Popular Production Music Libraries
Putting your music on Production Music Libraries are yet another way to get your music out there in the hopes someone will hear it, like it & ultimately select it for a Feature Film. These companies are now the "1 stop shopping" powerhouses in the film/TV music licensing world. Today is also the best time to be an Independent composer as money tends to be the biggest determining factor of what music will make it into a film, with economic decisions compromising the creative process. One major film studio’s policy is that temp music (i.e., music which is used “temporarily” in a film as a placeholder until final music decisions are made) cannot exceed the music budget for the film. Budgets for film music have shrunk, and all-in, buy-out licenses (including DVD rights) can be as low as $3,200 – $3,500, or $800 for a 5-year license. These license fees are greatly reduced from the rates a good song could fetch even a few years ago. Approximately 10 years ago, about 20% of the songs & music used in the average film project were production library music, with about 80% “big songs.” Today, that is reversed with about 80% of major projects being made of production library music and about 20% “big songs.”
Speaking to many Music Professionals these are the top & Sought after Production Music Libraries out there right now:
Here are a few tips on how to maximize your exposure on these Libraries.
- Avoid new-agey titles when pitching for film & TV (the best title is one that describes the song).
- Songs need to quickly evoke a mood or feeling. There is no time in a film to "figure out” (the meaning of a song) that’s not instantly clear, and this works against picture.
- Always have an instrumental version available of any song(s) pitched.
- Day IA Winding Road,” which got lots of placements.
- Avoid using specific names of people in songs. This makes them much more difficult to place.