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Small library looking for a composer

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mrd777

Active Member
Hi Everyone,

I run a small music library and am looking for a composer who is interested in writing some music.

I'm personally no longer have the schedule to write the tracks, so I'm looking for some help in the following genres:

Epic Music (Cinematic / Film)
Action Music (Cinematic / Film)
Suspenseful Music (Cinematic / Film)
Sad Music (Cinematic / Film)

About 3 minutes or more per track is required.

The tracks you write would be sold to the library exclusively.
(EDIT: PARTIALLY EXCLUSIVE

The only "exclusive" part of me buying tracks is the following: - Youtube Content ID and Facebook Content ownership, and streaming distribution. We do not do PRO deals - you can do that elsewhere with the tracks you write.)

I'm looking to do somewhere between 4-12 tracks as a commission, and am open to expanding that to an on-going continual thing.

If you're interested, please send me a direct message and let me know your rate, and send a link to your current work.

Thank you so much!
Dave
Click to read more...
 
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mrd777 said:
Hi Everyone,

I run a small music library and am looking for a composer who is interested in writing some music.

I'm personally no longer have the schedule to write the tracks, so I'm looking for some help in the following genres:

Epic Music (Cinematic / Film)
Action Music (Cinematic / Film)
Suspenseful Music (Cinematic / Film)
Sad Music (Cinematic / Film)

About 3 minutes or more per track is required.

The tracks you write would be sold to the library exclusively.

I'm looking to do somewhere between 4-12 tracks as a commission, and am open to expanding that to an on-going continual thing.

If you're interested, please send me a direct message and let me know your rate, and send a link to your current work.

Thank you so much!
Dave
Click to expand...
"Sold to the library", as in no backend? If so I'd encourage people think twice about this as it sounds like a potentially raw deal.

Frankly, there's some red flags about this post. It sounds like this person is essentially looking to do a buyout for a small fee. A buyout is not a license, it's ownership in perpetuity so the phrase sold to the library exclusively seems gray. Honestly, them specifying they no longer have the schedule to write should at least give you pause without at least fielding some proper questions...

The short version is this: A successful Production Music track can continue to generate income long after being written through backend, licensing fees, etc. Most of us are familiar with how these revenue scenarios play out, so the TL;DR is: A buyout of production music means the entity acquiring the rights can buy it from someone for a small fee and recoup many many times the initial cost. But the big ethical quandary is allowing someone else to register themselves as the writer of your work, then collect that revenue because you've voluntarily sold your performing rights away via a buyout agreement...

Bare minimum at least understand the ramifications of a buyout:

pmamusic.com

New Buyout Clauses Raise Concerns for Music Creators - PMA

The Music Creators North America (MCNA) alliance and its global affiliate the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM), together representing hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers throughout the world, have recently launched a crucial, international education project designed...
pmamusic.com pmamusic.com

Perhaps they actually do own a small library, but the wording suggests it could also wind up in a 3rd party library, with no control of where it winds up after the fact... If this were the case and they listed themselves as the writer and collect all of the backend you'd potentially be shooting yourself in the foot.

No offense to the OP, but I think people should at least be equipped with some important questions that anyone above board will be more than happy to provide answers to...
(Which hopefully is in fact the case...)
 
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jcrosby said:
"Sold to the library", as in no backend? If so I'd encourage people think twice about this as it sounds like a potentially raw deal. Frankly, there's some red flags about this post. It sounds like this person is essentially looking to do a buyout for a small fee.

Perhaps they actually do own a small library, but the wording suggests it could also wind up in a 3rd party library, with no control of where it winds up after the fact... If this were the case and they listed themselves as the writer and collect all of the backend you'd potentially be shooting yourself in the foot.

No offense to the OP, but I think people should at least be equipped with some important questions that anyone above board will be more than happy to provide answers to... (Which hopefully is the case...)
Click to expand...
Yes, it's true, there is NO backend. Which is why a deal is negotiated up front.

I've sold to libraries with a 50/50 exclusive split, and they often don't work out too well in terms of generating enough royalties to be worth it. I've been lucky to start my own library, and can happily share in private DMs all details.

All details of a contract will be thoroughly explained.

Lastly, I will NEVER take credit for YOUR work. I'm an artist myself and I understand credits are important. If the music is licensed, sold, etc... it will always have to be with the name and credit of the artist, even in a rare case that a piece of music is resold many years later.

I've worked with a number of composers in the past and all have been happy. No red flags or hard to understand contracts. If terms are not acceptable, no problem.
 
I want to clear something up as well:

The only "exclusive" part of me buying tracks is the following:

- Youtube Content ID and Facebook Content ownership, and streaming distribution. This is where the "exclusive" part comes in.
Ie, you can still submit to other libraries, and do your TV deals elsewhere. We do not even focus on TV deals. You would simply have to make sure the other libraries you are already working with are okay with not retaining rights to Youtube/Facebook/Distro monetization.

Thanks!
Dave
 
There's no backend. This means you're claiming the writer's share of performance royalties?
 
jcrosby said:
"Sold to the library", as in no backend? If so I'd encourage people think twice about this as it sounds like a potentially raw deal.

Frankly, there's some red flags about this post. It sounds like this person is essentially looking to do a buyout for a small fee. A buyout is not a license, it's ownership in perpetuity so the phrase sold to the library exclusively seems gray. Honestly, them specifying they no longer have the schedule to write should at least give you pause without at least fielding some proper questions...

The short version is this: A successful Production Music track can continue to generate income long after being written through backend, licensing fees, etc. Most of us are familiar with how these revenue scenarios play out, so the TL;DR is: A buyout of production music means the entity acquiring the rights can buy it from someone for a small fee and recoup many many times the initial cost. But the big ethical quandary is allowing someone else to register themselves as the writer of your work, then collect that revenue because you've voluntarily sold your performing rights away via a buyout agreement...

Bare minimum at least understand the ramifications of a buyout:

pmamusic.com

New Buyout Clauses Raise Concerns for Music Creators - PMA

The Music Creators North America (MCNA) alliance and its global affiliate the International Council of Music Creators (CIAM), together representing hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers throughout the world, have recently launched a crucial, international education project designed...
pmamusic.com pmamusic.com

Perhaps they actually do own a small library, but the wording suggests it could also wind up in a 3rd party library, with no control of where it winds up after the fact... If this were the case and they listed themselves as the writer and collect all of the backend you'd potentially be shooting yourself in the foot.

No offense to the OP, but I think people should at least be equipped with some important questions that anyone above board will be more than happy to provide answers to...
(Which hopefully is in fact the case...)
Click to expand...
This conversation comes up regularly. But I'll add the same note I always do:

For the 99% of the IP-generating world that is *not* the music business the "no backend" model is accepted as an option without question. On this forum it's like an attack on a religion.

And plenty of other creatives - visual FX artists, painters, sculptors, video editors, motion graphics artists, etc. - get no back end. They get paid up front and do just fine.

It's a business decision. Upfront payment with no back end *can* be very lucrative, especially for the vast majority of the world that hasn't had any luck with the PRO mafias. Witness the success of libraries like Epidemic Sound.

rgames
 
Ben E said:
There's no backend. This means you're claiming the writer's share of performance royalties?
Click to expand...
Sorry, wasn't clear in the original. Edits have been made. Please refer to original post. We do not do PRO stuff. You can still do PRO on your own, and send the music into any PRO library, as long as they understand which rights that have been purchased already: Youtube/Facebook/Streaming Distribution
 
rgames said:
This conversation comes up regularly. But I'll add the same note I always do:

For the 99% of the IP-generating world that is *not* the music business the "no backend" model is accepted as an option without question. On this forum it's like an attack on a religion.

And plenty of other creatives - visual FX artists, painters, sculptors, video editors, motion graphics artists, etc. - get no back end. They get paid up front and do just fine.

It's a business decision. Upfront payment with no back end *can* be very lucrative, especially for the vast majority of the world that hasn't had any luck with the PRO mafias. Witness the success of libraries like Epidemic Sound.

rgames
Click to expand...
Yes, this is true. I've written to libraries with 50/50 split and made almost nothing after the initial exclusive cashout. It would have been much better to do a one time up front payment for me and collect no backend. That has simply been my experience, but I know others may differ. To each their own.

Either way, my offer is a bit different. (refer to edited OP)
 
Yeah - so work for hire in some parts of the world isn't allowed by rights collection agencies, or when it is tolerated, you need written exemption.
USA is its own hot mess when it comes to this stuff, but look closely in other parts of the world before signing a deal where where your writing royalty is collected by someone who didn't write the track.

I actually wish I had time to have more knowledge about this in various locals. Anyone who wishes to chime in with more info about this?

Also @rgames you are entirely correct regarding other industries without backend (although there are still plenty that do have them!). Backend was created for a tonne of different reasons in different locations, and some of it is necessary to maintain wages where upfront fees are not sustainable (we are not talking just composers... look at directors for instance!). As for composers, yeah, it can work for some. It won't work for all, and there's good reasons for things being setup in the way they originally were (ie there's very few places that I'm aware where the legal rationale for backend ever included the idea that third parties or middle-men would take royalties designed for the creator)

Here's some interesting reading for those in australia :
agsc.org.au

Buyouts & APRA Membership - Australian Guild Of Screen Composers

Important Information for APRA AMCOS Members for any Buyout Deal Under the APRA AMCOS Constitution, a member assigns all performing rights in all of their existing and future works to APRA AMCOS. Therefore, the starting point is that an APRA AMCOS member is not able to enter
agsc.org.au agsc.org.au
 
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colony nofi said:
ie there's very few places that I'm aware where the legal rationale for backend ever included the idea that third parties or middle-men would take royalties designed for the creator
Click to expand...
Yeah this is another one of the peculiarities of the music biz and its obsessive focus on back end: PROs.

Software engineers, aerospace engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, etc. collect vastly more royalties than composers. But they don't have PROs... hmmm....

rgames
 
Further info for aus :
As an APRA AMCOS member it doesn’t matter if you have a publisher, grant a sync license for your Music, grant copyright in the Master recording or even assign copyright in the Music itself to a client, you are legally entitled to a minimum 50% share of the entire available public performance royalties. This is known as the ‘Writer’s Share’.
 
rgames said:
Upfront payment with no back end *can* be very lucrative, especially for the vast majority of the world that hasn't had any luck with the PRO mafias.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of freelance composition where scenarios backend isn't an option, *Exclusive* production music however typically isn't one them.

Your notion that PRO income isn't lucrative in the 'vast majority of the world' is rubbish. There are Performing Rights Organizations in every continent. 93 Alone listed as BMI foreign affiliates, PRS lists over 100.

And in the **very** off chance you were living in a remote part pf the world where a PRO didn't represent you, you could register for any number of foreign PROs that accept overseas writers. Some PROs will even allow you to attain a waiver and assign an overseas PRO even if already registered with a domestic PRO.

My last statement included income from 30 Performing Rights Organizations scattered around the globe. International revenue accounted for roughly 1/3 of my statement. So your notion that this is income somehow unavailable to the vast majority of the world appears to serve some kind of intellectual vendetta you have toward "PRO mafias".


This is BMI's list, which isn't even a conclusive list of all Performing Rights Organizations worldwide:

AlbaniaALBAUTOR
ArgentinaSADAIC
ArmeniaARMAUTHOR
AzerbaijanAAS
AustraliaAPRA
AustriaAKM
BarbadosCOSCAP
BelgiumSABAM
BoliviaSOBODAYCOM
Bosnia & HerzegovinaAMUS
BrazilABRAMUS*
BrazilAMAR*
BrazilSADEMBRA*
BrazilSBACEM*
BrazilSOCINPRO*
BrazilUBC
BulgariaMUSICAUTOR
Burkina FasoBBDA
CanadaSOCAN
ChileSCD
ChinaMCSC
ColombiaSAYCO
Congo, Democratic Republic of theSONECA
Costa RicaACAM
CroatiaHDS
Czech RepublicOSA
DenmarkKODA
Dominican RepublicSGACEDOM
EcuadorSAYCE
Eastern CaribbeanECCO
El SalvadorSACIM
EstoniaEAU
FinlandTEOSTO
FranceSACEM
GeorgiaGCA
GermanyGEMA
GreeceAUTODIA
GuatemalaAEI
HondurasAACIMH
Hong KongCASH
HungaryARTISJUS
IcelandSTEF
IndiaIPRS
IndonesiaWAMI
IrelandIMRO
IsraelACUM
ItalySIAE
JamaicaJACAP
JapanJASRAC
KazakhstanKazAK
KoreaKOMCA
LatviaAKKA/LAA
LithuaniaLATGA-A
MacauMACA
MacedoniaZAMP
MalawiCOSOMA
MalaysiaMACP
MauritiusMASA
MexicoSACM
MontenegroPAM CG
MozambiqueSOMAS
NetherlandsBUMA
NepalMRCSN
NigeriaCOSON
NorwayTONO
PanamaSPAC
ParaguayAPA
PeruAPDAYC
PhilippinesFILSCAP
PolandZAIKS
PortugalSPA
RomaniaUCMR-ADA
RussiaRAO
SerbiaSOKOJ
SingaporeCOMPASS
Slovak RepublicSOZA
SloveniaSAZAS
South AfricaSAMRO
SpainSGAE
SurinameSASUR
SwedenSTIM
SwitzerlandSUISA
TaiwanMUST
ThailandMCT
Trinidad and TobagoCOTT
TurkeyMSG
UkraineNGO-UACRR
United KingdomPRS
UgandaUPRS
UruguayAGADU
VenezuelaSACVEN
VietnamVCPMC
ZambiaZAMCOPS
 
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RonOrchComp said:
You didnt really answer the question. I will ask a bit more directly.

When the music I give to you airs, where does the publishing and the writers go?
Click to expand...
We don't air to TV if that's what you mean. You still retain the rights to place the music in some library which focuses on TV.

We only make money by licensing/monetizing videos in youtube/facebook which contain the music.

You still retain rights to publishing and writer share for television, or any other place where PRO would collect.
 
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