PREMIUM BEAT

[StevenMcDonald]

I have to agree with those saying it doesn't sound like a bad deal. You can't get too emotionally attached to your tracks if you're playing the library quantity/volume game. I'm finally making a living off of royalties now, but the ability to make $600 or more in between those quarterly checks (the wait can be depressing) sounds like some nice icing on the cake.

Considering I've been doing library music for 3 years now and I've only found one publisher that pays up front per track (a very low amount, as well), $600 up front is really good. If I'm in that dip right between quarterly checks, hell yeah I'd sell a few tracks for $600 each. Why not? You can always write more.

 

[tsk]

So out of the 100s or even 1000s of tracks you have out there you are telling me that you make on average more $600 in sync alone - per track?

I just had statement through from an exclusive library - with no sync buy out - making me a whopping £0.07 for all of 2017 for around 8 tracks. Yes, that might well be Netflix etc. but I doubt I'll ever make $600 per track here.
Sure, if you can place every track with Universal or Extreme, you certainly don't need Premium beat, but I don't see mid range or lower tier libraries making you any decent money.

Honestly, yes, they make much more than that on average from sync.

 

[tsk]

$600 per track and keep writers share?! thats very good if you can do two to four tracks a week. you only loose the sync licnese and publishing so thats good probability wise. the chances to get sync license is already very low.
i guess some folks are still aiming for the high pedestal and get one huge sync lincese but with todays competition i think money upfront like this, almost like a proper well paid day job might not be bad at all. thats of course, if they accept all the tracks submitted.
and if sync deals is a concern im sure there are other libraries out there to not put all eggs in one basket.

It's not good if the main income of that library is sync fees. Sync fees include every single youtube license sold, for which you get zero, absolutely zero, in writer's royalties. A huge amount of money is made from these types of sales in the market beneath the top libraries like Universal and Extreme.

We're not just talking the first year of the track, when it will probably make more than that anyway on Premium Beat in sync, if it's good enough to be accepted in the first place, we're talking about the entire rest of your life not getting any sync, in any form, from any change that may ever happen, ever

 

[tsk]

I have to agree with those saying it doesn't sound like a bad deal. You can't get too emotionally attached to your tracks if you're playing the library quantity/volume game. I'm finally making a living off of royalties now, but the ability to make $600 or more in between those quarterly checks (the wait can be depressing) sounds like some nice icing on the cake.

Considering I've been doing library music for 3 years now and I've only found one publisher that pays up front per track (a very low amount, as well), $600 up front is really good. If I'm in that dip right between quarterly checks, hell yeah I'd sell a few tracks for $600 each. Why not? You can always write more.

As sillymidon was saying, there are regions of the world which pay good sync fees. But besides this, there are regions which pay up front, and still pay you 50% of sync and 50% of writer's royalties.

Saying that not sharing in sync but getting $600 in a one off fee is a good deal, is to me, a death knell for composers. We have to work together to get more for our music and understand how these kinds of deals could impact us over our lifetimes! We're on the same side here.

(I've been in library about 11 years and have seen all kinds of things, some of them very unpleasant by a few library companies)

 

[StevenMcDonald]

As sillymidon was saying, there are regions of the world which pay good sync fees. But besides this, there are regions which pay up front, and still pay you 50% of sync and 50% of writer's royalties.

Saying that not sharing in sync but getting $600 in a one off fee is a good deal, is to me, a death knell for composers. We have to work together to get more for our music and understand how these kinds of deals could impact us over our lifetimes! We're on the same side here.

(I've been in library about 11 years and have seen all kinds of things, some of them very unpleasant by a few library companies)

It's just a value proposition. If I can spend a few hours on a track and get $600 plus writers royalties down the line, that's a nice hourly rate. I'm not saying everyone should do this and this is the future. But considering how rare it is to get paid up front for a track at all in the library world, $600 is very significant and could really bail you out of a tough financial situation. I can almost pay my mortgage for a month with $600. It's worth it to some people, but not to others.

 

[jononotbono]

But when you need money...

 

[R. Soul]

As sillymidon was saying, there are regions of the world which pay good sync fees. But besides this, there are regions which pay up front, and still pay you 50% of sync and 50% of writer's royalties.

Saying that not sharing in sync but getting $600 in a one off fee is a good deal, is to me, a death knell for composers. We have to work together to get more for our music and understand how these kinds of deals could impact us over our lifetimes! We're on the same side here.

(I've been in library about 11 years and have seen all kinds of things, some of them very unpleasant by a few library companies)

Are you talking about trailer libraries?
Cause AFAIK other libraries make small amounts in sync fees.

My first library albums are around 9 years old now and placed with 2 medium exclusive UK libraries. The usage these days is miniscule. I think your 'entire life' is closer to 5 years unless your music is completely timeless.

I'd love to know these libraries you are referring to, cause they certainly seem better than what I've run into so far.

 

[tsk]

It's just a value proposition. If I can spend a few hours on a track and get $600 plus writers royalties down the line, that's a nice hourly rate. I'm not saying everyone should do this and this is the future. But considering how rare it is to get paid up front for a track at all in the library world, $600 is very significant and could really bail you out of a tough financial situation. I can almost pay my mortgage for a month with $600. It's worth it to some people, but not to others.

I do see what you mean. I think it's unlikely Premium Beat would accept a track that takes a few hours to create.

It's also that I honestly believe you could make a lot more from Premium Beat if you had a sync split with them than giving up all sync for $600. That's really the main thing I'm trying to say I guess.

 

[tsk]

Are you talking about trailer libraries?
Cause AFAIK other libraries make small amounts in sync fees.

My first library albums are around 9 years old now and placed with 2 medium exclusive UK libraries. The usage these days is miniscule. I think your 'entire life' is closer to 5 years unless your music is completely timeless.

I'd love to know these libraries you are referring to, cause they certainly seem better than what I've run into so far.

I also have a couple albums from some years back with mid level UK exclusives, and they haven't made much in sync either. I can relate to that. That is because those libraries try to get UK TV placements a lot, lot more than Premium Beat. They also don't seem to get almost any youtube license sales (which Premium Beat gets a ton of) which pay sync but no royalties.

The sync fees I'm referring to are not trailer libraries at all. They are libraries like Premium Beat. Those kinds of libraries make the majority of their income from sync fee sales. Even though a license is only $50-$200, they go for volume and there are a lot of youtube videos (think of all the gaming networks alone like Machinima!) that add up. As an example, there are composers making more than $600 in sync fees from tracks on Pond5.

 

[Daryl]

Premium Beat looks like a short term endevour to build up a music library for internal usage. Whilst it may pay $600 a track now (sounds rather high to me), it is unlikely that this is sustainable, particularly for tracks that only take a few hours to create. Looking at the business model, I would say that it is not really in the interests of Shutterstock to go after TV placements. If there are some, all well and good, but that is not what they're set up for. Therefore PRO Royalties are not a priority, and can't be replied upon.

 

[StevenMcDonald]

Premium Beat looks like a short term endevour to build up a music library for internal usage. Whilst it may pay $600 a track now (sounds rather high to me), it is unlikely that this is sustainable, particularly for tracks that only take a few hours to create. Looking at the business model, I would say that it is not really in the interests of Shutterstock to go after TV placements. If there are some, all well and good, but that is not what they're set up for. Therefore PRO Royalties are not a priority, and can't be replied upon.

Just so you guys know, the "a few hours" thing was just a hypothetical. I have never submitted music to Premium Beat so I don't know how strict they are with quality control, and obviously people work at different speeds. I'm accustomed to working very quickly due to time constraints from having a kid and doing a lot of TV work.

Even so - if I spent a whole day writing a track and getting $600 for it, that's way more than I've ever made per day at my old office jobs. I realize it's possible to get WAY more from a track, but a sure $600 will pay bills more effectively than a maybe $5000 a year after writing the track. I would love to be working with libraries that pay up front and collect and split sync fees regularly, but that hasn't happened for me yet.

 

[will_m]

Like a lot of libraries when they start out I think the acceptance rate is higher but as they grow and saturate this tails off, Premium Beat have been going a while now so I'm guessing that the quality is at a place where you probably need to spend longer on tracks and they'll look for live instrumentation and better production standards.

Also I believe the amount of different versions required is quite steep, a full length, 60, 30, 15, 10 and then loop packages and stems which all takes time.

 

[tsk]

Just so you guys know, the "a few hours" thing was just a hypothetical. I have never submitted music to Premium Beat so I don't know how strict they are with quality control, and obviously people work at different speeds. I'm accustomed to working very quickly due to time constraints from having a kid and doing a lot of TV work.

Even so - if I spent a whole day writing a track and getting $600 for it, that's way more than I've ever made per day at my old office jobs. I realize it's possible to get WAY more from a track, but a sure $600 will pay bills more effectively than a maybe $5000 a year after writing the track. I would love to be working with libraries that pay up front and collect and split sync fees regularly, but that hasn't happened for me yet.

Fair enough, and it is up to each person to decide, but I honestly would rather take a good chance at $5000 in a year, plus more in the future, than $600 today and nothing ever again from sync.

Like a lot of libraries when they start out I think the acceptance rate is higher but as they grow and saturate this tails off, Premium Beat have been going a while now so I'm guessing that the quality is at a place where you probably need to spend longer on tracks and they'll look for live instrumentation and better production standards.

Also I believe the amount of different versions required is quite steep, a full length, 60, 30, 15, 10 and then loop packages and stems which all takes time.

I hadn't considered that and it's a good point. Creating all the loops, short versions and stems is time consuming.

 

[Desire Inspires]

Go for it.

 

[Anders Bru]

This might be dumb question, but on their "Submit" info-page it says "[...] samples are NOT permitted." Surely that means samples, as in using pre-existing music, and not samples from Kontakt libraries?

 

[will_m]

This might be dumb question, but on their "Submit" info-page it says "[...] samples are NOT permitted." Surely that means samples, as in using pre-existing music, and not samples from Kontakt libraries?

Yes it will refer to samples from others people music, so for example if you wrote a hip-hop track and took a vocal sample from an old funk song. Most sample libraries allow you to use their samples for all project types but worth checking the EULA to be sure. I seem to remember some older samples libraries saying you needed an additional license for trailers and games.

 

[Anders Bru]

Yes it will refer to samples from others people music, so for example if you wrote a hip-hop track and took a vocal sample from an old funk song. Most sample libraries allow you to use their samples for all project types but worth checking the EULA to be sure. I seem to remember some older samples libraries saying you needed an additional license for trailers and games.

Thanks!

 

[Jeremy Spencer]

I submitted to Premium Beat a few months ago (I completely forgot), and received the rejection email today. Ironically, the tracks I submitted for the "audition" have been exclusively licensed recently anyways.

 

[R. Soul]

I submitted to Premium Beat a few months ago (I completely forgot), and received the rejection email today. Ironically, the tracks I submitted for the "audition" have been exclusively licensed recently anyways.

I submitted some tracks a couple of months ago and got rejected as well. I then submitted a new batch in a completely different style, but have not heard back yet for those.
But like you, I have interest elsewhere now, so even if they said yes, I'd have to turn it down.
They must be losing out on a lot of music if they take 4+ weeks to get back.
Most libraries get back to me in a couple of days.

 

[StevenMcDonald]

Same boat here. Got the rejection email today, but everything I sent them forever ago has been signed exclusively elsewhere since then

Either it was an all hands on deck A&R day or they decided they're good on tracks for a while and hit the "reject all" button!

Now to try again!