TAXI FAQs: Film & TV Music: Laskow's Secrets for Film and TV Music Success (Part 6)

by Michael Laskow

Dear Passengers,

I had a feeling that I wouldn't be the only person to think the Recording with Apple's Garageband 2 magazine was cool. Not to mention of course, the software itself rocks! Here's the link to the magazine again, and thanks for letting me know that I'm not nuts: www.musicmakerpub.com

Also, several of you have written to me asking how long your instrumentals should be. Great question! The answer is that a sixty-second piece is always a safe bet. If the library likes what they hear and want to do a deal with you, they will often ask for various lengths of the same piece – probably five, ten, thirty, and sixty-second, and possibly a three-minute version. But for demo purposes, the sixty-second version is really all you need.

Last week, I explained how music libraries get used, and how your music finds its way from the "catalog" to the silver screen. But I didn't tell you what kinds of deals libraries offer – so let's get right to it.

Fact: Nobody ever got rich from a music library ADVANCE. Most libraries don't give them.

Even though libraries are essentially specialized music publishers, they don't typically offer the kind of advance one might get from a company like Sony Music or Universal Music Publishing. One reason is that the big publishers don't usually do too many single song deals. They typically sign pro writers to multi-year deals, and plug their songs to major-label artists, and sometimes film and TV as well.

Music libraries are the guerillas of film and TV placements. They specialize in it, and scramble hard to get as many as placements as they can. When they make money, you make money.

There are several types of library deals ranging from, "We take all of the publisher's share, you keep the writer's share," to "derivative" deals, where you re-title the piece and give them as much as 75% of every dollar earned, but the deal is totally non-exclusive. I like those deals, even though you might raise an eyebrow over the 75% part.

Who cares?! You've still got total control over the original version, and can do with it what you want. In other words, the library might get your track placed in a TV show, but you could still get the song cut by Madonna, and the library wouldn't get a penny.

Some libraries do buy-out deals where you get cash up front, but they own the copyright. Others do deals that have reversion clauses stating that they have 2 or 3 years to get the track used, and if they don't, you get the song or track back, Jack.

I could literally write a book on the subject of library deals, but instead, let me make this point: I've rarely seen a deal I wouldn't sign with a library. Virtually all that I've seen are basically fair, but please don't consider that legal advice. I'm not an attorney.

And speaking of attorneys – most of them are NOT all that familiar with library deals, and look at them through the same lens as they would for a "normal" publishing deal. A typical attorney response to a library deal is something on the order of, "Oh my God! I'd never sign that!"

Trust me when I tell you that it's just because they don't know what the norm is.

Often times, the money you'd spend on an attorney is more than what you'll make from that one song when it's placed. So what do you do?

If you try to negotiate a deal that's different from their "standard" deal, the library is likely to move on and offer a deal to the next person who won't cause them headaches or legal costs. Bummer, but that's reality, baby.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you just prostitute yourself, but I AM suggesting that you look at the possible benefits from ALL angles.

If you don't do this deal, will the song languish in a drawer and never see the light of day? Why not sign the deal? If it's a low dollar deal, is this particular placement prestigious, and will it look good on your resume?

Is the track a little quickie that took very little time to write and record? Why blow the deal by holding out for a deal that's inappropriately large?

My best advice? Ask your contact at the library to refer you to somebody who has worked with them in the past so you can find out if the library got them cuts, and if they got paid in the end.

Remember, once you sign the deal, your track or song could (and probably WILL) sit there for a while. You may wait a year or more before it gets used, and then wait for several months before you get paid by your performance rights organization.

As the CEO of one of our favorite libraries has been known to say, "The music library business is more of a marathon than a sprint." In other words, you must be VERY patient.

Why do I have the feeling that you're going to forget that I ever said that? ;-)

Okay . . . so, let's review:

There is tremendous need for music in TV shows and films, and it's growing rapidly.
You don't have to look like Britney Spears to be highly successful in this field. Whew! That really takes the pressure off, doesn't it? ;-)
You probably have enough gear to do the recordings at home, but it may be wise to invest some time in getting proficient with what you've got.
Music with and without lyrics is needed. It's easier to do instrumental tracks ;-)
Dated samples make dated sounding recordings. Freshen up your samples.
Most deals that I've seen are in the decent to really fair range, but your music attorney may not be familiar with this type of deal.
Your goal is to make $150,000/yr. with library music. That will take a few years.
Your more immediately achievable goal is to make an extra $35,000 next year while still keeping your day job. Remember, this is a marathon, dude, not a sprint!
Ultimately, you want to get fifty songs each, into twenty libraries. That's 1,000 songs or tracks out there working for you!

Now, let's do some math:

If 10% of your 1,000 tracks get used in a year, that would be 100 placements – roughly two per week. Not crazy, right?

If you average $1,500 per placement (avg. broadcast network $), that's $150,000 per year!

You can do this. But you can't do it sitting on your butt! You need to get to work, and you need to get to work NOW!

You and I both know that if you procrastinate, you'll keep pushing it back, and pushing it back, and then you'll grow old and crusty. Do you really want to be sitting in your rocking chair in the old age home someday wishing you had followed my advice?

Nope. And I don't want to see you do that either.

I'm on a mission here kids! I know that a great many of you really CAN do this. Are you one of those people, or are you the kind of person who finds yourself saying, "I wish I had . . ."?

Frankly, you can do this on your own. You don't really NEED TAXI. But we can make life a lot easier for you, and help you progress along the timeline a lot faster.

Am I going to try to sell you a membership? Yeah, I am, but only because I believe so strongly in what we do here. I'm not the kind of person that would ever suggest that you buy something from me that you don't truly need.

And for those of you who don't need coaching, and don't need any more contacts in the business, please forgive me for even bringing this up.

As you can probably tell, I'm pretty passionate about what I do for a living. I firmly believe that thousands of you on this list can and will someday earn your living doing what you love, too – making music. And having been in the music industry for more than 30 years, I think that Film and TV placements are the best way for you to realistically do that.

I want to thank all of you who have read this series of articles and sent me all the positive feedback. I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed writing it. Thanks for letting me be part of your lives.

I KNOW you can do this. It's probably easier than you think, but nobody can do it FOR you.

YOU need to commit. YOU need to imagine how your life will change when you succeed. YOU need to dig deep inside yourself and ask this question: "Do I want to keep repeating my life, day after day, and getting the same results, or do I want to change my patterns and live the kind of life I've always felt that I deserve?"

I know I sound like Dr. Freakin' Phil here, but you know what? I've done this with my life, so I KNOW that it can be done. I'm not super human. I'm not all that smart. I just took a chance and worked hard.

Can you do that?

If you can, why don't you make this your New Year's resolution.

Talk to you next week,

Michael

P.S. One more thought. People often tell me that they're not ready, or their music isn't ready yet. There's no better way to GET ready than using my team of experts as your sounding board and coaches. Why spend a year getting "ready," only to find out a year later that your music still isn't ready? – ML