This is amazing. I was looking for royalty free songs for my personal channel videos and then realized, I could make money putting my own music in there. What an amazing way to make passive income from my music, excited now to compose stock songs specifically. Huge thanks sir!
Thank you Daniel. You have been there for me from the beginning and I value your consistent hard work in stock music teaching. I wish nothing but continued success for you and your channel and teachings! Mainly so I can keep learning!! ;)
Music licensing on these platforms may be finally the end of Spotify business model, finally musicians get back the respect they deserve! Thanka for this great video, after 12 years of music making and more than a hundred tracks created I am ready to dive in it!
this is incredibly helpful and inspirational. I've been producing music for 8 years now, and I'm just starting to look into music licensing. This is a fantastic and informative introduction with a lot of the information I was looking for
What I liked the most was, this is not a channel explaining how to make 3000 a week but, with a persistence with music work you can make a decent income to feel helped and useful, thanks for the tips and greetings from Germany! Alfredo
If you have specific questions about Stock Music Licensing, put them here in the comments and I will try my best to answer based on my past and current experience.
According to ur opinion that someone who want to reach in around 600usd/mo, has to have between 5-10 libraries. I'm sorry, I'm not English speaker, do you mean 5-10 songs? Or how many songs in a libraries?
Great video! Do you have a “getting started” guide or something like it? Also what LUFs do you mix/master to? I know Spotify is -14 standard and elsewhere the experts recommend -8, but that’s more for “mainstream” music as I understand it.
Thanks Jigsound! I feel like I got a good start thanks to my existing catalog, and 20+ years as a a producer. However, I’ve also learned to write some styles of music I haven’t done before like corporate or folk.It’s a fun ride!
Ha! I have a ton of music in my “garage” built up since the early 90’s. Many will need a remake to modern instrument and recording standards but plenty of material to work with. Thanks for the rev up to dig those out. Never a shortage of things to do!
Wow, great video.. summed it up very well! Your sales success is very impressive too. Daniel and Steve have also both taught me so much. Good work! Aaron 👍
I've been contemplating getting into producing stock music for a few months now. However, Daniel was pretty much the only guy I've really seen talking about it, so I wasn't sure if $500 per month was realistically possible. I'm glad to see someone else verifying this. I think I'm going to get to work on this!
Thank you! Lots more videos on stock including my newest video that talks about a new eBook you may be interested in. ruclips.net/video/oPHUDKOhnNo/видео.html
I have music on Pond5, and on tik tok. My music is already being used by people on their videos. I never thought that anyone would use any of my music at all. When Pond5 asked me where I had music online I shared my link from Spotify. It helps to have a place where you have your music online. Thank you for your videos. Enjoy your weekend.
This is great info, I've been very recently considering getting into sync licensing and had no idea about stock music licensing. this seems like a great place to start and get my feet wet, thanks!
I believe stock music licensing is an excellent place to get your feet wet and begin to make music and see where you are. I believe sync licensing requires a higher level of production quality and composition. The lines are blurred of course but I do see them as different.
First time watching your video. Really enjoyed it. I follow Daniel as well. I'm 52 and have been trying to get into library music for a year now. I contacted 20 libraries but so far only pond 5 accepts my music. Haven't sold anything but I only have 38 tracks on pond 5 and a lot of them are just different edits. I've had people use my music in independent movies and podcasts so I can't be that bad but I must be going wrong somewhere. I distribute my music through songtradr but despite submitting to over a hundred music wanted adds, I only got shortlisted once. I'd dearly love to earn enough money to have financial security. I'm looking now for the video you said you would do about songtradr. Thanks so much for your channel!
Hi Glenn. Like many who will see this comment, I have been where you are. I like the fact that you haven’t given up. I will say that 38 tracks (especially since some are edits) is not enough. Pond5 has 900,000 songs. I’m bringing my consulting and critique services I’ve been doing for decades over to this channel. Working on the new site now. But I offer a free short Zoom session to talk and listen if you need it. Just contact me in the email you’ll find in any video description. Overall, keep at it, and keep writing and producing. That’s the number one way to get better and increase your odds at success.
@@MakeMusicIncome thanks so much for creplying. If you could listen to a couple of my tracks that would be fantastic. Maybe I'm terrible or just missing a few tricks. I'd just like some feedback before I spend years trying. I will email you.
OMG...such a fantastic video Eric! I just found out about you after hearing your interview with Dave at 52 Cues. I think this is absolute gold. I actually have some things on Pond 5 already and have made a few sales. Any chance you have a comprehensive list of stock libraries that exist, and you're willing to share? And any specifics as to titling tracks, form, etc. for stock libraries or would it all be similar to production music libraries? Thanks!
As a matter of fact I wrote a whole eBook on all the libraries I have either gotten in (about 20) or applied to with the links to applying to each. Lots of info about all you ask about. Check out “The Stock Market” here: makemusicincome.com/stockmarket/
it's actually so refreshing to see someone who is not making $100000 a month selling music on stocks. Great video, man. Do you work in Logic Pro Fruty Loops or Ableton? ( if any of those )
@@MakeMusicIncome I would say more often ppl claim making a big number for clicks. $600 is the amount u can easily live on in my country. That's why your title comes off as genuine.
@@MakeMusicIncome Hi Eric, I'm late to the party, but super grateful for your channel. Thank you for your work !! I was wondering if you could share an update on what your average monthly income presently looks like, if you don't mind? Also if you would still say Instrumental Ambient is high in demand (along Corporate, Pop/Rock, Folk)?
Great video! Thanks for the info. Two questions: so we can upload the same song in as many different music library banks as we want, can't we? and is in all cases free for the composers to collaborate with these sites? Blessings 🤗
Well it probably depends on the kind of music you make. A lot of my music is jazz or solo piano so that has pretty limited uses as compared to corporate music or rock or lofi or other things people seem to do well with. My strategy has been to flood all the libraries I get in with EVERYTHING. All styles. And a lot of tracks. If like Pond5, AudioSparx, 123RF, Vfine or others where they let you load up all versions, I have 150+ audio files on some of those, and am heading quickly towards 200 on each library. I was heading towards 2000 audio files across 15 libraries before I got a bunch signed to some exclusive libraries and had to take then down off RF. A long answer to say, there is power in quantity, as long as it's also quality. Everybody is looking for everything, so better to have it all up there.
Great stuff Eric, thank you! Hey, quick question: If you upload a song to one music library, are you able to upload that SAME song to another library? Thank you!
Thank you for the video. Do you copyright all your music? If so, do you do so under your own publishing label? If so, do you publish your musical pieces individually or as a compilation? It could get quite pricey to copyright each musical piece. Do you recommend first pursuing a PRO membership before submitting your music to stock music sites?
Every piece of music I put into finished form is effectively copyrighted under US Copyright law, and then I make sure everything is registered at my PRO before it goes out anywhere. PRO doesn’t really have much to do with Stock music (as there aren’t much performance rights in stock) but I do still recommend you register everything with your PRO.
@@MakeMusicIncome, thank you for the reply. I suppose registering your music with a PRO provides some weight, but I do not think it translates to an enforceable copyright claim, even though a given piece of music is in fixed form. The same goes for the old "mail the music to yourself but do not open the envelope" myth. I believe you need a copyright to protect the idea. In principle, anyone can lift a piece registered with a PRO that lacks a copyright, slap a new title on it, register it with a PRO, and start collecting royalties. A copyright protects the musical piece and the fixed form it is in (PR or SR form), as I understand it. I am not sure how a Content ID may or may not raise a red flag in such a case. There are low-life miscreants who would do this, although I would like to think they are far and few in between. Anyway, I will look into how well registering a copyright for a musical compilation protects the individual pieces within it. Thanks again.
My advice is always the same here. If YOU are concerned about your songs being copyrighted in order to PROVE IN COURT you wrote the song, in the US that means registering those songs with the US Copyright Office Copyright.org. But you could go to all that trouble and someone could have also stolen it and registered it with Copyright.org before you did. Then it’s still he said, she said. Having it for sale somewhere, registered to your PRO, sheet music out by a certain date, dated/timestamped performance or video evidence, helps in these cases. That “said”, for your peace of mind, I would suggest filing your albums as collections or albums as Form SR which protects the recordings and the songs under US Copyright.
Great video full of helpful informations! Just a question, can you upload the same song to different libraries? There is some issue/conflict if the same song is accepted by several libraries?
If you are stock/Non-Exclusive then yes you can upload the same song to different libraries. But if exclusive libraries sign a song, then no you cannot upload that anywhere else. My advice is to keep a non-exclusive library that you can license anywhere to anyone repeatedly, and an exclusive side that is signed for bigger deals that are exclusive.
Hi...Great video! Do these companies also just buy lyrics or do you know who buys/license lyrics? I wish I knew how to play a musical instrument and create music but I could only create the lyrics for them 🙂
Good day Eric. Question; In your own experience, do you think its worth spending time making songs specifically for these exclusive stock libraries? You mentioned you hadn't gotten paid from 100 Audio just yet and I also noticed they required a little bit more info with proof of file of the track and such. So do you yourself, think its worth spending time to make new music for exclusive libraries such a these, that also require a bit more information, where you may or may not see any money for quite awhile? Apologies if you've already covered this topic. - Thanks
To be honest, I started doing it with songs I already had written (piano, jazz, older MIDI things I had on my computer.) My main focus was and is Sync licensing. But after the songs started paying…LOL. I really feel i write what I want and put in there, and some has been since taken out and placed in exclusive libraries. I am not sure how much I will do for 100 Audio. They are a challenge to work with and it’s not just the proof (which is not that hard but still more than I want to do.) Now as far as exclusive sync libraries, most of my writing is for these and other sync sources. I know some people are afraid of exclusive libraries, but that is just how the game is played. Sometimes you get those songs back after a few years. See my latest video answering questions about sync. One was on length of contracts and exclusivity.
My apologies if this is not a well- informed question: Do you find it necessary at all to register all of your compositions with your PRO before or after submitting them to the libraries?
Well, this is a complicated question, because likely most Royalty free library uses won’t pay your PRO (meaning it’s just a use on RUclips or a corporate presentation, and that’s not tracked by PROs). I’ll update this after I get some PRO statements after doing RF music for a while and everyone know what I’m seeing from RF sales. I personally DO register everything at my PRO as I upload to all libraries, as I am testing the waters here and believe in every penny from my PROs. BUT, and this could be a big but, many of the royalty free music libraries give their buyers an option to search for Non-PRO music. So if you upload and put that it is registered, some buyers may filter you out if they want to avoid PRO licenses.
I just found this video! Thank you, it's fantastic and reassuring as well. I have a good number of tracks I could start to pitch to Libraries, but I have one question (for now): Do I (does everyone) need to wait for a response (acceptance/rejection) from a library before pitching to the next library on the list? OR, is it standard practice to to pitch everything everywhere until it sticks? I imagine the answer could be "a bit of both", but I'd like to know what you DID at the beginning, and what you DO today. Thank you in advance!
Hey thanks for watching! The BEAUTY about non-exclusive stock libraries in particular is that you can put all your music on all the sites. I submitted to Pond5 and AudioJungle first because that seems to be the “rule” that is taught. I still recommend Pond5 first as it works great as a kind of library for your description, keywords, tempo, song length, etc., and it’s fairly simple to get in with decent sounding produced tracks. You can register with AJ and I recommend you do, but they are still closed to new submissions from new artists as of the the time of this comment. I signed up for 123RF, Motion Array, and AudioSparx next. Then later VFineMusic and 100Audio, Dreamstime, and DepositPhotos. Technically I have made money with all, but only been paid by 6 or so. But the point is YES you can sign up and start submitting (once they approve you) to ALL of them at the same time.
hello sir ... can you tell me please if you register your music on ASCAP for exemple... before sending to music libraries or not. And if not how do you get the royalties income. Thanks
This is a good question. I do currently register anything going to stock libraries with my PRO. But if I am sending to a sync library, I may not. If they accept material for me, they like to be the ones who put it up to the PRO. And the PRO registration goes faster when they do it that way. See my video here about why I now register everything that I put in stock music with my PRO. ruclips.net/video/LjlwPI0NAmM/видео.html
This is a great video, thank you for sharing. I've written a lot of music over the years that's just been sitting and have been looking for ways to make a side income. Do these companies send you a 1099 or anything at the end of the year for taxes? Is it considered taxable income?
Hey Eric thanks for your very helpful video! Could I ask when you are making the cut versions of the same track, 15, 30 and 60 second versions, do you fade in and/or out on these tracks or do you let them just stop dead at their full volume for the desired time? Thank you!
The rule is generally that these are individual files that can be used and have a start and a definite ending. So no, not really any fades on either end.
Thanks! At some point I will circle back and do a complete list and my experience with them. It’s planned. Yes all I mentioned are NE, but AudioSparx wants them to stay in forever (NE but can’t take it out.) I work hard to submit everything to the libraries that consistently make me money. I’m trying to put EVERYTHING to every library, but it is pretty time consuming.
Thanks, Eric! This is another passive income stream I hadn't considered as I begin thinking about transitioning into semi-retirement. Best thing about it: I'll love doing this one more than all the others I've been considering!
Yes definitely one to consider. GREAT for semi-retirees (very close myself!) The beauty is you can play and work and come up with things that have use for others, AND make more than sticking it on a streaming site...it can even become a nice side income. Thanks for watching!
You can do a withdrawal from PayPal to your bank account if you have gone through that process. It usually takes about one business day or you can send it instant and lose a small percentage.
@@MakeMusicIncome Do you have any video tutorial regarding on that? Because it's been 4 days now since i widraw my funds using my Paypal account and this is my first time to make a widraw here on songtrd
Absolutely great video Eric. Thank you.❤❤ I have a question for you... Do I need to get my own ISRC code for each song before I apply for music licensing websites? How does that work? I'm wondering if I need to mix it right into the song somehow... not sure how this part works. Thank you. Sharon
@@your.music.connectionI don’t think they do track them. Someone makes a one time purchase of your music and then gets to use it for free and you’re not collecting royalties on it.
Hey, thanks for the video, I was wondering if you know how the sync licensing companies are dealing with AI assisted composition? Are there policies in place, or general approach? Not talking about crappy unfiltered AI, but I have a few tracks made by AI which I picked, edited, arranged and even put vocals on them - I’m worried whether reviewers would be able to overcome the stereotypes if you even mention AI
They are pretty against it, unless it is their AI or their loops. They are not looking for AI created things in my experience. It’s all about handcrafted these days. Too much possibility someone else could send them a similarly made and sounding track, or could make one that sounds like yours.
@@MakeMusicIncome I agree, when it comes to folks who bluntly hit 'create', 'export', and. then 'upload'. I had no idea some of them have their own AI and distribute loops, can you give an example which ones do?
Hi, I just want to know, can you upload the same song/instrumental in multiple libraries?? Or it has to be exclusive for each website? Thank you for this video, I needed some inspiration and this helped! Regards from Colombia
As long as the library allows non-exclusive and you haven’t put the song into any exclusive libraries, you can put the song up to multiple non-exclusive libraries.
Yes, still with them. I have elected for 2022 to go the FREE route and not pay for an account. Had a nice payday last month, and will be talking about it in this week’s LIVE video Thursday talking about my first 6 months of 2022 stock income.
Hello again my friend, I’m just curious, how much music on average you have to upload in order to earn $600 per month? Thank you so much in advance 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I think you need to upload 100+ songs on 4-5 paying libraries at least to get around $500/mo. AND you need a healthy bunch of songs working for you on Motion Array. That’s the real key for me.
Thank you so much! What are some examples of music great for background and where can we hear them? Can you share some sites please? That would be much appreciated and a great help for everyone , 🙏🏻😊
I would just go to Audio Jungle of Motion Array and listen to the top songs in corporate or whatever genre you write in. AJ will be a little more “background”, MA likes to pick all kinds of things including vocals.
@@MakeMusicIncome thank you my friend for your reply, appreciate it🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I produce 30 tracks but I have very few sales, I guess my music didn’t really serve the market for licensing
30 won;t be enough to make a dent I’m afraid. Those of us who have 100-200 still feel like we’re barely being found. It’s quality AND quantities my friend. Especially in stock music. Keep cranking my friend!
Is there a way to buy your book from Amazon digital download (even if you increase price to $20 to cover costs?). I've never heard of payhip and I'm wary of it.
So I have a question. If I upload to Pond 5, could I do a RUclips video showcasing that track to direct traffic to Pond 5 so people could find it to access it?
Sure. I’m not sure if that helps though because Pond5 people will be going to Pond5 not to RUclips. You have to thing from the users perspective. Why would they be searching on RUclips for something they could find on Pond5 ?
Since stock music is royalty free, what would be the copyright situation if someone wrote a song over top a stock music instrumental and put the song out as original?
Hi Eric. Question; Have you had any requests from stock library clients for stems similar to sync licencing? The reason I ask is I have an album of unused sync tracks already mastered, where the original files were lost and could not be submitted for use. Thanks again for the videos and your time. -Ron
No, so far no one in Stock has asked for Stems. And only one of the three exclusive libraries wanted stems. Another wanted just mix, track, and vocals, and the third wanted 3-5 mixes that they curated per song. It’s always different with each library what they want. BUT no, no stems asked for in stock yet for me.
Sorry the spamming... But do these tracks need to be finished as in it has a beginning and an end? Or can it be a piece of music that sort of just ends?
Greetings Eric! I’m desperately trying to understand the math. Is there an accumulated number of tracks to have uploaded amongst the various libraries or is there a target number of separate distinct pieces to strive for? This is of course granting the condition that the tracks are quality and functional.
I wish there were some clear cut numbers John, but every single library is different in the tracks they want, or the tracks they like from different composers/producers, the amount they pay, if they are subscription or not (and sometimes they are both!), if someone has a coupon, what country you live in, and a host of other things. The best advice is to be prolific, be of high quality, and upload often.
It’s royalty free untill it’s not, not even youtube will defend your rights even if you have direct signiture from artist, abusive companies will always try to claim free music
Can you list all the websites? Also does your background play any part of being excepted to these sites or is it just them listening to the music you submitted?
In this video I talk about Pond5, AudioJungle, Motion Array, 123RF, AudioSparx, VFineMusic, 100 Audio, DepositPhotos, Songtradr, Dreamstime, and MusicGrid. My background helps on the composing and production side but getting accepted is all about what they hear and want.
@@MakeMusicIncome Excellent very helpful. So you sighn up to the sight and then send them each individual song or music and they then decide if each will go on there site one at a time?
Such a wide range depending on the store, what you price the song at, etc. Some sell the song outright and you make 35% of the song sale. Some charge clients a monthly fee for as much as they want and you get a much lower fee per download. Varies greatly.
Find out all about Stock Music Licensing libraries with our complete course, "The Stock Market" payhip.com/b/pvsfL
Hey Great video! Now that it's two years later has the money remained steady?
Yeah pretty much! I do videos from time to time on this and how the income changes.
Awesome video!!! Thanks so much for the shoutout!
Thanks Steve for all the help and your hard work on your RUclips and Discord channels. Good luck with your Academy! I’m sure it’s going to be great!
This is amazing. I was looking for royalty free songs for my personal channel videos and then realized, I could make money putting my own music in there. What an amazing way to make passive income from my music, excited now to compose stock songs specifically. Huge thanks sir!
Nice! Go get em!
This video is gold. Great information my friend!! Thanks for the mention!!
Thank you Daniel. You have been there for me from the beginning and I value your consistent hard work in stock music teaching. I wish nothing but continued success for you and your channel and teachings! Mainly so I can keep learning!! ;)
Music licensing on these platforms may be finally the end of Spotify business model, finally musicians get back the respect they deserve!
Thanka for this great video, after 12 years of music making and more than a hundred tracks created I am ready to dive in it!
Nice! Go get em!
this is incredibly helpful and inspirational. I've been producing music for 8 years now, and I'm just starting to look into music licensing. This is a fantastic and informative introduction with a lot of the information I was looking for
Good luck! Be sure to watch my LIVE video tomorrow about my current thoughts on stock music.
What I liked the most was, this is not a channel explaining how to make 3000 a week but, with a persistence with music work you can make a decent income to feel helped and useful, thanks for the tips and greetings from Germany! Alfredo
Thank you Alfredo. Just trying to keep it real but also informed.
If you have specific questions about Stock Music Licensing, put them here in the comments and I will try my best to answer based on my past and current experience.
According to ur opinion that someone who want to reach in around 600usd/mo, has to have between 5-10 libraries. I'm sorry, I'm not English speaker, do you mean 5-10 songs? Or how many songs in a libraries?
With stock sync should you still register songs with P.R.O?
Great video! Do you have a “getting started” guide or something like it? Also what LUFs do you mix/master to? I know Spotify is -14 standard and elsewhere the experts recommend -8, but that’s more for “mainstream” music as I understand it.
@@ubu-ibme As far as LUFS, I’m a composer not an engineer, Jim.
But I keep the master fader on Logic at 0 and set my limiter at about -0.5. That’s about all I can tell you! ;)
So happy I discovered your channel, I've been composing stock music for a while now and getting better at it thanks to videos like these. Thanks Eric!
Hey Alan, thanks for the comment and I’m glad you discovered us too! Keep up the good work!
Very kind d of you to upload this video.. Cheers Eric..
My pleasure Wayne! Thanks for watching!
What an excellent and inspiring start for stock music licensing you've been having! ✨ Thanks for sharing! 🙏
- Eero
Thanks Jigsound! I feel like I got a good start thanks to my existing catalog, and 20+ years as a a producer. However, I’ve also learned to write some styles of music I haven’t done before like corporate or folk.It’s a fun ride!
This was sooo helpful. I've been trying to figure out how to and where to license my music. Thank you... 😁
Great and good luck to you!
Time to clear the harddrive 😂❤️. Thanks it's gonna be a relief
Good luck!!
Ha! I have a ton of music in my “garage” built up since the early 90’s. Many will need a remake to modern instrument and recording standards but plenty of material to work with. Thanks for the rev up to dig those out. Never a shortage of things to do!
Good luck finding those gems!
Wow, great video.. summed it up very well! Your sales success is very impressive too. Daniel and Steve have also both taught me so much. Good work! Aaron 👍
Thank you so much! Good luck with your music and sales!
Thank you! This was very useful.
Thank you my guy. This info is perfect for me. I appreciate you.
Awesome I am glad it helped.
Awesome video, Eric - congrats on your success and thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you Mary! I hope my success can be the success of others. We all need ways to make income from our music!
Thank you, Sir. I've garnered much information. Very informative!
Sweet good luck with it
I’ve been doing the licensing thing for a while including Pond 5 but definitely a bunch different great ideas here. Thanks.
Awesome! Thanks for watching and good luck!
Great content. Thanks for sharing. You have another subscriber
Thanks very much. Glad to have you aboard!
Great video on selling stock music!
We hope many more can make income from their music.
Absolutely! That’s the point! Let’s all make music income together!
Great video, with real examples and not trying to sell a "How-to" non-sense.
Nice new channel Eric ! Keep it awesome! :)
Thank you!!
This was so helpful! I like your encouraging and positive attitude! Also,I'm glad I'm not the only one with cd's stashed away in the garage🙂
LOL! Glad it was helpful. CDs are currently on sale if you’d like some…by the BOX! ;)
I've been contemplating getting into producing stock music for a few months now. However, Daniel was pretty much the only guy I've really seen talking about it, so I wasn't sure if $500 per month was realistically possible. I'm glad to see someone else verifying this. I think I'm going to get to work on this!
Still think Motion Array is key, or envato Elements. Pond5, AJ, Sparx have brought in some income. See my newest 2021 Income video.
Did you? How is it going?
Thank you, Eric.
Great video, thanks for the insights! I’m looking forward to future videos and how your channel will develop! Cheers :)
Thank you for watching Damjan! If there’s anything particular you’d like to see, let me know.
Thank You for all the excellent info! Never knew
My pleasure, thank for watching!
Really appreciate your video. GIve me motivation to keep chasing
Excellent! Keep making music!
Thank you for keeping it real, man.
You bet
Great introduction video to this field, thank you !
Thank you! I'm glad it helped!
Great job, Eric! Amazing video, full of valuable information. Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Thanks very much! Hope to share more with all kinds of music income on this channel!
Thank you for creating this channel. It is time to have a business man mind but but only a musician/producer.
You are welcome! Thanks for watching!
Awesome video, Eric. Thanks a lot.
Glad you go something out of it! Thanks for watching!
Invaluable information in this video. Thanks a lot. This is critical information for us bedroom producers.
Thank you very much for watching. Glad it was helpful!
Nothing But the Blood is such a great song!
Thank you!
Nice vid dude...Ive been looking for this for a while..;-)
Thank you! Lots more videos on stock including my newest video that talks about a new eBook you may be interested in. ruclips.net/video/oPHUDKOhnNo/видео.html
I have music on Pond5, and on tik tok. My music is already being used by people on their videos. I never thought that anyone would use any of my music at all. When Pond5 asked me where I had music online I shared my link from Spotify. It helps to have a place where you have your music online. Thank you for your videos. Enjoy your weekend.
Thanks Norma!
So helpful, so encouraging. Thank you for making this video! ❤🙏🏻
Glad that it was helpful!
Great and useful video, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Really inspiring Eric, thanks for sharing your exciting story.
Thanks for watching! More story to come!
this guys a life changer !!!
Thanks!
Thank you sir🎧🔉🎵 I appreciate this information, I’m definitely going to follow you🙏🙏🏾🤝
You are welcome!
This is great info, I've been very recently considering getting into sync licensing and had no idea about stock music licensing. this seems like a great place to start and get my feet wet, thanks!
I believe stock music licensing is an excellent place to get your feet wet and begin to make music and see where you are. I believe sync licensing requires a higher level of production quality and composition. The lines are blurred of course but I do see them as different.
@@MakeMusicIncome I have the same feeling about them, so these videos are just what I needed to begin diving into research. Subbed for sure.
Thanks very much mate, great video
Hey thanks for watching!
First time watching your video. Really enjoyed it. I follow Daniel as well. I'm 52 and have been trying to get into library music for a year now. I contacted 20 libraries but so far only pond 5 accepts my music. Haven't sold anything but I only have 38 tracks on pond 5 and a lot of them are just different edits. I've had people use my music in independent movies and podcasts so I can't be that bad but I must be going wrong somewhere.
I distribute my music through songtradr but despite submitting to over a hundred music wanted adds, I only got shortlisted once. I'd dearly love to earn enough money to have financial security. I'm looking now for the video you said you would do about songtradr. Thanks so much for your channel!
Hi Glenn. Like many who will see this comment, I have been where you are. I like the fact that you haven’t given up. I will say that 38 tracks (especially since some are edits) is not enough. Pond5 has 900,000 songs. I’m bringing my consulting and critique services I’ve been doing for decades over to this channel. Working on the new site now. But I offer a free short Zoom session to talk and listen if you need it. Just contact me in the email you’ll find in any video description. Overall, keep at it, and keep writing and producing. That’s the number one way to get better and increase your odds at success.
@@MakeMusicIncome thanks so much for creplying. If you could listen to a couple of my tracks that would be fantastic. Maybe I'm terrible or just missing a few tricks. I'd just like some feedback before I spend years trying. I will email you.
@@BossLevelAudio24 38tracks on P5, and there was no selling? How about now sir? And what kind of ur music genre that you uploaded on p5?
@@BossLevelAudio24 and also, may i have ur link?
OMG...such a fantastic video Eric! I just found out about you after hearing your interview with Dave at 52 Cues. I think this is absolute gold. I actually have some things on Pond 5 already and have made a few sales. Any chance you have a comprehensive list of stock libraries that exist, and you're willing to share? And any specifics as to titling tracks, form, etc. for stock libraries or would it all be similar to production music libraries? Thanks!
As a matter of fact I wrote a whole eBook on all the libraries I have either gotten in (about 20) or applied to with the links to applying to each. Lots of info about all you ask about. Check out “The Stock Market” here: makemusicincome.com/stockmarket/
it's actually so refreshing to see someone who is not making $100000 a month selling music on stocks.
Great video, man.
Do you work in Logic Pro Fruty Loops or Ableton? ( if any of those )
Thanks! I definitely don’t make 100k on stock. More like no-k. I work in Logic Pro.
@@MakeMusicIncome I would say more often ppl claim making a big number for clicks. $600 is the amount u can easily live on in my country. That's why your title comes off as genuine.
It’s closer to averaging $200-250 this year with changes in the industry…
@@MakeMusicIncome Hi Eric, I'm late to the party, but super grateful for your channel. Thank you for your work !!
I was wondering if you could share an update on what your average monthly income presently looks like, if you don't mind? Also if you would still say Instrumental Ambient is high in demand (along Corporate, Pop/Rock, Folk)?
Another superb presentation 👍👍
Thanks so
Much!
Nice informative video!
Thank you!
Great video thank you for the info!!
Thank you for the info!
My pleasure!
I've got a loads of music that I can't write lyrics to. I also hate the sound of my own voice. I think I know what to do with it now, thank you!
Excellent idea!
very great information 🙏
Great video! Thanks for the info. Two questions: so we can upload the same song in as many different music library banks as we want, can't we? and is in all cases free for the composers to collaborate with these sites? Blessings 🤗
So appreciate this, Eric!
Thank you! Hope it helps!!
Thanks a lot for sharing! Imagine if you could submit to every library through one place 😄. Audio Jungle submissions are quite tedious imo.
Yeah, but they are so different from library to library. That’s why I wrote this: makemusicincome.com/stockmarket/ Agreed about AJ!
Did you recently apply for AJ? seems they are not accepting new producers..
No I applied in late 2020. They closed in 2021 to new authors. It’s not looking they will reopen.
@@nofood1 Maybe 2 years ago.. not sure how it is nowadays.
@@MakeMusicIncome Thanks!
Great explanations Eric!!! I would like to know how many tracks do you think are necessary to have relevance and make a first sale?
Well it probably depends on the kind of music you make. A lot of my music is jazz or solo piano so that has pretty limited uses as compared to corporate music or rock or lofi or other things people seem to do well with. My strategy has been to flood all the libraries I get in with EVERYTHING. All styles. And a lot of tracks. If like Pond5, AudioSparx, 123RF, Vfine or others where they let you load up all versions, I have 150+ audio files on some of those, and am heading quickly towards 200 on each library. I was heading towards 2000 audio files across 15 libraries before I got a bunch signed to some exclusive libraries and had to take then down off RF.
A long answer to say, there is power in quantity, as long as it's also quality. Everybody is looking for everything, so better to have it all up there.
I like your approach 👍
Thanks! Stock Licensing has become an income too good to ignore, but I have to keep working it!
For a moment I thought 'Oh no, that means I loose those songs!' .. But ofc- I can also use them! :D
Yes they are non-exclusive!
Great stuff Eric, thank you! Hey, quick question: If you upload a song to one music library, are you able to upload that SAME song to another library? Thank you!
Yes, if we are talking Non-Exclusive libraries then absolutely!
Great vid. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you my friend 💯💯💯
You’re welcome!
Thank you for the video. Do you copyright all your music? If so, do you do so under your own publishing label? If so, do you publish your musical pieces individually or as a compilation? It could get quite pricey to copyright each musical piece. Do you recommend first pursuing a PRO membership before submitting your music to stock music sites?
Every piece of music I put into finished form is effectively copyrighted under US Copyright law, and then I make sure everything is registered at my PRO before it goes out anywhere. PRO doesn’t really have much to do with Stock music (as there aren’t much performance rights in stock) but I do still recommend you register everything with your PRO.
@@MakeMusicIncome, thank you for the reply. I suppose registering your music with a PRO provides some weight, but I do not think it translates to an enforceable copyright claim, even though a given piece of music is in fixed form. The same goes for the old "mail the music to yourself but do not open the envelope" myth. I believe you need a copyright to protect the idea. In principle, anyone can lift a piece registered with a PRO that lacks a copyright, slap a new title on it, register it with a PRO, and start collecting royalties. A copyright protects the musical piece and the fixed form it is in (PR or SR form), as I understand it. I am not sure how a Content ID may or may not raise a red flag in such a case. There are low-life miscreants who would do this, although I would like to think they are far and few in between. Anyway, I will look into how well registering a copyright for a musical compilation protects the individual pieces within it. Thanks again.
My advice is always the same here. If YOU are concerned about your songs being copyrighted in order to PROVE IN COURT you wrote the song, in the US that means registering those songs with the US Copyright Office Copyright.org.
But you could go to all that trouble and someone could have also stolen it and registered it with Copyright.org before you did. Then it’s still he said, she said. Having it for sale somewhere, registered to your PRO, sheet music out by a certain date, dated/timestamped performance or video evidence, helps in these cases.
That “said”, for your peace of mind, I would suggest filing your albums as collections or albums as Form SR which protects the recordings and the songs under US Copyright.
Great video full of helpful informations! Just a question, can you upload the same song to different libraries? There is some issue/conflict if the same song is accepted by several libraries?
If you are stock/Non-Exclusive then yes you can upload the same song to different libraries. But if exclusive libraries sign a song, then no you cannot upload that anywhere else. My advice is to keep a non-exclusive library that you can license anywhere to anyone repeatedly, and an exclusive side that is signed for bigger deals that are exclusive.
@@MakeMusicIncome thank you!
Hi...Great video! Do these companies also just buy lyrics or do you know who buys/license lyrics? I wish I knew how to play a musical instrument and create music but I could only create the lyrics for them 🙂
No, only licensing of finished well-produced songs.
Good day Eric. Question; In your own experience, do you think its worth spending time making songs specifically for these exclusive stock libraries? You mentioned you hadn't gotten paid from 100 Audio just yet and I also noticed they required a little bit more info with proof of file of the track and such. So do you yourself, think its worth spending time to make new music for exclusive libraries such a these, that also require a bit more information, where you may or may not see any money for quite awhile? Apologies if you've already covered this topic. - Thanks
To be honest, I started doing it with songs I already had written (piano, jazz, older MIDI things I had on my computer.) My main focus was and is Sync licensing. But after the songs started paying…LOL. I really feel i write what I want and put in there, and some has been since taken out and placed in exclusive libraries. I am not sure how much I will do for 100 Audio. They are a challenge to work with and it’s not just the proof (which is not that hard but still more than I want to do.)
Now as far as exclusive sync libraries, most of my writing is for these and other sync sources. I know some people are afraid of exclusive libraries, but that is just how the game is played. Sometimes you get those songs back after a few years. See my latest video answering questions about sync. One was on length of contracts and exclusivity.
My apologies if this is not a well- informed question: Do you find it necessary at all to register all of your compositions with your PRO before or after submitting them to the libraries?
Well, this is a complicated question, because likely most Royalty free library uses won’t pay your PRO (meaning it’s just a use on RUclips or a corporate presentation, and that’s not tracked by PROs). I’ll update this after I get some PRO statements after doing RF music for a while and everyone know what I’m seeing from RF sales. I personally DO register everything at my PRO as I upload to all libraries, as I am testing the waters here and believe in every penny from my PROs. BUT, and this could be a big but, many of the royalty free music libraries give their buyers an option to search for Non-PRO music. So if you upload and put that it is registered, some buyers may filter you out if they want to avoid PRO licenses.
What exactly is a PRO?
Thank you!
I just found this video! Thank you, it's fantastic and reassuring as well. I have a good number of tracks I could start to pitch to Libraries, but I have one question (for now): Do I (does everyone) need to wait for a response (acceptance/rejection) from a library before pitching to the next library on the list? OR, is it standard practice to to pitch everything everywhere until it sticks? I imagine the answer could be "a bit of both", but I'd like to know what you DID at the beginning, and what you DO today. Thank you in advance!
Hey thanks for watching! The BEAUTY about non-exclusive stock libraries in particular is that you can put all your music on all the sites. I submitted to Pond5 and AudioJungle first because that seems to be the “rule” that is taught. I still recommend Pond5 first as it works great as a kind of library for your description, keywords, tempo, song length, etc., and it’s fairly simple to get in with decent sounding produced tracks. You can register with AJ and I recommend you do, but they are still closed to new submissions from new artists as of the the time of this comment.
I signed up for 123RF, Motion Array, and AudioSparx next. Then later VFineMusic and 100Audio, Dreamstime, and DepositPhotos. Technically I have made money with all, but only been paid by 6 or so. But the point is YES you can sign up and start submitting (once they approve you) to ALL of them at the same time.
@@MakeMusicIncome Thanks for that info. Makes a lot of sense. I hope get this up and rolling soon! Thanks for your time!
hello sir ... can you tell me please if you register your music on ASCAP for exemple... before sending to music libraries or not. And if not how do you get the royalties income. Thanks
This is a good question. I do currently register anything going to stock libraries with my PRO. But if I am sending to a sync library, I may not. If they accept material for me, they like to be the ones who put it up to the PRO. And the PRO registration goes faster when they do it that way. See my video here about why I now register everything that I put in stock music with my PRO. ruclips.net/video/LjlwPI0NAmM/видео.html
This is a great video, thank you for sharing. I've written a lot of music over the years that's just been sitting and have been looking for ways to make a side income. Do these companies send you a 1099 or anything at the end of the year for taxes? Is it considered taxable income?
Some will yes.
Hey Eric thanks for your very helpful video! Could I ask when you are making the cut versions of the same track, 15, 30 and 60 second versions, do you fade in and/or out on these tracks or do you let them just stop dead at their full volume for the desired time? Thank you!
The rule is generally that these are individual files that can be used and have a start and a definite ending. So no, not really any fades on either end.
Super helpful list of stock music libraries! Are all of the libraries you mentioned non-exclusive? Do you submit everything to all libraries?
Thanks! At some point I will circle back and do a complete list and my experience with them. It’s planned. Yes all I mentioned are NE, but AudioSparx wants them to stay in forever (NE but can’t take it out.) I work hard to submit everything to the libraries that consistently make me money. I’m trying to put EVERYTHING to every library, but it is pretty time consuming.
@@MakeMusicIncome Love it! Thank you so much for sharing your industry insights! I'll stay tuned :)
Thanks, Eric! This is another passive income stream I hadn't considered as I begin thinking about transitioning into semi-retirement. Best thing about it: I'll love doing this one more than all the others I've been considering!
Yes definitely one to consider. GREAT for semi-retirees (very close myself!) The beauty is you can play and work and come up with things that have use for others, AND make more than sticking it on a streaming site...it can even become a nice side income. Thanks for watching!
How long does it takes to recieve your widraw fund on paypal? Does it really take a week to wait?
You can do a withdrawal from PayPal to your bank account if you have gone through that process. It usually takes about one business day or you can send it instant and lose a small percentage.
@@MakeMusicIncome
Do you have any video tutorial regarding on that?
Because it's been 4 days now since i widraw my funds using my Paypal account and this is my first time to make a widraw here on songtrd
Usually take a few days and things don’t transfer on weekend days.
Absolutely great video Eric. Thank you.❤❤ I have a question for you... Do I need to get my own ISRC code for each song before I apply for music licensing websites? How does that work? I'm wondering if I need to mix it right into the song somehow... not sure how this part works. Thank you. Sharon
It’s fine but not needed. ISRC is usually more important to streaming/CDs.
@@MakeMusicIncome Thank you for responding.😁 How do they track who uses my music then?
@@your.music.connectionI don’t think they do track them. Someone makes a one time purchase of your music and then gets to use it for free and you’re not collecting royalties on it.
Hey, thanks for the video, I was wondering if you know how the sync licensing companies are dealing with AI assisted composition? Are there policies in place, or general approach? Not talking about crappy unfiltered AI, but I have a few tracks made by AI which I picked, edited, arranged and even put vocals on them - I’m worried whether reviewers would be able to overcome the stereotypes if you even mention AI
They are pretty against it, unless it is their AI or their loops. They are not looking for AI created things in my experience. It’s all about handcrafted these days. Too much possibility someone else could send them a similarly made and sounding track, or could make one that sounds like yours.
@@MakeMusicIncome I agree, when it comes to folks who bluntly hit 'create', 'export', and. then 'upload'. I had no idea some of them have their own AI and distribute loops, can you give an example which ones do?
Great video
Thanks for watching!
Hi, I just want to know, can you upload the same song/instrumental in multiple libraries?? Or it has to be exclusive for each website? Thank you for this video, I needed some inspiration and this helped! Regards from Colombia
As long as the library allows non-exclusive and you haven’t put the song into any exclusive libraries, you can put the song up to multiple non-exclusive libraries.
Is it ok to post your music on RUclips in conjunction with stock music libraries as well. Or is that not a good thing to do?
Yes absolutely. The beauty about stock music is that mostly you’re dealing with non-exclusive music so you can do whatever you like!
Great video.
Thank you!
Thanks for the video! As of July 2022, are you still with Songtradr?
Yes, still with them. I have elected for 2022 to go the FREE route and not pay for an account. Had a nice payday last month, and will be talking about it in this week’s LIVE video Thursday talking about my first 6 months of 2022 stock income.
@@MakeMusicIncome Great thanks! I'll try to catch the live video!
Hello again my friend, I’m just curious, how much music on average you have to upload in order to earn $600 per month? Thank you so much in advance 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I think you need to upload 100+ songs on 4-5 paying libraries at least to get around $500/mo. AND you need a healthy bunch of songs working for you on Motion Array. That’s the real key for me.
@@MakeMusicIncome thank you so much for your reply my friend, really informative for everyone here, have a great day 🙏🏻😊🤘
great video. thanks a lot :)
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!
Hi there. Is it possible to have our music on streaming with ISRC and also sell them in Royalty Free stores?
Absolutely! Most are not exclusive that means you can do anything you want with the songs.
Thank you so much! What are some examples of music great for background and where can we hear them? Can you share some sites please? That would be much appreciated and a great help for everyone , 🙏🏻😊
I would just go to Audio Jungle of Motion Array and listen to the top songs in corporate or whatever genre you write in. AJ will be a little more “background”, MA likes to pick all kinds of things including vocals.
@@MakeMusicIncome thank you my friend for your reply, appreciate it🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I produce 30 tracks but I have very few sales, I guess my music didn’t really serve the market for licensing
30 won;t be enough to make a dent I’m afraid. Those of us who have 100-200 still feel like we’re barely being found. It’s quality AND quantities my friend. Especially in stock music. Keep cranking my friend!
@@MakeMusicIncome thank God found your channel, thanks for sharing, thank you, have a great day! 🙏🏻
Is there a way to buy your book from Amazon digital download (even if you increase price to $20 to cover costs?). I've never heard of payhip and I'm wary of it.
So I have a question. If I upload to Pond 5, could I do a RUclips video showcasing that track to direct traffic to Pond 5 so people could find it to access it?
Sure. I’m not sure if that helps though because Pond5 people will be going to Pond5 not to RUclips. You have to thing from the users perspective. Why would they be searching on RUclips for something they could find on Pond5 ?
Since stock music is royalty free, what would be the copyright situation if someone wrote a song over top a stock music instrumental and put the song out as original?
They shouldn’t do that without your okay. You would still be owner of the original song.
Hi Eric. Question; Have you had any requests from stock library clients for stems similar to sync licencing? The reason I ask is I have an album of unused sync tracks already mastered, where the original files were lost and could not be submitted for use. Thanks again for the videos and your time.
-Ron
No, so far no one in Stock has asked for Stems. And only one of the three exclusive libraries wanted stems. Another wanted just mix, track, and vocals, and the third wanted 3-5 mixes that they curated per song. It’s always different with each library what they want. BUT no, no stems asked for in stock yet for me.
@@MakeMusicIncome Ok great! Again, thanks for your time knowledge.
Sorry the spamming... But do these tracks need to be finished as in it has a beginning and an end? Or can it be a piece of music that sort of just ends?
The competition has become fierce. These need to be as finished masters as you’d an get. Worthy of Spotify or any release.
@@MakeMusicIncome 🙏 Thanks
Greetings Eric! I’m desperately trying to understand the math. Is there an accumulated number of tracks to have uploaded amongst the various libraries or is there a target number of separate distinct pieces to strive for? This is of course granting the condition that the tracks are quality and functional.
I wish there were some clear cut numbers John, but every single library is different in the tracks they want, or the tracks they like from different composers/producers, the amount they pay, if they are subscription or not (and sometimes they are both!), if someone has a coupon, what country you live in, and a host of other things. The best advice is to be prolific, be of high quality, and upload often.
Thanks 🌟😆
Can you uploads the same songs to different libraries?
Yes as long as we are talking non exclusive.
It always confused me how many beats/songs should I have ready before applying to some of these libraries?
I’d say as few as 5 or so, but you should be on your way to 20, 50, 100…
It’s royalty free untill it’s not, not even youtube will defend your rights even if you have direct signiture from artist, abusive companies will always try to claim free music
Can you list all the websites? Also does your background play any part of being excepted to these sites or is it just them listening to the music you submitted?
In this video I talk about Pond5, AudioJungle, Motion Array, 123RF, AudioSparx, VFineMusic, 100 Audio, DepositPhotos, Songtradr, Dreamstime, and MusicGrid. My background helps on the composing and production side but getting accepted is all about what they hear and want.
@@MakeMusicIncome Excellent very helpful. So you sighn up to the sight and then send them each individual song or music and they then decide if each will go on there site one at a time?
Correct.
@@MakeMusicIncome Are they all free or are there fees?
Well you have to be accepted by the library as a composer, But besides that it’s completely free. Except for your time.
How much paid to the artist for every download? more or less, What numbers are we talking about per download? Thanks
Such a wide range depending on the store, what you price the song at, etc. Some sell the song outright and you make 35% of the song sale. Some charge clients a monthly fee for as much as they want and you get a much lower fee per download. Varies greatly.
@@MakeMusicIncome Thanks, I forgot to mention that I mean Motion Array specifically
@@endeproducer Anywhere from .14-.49 cents per download depending on what level you are on.
@@MakeMusicIncome Thank you very much, couldn't find this information anywhere