Royalty-free houses & PROs

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MIDI Life Crisis
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Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

I got this from MusicJungle today in response to my query:
AudioJungle has a requirement that its authors cannot register their AudioJungle tracks with a performing rights organization (PRO). This requirement is so that buyers should not have to pay any further fees to a collecting society/PRO.
What bullsh••. Unless the user is a broadcaster, they wouldn't pay the PRO anyway. Additionally...
once an item is approved the buyer may or may not credit you for your work. It is up to them and not a requirement.
Strike two!

The average cost for a track is between $1 and $20 AFAIK which is just a wee bit low for a buyout. Like about $100,000k too low for starters.

So I guess this is a good model for people who find it hard to sell... excuse me to license their work to actual clients and collaborators, but I'll be damned if i'm gonna upload my work to be freely distributed and broadcast and not see anything in return but $20.

:mumble:
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by HCMarkus »

Its a jungle out there... I'd steer clear of that - as you so succinctly put it - B.S.

The no-P.R.O thing is beyond stupid.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

One of my collaborators is... um, was trying hard to get me to move my entire catalogue to a sound house with the thought that it could generate a lot of money (to put into her films, which are quite good). I've never really been into music solely for the money and I just can't see giving 40 years of hard work away like that and making the work anonymous to boot. It's just stupid.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by James Steele »

On a *loosely* related subject you might enjoy this article... "Slaves of the Internet Unite!"...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/opini ... .html?_r=0
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Nice article, thanks.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by James Steele »

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:Nice article, thanks.
I know you've long learned those lessons, but I posted it on my FB today in order to help others dealing with that. :)
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by mikehalloran »

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I got this from MusicJungle today in response to my query:
AudioJungle has a requirement that its authors cannot register their AudioJungle tracks with a performing rights organization (PRO). This requirement is so that buyers should not have to pay any further fees to a collecting society/PRO.
What bullsh••. Unless the user is a broadcaster, they wouldn't pay the PRO anyway. Additionally...
once an item is approved the buyer may or may not credit you for your work. It is up to them and not a requirement.
Strike two!

The average cost for a track is between $1 and $20 AFAIK which is just a wee bit low for a buyout. Like about $100,000k too low for starters.

So I guess this is a good model for people who find it hard to sell... excuse me to license their work to actual clients and collaborators, but I'll be damned if i'm gonna upload my work to be freely distributed and broadcast and not see anything in return but $20.

:mumble:
There are so many things wrong with that email. I couldn't begin to start. I can assure you that no actual attorneys were consulted in preparing that ridiculous email that you received.

Being that I cannot be perceived as a spokesperson by my employer (who must remain nameless in this thread), my unofficial response is

:rofl: :woohoo: :lol: :dance: :rofl: :shake: :rofl:

You are right, it's a non-issue. The PROs are paid by the broadcasters; you are paid by your PRO. AudioJungle has no say in the matter.

As to what your PROs have to say about your rights for works that you have not registered with them, these things are easily looked up. Start with the Copyright law. Why should I have all the fun?
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by dix »

Digging up this old thread to to see if anyone has messed with putting music on Pond5, AudioJungle lately. I think the models may have changed since this thread started. It looks like Pond5, at least, sells "non-PRO tracks", as well as PRO registered tracks now (see link). Anyone have any experience with Pond5, or any of these libraries? I have a large stockpile of existing material I own out right that I'm thinking of trying to exploit

https://help.pond5.com/hc/en-us/article ... string=pro
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by HCMarkus »

I've heard you won't make much.

Probably better for you to make some albums and license to a library that works with your genre. Exclusive libraries won't sign your stuff if it is already up somewhere else, and many of the best libraries are exclusive, especially these days when digital fingerprinting of tracks can raise many issues.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by dix »

Thanks HC!

By "exclusive library" do you mean exclusive licenses? I was really only considering non-exclusive licenses. Or are there libraries that carry exclusive non-exclusive tracks? - if you know what I mean. If you meant the latter, can you recommend any such libraries? I'm at a loss to find one that makes sense for my rather large, eclectic catalog. The "exclusive" libraries I've checked out ask you to submit only five or so tracks for consideration. I have more than 500 that I think are libraryable.

And, yes the Internet is full of horror stories about how much money you won't make from a Pond5 etc. 60/40 split license (the 60 going to Pond5). It's potential backend I'm thinking about.

Also, Pond5 is dead simple to use I hear. Just upload, tag, and set a price up to $10k (although 500+ tracks will be a chore). No real submission criteria per se. ...and couldn't I take a track off of Pond5, if an exclusive library wanted it?

Thanks for your help on this!
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by HCMarkus »

dix wrote: Sat Apr 15, 2023 2:46 pm Thanks HC!

By "exclusive" do you mean exclusive licenses? I was really only considering non-exclusive licenses. Or are there libraries that carry exclusive non-exclusive tracks? - if you know what I mean.
Not sure what you mean, dix...

With your extensive catalogue, I'd try to establish a relationship with a library where they'll promote you as an artist, so you can submit directly as opposed to via a random webpage.

You might want to visit VI-Control and see what sort of feedback you get over there.

You might even want to start your own library!
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by dix »

Not sure what you mean, dix...
Sorry. Do these “exclusive“ libraries you’re referring to, own the publishing of the tracks they accept from you?

I actually tried to start a library with a composer friend a while back. The website was pretty sophisticated and user-friendly, but we got zero sales. My friend did a lot of work to promote it, but that market is saturated with huge players I guess.

…I have comments on threads in Vi-control and Gearspace. I’ll let you know if any good info comes from them.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by HCMarkus »

Deals vary. I have some pieces in a middle eastern library with which I can do anything but library. I have pieces with libraries that have complete control. I have songs in a non exclusive library. Different strokes…

Definitely very competitive these days. And here comes AI.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by mikehalloran »

Being that I cannot be perceived as a spokesperson by my employer (who must remain nameless in this thread), my unofficial response is

:rofl: :woohoo: :lol: :dance: :rofl: :shake: :rofl:
I'll be retired from ASCAP three years in August and my opinions are now my own. Anything I say now is ok as long as I don't violate my NDA and spill any of the secret sauce on certain internal workings.
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Re: Royalty-free houses & PROs

Post by dix »

HCMarkus wrote: Sat Apr 15, 2023 6:20 pm Deals vary. I have some pieces in a middle eastern library with which I can do anything but library. I have pieces with libraries that have complete control. I have songs in a non exclusive library. Different strokes…

Definitely very competitive these days. And here comes AI.
In another slow period, so I'm again investigating this. Can you recommend any libraries that you've had success with HC?
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