively. There's a sweet spot!
Also, When I discovered libraries, I was really tired of working hard on non-paying projects for exposure , I wanted to have more autonomy, even if the money comes (way) later.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Apr 26, 2021)

AdamKmusic said:


> Well a couple things, first of library music is a long game. You won't see a good amount of money coming in from royalties for a few years


This! In my experience, it takes two to three years before an album starts generating royalties. If you want instant "royalties", Pond5 (for example) can generate this, but it's peanuts.


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## muk (Apr 26, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> In my experience, it takes two to three years before an album starts generating royalties.



That's only partially congruent with my own experiences. For me, placements started within months after the release of the album. Then it depends how fast your PRO processes everything and pays out the royalties to you. For me it was definitely faster than two to three years before royalties started coming in. It took less than a year actually. But yes, for me it took that long before the royalties started to amount to something substantial.


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## jimjazzuk (Apr 26, 2021)

Thanks all. I want it to become my full time or at least my main job. I have read Dan Graham's great book, but I guess I'm just looking for any further insights/pointers from those of you that do it


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## Jeremy Spencer (Apr 26, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> Thanks all. I want it to become my full time or at least my main job. I have read Dan Graham's great book, but I guess I'm just looking for any further insights/pointers from those of you that do it


What type of annual income are you realistically envisioning?


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## Valérie_D (Apr 26, 2021)

I loved Dan Graham's book and when I asked him about the substantial incomes mentionned, he confirmed that it's possible to get there but with a great amount of tracks and of course the right libraries. I'm not certain to attain this level of success with libraries but his words were encouraging.


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## jimjazzuk (Apr 26, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> What type of annual income are you realistically envisioning?


Ideally more than I get from teaching piano, where you never get a pay rise!


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## Daryl (Apr 26, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> Ideally more than I get from teaching piano, where you never get a pay rise!


That's useful information, but then again it all depends on what sort of piano teaching you do. if you charge £100 an hour and do 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, it's fine. If you change £20 an hour, it is not likely to be fine.

Library music can make you nothing, or it can make you a 6 figure income per year. It depends on quite a few things, but the idea that one can be successful using it as a side hustle is not really realistic. Like anything else, it is a competition, and whilst it can be a numbers game, you really have to know what you're doing in order to be long term successful. People who tell you that quality is not important are always those who are not successful, so can freely be ignored, in my experience..!

One of the other most important things is distribution. Without clients, who pay the fees, listening to your music, you have no chance. So you need to be the proverbial ferret up a drainpipe. Get a sniff of an "in", and you must be ready, and there. No good waiting for chances. You have to look for them.


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## Arbee (Apr 27, 2021)

I know it gets mentioned occasionally but something like taxi.com is another option. I took the plunge recently and am really enjoying the experience so far. Some useful mentoring insights along the way and the process is pretty professional from what I've seen. Given they seem to vet their clients to some extent, it might also help keep you away from those libraries with less integrity, maybe. YMMV of course.


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## BenG (Apr 27, 2021)

Depends on the style and library, but good music is good music. I wouldn't worry too much about simplifying the melodies for production music (trailer music is a different story) and just write what you love.

I have about 70 tracks or so with known libraries and generate half of my income from production music these days. Half of which is from direct sales and the other is from residuals. The only caveat I would give is expect to not make much money for the first three years until your music gets around and starts being used.


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## Tim_Wells (Apr 27, 2021)

MarkusS said:


> I find that writing for libraries demands a certain mindset that you need to have if you want to make it in the long run. What always disorientates me if I write for libraries is that you write for picture but without the picture. You can do anything you like music-wise but if you fail, your track will not get picked and you will make zero from it. If you somehow make your track "not editable" it will make zero. ...


Thank you for your insights! I'm curious about what you mean by "not editable". Could you elaborate a little?


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## EdoSev (Apr 27, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> Thank you for your insights! I'm curious about what you mean by "not editable". Could you elaborate a little?


An editor will use your track into a video software editor to match it with the pictures. He needs to make some cuts to fit the track with the video. Your track should be able to be easy to cut it.
For example, he should need to make a loop inside the track to stretch it. Or to cut the intro because he doesn't need it. In all these cases it's useful when you compose the track to have these "edit points" in mind.


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## muk (Apr 27, 2021)

Arbee said:


> but something like taxi.com is another option.


In my opinion it is not a good option. Its pay to submit model is really a bad deal for anybody submitting, as there are hundreds of production music libraries you can submit to for free. If you are paying to submit through taxi, in my opinion you have not researched your options well enough, and in consequence are sending your tracks to the wrong place. Do you think that taxi.com has got better distribution than the top tier production music libraries? If it doesn't, why would you pay to submit to them if you can submit to the top tiers for free?



Tim_Wells said:


> I'm curious about what you mean by "not editable".


Obviously I'm not @Markus, but I hope you don't mind me chiming in. The tracks in production music libraries are usually around two minutes length. It is very rare that the whole track will be aired on radio/tv. Rather, the music superviser will choose just a part of the track. Can be as little as ten seconds, or 26, or anything really. In order to make life easier for the music supervisor, your track should be structured in such a way that it is easy to take out just the segment that is needed. You do this by regarding a few points:

1) have edit points throughout your track. That's places where it is easy to start from, or end playing, without it sounding obtrusive. If your track is just one ever evolving soundscape for 2 minutes without a break, you can't cut out a part from, say 53 seconds in to 1:05 minutes in. And if that can't be easily done, the music superviser will choose a different track.

2) don't modulate in the track. If you are starting in e flat major and ending in b minor, it's impossible to take out a coherent part of the track. Thus it will not get placed.

3) Keep one mood throughout your track. If you are going from happy to nostalgic to fearsome to exuberant, chances are marginal that a music sup is looking for this exact sequence of moods. If she/he does, they will just edit it from four different tracks. But chances are that the happy part has exactly the vibe that was needed, but is just a little too short - you're out of luck. A different track will be chosen.

4) have a clear ending, not a fade out. A fade out is the easiest thing to create for a music superviser should they ever need one. A clear ending is much harder to create if it isn't there in the music. So your track will be difficult to edit if it hasn't one, and thus won't be placed often.

These are a few considerations for the 'editability' of your tracks. The easier you make the life for the music sup, the more likely they will choose your track, and the more placements you will get.


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## EdoSev (Apr 27, 2021)

muk said:


> In my opinion it is not a good option. Its pay to submit model is really a bad deal for anybody submitting, as there are hundreds of production music libraries you can submit to for free. If you are paying to submit through taxi, in my opinion you have not researched your options well enough, and in consequence are sending your tracks to the wrong place. Do you think that taxi.com has got better distribution than the top tier production music libraries? If it doesn't, why would you pay to submit to them if you can submit to the top tiers for free?


I think that with TAXI you are paying to not search yourself for those opportunities. And to have a preference channel with those libraries you submit to. If I had a library signed with TAXI and I was looking for something precise I checked for first taxi songs pre-screened and forwarded. Is this worth paying for this? I don't know. Maybe it depends on the circumstances.


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## chillbot (Apr 27, 2021)

muk said:


> 1) have edit points throughout your track. That's places where it is easy to start from, or end playing, without it sounding obtrusive. If your track is just one ever evolving soundscape for 2 minutes without a break, you can't cut out a part from, say 53 seconds in to 1:05 minutes in. And if that can't be easily done, the music superviser will choose a different track.
> 
> 2) don't modulate in the track. If you are starting in e flat major and ending in b minor, it's impossible to take out a coherent part of the track. Thus it will not get placed.
> 
> ...


Good stuff these are all 100% correct. I would just elaborate a bit further on your points:

1) Edit points means clear cuts between sections, two of the main violators of this are cymbal swells over sections and crash cymbals on the downbeat. You almost never want a crash cymbal on a downbeat in a library track, it rings out and makes it hard to loop (EDIT this is referencing a crash cymbal on a drum set or drumloop, not an orchestral crash in an orchestral context). Reverse swells that hit into nothing are your friends. Space is also your friend, you can absolutely insert 2 beats (or 4 beats) of space between sections, with possibly a short ringout and/or short fill in, it makes the track breathe and makes the editors so happy. Also if you are using anything that rings out, no. Bounce that synth as audio so you can make a clean chop of any ringout.

2) Yes never modulate but if you absolutely HAVE TO, always always end the track in the same key you start in. Sometimes modulations can be necessary, as in a gameshow tick-tock bed or an action/challenge track. It's ok but keep returning to your original key whenever possible and make sure you end in it. If I had to fit in some modulations into a 64-bar gameshow bed I might do it something like: Am Am Bm Am Am Bm C#m Am (each being 8 measures). This is maybe "advanced library tracks" though, better to just stick to one key for your first 2,000 tracks or so. (Not joking.)

3) Yes always keep one mood. If the editor wants to change moods they will grab a different track. If your track winds up having two different moods/sections, congrats! You now have two tracks. Split that track in half and make each half a full track.

4) Always a clear ending, or a distinct tag. The bigger the better... you can literally almost never go too big. This is usually the only time that your track will actually be featured and heard on TV so milk that solo.


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## Daryl (Apr 27, 2021)

Again, some good advice above. However, there is nothing wrong with modulating. There is nothing wrong with having tracks with few edit points (as long as you have sufficient cutdowns). Just understand that you are reaching for a different target client. As long as you realise that, and you know that your distributors have those sort of clients, there is no issue. However, if all of your distributors' clients are providing music for game shows, you'll likely be out of luck with placements.


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## Tim_Wells (Apr 27, 2021)

EdoSev said:


> An editor will use your track into a video software editor to match it with the pictures. He needs to make some cuts to fit the track with the video. Your track should be able to be easy to cut it.
> For example, he should need to make a loop inside the track to stretch it. Or to cut the intro because he doesn't need it. In all these cases it's useful when you compose the track to have these "edit points" in mind.


Thank you for clarifying, EdoSev!



muk said:


> Obviously I'm not @Markus, but I hope you don't mind me chiming in. The tracks in production music libraries are usually around two minutes length. It is very rare that the whole track will be aired on radio/tv. Rather, the music superviser will choose just a part of the track. Can be as little as ten seconds, or 26, or anything really. In order to make life easier for the music supervisor, your track should be structured in such a way that it is easy to take out just the segment that is needed. You do this by regarding a few points:
> 
> 1) have edit points throughout your track. That's places where it is easy to start from, or end playing, without it sounding obtrusive. If your track is just one ever evolving soundscape for 2 minutes without a break, you can't cut out a part from, say 53 seconds in to 1:05 minutes in. And if that can't be easily done, the music superviser will choose a different track.
> 
> ...


Of course I don't mind, muk! Very helpful... thanks!



chillbot said:


> Good stuff these are all 100% correct. I would just elaborate a bit further on your points:
> 
> 1) Edit points means clear cuts between sections, two of the main violators of this are cymbal swells over sections and crash cymbals on the downbeat. You almost never want a crash cymbal on a downbeat in a library track, it rings out and makes it hard to loop (EDIT this is referencing a crash cymbal on a drum set or drumloop, not an orchestral crash in an orchestral context). Reverse swells that hit into nothing are your friends. Space is also your friend, you can absolutely insert 2 beats (or 4 beats) of space between sections, with possibly a short ringout and/or short fill in, it makes the track breathe and makes the editors so happy. Also if you are using anything that rings out, no. Bounce that synth as audio so you can make a clean chop of any ringout.
> 
> ...


More great stuff! Thank you! 

Regarding point 1), So you don't want a cymbal or note ringing from one section into another? Or am misunderstanding?


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## Marsen (Apr 27, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> So you don't want a cymbal or note ringing from one section into another? Or am misunderstanding?


Yep.
I'm working part time for german television, mixing political-investigativ news with lots of library music.
All, which is said above is true and helpful.
In this case, the cutter wants to loop some of the songparts*, as the video needs it.
A crash sounding into a downbeat, is a killer for this kind of workflow.

*it's a Sync Studio, where the cutter does the pre-mix.


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## BenG (Apr 27, 2021)

Marsen said:


> Yep.
> I'm working part time for german television, mixing political-investigativ news with lots of library music.
> All, which is said above is true and helpful.
> In this case, the cutter wants to loop some of the songparts*, as the video needs it.
> ...


Wouldn't having the stems negate this in some way? Wherein editors can simply leave out the elements they don't want?


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## Arbee (Apr 27, 2021)

EdoSev said:


> I think that with TAXI you are paying to not search yourself for those opportunities. And to have a preference channel with those libraries you submit to. If I had a library signed with TAXI and I was looking for something precise I checked for first taxi songs pre-screened and forwarded. Is this worth paying for this? I don't know. Maybe it depends on the circumstances.


Pay to submit (very little btw) makes me think twice about whether I met the brief (which they articulate well with a few tips), and their feedback process seems pretty useful mentoring for those new to the endeavour. And they have numerous videos and book recommendations to help. Compared with other businesses who offer similar services it seems to be quite professional, commited and a good process overall. It also serves as a speed dating/networking service as they're only performing the vetting and client introduction role.

I'll let you know if I still feel the same way in 12 months but it's giving me some good energy and momentum for now.


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## chillbot (Apr 27, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> Regarding point 1), So you don't want a cymbal or note ringing from one section into another? Or am misunderstanding?


Yeah, what @Marsen said. But this is entirely dependent on context, certain genres like rock, blues, jazz, metal, etc it might be weird to NOT have a cymbal crash on a downbeat. But in a library track, almost always it is unnecessary and even distracting to the dialogue and video.

Think of it like this, most 8 bar phrases tend to have a natural arc to them. Be it from a cymbal hit that rings or a swell from a previous phrase or a ramp down, ramp up, fill out, whatever it is natural phrasing might look like this (MS Paint incoming):






Now if an editor needs to extent this section he or she is screwed, they will try to loop 4 bars and it will look somewhat like this:






What you want to think about is flatten out that track, whether from dynamics or orchestration... it is an oversimplification but think about keeping your sections like this:






Or maybe this, where there is at least 4 bars (circled) that can be looped:






But back to that cymbal crash on the downbeat... depending on the tempo of course but don't be surprised to hear it ringing/bleed into measure 3 and that is a really annoying thing to have. Just ditch it. As mentioned, if an editor is frustrated trying to make your track work there is a very decent chance they will just go grab a different track that's easier to work with and there go your royalties. I was a music editor way back for a lot of TV shows and even I would get frustrated... and a lot of the video editors working with your tracks may not know as much about music. Anyway that's how I learned to write for editing.

As to the cymbal swell over sections, a big no-no (again, context, it can work in orchestral and certain situations). But fortunately for us, the reverse-hit-to-nothing is currently quite hip and frequently used. One awesome trick in library music is to insta-change your entire orchestration from section to section while keeping the same overall vibe, tempo, and key. Absolutely no ringout.. on the downbeat the whole thing shifts to a different set of instruments. (Important: without changing the 'feel' of the track.) So with the reverse-hit-to-nothing your track might look like this but that's perfectly ok:






You can still edit it. And in fact if I'm writing this track these two sections can be interchangeabley looped as well.



BenG said:


> Wouldn't having the stems negate this in some way? Wherein editors can simply
> Leave out the elements they don't want?


Stems or submixes, yes of course, you definitely want these. Much prefer submixes to stems... submixes being like a "no drums" mix and a "no melody" mix, etc. But doesn't help with the crash cymbal conundrum.


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## chillbot (Apr 27, 2021)

I was going to post a couple examples to illustrate my points. But after reading DJ's post about getting lifted I think I won't.


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## MarkusS (Apr 28, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> Thank you for your insights! I'm curious about what you mean by "not editable". Could you elaborate a little?


I think editable means you can eat it in English (that's not what I meant even though this would be a plus, too). What I mean is "easy to edit". For example, it's good that you can visually see where you can cut the track to pictures. This can be done, for example, if you use hits to articulate the structure or a percussion loop.

So if you can see visually (from the waveform) where the intro, middle part, the break, the ending is, that makes it easier for the editor to use your track.

If there is a part that can easily be looped and a final chord or end jingle that can easily be placed anywhere in the track to end it at any time, that's a big plus, too.

Some things you almost always want to avoid are crazy tonal modulations, tempo changes, surprising mood changes, complex structures that overlap, and so on.

It's quite a list and in the end, you might find it not so inspiring to write this kind of "tool-kit-music".

Basically, you need to think more like an editor to picture than a music composer.


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## Marsen (Apr 28, 2021)

BenG said:


> Wouldn't having the stems negate this in some way? Wherein editors can simply leave out the elements they don't want?


True, but this happens with movies, games, TV-Series.
For poliical news format (at least in germany), they don't have this time to mix a lot of different stems/tracks, cause these are time relevant news contibutions, sometimes produced hours before going on air.


chillbot said:


> Stems or submixes, yes of course, you definitely want these. Much prefer submixes to stems... submixes being like a "no drums" mix and a "no melody" mix, etc


This.
Submixes are faster to handle for the editor, if time is crucial.


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## asherpope (Apr 28, 2021)

Absolute gold in this thread. So many factors I've stupidly never considered...and I've been making a (very) modest living from library music for the last few years


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## Chaosmod (Apr 28, 2021)

I know nothing about library music, other than a basic overview from a CD Baby article written by an entertainment lawyer. Broad terms, no detail. 

How can I find out more about library music? 
Where can I find structural tips (outside of the information presented in this thread?)
What are good places to submit, and who should be avoided? 

Feel free to DM me or comment here, or point me to a thread/resource. I'm genuinely curious. I write in a LOT of genres, and this sounds appealing to me.


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## R. Soul (Apr 28, 2021)

Chaosmod said:


> I know nothing about library music, other than a basic overview from a CD Baby article written by an entertainment lawyer. Broad terms, no detail.
> 
> How can I find out more about library music?
> Where can I find structural tips (outside of the information presented in this thread?)
> ...


Check out this ebook.


The Composer's Guide to Library Music



For more in depth discussion and reviews of libraries, you can sign up to Music library report.








Home


Music Library Report. Established in 2009 it has become the go to website for music composers for information on music libraries.



musiclibraryreport.com


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

Chaosmod said:


> Where can I find structural tips (outside of the information presented in this thread?)


You could write 100 tracks and never stray outside of AABA. In a 90 second track that assumes each section is roughly 20 seconds so adjust as needed. AA'BA' AA'BA'' etc (apostrophes represent slight variations). Yeah there's tons of other forms but it's a good place to start. Another common one is just AAAA or AA'AA'' or AA'A''A''' you don't have to overthink it.


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## Tim_Wells (Apr 28, 2021)

asherpope said:


> Absolute gold in this thread. So many factors I've stupidly never considered...and I've been making a (very) modest living from library music for the last few years


I could not agree more. Absolute gold. I've book marked a few threads here at VI-C, but this one's going in the hall of fame. Thanks to everyone who contributed! 

A special thanks to EdoSev, muk, Daryl, Marsen, and Marcus for sharing their professional experience. Excellent insights. My apologies to anyone I left anyone out!

A special, _special _thanks to chillbot for his graphics and detailed explanation. Awesome stuff. At first I was thinking "what's wrong with putting a crash on the down beat?" Your drawing illustrated it perfectly.


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## muk (Apr 28, 2021)

Chaosmod said:


> How can I find out more about library music?


Do some research. @R. Soul mentioned some very fine starting points. From there you can snowball to other resources. Search this forum, I remember some very informative threads about library music from a few years back. Also search in the 'Music for Picture' subforum on Gearspace.



Chaosmod said:


> Where can I find structural tips (outside of the information presented in this thread?)


The best way is probably to listen to a lot of library tracks. Browse through the catalogues of the well-known libraries and listen. After a while you should get a good understanding of how the tracks are structured. Also you'll get to know the production standards that you need to at least match.



Chaosmod said:


> What are good places to submit, and who should be avoided?


Good question! One you need to answer yourself. Mainly because without having heard your music, and without knowing your strenghts and preferences as a writer, nobody is going to know which catalogues your music will fit in. And no one library works the same for different composers. A library that generates almost no placements for my music may be the best earning one for you. Unfortunately you can only find out by having a few tracks published and seeing how it goes. Outside of the top tier libraries which you would probably almost always join if you get the chance, check out a libraries subpublishers to get an idea of their international distribution. Dan Graham's articles on Sound on Sound and his book have the information about which subpublishers get a lot of placements in a certain territory.

Before starting to search for libraries, the first question you need to answer is whether you want to look for exclusive libraries, or non-exclusive, or both. They work differently and have different requirements. I focus on exclusive libraries and don't know much about working for non-exclusives.

Two all important steps as a writer of library music are these, in my opinion: 1) find the right catalogue where your music fits in, and find the right person to submit your music to. 2) Once you are accepted, build a great working relationship with the libraries you are working with by being friendly and professional. Deliver the expected quality on brief and on time. So if you get them, value them accordingly.

About finding the right library for you. Look for catalogues that have music that is of the same or just slightly lower quality than your own. If you can't match the quality of their catalogue, your music will not be accepted. If your music is of much better quality, then submitting to the library would be underselling yourself.
When you have a long list of libraries that match this criterion, pick out the ones that have little music in the genre(s) you are writing, or have no music in the genre but in similar genres. Here you can offer them something that they have not covered widely yet, increasing your chances of being accepted.

As a general rule of thumb I would suggest to avoid all libraries that ask for a part of the writer's share, and avoid 'opportunities' that are pay to pitch. Everything else starts by doing a lot of research.


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> _special _thanks to chillbot


I love being special. You hit the special button so I'll add a few more thoughts:

I once sent in a batch of 10 tracks to a client and on 5 of the 10 I played live bass. I'm not much of a bass player but I have an electric bass and can fudge my way around playing roots and/or eight note pulses, maybe even jam back and forth between I and bVII for a bit. Plus a lot of fixing the audio in the DAW. Nothing else was different about these tracks except that on the other 5 I had used a sampled bass, probably Trillian. Anyway when the notes came back they said they liked all the tracks but _specifically_ gave me a list of the 5 tracks I played live bass on and asked for more like those.

You can take what you want from that but I would swear to you that this client (a producer) would not be able to tell the difference between the live and sampled bass if asked to. But producers/editors respond to stuff that they don't understand why they are responding to. They can't explain why they like certain tracks they just do. The obvious conclusion is to use live instruments on your tracks whenever possible... a live ukulele or harmonica will go a long ways towards making the entire track feel alive. The deeper conclusion is there are a lot of subtle ways into tricking producers/editors into having positive reactions to your tracks.

[Side note: the three instruments I mention above specifically electric bass (fretted!), ukulele, and harmonica, are three instruments that you can sound reasonably ok at with a reasonable amount of work. Not to demean them at all, I'm just not going to go buy a trombone and attempt to record myself playing trombone. I can, however, add a touch of harmonica to a track, if it's not featured, just enough to give it a live sound anyway. And if you only have 3 or 4 chords in your track, it's pretty easy to get the hang of 3 or 4 chords on a uke. You can even re-tune it to make it easier. Also applicable to making tracks sound alive, a multitude of various percussion toys... shakers, bongos, guiros, vibraslaps, whatever... I feel like every studio should have a box of percussion toys.]

Thought number two: besides having mastered killer production chops, your tracks also need to be LOUD. I know people hate this and a lot of times it is way overdone (sausage waveforms) and it's also super easy to overdo compression. But if a non-musical person listens to two tracks and one is louder than the other they are not going to adjust the volumes to match, they are going to think the louder track is better.

I'm your competition and your tracks need to audibly sound as loud as mine if they are auditioned next to mine. You don't need to squish it to sausage waveform levels but it does need to get up to -1/-2 and not be overall too "thin". Just for comparison here are three library tracks of mine I grabbed at random, looking at the waveform is usually a good indication of how the track is going to sound:

TENSION:






EMOTIONAL:






ACTION:


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

MarkusS said:


> I think editable means you can eat it in English


"edible"
Not sure if you were making a joke but either way I love it.


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## proggermusic (Apr 28, 2021)

Before I chime in with my own experience, I want to add a "thank you" to all the experienced and articulate folks who have shared so far. I always enjoy reading professionals' experience in this department, and I always learn something!

I only have a few dozen tracks with libraries, and I've had pretty good luck with getting them placed, but I stopped really trying for this path after spending several years hitting it hard. Many of the reasons have already been mentioned: the market is uber-saturated, the pay has been dwindling, etc. But really, for me... I really enjoyed the process of learning how to make library tracks. I don't so much enjoy repeating that process a million times. Writing music for other people, in turns out, isn't really for me.

On the advice of a good friend and mentor, someone who's done everything you can possibly do in the music industry (producer and music director for legendary artists, major film soundtracks, etc), I decided to re-focus on strictly creative music. As a departure from the studio records I've put out with my band, I put the energy I used to put into cranking out library tracks into writing a weird instrumental album entirely in-house. My plan going forward is to put all my creative energy into more of these, as well as my band (now that we're vaccinated and things are slowly opening back up).

Basically, every good professional opportunity I've ever gotten has been a result of creative work that I've made little or no money from, but that has helped my reputation in the community. Instead of trying to write music tailored to what someone else will want, which cripples my motivation, I might as well just do the weird stuff I like. It seems to be working pretty well. Since I mostly write instrumental music anyway, I could still license music of mine to TV or film pretty easily, should a music supervisor stumble on and enjoy what I do.


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## Toecutter (Apr 28, 2021)

chillbot said:


> You can still edit it. And in fact if I'm writing this track these two sections can be interchangeabley looped as well.


Your posts here are gold!  Would you say it can be as flexible as adaptive music in video games? I'm learning about library music and one of your points "what you want to think about is flatten out that track, whether from dynamics or orchestration" made me think how much I can realistically push those section changes...


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## Tim_Wells (Apr 28, 2021)

chillbot said:


> I love being special. You hit the special button so I'll add a few more thoughts:
> 
> I once sent in a batch of 10 tracks to a client and on 5 of the 10 I played live bass. I'm not much of a bass player but I have an electric bass and can fudge my way around playing roots and/or eight note pulses, maybe even jam back and forth between I and bVII for a bit. Plus a lot of fixing the audio in the DAW. Nothing else was different about these tracks except that on the other 5 I had used a sampled bass, probably Trillian. Anyway when the notes came back they said they liked all the tracks but _specifically_ gave me a list of the 5 tracks I played live bass on and asked for more like those.
> 
> ...


Yes! More "_special" _stuff!  

It's funny. You'd think that if the person judging your tracks was not musically sophisticated, they might be more impressed by the perfectly sampled parts than the slightly-less-than-perfect live-played parts. But I've experienced this myself listening to an album with friends. They're blown away by the most awkwardly played 2-note chords. 

It's good keep in mind what you're saying about live parts. I've tended to shy away from that lately, because I can get a sampled part so perfect. But I need to re-evaluate that. 

Make em loud. Yep, that makes sense. With all of this it's so important to remember who we're submitting our tracks to. 1) They might not be super sophisticated musically ... and/or... 2) they may have pretty specific needs. Case in point, making the track-sections easily editable. Looking at your waveforms, they seem to have pretty clear breakpoints between sections. 

_"editable" = so tasty... yum! _


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## AdamKmusic (Apr 28, 2021)

Chaosmod said:


> I know nothing about library music, other than a basic overview from a CD Baby article written by an entertainment lawyer. Broad terms, no detail.
> 
> How can I find out more about library music?
> Where can I find structural tips (outside of the information presented in this thread?)
> ...


In terms of structure I’ve sort of got myself into one which seems to work for now. Always best to work with even amount of bars as that helps with editors cutting things;

intro - 4 to 8 bars
Section 1 - 32 bars - split into 2x16 bars section A & B
Middle section - 8/16 bars
Section 2 - same as section one either 32 bars or just 16 depending on the style of the piece 
Outro - either end at section 2 or do a 4/8 bar outro


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> Would you say it can be as flexible as adaptive music in video games?


We are entering the realm of "I'm not sure I want to give away all my secrets" here. But you've hit on something, adaptive music *definitely* works in television/library music and in fact has probably been the most lucrative for me. It's also not something that most people think of doing in terms of library tracks. If you switch your brain all the way over to the viewpoint of a video editor, try to think of how they would want to work with music. Be inventive. Think about packaging, and musical building blocks, interactive choose-your-own-adventure music, and work in terms that they relate to. A track called "Forest Floor" really does nothing for anyone. I would credit much of my tracks getting usage not because of the tracks but because of the way in which they were structured and packaged and easily identified. Anyway I think you'll have to figure out the rest on your own. And this is "advanced library shit" like you ("you" referring to any one starting out) probably just want to start with "Forest Floor" and master that first.


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## LudovicVDP (Apr 28, 2021)

This post is gold. Thank you all.

I hesitated to chime in because my experience is really insignificant ... But if you would allow me one comment, I'd add this:

Organize your workflow to be able to stem easily and accurately.
_Ex: " the sum of your stems doesn't match the sound of the track we accepted"_
(yes, I learned to keep the master bus clean the hard way  )


... and be prepared to make a lot of edits and version: stings/30 sec/60 sec/underscore/whathever...
Not as easy as it seem... When your X bars/melody/chord progression take 34 seconds and you need a 30 sec version... and you can't change the tempo... 

For my very first track that got published, composing the piece actually took less time than making and sending all the materials 

Just my 2 cents

Edit: spelling


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

Tim_Wells said:


> It's funny. You'd think that if the person judging your tracks was not musically sophisticated, they might be more impressed by the perfectly sampled parts than the slightly-less-than-perfect live-played parts.


I find that live instruments can generally get away with being loose and unquantized in a way that sampled instruments cannot. Hence giving the track that "live" feel.


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## JohnG (Apr 28, 2021)

chillbot said:


> They can't explain why they like certain tracks they just do.


so true

And it's not just the editors / producer who would be hard-pressed to describe why they like what they like. I love Duruflé but I also like "Louie, Louie" -- ???


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## Toecutter (Apr 28, 2021)

chillbot said:


> because of the way in which they were structured and packaged and easily identified.


wow that's some deep stuff... if I read you right, a track titled Arbor Adventure would have higher chances of being used over Forest Floor? That's really clever btw, thanks for the lightbulb moment! Do numbers count in your experience? If so, does this get exploited by the competition?


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## Steve Lum (Apr 28, 2021)

Some days on VIC are good days, this being one. The thinking expressed here also provides a compelling set of notions to have in mind in the general case, not just libraries. That is, the 'tricks' that compel editors to pick one track or another apply in the same way to all listeners, I mean, not all the time per se, but... you get my point. Thanks all.


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## Rubric (Apr 28, 2021)

Damn, @chillbot delivered the goods. His posts accomplished and expressed so much excellence! I feel like a lazy piece of shit. This is all the music I did today:


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## JohnG (Apr 28, 2021)

Toecutter said:


> a track titled Arbor Adventure would have higher chances of being used over Forest Floor?


What if it were Aarbor Aadventure!!!


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## chillbot (Apr 28, 2021)

JohnG said:


> What if it were Aarbor Aadventure!!!


Funny, yeah, this is legit. I mentioned this trick to someone I was working with and they literally started naming every one of their tracks starting with A B C or D. It got annoying, I finally asked them to knock it off.

So there is truth to the fact that if someone has a bin of tracks (not searching by genre), the tracks tend to be listened to or auditioned in alphabetical order. But what I recommend is not trying to name all your tracks in the top half of the alphabet to cut ahead of the competition (that does get really annoying), instead make sure that your BEST tracks are A B or C and you hide your worst tracks T or lower. Any time I'm sending a package or bin of tracks I want my best foot forward because it will influence their reaction to the entire lot. If the first tracks are garbage they will assume they all are, but if the first tracks are great and you slip in some 'filler' tracks near the end they won't likely notice or care. I quite often rename tracks based on quality as I'm writing them.

I got a bit of heat for this thread from over six years ago but it might be relevant again to the current conversation since it's where I first mentioned the alphabet trick:






Tips & tricks for manipulating producers? (aka how to make a producer happy)


This is inspired from a post I wrote in another thread about key changes: 1) I also like to go half step or whole step higher than the temp track if there's a temp. Like if the temp is 120 Am I'll go 122 Bbm I find that it gives the perception of "brightening" the music which makes the...




vi-control.net








Toecutter said:


> wow that's some deep stuff... if I read you right, a track titled Arbor Adventure would have higher chances of being used over Forest Floor? That's really clever btw, thanks for the lightbulb moment! Do numbers count in your experience? If so, does this get exploited by the competition?


Yeah but it's more than that. People have recommended listening to library tracks and analyzing them which is great advice. But also listening/watching videos that use library tracks to see HOW they are used. Here's a spoiler: reality shows all follow the same formula. (I know reality shows are not the end-all of library music but they sure account for a shit-ton of usage.) If you recognize that formula and start packaging tracks in a way that reflects the formula and that the editor will also easily recognize, you've struck gold. I'm not trying to hide some secret key to success here it's just a different way of thinking about it, especially in the long term.


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## Daryl (Apr 29, 2021)

jimjazzuk said:


> Thanks all for your insights. To be honest, my biggest frustration is how long companies take to get back to me. You can submit an album and it can take months for them to get around to playing your tracks and replying to you.


They have a catalogue to curate. You are currently not necessary to them. Be grateful that they take the time to listen at all..!


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