I believe this is the only channel on youtube where reading the comments is actually worth it and won’t make you completely lose faith in humanity. Thanks Chris for fathering this community!
As someone who has been fortunate enough to make a living from production music the past couple of years, I would say the biggest piece of advice I can give is this: Not only should you have a laser focus on creating production/library music, but you should also have a laser focus on the •type• of production music. That means both: What type of production music you are looking to write (commercials, trailers, reality TV, regular TV etc.)? AND what style(s) do you write really well (and there seems to be a market for)? Once you've got that figured out, stay laser focused on those. As Christian mentioned, it's such a numbers game (If you hit with 10% of the stuff you write you're absolutely killing it), and the temptation when you're starting out is just to write everything. Epic orchestral, EDM, shoegaze, plucky string stuff, synth pop, acoustic folk where people shout "hey!" etc. etc. It takes time to figure out what that specific thing (or two or three) for you is, but the more specific you get with your writing, the more likely it is you'll find your niche.
Dan Rosen This is solid advice. The bigger publishers with the biggest reach have top guys in every conceivable genre, so if they back you to create in a particular style then you should probably stick with it rather than try to crash someone else’s gig!
Thanks for the insight Dan. In you're opinion, is it best to go with a publisher or can I go it alone and submit my music to production music libraries directly? I have found my niche in acoustic guitar pieces and made 100 odd sales on audiojungle and pond5. But I would like to know the best way to move forward. Can you please offer any advice?
Thanks Dan! Focusing on our production strengths is a simple yet effective idea. Out of curiosity or ego, we might be tempted to write music outside of our area of competence. It’s not because we listen to all sorts of music that we’re going to write great music in those styles. Also, the fact that we have amazing creative tools (sound libraries, plugins) at our disposal can be a seducing trap.
I own and operate a US-based production music company (The License Lab), have created production music catalogs over the past two decades that I've sold to Warner/Chappell, BMG, and Extreme (Sony/ATV), and I will, from now on, direct all "how can I do what you did?" inquiries to this fine video of yours. So many people say they want this info yet when I recap it for them (virtually all of your points here) so few are willing to then dedicate themselves to the production music niche of the music business. Those who do and heed your phenomenal advice here will likely succeed where many have merely dipped their toes in the water and wondered why they can't seem to gain any traction. I think your list of major players seems on point for the UK market, but worldwide (and here in the US) the list is a tad deeper. Just a tad. :) My only critique... our industry faces many challenges these days and-but for those of us who take it as seriously as you suggest-production music remains dangerously close to becoming commodified. Re: The Numbers Game... it's important when cranking out Quantity that the Quality factor is not overlooked or ignored entirely (although I'm grateful for the many competitors of ours that do!). It's not JUST numbers... it should still be about the MUSIC. Thank you for giving a shit. And thank you for your passion for the industry and for your kickass work with Spitfire.
Hey Daniel, thanks for giving your thoughts as well. Appreciate it from someone who's been in the business for a bit. I also asked Mark up top about but I'm wondering your thoughts on how AI is going to affect the industry in 5-10 years. Do you think there will be software that can for example, be given a hundred reference tracks and using the algorithm produce a seemingly endless variety of content in seconds? If so, do you think composers should be worried about this?
I mean, that technology basically exists now. I saw prototypes for a major advertising conglomerate a few years ago now that offered this sort of functionality. It will certainly become pretty normal I would think, just as AI is informing (infecting?!) most of our digital world. As to whether composers should be worried... it seems the greater threat to our creative way of life is the possibility that those who license and/or buy our music may begin to see these raw goods as interchangeable, turning music into a mere commodity (as I referenced above). Technology will not stop advancing, obviously, so it's up to us to inject as much humanity into our compositions as we possibly can. I don't want to live in a world where human taste and our fickle emotions AREN'T a part of a creative process and the decisions leading to the use of our music. I think I'll continue to be most interested in working with those creatives who are looking for that elusive inspired/human element in their projects, as opposed to a corporate edit house that decides to outsource their music selections to an algorithm. Then again, I'm a bit of a romantic about this sort of thing... take my input with a heap of salt.
"it's up to us to inject as much humanity into our compositions as we possibly can". Love that, I always strive to do that and it'll become even more important as the tech gets more advanced and becomes "a cool new technology" that everyone wants to check out/use. Thanks man.
Your discussion of the 1/70 rule sparked my curiosity. After analyzing my data I found that 63% of my income came from tracks listed 1-4, 24% from tracks 5-8, and 13% from tracks 9-12. I've been at this for 5 years and have about 500 tracks out in the world. My income derives from my composers share (ASCAP) and a percentage of synchronization royalties from the library. No upfront buyouts. I have yet to hit it big on one particular track, although I've made a decent amount from a track that underscores a guy lifting up his shirt and shaking his fat belly in a weight loss infomercial.
As someone working on changing careers into music full time, these videos are super helpful. On the other hand it's very funny that when the video finished, one of the suggestions was the video about diversifying :D
As an end user, mainly for corporate films I thought I'd add my tuppence. Time is always our enemy. We all wish we had time to trawl through libraries, but we simply just don't have time. If I could justify to a client that i needed a day to listen to music I think the conversation and the work would end, so metadata is really our friend in the search and an ability to take a clients abstract thoughts and turn them in to a search. The usual favourite is we just want some corporate music. I have actually used that as a search and found some ok stuff, so binaural metadata can win. The second think I look for is length. I and many like me often use library as a bed for the images and so being able to extend or shorted tracks relatively easily is a huge deal. If is sounds like its going to be hard to clip a bit out or duplicate a section I will simple move on to something that isn't going to cost me time and therefor loose me money. Also we all have a bucket where we when we are looking for music we find other stuff that wont work for the project we are working on but may work for something else and they go in the bucket for the next time we need something.
I've been focusing on creating my own spreadsheet of metadata for my compositions to give to the libraries I'm part of. I found that the more detail I can give to entice to listen, the better the outcome. Totally get that! If you've got some search words that you normally type in when looking for piano driven or acoustic guitar driven instrumentals, I would appreciate it!
Hej Christian! Pretty decent video with a lot of inspirational tips and insights. Huge thanks for this! I have had the pleasure to operate with the meta- and royalty data of a couple of thousand library albums by now and have to say that your 'unicorn'-concept is absolutely true (I think that counts for all type of music composition - so also the hit-area)... What you have already stressed but still needs to be addressed again: THE COMPOSER NEEDS TO TAKE CARE! A lot of library musicians/producers tend to just load up their stuff at the libraries front-door and hope to land a synch and receive a royalty check, but those who realy dig into the data by means of what is happining (talking about monitoring), the administrative part (is the copyright registered right and when, where), is it available throughout various outlets like those which editors, agencies, tv networks are using, is it even commercially released (when, how, where) … is it presented in a right manner (like is it tagged well, is there a promotional/contextual description of the album/each track), does your partner operates their own search system(s) or do they just use the standard crappy and slow systems nearly every company is using, who are the partners of such library company, where have they offered your tracks... and last but not least: communicate, but do not bother the people... that's generally speaking the integral learning throughout the last years...
So, I'm just starting my journey as a composer... But one thing to point out from my experience as a video editor... Yes, when I find a composer that I like in the production library I have access to, I absolutely do search by name for that composer. While I am a musician and absolutely love spending hours searching through a library to discover new music, many times I'm under a deadline to finish a commercial and don't have that long to search for a track. So, it is extremely helpful to have a go-to composer in mind whom I trust. And I've noticed that those composers don't write all styles of music... They have a few genres they write well and stick to that. Something I'm considering as I move forward in my own journey
I used to think quantity mattered most, that you needed 2000 + tracks out there in the world to make a living from library music. When I thought that, I was pumping out at least two tracks a day. These days I make a lot more from doing far less - I get about one track done every two to three weeks. There are tiers to this business, and if you're aiming at stuffing your Audiojungle profile, then yes, you'll probably need to keep pumping out the tracks. But if you're constantly learning, and aiming to improve your musicality and production value with every track, set your sights on the levels of the business where quality trumps quantity. These days, especially with viable AI stock music maybe less than 10 years away, I think quality matters more than ever. Christian dishes up some great advice, including some things that I've figured out over the past 15 years of writing library music: #1 the library is the most important part of the equation. #2 a hook (or several of them) is critical to the success of most library tracks (with some exceptions of course, like atmospheric stuff).
Hey Mark, what are your thoughts on AI production music and how it will affect the bottom line? I have this feeling that in 5-10 years there will be software that can pump out a thousand tracks in a split second. It won't be Zimmer level quality but it could be decent underscore that can work with a lot of media. Should we be worried about this?
Hi Ryan, yes I think it is something that should put a fire under our asses! It sucks as of 2018, but it's easy to imagine in 2028 or maybe a little later when a FCP / iMovie plugin can instantly churn out something decent. The effects will probably ripple up the food chain, wiping out a lot of RF business at first, and then gradually affecting higher end licensing. Not to be all doom and gloom - maybe AI assisted composing will be amazing, and composers that focus on quality over quantity, and strive to innovate, will be just fine.
For sure, I guess there's no way to know until it happens but if there's one thing history has shown us, it's that the tech we thought would totally mess us up has usually helped in many amazing ways. The idea of an AI assistant in the studio feels kinda funny but it could totally happen!
@@Brianmann76 Wondering what tools can be used today to easily crank out several tracks per week without too much effort? In other words, is there a way to work smarter using tools to help automate or partially automate some/most of the individual instrumental tracks, rather than work hard trying to record (or manually input the notes of) most instruments yourself?
Damn!!! your content is just GOLD. I pat attention to every single word. Thank you!!! Im gonna focus on the video games industry cause thats what I love!
There is an actual term for the Thing, its known as the mnemonic function. The mnemonic function can be a sound or musical idea which (in the case of TV theme tunes) the listener immediately associates with a particular TV show. I'm sure nowadays it is more important than ever. Thanks for another great vlog . Thanks for another great vlog.
Apart from all the brilliant info on Library Music, I love that you do all this to camera in busy areas seemingly unphazed by everything else going on around you. It's funny to see some little glances at you in the background, as people try to work out what's going on.
Another great, unapologetic breakdown of the business, Christian. And wonderful comments that follow! I imagine many people starting out find some of these videos and responses somewhat disheartening. For me, I actually find comfort in being reminded that we all go through the same trials and face the same obstacles. As they say, if this were an easy job, everyone on the planet would do it (....although there are days it does feel like everyone on the planet is doing it.... :))
EXCELLENT VIDEO! A point that Christian makes very quickly is something along the lines of -- "don't create your own group of writer's". I think this is fantastic advice. I made the mistake of forming a "company" and churning out library music, with negligible results. Since going out on my own with it things have been much better. For some it could be the opposite..
I've watched you demo spitfire stuff for about a year now and I just stumbled upon your personal channel. Love the videos, I wish I had found it sooner! Thanks!
After 20 years doing library music, with over 1000 tracks in circulation, I can't say I've ever had a "unicorn track", more of a steady, good income distributed throughout the catalogue, and as for shelf life, my biggest earning PRS track for the past few distributions is some crap from around 17 years ago which Italian TV seems to like at the moment. I would agree about not wasting time with small libraries, unless of course they're going to be published through one of the majors, because some of these places actually still have non recoup-able "fees" per track which is obviously a nice incentive and not so much of a gamble. Obvious styles are a good way to go, sometimes it also pays to do something arty and weird. I have a library music album of modular synth weird atmospheres that was used a lot on 'Crime Watch' for example. One last consideration is that this is one of the very last places for a composer to earn decent money, so the competition has grown dramatically over the last 10 years, and you'll be lucky to even get a reply about a demo unless you already have credits, because (according to the guys i work with) they just get too many per week now.
Great info Paul. Do you approach the big libraries/distributors with album 'concepts' they might be interested in or keep an eye out for "press releases" from certain companies looking for tracks etc...? Ive had the odd track included in misc. album groupings and occasionally correspond with people like Evolution Media Music who release quite a lot of general album briefs, but not sure what the best direction is to focus my efforts... Any insight would be appreciated!
20 years ago I was sending a general demo to people, but it seems things are very different now, I'm told people are too busy to listen to general demos and prefer playlists of specific styles like drama or trailers or action etc ...but i honestly don't know if that's true. For me it's always been the case that once they hear I can write, we can then discuss what projects they need, but the biggest problem is getting somebody to actually listen to your reel, or even bother to read your email asking them to listen to your reel, and for that I have no answers because even with my track record, I am ignored 99% of the time. It's a very, very tough market now. i seriously doubt anybody is going to knock on the door with a project the big libraries have never considered though. Just be realistic in your approach and with your expectations. If you can compose, and compose in many styles, and work fast, then you'll earn money with the right library, eventually :)
Hey Paul, I am composing for a new library who has representation by BMG in Europe and Nichion in Japan, and BBC, ILM and others music catalogues sources as well.. in the UK operates under the MCPS. Do you think it's a good opportunity? Amadeo.
Well I don't want to hijack Christian's comments section. It's hard to know if it's good or not, only time will tell you that, but it sounds like they have a decent distribution base which is half the battle.
paul - can i ask you a couple of technical questions? what bit depth/sample rate does library music need to be in? does everything (including the stems) need to be mastered...or not? i did some mastering for guys who were working on trailer music, but christian doesn't seem to master any of his stuff, as far as i can see...
so much work was done for this epic episode, thank you Christian for the fantastic pearls of wisdom and obviously for the most amazing sound library in the world, Spitfire
I enjoyed this video and thanks for sharing the links! In my experience, being self employed means me having to multi-skill...making sales calls, doing tax returns, attending networking events, mending broken stuff, being an IT expert, etc. You're right about being focused and setting clear objectives. It's easier to stay on track whist nothing is happening when you have a plan to follow. Otherwise, we float around and procrastinate, pretending that we're busy writing an epic! p.s. I was going to have a rant about my experience with Audio Network, but common sense has prevailed and now I'm not going to :-)
Just discovered your channel, Christian. Followed Spitfire Audio for years, but didn’t see you had your own channel until RUclips recommended it😃. You have another subscriber and keep up the great work. Nearly 100 videos🎉🎉!
Thanks for another great video! Appreciate it if you can share with us more on your "Unicorn" track: 1. Was it a single track that landed on a major show that played for years? 2. Did you get "lucky" or you wrote it specifically with something in mind? 3. Was the income instant and good enough to last like a year?
I feel motivated after this video. I've been producing hip hop background music for videos and advertising and these week i felt like i don't want to continue anymore because of no sales. Thank you so much :)
This was really, really interesting... I got a sense from you that there was a real validity in looking more 'expansively' at the whole industry, of objectively but creatively discussing the zeitgeist, in an attempt at getting ahead of the curve. This was an area I was unsure whether to venture into with you on Twitter, so in a way I'm relieved. I've always felt that Spitfire was in a unique position, especially now that you and Paul have been freed up to explore some of this more philosophical territory. You're the best in the world at accommodating and catering to the needs and requirements of composers across the spectrum of "Media Music." But now you can begin to establish dialogue, share ideas and creative motivation that will shape and sculpt the direction of travel of "Media Music" into the future. As far as being on the cutting edge is concerned, it doesn't get much sharper than that... forgive the pun!
Thanks much for this video, Christian! I'm watched and re-watched the section about achieving 80% of your objective in 20% of the time, and I'm still a tad confused. Yes, library music--due to several factors such as needing to be editor friendly, work under VO, etc--does sound different than other music on the radio and TV. At first, I thought you meant library music is generally pumped out at a quicker rate than other music. But then, when you mentioned needing to spend more than 20% of your time, I was left with the feeling that you perceive library music's pumped out more quickly, but not at a clip of 5 times faster. Can you please elaborate? Per my experience and perception of music becoming AI'able as well as commodified, it seems to me that much more than 20% of the time should be put into the tracks...in fact, I'm finding that most of my tracks are taking about the same care and effort (which translate to time) as the ones I write for other musical applications, both due to my tendencies, perception of other tracks in the library, and to make it rise above the frey. Can you please elaborate on this point? Everything else is sage and clearly understandable. Thanks.
Such a great video. Here are my two cents. I have tried to apply something an app developer once told me. Think locally, act globally. So if you have a musical heritage in your blood write that, you will do it better than any one else, and it could be the way in to your niche..... The other thing is location, location, location. When my tracks are picked up in the UK, Europe or America the money goes much further because the cost of living in Cape Town is much less than....well most places I suppose.Thanks for the awesome vlog Christian.
Cheers for that! I didn't know you wrote library music. I do library work but work in theatre as well, one of the reasons is becuase it gets me out of the house and working with people!!
Greatly appreciate the insight here Christian, I've read so much on the topic but as per, you have a knack of making sense of all this noise, and layering that with your own experiences! I started out in the library world last year, and have written 3 albums with one of the companies you mentioned. I get a [small] upfront advance, 50% royalties but zero mech... when you said 100% of your unicorn earnings came from mechanicals my stomach turned! Royalties so far have been pocket change, in the low hundreds each quarter, which was entirely expected based on what I've read - however I wasn't aware there were mechanical opps within the world of library music (assumed creatives bought a blanket license and there were no upfront fees). So to clarify, if you had the choice to either take an upfront advance with zero mechanicals, or no advance and a 50/50 split on mechanicals, you'd go for the latter? Very much feels like I'm stood on a cliff edge, looking down into a great black abyss, with very few beacons of light showing the way - I'm sure others will agree it can feel very overwhelming when you're taking your first few steps - I'm so grateful for the steady flow of beacons you put out to help shed some light on this journey!
There's so many different models these days, and the landscape changes yearly... but I don't see how we can trust that we will earn a good living with out a piece of both sides of the rights as streaming pays via mechs, broadcast via perf..... as far as I know anyway?
Bonus tip (non-musical): For anyone visiting Edinburgh, Project Coffee in Bruntsfield (11:40) does a mighty full Scottish breakfast that'll fuel a days worth of sightseeing round the city. The scones are quite tasty too! :-)
ha ha ha.... its this fucking breakfast that turned me into a veggie (avo on toast with poached egg, goats cheese and some other bits that taste like heaven)
Question, what do you do with a blank screen and there is no inspiration and nothing comes to mind? Do you watch the picture over and over? Do you listen to someone else's music? Do you just plug away one note at a time? Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!
Thanks a lot Christian! Curious fact: my music with more placements (although not biggest money) has a Finnish title (actually I can't remember why) but totally agree with sugestive titles!
Wonderful insights again Christian. I really appreciate this talk. A bit hard for me to concentrate through all the scene cuts though. hahaha that looks like massive amounts of work.
Great video, as always! Just a quick question, do you normally get paid an advance to produce an album or are you speculatively submitting in the hope your tracks get picked up?
In order for the library company to legitimately hold claim to the copyright the safest bet for them in addition to the song assignment contract you will sign if they can prove that they have paid for it then that covers their asses if you claim illegal restriction of trade further down the line. So yes, if they don't give you a bit of cash for each track they leave themselves open for copyright claims further down the line.
Thanks for this. Loving the comments too! Oh and do you know how much a small terraced house in East Dulwich costs now!!! 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰 I lived there for about 5 years in my London days. It’s pretty.
Possibly the most useful video of yours to date! The only question is, WHICH unicorn to bet on? I don't think it's so much a question of which part of the industry do you want to work in most, more a question of which part of the industry do you stand most chance of standing out in.... And I guess that comes down to individual strengths more than anything else? I suppose some composers must lend themselves to library/production music more than others, because they are better at production, for example, or they come from a songwriting background with experience in writing a good hook?
I had a choice, the Hans Zimmer Masterclass or subscribe to Christian Henson Music. My mind was mind up when the 'Attack Hedgehogs' made an appearance, that, and the beer just tasted better. (Oddly, Hans neglected to even mention Hedgehogs in his promo). Also, one was slightly cheaper than the other. Thank you Christian.
Hello there :) Christian! This video is very, very informative! Thank you! What i´m interessed in: is there a comparison between the library music sites? which sites do people really recommend?
Awesome content, as always! Thank you, Christian. I wonder, has anyone had any experience with music licensing courses? There are some guys charging like almost $1000 and they say you will learn everything needed to succeed big time. Too good to be true...
Brilliant - love the timeline of earnings chart with your thoughts on why it worked that way. This idea of the unicorn - in whatever form it deigns to arrive, is a non-obvious truth that can't be overstated. Well, except in your business plan... that doesn't slot in so well. What a crazy gig this is :)
Thank you for this video. I want to start a RUclips channel but Id like to use my own music (very short 5 second sting or similar). How do I protect that music from being stolen? Also is it worth putting up very short bits of music onto sound cloud and creating my own publishing company (and does that need to be registered with companies house)? Or should I just publish it under a producer name? Does that name need to be registered wi a trademark? Thanks
Christian, belated question regarding the F*CK BOX. How do you go about converting line leves from RME to Instrument leves? Everyone seems to use reamp box of some sort. Isn't just going straight out without converting the signal damages the pedals? Thank you
One of the few videos that actually explain what I need to know . How about a new library music album name : COVID Impressions. OST to the most controversial year of the millenia
I am a TV Director and frequent library user. My goto's are Kosinus, Koka, ATV, Killer Tracks, Bruton, Chappel and Berlin Production Music. If I can't find it there, I'll move on to other libs. What are your favourite libs for TV?
Thanks Christian. I’m trying to get into library music here in 2021 and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some music libraries for me to join? Thanks
Where can i enroll to learn how to make... Music for film and tv... From scratch... I have no idea... Where to start please... Help me... I need to learn from basic to advanced... I am ready to give myself next three to three years... Dedicatedly. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
If a library wants exclusive use of the tracks submitted, can you submit different tracks to multiple other libraries? If so, would you recommend pseudonyms? Appreciate your thoughts….
I'm making most of my money from sample packs atm and I've thought about library music for years. Maybe it's not worth getting into then? I'm already busy with sample packs and my own career as an artist so from what you've said it sounds like it's not worth my time unless I'm going in on it 80-100%?
Yes, sounds like you've got a good thing already going on to build from. Earning money from the music biz is a really difficult thing to do, so if you're doing it, keep doing it!
I'd be curious to know which virtual library sites or companies you, CH, have used, as well as other people who are in the comments. Like many online services, there are so many different variations, pay schedules, features, etc that you can get roped into. And do you deliver your tracks mastered by a third party to these libraries? I think for a lot of media composers that may be of some interested: how to deliver your work to the end user/platform.
I'm nowhere near the stature of most people in the industry but I've worked with library companies in the past, and they always did the mastering - typically because they want stems and you can't really separate those if you have any compression/limiting on your master bus. It probably differs for each company though, I'd ask the person you're submitting to if unsure
Dear Christian, I have a request (more of a challenge really): Could you make a 1 or 2 minute score/theme using only shitty daw-native virtual instruments?? Most of us at this beginning stage, to be honest, can't really afford top notch libraries, so how can we fight for that unicorn if all we have are the native libraries that come with Logic or, in my case, Cubase for example? is a good score only possible with "expensive" libraries? I know that - let's be realistic about this - your libraries are indeed top notch quality and that you're trying to sell them, but could YOU create a score, using only those "shitty" instrument sample libraries that come native with DAWs these days?? I'm asking this because, from what I see all over the web is everyone talking about how amazing the libraries X or Y are amazing and that everyone should buy them, and when you go check the price, its as expensive (or more) than my whole setup that took me years to be able to afford. So, how the hell can we start our "careers" as film composers? Sorry the long essay-ish type comment but this has been bugging me ever sense I realised my true passion: film score. Much love... Thiago.
Thank you for yet another inspiring, informative and entertaining video! I would love to hear your thoughts on writing under pseudonyms - pros and cons, and more importantly how to chose a good pen name, and if you feel the actual name has an influence on how your tracks are going to perform...
So 1. You're really saying that production music gave you more than Spitfire Audio (money wise) 😱 nothing wrong with it it just sounds unbelievable to my ears..... 2. One shouldn't bother with royalty free/stock music 3. is there, in your view, any point in using the blitzkrieg approach to one of the other areas of the business you mentioned?
Francesco Pirrone 1. Library music earned me more as a composer than anything I have done. 2. I wouldn’t 3. I think the blitzkrieg approach applies to anything. People with focus may not win as quickly but when they do they totally dominate from what I’ve seen.
Would love to know people's thoughts on the new royalty free subscription based licensing sites that are popping up. My view is these types of sites will eventually make it impossible for composers to earn a reasonable living from library music. Some offer a $200 yearly fee for unlimited + unrestricted use of their entire catalogue, which you can continue using even if you cancel your subscription. It sounds ludicrous!
I think you're blaming the wrong people, they're basically tapping into areas of media where it is impossible for composers to be paid a royalty. They're feeding a demand created by a lack of legislation. RUclips created an website that pays content creators direct and punishes them for copyright infringements. So content creators need free content to enhance their productions as there is no way of them distributing royalties to composers / stock photo creators etc etc. But it is not a new thing, in the USA they failed to legislate for performance royalties off the back of cinema exhibition, so in the states you don't earn any royalties when your music is played on a film in a movie theatre house, whereas in Europe this is an important part of our royalty portfolios.
Hi Christian. Thanks so much for replying! Appreciate the response and I hear what you're saying. However the issue I see isn't actually with the lack of royalties (although this would obv be preferable!) My music is registered with royalty-free libraries where I get a fee for each time my track is used on a single project and the pricing tiers go up depending on the size of the project. The issue I see is that in the past 3 years or so, several new libraries have sprung up offering customers unlimited access to the entire catalogue for a subscription of couple of hundred $ per year. Understandable if you're a RUclipsr with limited finances but a pretty radical shift for huge brands to have access to a whole library of music for such a small fee - it just seems exploitative and really devalues music. In a nutshell, I'm all for library music and even the royalty-free model, just not low-cost subscription models. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in - love your vlogs, keep 'em coming!
So Christian... literally CD albums of production music are still being sent out these days? I figured all the tracks are available from the libraries to review online now?
Most libraries sites are Royalty free. Would you recommend doing that? I have a few tracks up on some of those, so you get paid when they use them but no royalties.
Christian Henson Music so it’s synth licensing but on a smaller form I guess. You have companies like The Music Bed or Marmoset licensing for film and tv. The licenses are much smaller, like $50, but they also can be much larger as well, like $100,000, just depends on what it’s used for and who is using it. It’s basically all the small licenses that the big companies don’t wanna deal with. I hope this makes sense. Thanks for all you do. Really inspiring for small composers like me, trying to make it! Cheers!
I believe this is the only channel on youtube where reading the comments is actually worth it and won’t make you completely lose faith in humanity.
Thanks Chris for fathering this community!
As someone who has been fortunate enough to make a living from production music the past couple of years, I would say the biggest piece of advice I can give is this: Not only should you have a laser focus on creating production/library music, but you should also have a laser focus on the •type• of production music. That means both: What type of production music you are looking to write (commercials, trailers, reality TV, regular TV etc.)? AND what style(s) do you write really well (and there seems to be a market for)? Once you've got that figured out, stay laser focused on those. As Christian mentioned, it's such a numbers game (If you hit with 10% of the stuff you write you're absolutely killing it), and the temptation when you're starting out is just to write everything. Epic orchestral, EDM, shoegaze, plucky string stuff, synth pop, acoustic folk where people shout "hey!" etc. etc. It takes time to figure out what that specific thing (or two or three) for you is, but the more specific you get with your writing, the more likely it is you'll find your niche.
Dan Rosen This is solid advice. The bigger publishers with the biggest reach have top guys in every conceivable genre, so if they back you to create in a particular style then you should probably stick with it rather than try to crash someone else’s gig!
Dan Rosen p
Thanks for the insight Dan. In you're opinion, is it best to go with a publisher or can I go it alone and submit my music to production music libraries directly? I have found my niche in acoustic guitar pieces and made 100 odd sales on audiojungle and pond5. But I would like to know the best way to move forward. Can you please offer any advice?
Thanks Dan! Focusing on our production strengths is a simple yet effective idea. Out of curiosity or ego, we might be tempted to write music outside of our area of competence. It’s not because we listen to all sorts of music that we’re going to write great music in those styles.
Also, the fact that we have amazing creative tools (sound libraries, plugins) at our disposal can be a seducing trap.
I own and operate a US-based production music company (The License Lab), have created production music catalogs over the past two decades that I've sold to Warner/Chappell, BMG, and Extreme (Sony/ATV), and I will, from now on, direct all "how can I do what you did?" inquiries to this fine video of yours. So many people say they want this info yet when I recap it for them (virtually all of your points here) so few are willing to then dedicate themselves to the production music niche of the music business. Those who do and heed your phenomenal advice here will likely succeed where many have merely dipped their toes in the water and wondered why they can't seem to gain any traction.
I think your list of major players seems on point for the UK market, but worldwide (and here in the US) the list is a tad deeper. Just a tad. :)
My only critique... our industry faces many challenges these days and-but for those of us who take it as seriously as you suggest-production music remains dangerously close to becoming commodified. Re: The Numbers Game... it's important when cranking out Quantity that the Quality factor is not overlooked or ignored entirely (although I'm grateful for the many competitors of ours that do!). It's not JUST numbers... it should still be about the MUSIC.
Thank you for giving a shit. And thank you for your passion for the industry and for your kickass work with Spitfire.
Hey Daniel, thanks for giving your thoughts as well. Appreciate it from someone who's been in the business for a bit. I also asked Mark up top about but I'm wondering your thoughts on how AI is going to affect the industry in 5-10 years. Do you think there will be software that can for example, be given a hundred reference tracks and using the algorithm produce a seemingly endless variety of content in seconds? If so, do you think composers should be worried about this?
I mean, that technology basically exists now. I saw prototypes for a major advertising conglomerate a few years ago now that offered this sort of functionality. It will certainly become pretty normal I would think, just as AI is informing (infecting?!) most of our digital world. As to whether composers should be worried... it seems the greater threat to our creative way of life is the possibility that those who license and/or buy our music may begin to see these raw goods as interchangeable, turning music into a mere commodity (as I referenced above). Technology will not stop advancing, obviously, so it's up to us to inject as much humanity into our compositions as we possibly can. I don't want to live in a world where human taste and our fickle emotions AREN'T a part of a creative process and the decisions leading to the use of our music. I think I'll continue to be most interested in working with those creatives who are looking for that elusive inspired/human element in their projects, as opposed to a corporate edit house that decides to outsource their music selections to an algorithm. Then again, I'm a bit of a romantic about this sort of thing... take my input with a heap of salt.
"it's up to us to inject as much humanity into our compositions as we possibly can". Love that, I always strive to do that and it'll become even more important as the tech gets more advanced and becomes "a cool new technology" that everyone wants to check out/use. Thanks man.
Your discussion of the 1/70 rule sparked my curiosity. After analyzing my data I found that 63% of my income came from tracks listed 1-4, 24% from tracks 5-8, and 13% from tracks 9-12. I've been at this for 5 years and have about 500 tracks out in the world. My income derives from my composers share (ASCAP) and a percentage of synchronization royalties from the library. No upfront buyouts. I have yet to hit it big on one particular track, although I've made a decent amount from a track that underscores a guy lifting up his shirt and shaking his fat belly in a weight loss infomercial.
As someone working on changing careers into music full time, these videos are super helpful. On the other hand it's very funny that when the video finished, one of the suggestions was the video about diversifying :D
As an end user, mainly for corporate films I thought I'd add my tuppence. Time is always our enemy. We all wish we had time to trawl through libraries, but we simply just don't have time. If I could justify to a client that i needed a day to listen to music I think the conversation and the work would end, so metadata is really our friend in the search and an ability to take a clients abstract thoughts and turn them in to a search. The usual favourite is we just want some corporate music. I have actually used that as a search and found some ok stuff, so binaural metadata can win. The second think I look for is length. I and many like me often use library as a bed for the images and so being able to extend or shorted tracks relatively easily is a huge deal. If is sounds like its going to be hard to clip a bit out or duplicate a section I will simple move on to something that isn't going to cost me time and therefor loose me money. Also we all have a bucket where we when we are looking for music we find other stuff that wont work for the project we are working on but may work for something else and they go in the bucket for the next time we need something.
I've been focusing on creating my own spreadsheet of metadata for my compositions to give to the libraries I'm part of. I found that the more detail I can give to entice to listen, the better the outcome. Totally get that! If you've got some search words that you normally type in when looking for piano driven or acoustic guitar driven instrumentals, I would appreciate it!
Great advice, thanks!
Hej Christian! Pretty decent video with a lot of inspirational tips and insights. Huge thanks for this! I have had the pleasure to operate with the meta- and royalty data of a couple of thousand library albums by now and have to say that your 'unicorn'-concept is absolutely true (I think that counts for all type of music composition - so also the hit-area)... What you have already stressed but still needs to be addressed again: THE COMPOSER NEEDS TO TAKE CARE! A lot of library musicians/producers tend to just load up their stuff at the libraries front-door and hope to land a synch and receive a royalty check, but those who realy dig into the data by means of what is happining (talking about monitoring), the administrative part (is the copyright registered right and when, where), is it available throughout various outlets like those which editors, agencies, tv networks are using, is it even commercially released (when, how, where) … is it presented in a right manner (like is it tagged well, is there a promotional/contextual description of the album/each track), does your partner operates their own search system(s) or do they just use the standard crappy and slow systems nearly every company is using, who are the partners of such library company, where have they offered your tracks... and last but not least: communicate, but do not bother the people... that's generally speaking the integral learning throughout the last years...
I love how you've evolved in your videos, the details are awesome!
So, I'm just starting my journey as a composer... But one thing to point out from my experience as a video editor... Yes, when I find a composer that I like in the production library I have access to, I absolutely do search by name for that composer. While I am a musician and absolutely love spending hours searching through a library to discover new music, many times I'm under a deadline to finish a commercial and don't have that long to search for a track. So, it is extremely helpful to have a go-to composer in mind whom I trust. And I've noticed that those composers don't write all styles of music... They have a few genres they write well and stick to that. Something I'm considering as I move forward in my own journey
I used to think quantity mattered most, that you needed 2000 + tracks out there in the world to make a living from library music. When I thought that, I was pumping out at least two tracks a day.
These days I make a lot more from doing far less - I get about one track done every two to three weeks. There are tiers to this business, and if you're aiming at stuffing your Audiojungle profile, then yes, you'll probably need to keep pumping out the tracks. But if you're constantly learning, and aiming to improve your musicality and production value with every track, set your sights on the levels of the business where quality trumps quantity. These days, especially with viable AI stock music maybe less than 10 years away, I think quality matters more than ever.
Christian dishes up some great advice, including some things that I've figured out over the past 15 years of writing library music:
#1 the library is the most important part of the equation.
#2 a hook (or several of them) is critical to the success of most library tracks (with some exceptions of course, like atmospheric stuff).
Hey Mark, what are your thoughts on AI production music and how it will affect the bottom line? I have this feeling that in 5-10 years there will be software that can pump out a thousand tracks in a split second. It won't be Zimmer level quality but it could be decent underscore that can work with a lot of media. Should we be worried about this?
Hi Ryan, yes I think it is something that should put a fire under our asses! It sucks as of 2018, but it's easy to imagine in 2028 or maybe a little later when a FCP / iMovie plugin can instantly churn out something decent. The effects will probably ripple up the food chain, wiping out a lot of RF business at first, and then gradually affecting higher end licensing. Not to be all doom and gloom - maybe AI assisted composing will be amazing, and composers that focus on quality over quantity, and strive to innovate, will be just fine.
For sure, I guess there's no way to know until it happens but if there's one thing history has shown us, it's that the tech we thought would totally mess us up has usually helped in many amazing ways. The idea of an AI assistant in the studio feels kinda funny but it could totally happen!
@@Brianmann76 Wondering what tools can be used today to easily crank out several tracks per week without too much effort? In other words, is there a way to work smarter using tools to help automate or partially automate some/most of the individual instrumental tracks, rather than work hard trying to record (or manually input the notes of) most instruments yourself?
Damn!!! your content is just GOLD. I pat attention to every single word. Thank you!!! Im gonna focus on the video games industry cause thats what I love!
There is an actual term for the Thing, its known as the mnemonic function. The mnemonic function can be a sound or musical idea which (in the case of TV theme tunes) the listener immediately associates with a particular TV show. I'm sure nowadays it is more important than ever.
Thanks for another great vlog .
Thanks for another great vlog.
Apart from all the brilliant info on Library Music, I love that you do all this to camera in busy areas seemingly unphazed by everything else going on around you. It's funny to see some little glances at you in the background, as people try to work out what's going on.
Agreed. And, I would love a supercut of people giving weird "What's going on here?" faces to the camera.
Another great, unapologetic breakdown of the business, Christian. And wonderful comments that follow! I imagine many people starting out find some of these videos and responses somewhat disheartening. For me, I actually find comfort in being reminded that we all go through the same trials and face the same obstacles. As they say, if this were an easy job, everyone on the planet would do it (....although there are days it does feel like everyone on the planet is doing it.... :))
EXCELLENT VIDEO!
A point that Christian makes very quickly is something along the lines of -- "don't create your own group of writer's". I think this is fantastic advice. I made the mistake of forming a "company" and churning out library music, with negligible results. Since going out on my own with it things have been much better. For some it could be the opposite..
These examples are from famous polish tv series. I’ve been watching it for few seasons. I love this music. Thank you Christian!
Omg, now that what i call an "energy of the man". It's so powerful
Thank you so much for your content!
I've watched you demo spitfire stuff for about a year now and I just stumbled upon your personal channel. Love the videos, I wish I had found it sooner! Thanks!
These have become my favorite music/production videos on RUclips. You're awesome Christian! Thanks for spreading the education and love :)
After 20 years doing library music, with over 1000 tracks in circulation, I can't say I've ever had a "unicorn track", more of a steady, good income distributed throughout the catalogue, and as for shelf life, my biggest earning PRS track for the past few distributions is some crap from around 17 years ago which Italian TV seems to like at the moment.
I would agree about not wasting time with small libraries, unless of course they're going to be published through one of the majors, because some of these places actually still have non recoup-able "fees" per track which is obviously a nice incentive and not so much of a gamble.
Obvious styles are a good way to go, sometimes it also pays to do something arty and weird. I have a library music album of modular synth weird atmospheres that was used a lot on 'Crime Watch' for example.
One last consideration is that this is one of the very last places for a composer to earn decent money, so the competition has grown dramatically over the last 10 years, and you'll be lucky to even get a reply about a demo unless you already have credits, because (according to the guys i work with) they just get too many per week now.
Great info Paul. Do you approach the big libraries/distributors with album 'concepts' they might be interested in or keep an eye out for "press releases" from certain companies looking for tracks etc...? Ive had the odd track included in misc. album groupings and occasionally correspond with people like Evolution Media Music who release quite a lot of general album briefs, but not sure what the best direction is to focus my efforts... Any insight would be appreciated!
20 years ago I was sending a general demo to people, but it seems things are very different now, I'm told people are too busy to listen to general demos and prefer playlists of specific styles like drama or trailers or action etc ...but i honestly don't know if that's true. For me it's always been the case that once they hear I can write, we can then discuss what projects they need, but the biggest problem is getting somebody to actually listen to your reel, or even bother to read your email asking them to listen to your reel, and for that I have no answers because even with my track record, I am ignored 99% of the time.
It's a very, very tough market now. i seriously doubt anybody is going to knock on the door with a project the big libraries have never considered though. Just be realistic in your approach and with your expectations. If you can compose, and compose in many styles, and work fast, then you'll earn money with the right library, eventually :)
Hey Paul, I am composing for a new library who has representation by BMG in Europe and Nichion in Japan, and BBC, ILM and others music catalogues sources as well.. in the UK operates under the MCPS. Do you think it's a good opportunity?
Amadeo.
Well I don't want to hijack Christian's comments section. It's hard to know if it's good or not, only time will tell you that, but it sounds like they have a decent distribution base which is half the battle.
paul - can i ask you a couple of technical questions? what bit depth/sample rate does library music need to be in? does everything (including the stems) need to be mastered...or not? i did some mastering for guys who were working on trailer music, but christian doesn't seem to master any of his stuff, as far as i can see...
so much work was done for this epic episode, thank you Christian for the fantastic pearls of wisdom and obviously for the most amazing sound library in the world, Spitfire
I enjoyed this video and thanks for sharing the links!
In my experience, being self employed means me having to multi-skill...making sales calls, doing tax returns, attending networking events, mending broken stuff, being an IT expert, etc. You're right about being focused and setting clear objectives. It's easier to stay on track whist nothing is happening when you have a plan to follow. Otherwise, we float around and procrastinate, pretending that we're busy writing an epic!
p.s.
I was going to have a rant about my experience with Audio Network, but common sense has prevailed and now I'm not going to :-)
Perfect timing, a beautifully thought out video. And it made me think too...
Just discovered your channel, Christian. Followed Spitfire Audio for years, but didn’t see you had your own channel until RUclips recommended it😃. You have another subscriber and keep up the great work. Nearly 100 videos🎉🎉!
Thanks for another great video! Appreciate it if you can share with us more on your "Unicorn" track:
1. Was it a single track that landed on a major show that played for years?
2. Did you get "lucky" or you wrote it specifically with something in mind?
3. Was the income instant and good enough to last like a year?
Christian your Vlogs are really really good mate! They have nuggets of wisdom that aren't just exclusive to the music industry. Thank you mate!
Know I’m late to the party here, but this is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen .... and I’ve seen some f%*king videos!! Great stuff and thank you.
I feel motivated after this video. I've been producing hip hop background music for videos and advertising and these week i felt like i don't want to continue anymore because of no sales. Thank you so much :)
Thank you for the great info. God bless you! 🙂🙏🏻❤
Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips! Is there a starter library company you would recommend?
“...to be honest, I couldn’t get arrested as a media composer.” That made me laugh out loud on the subway. :)
Thanks for sharing information in Incredible places!
The subject matter of your videos is uncannily always what I am after. Thanks Christian
This was really, really interesting... I got a sense from you that there was a real validity in looking more 'expansively' at the whole industry, of objectively but creatively discussing the zeitgeist, in an attempt at getting ahead of the curve. This was an area I was unsure whether to venture into with you on Twitter, so in a way I'm relieved. I've always felt that Spitfire was in a unique position, especially now that you and Paul have been freed up to explore some of this more philosophical territory. You're the best in the world at accommodating and catering to the needs and requirements of composers across the spectrum of "Media Music." But now you can begin to establish dialogue, share ideas and creative motivation that will shape and sculpt the direction of travel of "Media Music" into the future. As far as being on the cutting edge is concerned, it doesn't get much sharper than that... forgive the pun!
Just to add - so library music could be both research lab and litmus test to these larger instincts...
Thanks much for this video, Christian! I'm watched and re-watched the section about achieving 80% of your objective in 20% of the time, and I'm still a tad confused. Yes, library music--due to several factors such as needing to be editor friendly, work under VO, etc--does sound different than other music on the radio and TV. At first, I thought you meant library music is generally pumped out at a quicker rate than other music. But then, when you mentioned needing to spend more than 20% of your time, I was left with the feeling that you perceive library music's pumped out more quickly, but not at a clip of 5 times faster. Can you please elaborate? Per my experience and perception of music becoming AI'able as well as commodified, it seems to me that much more than 20% of the time should be put into the tracks...in fact, I'm finding that most of my tracks are taking about the same care and effort (which translate to time) as the ones I write for other musical applications, both due to my tendencies, perception of other tracks in the library, and to make it rise above the frey. Can you please elaborate on this point? Everything else is sage and clearly understandable.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for creating such an informative video. Outstanding!!
Nicely put, a lot of critical information I would struggle to explain over 2 days ! Impressive ! Good work.
Such a great video. Here are my two cents. I have tried to apply something an app developer once told me. Think locally, act globally. So if you have a musical heritage in your blood write that, you will do it better than any one else, and it could be the way in to your niche..... The other thing is location, location, location. When my tracks are picked up in the UK, Europe or America the money goes much further because the cost of living in Cape Town is much less than....well most places I suppose.Thanks for the awesome vlog Christian.
I'm from Joburg!
Great clear tutorial. Much appreciate
Cheers for that! I didn't know you wrote library music. I do library work but work in theatre as well, one of the reasons is becuase it gets me out of the house and working with people!!
Holy shit, was that café playing Animal Collective - My Girls? God damn, never thought I'd see the day
thank you, christian. i was one of the people who asked about this, so great to see such a detailed response.
Fantastic video. Very insightful and ear opening. Thank you.
Great! Thanks Christian. Just about to get into the library game so this was really well timed and very helpful.
Hey, that's Arthur's Seat! Cool. I'm just up the road. No one outside Edinburgh's going to know what I'm talking about :-)
Great video edition !!!
Love this channel. One of my favourites.
Greatly appreciate the insight here Christian, I've read so much on the topic but as per, you have a knack of making sense of all this noise, and layering that with your own experiences! I started out in the library world last year, and have written 3 albums with one of the companies you mentioned. I get a [small] upfront advance, 50% royalties but zero mech... when you said 100% of your unicorn earnings came from mechanicals my stomach turned!
Royalties so far have been pocket change, in the low hundreds each quarter, which was entirely expected based on what I've read - however I wasn't aware there were mechanical opps within the world of library music (assumed creatives bought a blanket license and there were no upfront fees). So to clarify, if you had the choice to either take an upfront advance with zero mechanicals, or no advance and a 50/50 split on mechanicals, you'd go for the latter?
Very much feels like I'm stood on a cliff edge, looking down into a great black abyss, with very few beacons of light showing the way - I'm sure others will agree it can feel very overwhelming when you're taking your first few steps - I'm so grateful for the steady flow of beacons you put out to help shed some light on this journey!
There's so many different models these days, and the landscape changes yearly... but I don't see how we can trust that we will earn a good living with out a piece of both sides of the rights as streaming pays via mechs, broadcast via perf..... as far as I know anyway?
just discovered this. good stuff. thank you,
What library/websites do people contribute to? What are the best ones?
As mentioned in vid, to my knowledge EMI, Universal, Extreme and Audio Network are the main players.
Thanks Christian, love these videos...all very helpful and entertaining!
And what about BMG?
Bonus tip (non-musical): For anyone visiting Edinburgh, Project Coffee in Bruntsfield (11:40) does a mighty full Scottish breakfast that'll fuel a days worth of sightseeing round the city. The scones are quite tasty too! :-)
ha ha ha.... its this fucking breakfast that turned me into a veggie (avo on toast with poached egg, goats cheese and some other bits that taste like heaven)
Haha, brilliant! You've just convinced me to tackle the veggie option next time I'm in. Cheers! :-)
For (cheese) scones, you want the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street...
...what he said.
Artisan Roast near the Playhouse - best bean for your buck!!
Your videos are super awesome. Thanks so much!
Question, what do you do with a blank screen and there is no inspiration and nothing comes to mind? Do you watch the picture over and over? Do you listen to someone else's music? Do you just plug away one note at a time? Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!
Thanks a lot Christian! Curious fact: my music with more placements (although not biggest money) has a Finnish title (actually I can't remember why) but totally agree with sugestive titles!
Wonderful insights again Christian. I really appreciate this talk. A bit hard for me to concentrate through all the scene cuts though. hahaha that looks like massive amounts of work.
Great video, as always! Just a quick question, do you normally get paid an advance to produce an album or are you speculatively submitting in the hope your tracks get picked up?
In order for the library company to legitimately hold claim to the copyright the safest bet for them in addition to the song assignment contract you will sign if they can prove that they have paid for it then that covers their asses if you claim illegal restriction of trade further down the line. So yes, if they don't give you a bit of cash for each track they leave themselves open for copyright claims further down the line.
Very inspiring! "Laser focus and bet on the unicorn" :)
Thanks Christian, great video with lots of valuable advice!
Thanks for this. Loving the comments too!
Oh and do you know how much a small terraced house in East Dulwich costs now!!! 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
I lived there for about 5 years in my London days. It’s pretty.
Yeah... I think about quadruple what I paid by my guess!
Thanks Christian - another excellent video.
Priceless advice as ever Christian, thanks
7:20 "how do you do, fellow kids?"
Possibly the most useful video of yours to date! The only question is, WHICH unicorn to bet on? I don't think it's so much a question of which part of the industry do you want to work in most, more a question of which part of the industry do you stand most chance of standing out in.... And I guess that comes down to individual strengths more than anything else? I suppose some composers must lend themselves to library/production music more than others, because they are better at production, for example, or they come from a songwriting background with experience in writing a good hook?
I had a choice, the Hans Zimmer Masterclass or subscribe to Christian Henson Music. My mind was mind up when the 'Attack Hedgehogs' made an appearance, that, and the beer just tasted better. (Oddly, Hans neglected to even mention Hedgehogs in his promo). Also, one was slightly cheaper than the other. Thank you Christian.
Hello there :) Christian! This video is very, very informative! Thank you!
What i´m interessed in: is there a comparison between the library music sites? which sites do people really recommend?
Awesome content, as always! Thank you, Christian. I wonder, has anyone had any experience with music licensing courses? There are some guys charging like almost $1000 and they say you will learn everything needed to succeed big time. Too good to be true...
it is basically compositional skills applied to adaptations and numbers game. Quantity, quality, frequency.
Haha, I like the first one! I get some Driving Miss Daisy / The Holiday vibes.
Fuckin' hell mate, you nailed the edit on this one. Well done!
Brilliant - love the timeline of earnings chart with your thoughts on why it worked that way. This idea of the unicorn - in whatever form it deigns to arrive, is a non-obvious truth that can't be overstated. Well, except in your business plan... that doesn't slot in so well. What a crazy gig this is :)
Thank you for this video. I want to start a RUclips channel but Id like to use my own music (very short 5 second sting or similar). How do I protect that music from being stolen? Also is it worth putting up very short bits of music onto sound cloud and creating my own publishing company (and does that need to be registered with companies house)? Or should I just publish it under a producer name? Does that name need to be registered wi a trademark? Thanks
Christian, belated question regarding the F*CK BOX. How do you go about converting line leves from RME to Instrument leves? Everyone seems to use reamp box of some sort. Isn't just going straight out without converting the signal damages the pedals? Thank you
hi, great informative video. Do all tracks - the 100s and 100s of them that go on all these albums all get registered with a PRO?
As someone just starting out and thinking "I'll do library music on the side" this was a great video.
One of the few videos that actually explain what I need to know . How about a new library music album name : COVID Impressions. OST to the most controversial year of the millenia
Quick question. I play acoustic guitar and soft piano tunes. Should I always play to a click track to ensure loopability? 🙏
I am a TV Director and frequent library user. My goto's are Kosinus, Koka, ATV, Killer Tracks, Bruton, Chappel and Berlin Production Music. If I can't find it there, I'll move on to other libs. What are your favourite libs for TV?
Great video as always Christian
But what about my magnum opus???
And both examples from Polish TV show. What a surprise :)
Yes, from different albums released about 3 years apart so proof that when an editor finds something they like they look for more under your name.
@@TheCrowHillCo Do you think editors will look for your name between libraries?
Thanks Christian. I’m trying to get into library music here in 2021 and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some music libraries for me to join? Thanks
Where can i enroll to learn how to make... Music for film and tv... From scratch... I have no idea... Where to start please... Help me... I need to learn from basic to advanced... I am ready to give myself next three to three years... Dedicatedly. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
If a library wants exclusive use of the tracks submitted, can you submit different tracks to multiple other libraries? If so, would you recommend pseudonyms? Appreciate your thoughts….
Still waiting on that unicorn.... 🦄
I'm making most of my money from sample packs atm and I've thought about library music for years. Maybe it's not worth getting into then? I'm already busy with sample packs and my own career as an artist so from what you've said it sounds like it's not worth my time unless I'm going in on it 80-100%?
Yes, sounds like you've got a good thing already going on to build from. Earning money from the music biz is a really difficult thing to do, so if you're doing it, keep doing it!
I'd be curious to know which virtual library sites or companies you, CH, have used, as well as other people who are in the comments. Like many online services, there are so many different variations, pay schedules, features, etc that you can get roped into.
And do you deliver your tracks mastered by a third party to these libraries? I think for a lot of media composers that may be of some interested: how to deliver your work to the end user/platform.
I'm nowhere near the stature of most people in the industry but I've worked with library companies in the past, and they always did the mastering - typically because they want stems and you can't really separate those if you have any compression/limiting on your master bus. It probably differs for each company though, I'd ask the person you're submitting to if unsure
Dear Christian, I have a request (more of a challenge really):
Could you make a 1 or 2 minute score/theme using only shitty daw-native virtual instruments??
Most of us at this beginning stage, to be honest, can't really afford top notch libraries, so how can we fight for that unicorn if all we have are the native libraries that come with Logic or, in my case, Cubase for example? is a good score only possible with "expensive" libraries?
I know that - let's be realistic about this - your libraries are indeed top notch quality and that you're trying to sell them, but could YOU create a score, using only those "shitty" instrument sample libraries that come native with DAWs these days??
I'm asking this because, from what I see all over the web is everyone talking about how amazing the libraries X or Y are amazing and that everyone should buy them, and when you go check the price, its as expensive (or more) than my whole setup that took me years to be able to afford. So, how the hell can we start our "careers" as film composers?
Sorry the long essay-ish type comment but this has been bugging me ever sense I realised my true passion: film score.
Much love... Thiago.
Nice Color Grading as usual 👌
Its an awesome LUT that Spitfire's Ben K Adams made.
Couldn't agree more!
So, what exactly was your unicorn?
I aint tellin' and it wasn't even in my name..../ I have pseudonyms!
That's a pity, would have loved to know.
Damnit you tease..
8:18, yes officer, my dog IS on a leash! :)
What was the unicorn track Christian?
Not tellin' AND its not in my name! I have a pseudonym!
Thank you for yet another inspiring, informative and entertaining video!
I would love to hear your thoughts on writing under pseudonyms - pros and cons, and more importantly how to chose a good pen name, and if you feel the actual name has an influence on how your tracks are going to perform...
So 1. You're really saying that production music gave you more than Spitfire Audio (money wise) 😱 nothing wrong with it it just sounds unbelievable to my ears.....
2. One shouldn't bother with royalty free/stock music
3. is there, in your view, any point in using the blitzkrieg approach to one of the other areas of the business you mentioned?
Francesco Pirrone 1. Library music earned me more as a composer than anything I have done. 2. I wouldn’t 3. I think the blitzkrieg approach applies to anything. People with focus may not win as quickly but when they do they totally dominate from what I’ve seen.
@@TheCrowHillCo Thanks for your reply, Christian. 1 I see now 🙂 2. and 3. It's encouraging to hear that 👍 thanks
Would love to know people's thoughts on the new royalty free subscription based licensing sites that are popping up. My view is these types of sites will eventually make it impossible for composers to earn a reasonable living from library music. Some offer a $200 yearly fee for unlimited + unrestricted use of their entire catalogue, which you can continue using even if you cancel your subscription. It sounds ludicrous!
I think you're blaming the wrong people, they're basically tapping into areas of media where it is impossible for composers to be paid a royalty. They're feeding a demand created by a lack of legislation. RUclips created an website that pays content creators direct and punishes them for copyright infringements. So content creators need free content to enhance their productions as there is no way of them distributing royalties to composers / stock photo creators etc etc. But it is not a new thing, in the USA they failed to legislate for performance royalties off the back of cinema exhibition, so in the states you don't earn any royalties when your music is played on a film in a movie theatre house, whereas in Europe this is an important part of our royalty portfolios.
Hi Christian. Thanks so much for replying! Appreciate the response and I hear what you're saying. However the issue I see isn't actually with the lack of royalties (although this would obv be preferable!) My music is registered with royalty-free libraries where I get a fee for each time my track is used on a single project and the pricing tiers go up depending on the size of the project. The issue I see is that in the past 3 years or so, several new libraries have sprung up offering customers unlimited access to the entire catalogue for a subscription of couple of hundred $ per year. Understandable if you're a RUclipsr with limited finances but a pretty radical shift for huge brands to have access to a whole library of music for such a small fee - it just seems exploitative and really devalues music. In a nutshell, I'm all for library music and even the royalty-free model, just not low-cost subscription models. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in - love your vlogs, keep 'em coming!
As an everyday normal guy,...
You had me laughing. Culver City better than Compton ($ wise)
So Christian... literally CD albums of production music are still being sent out these days? I figured all the tracks are available from the libraries to review online now?
Most libraries sites are Royalty free. Would you recommend doing that? I have a few tracks up on some of those, so you get paid when they use them but no royalties.
What is your opinion on micro licensing?
I don't know what that is? Would be v interested to hear more?
Christian Henson Music so it’s synth licensing but on a smaller form I guess. You have companies like The Music Bed or Marmoset licensing for film and tv. The licenses are much smaller, like $50, but they also can be much larger as well, like $100,000, just depends on what it’s used for and who is using it. It’s basically all the small licenses that the big companies don’t wanna deal with. I hope this makes sense. Thanks for all you do. Really inspiring for small composers like me, trying to make it! Cheers!
Sometimes I wonder what your dog thinks you're doing when you do these vlogs.
going mad I imagine
I knew that was the error!! 4:32