Can someone please remind me of this tech term and examples?

[FMiguelez]

Mike, sorry to keep bombarding you with all these questions, but I want to learn more from the master of silent film

I assume you ALSO protect all your work and keep track of your royalties with some kind of digital watermark or finger-printing? I assume that's how you found the illegal YT video you just took down, yes?
If so, which one do you use?

Is that something you do and control yourself, or do you rely on your PRO to do it for you?

If you're your own publisher, and you own all your rights, is there a particular reason you choose not to have all that monetised on YT and the likes?
Is it because of the footage/visuals that you cannot use without permission or something? I know you only make good money in YT after millions of views and dozens of thousands of subscribers, but still... How about other media like Spotify, iTunes store, etc? Do you sell your music that way too, or you haven't felt the need to do so (given how little money they earn anyway)?

Or is not doing that part of your no-bottom-feeding policy you mentioned? (again, given how little they earn)

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I don't watermark. I find infringements by simple research and don't do iTunes or Spotify. When I pull something off YT it's simply because it's unlicensed. Period. I let BMI collect what they can. As I approach my 2000th (with three zeros) production in the next year or so, I simply can't keep track of everything. For a time, I just had to go Google titles and see who was selling DVDs of the films I scored. My lawyer and I closed down several online outlets that bootlegged many titles by others. Others outlets had to pay up, as they were caught red handed. It really was that simple.

Essentially I am a very old school composer, what one might call a journeyman. I go from gig to gig, whatever it is, and then on to the next. Most often they overlap. At times I've gone as long as three months without having to write a note, but that hasn't happened in a long time.

While not blessed, I do count myself as very lucky. Frankly, it all boils down to a stupid mistake on my part when I was about 18. I decided to pursue improvisation in the styles of the great masters (after many years as a percussionist and guitarist singer/songwriter before that). It wasn't (and isn't) an academic approach. In my ignorance, I assumed that improvisation in those styles was the norm. Biographies of the great composers all mention they were great improvisors. I listened, learned the repertoire, and mimicked their styles. I think of that more as their own language. I think that's what composers do: create their own individual languages, they way Martha Graham created her own language of dance. Working with her for 7 years was definitely an influence in developing that esthetic.

This gets back to the whole idea of apprenticing, and even going to college for music these days. It is a rare composer who emerges from either of those experiences with their own unique language. A lot of young composers want to be "film composers" and/or sound like Williams, Elfman, et al. They want to be the next "famous composer's name goes here." I want to be the first, and the last, me. I have my own musical language, with its own accents, vocabulary, grammar, phrasing, inflection, and phonemes. Some people can recognize it. I know immediately if I hear something I wrote. If I hear it reproduced illegally, I protect it and defend my copyright.

That's pretty much my philosophy. It is pretty broad and, frankly, I've never had a master plan nor an ultimate goal. What comes my way comes my way. What doesn't wasn't intended for me. And I NEVER EVER chase the dollar (or peso). NEVER! I'd rather die a poor composer with a unique voice and a legacy that will outlive me, rather than sellout to the corporate world and be known as a second rate "famous composer's name goes here" or worse, someone who is willing to sellout what is rightfully theirs to some greedy bastards. No thank you. I grew up poor. Really poor. Anything I've earned I've earned through hard work. That means endless hours of practice, research, fantasy, imagination, and fearless determination to make the best music I can. I don't care if people know who I am, but I do care that when they hear my music, they know who wrote it. It was good enough for Mozart and Bach. It's good enough for me. Just because our world has TV and film doesn't change who I am, nor will I let it guide me, trap me into doing its bidding. Again, if they want me they'll come to me. That's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it. I think you have to go into being a composer expecting to starve. If you can make a living at it, great. If I can't, then I'm going to die a very skinny man. I still have a ways to go for that to happen.

[ed belknap]

Apologies for zombie thread resurrection, but I think "diegetic transition" is the term you're looking for

...although the number of musicians who would recognize what you're talking about when you used that term is probably woefully small.

[Norawilson]

I don't watermark. I find infringements by simple research and don't do iTunes or Spotify. When I pull something off YT it's simply because it's unlicensed. Period. I let BMI collect what they can. As I approach my 2000th (with three zeros) production in the next year or so, I simply can't keep track of everything. For a time, I just had to go Google titles and see who was selling DVDs of the films I scored. My lawyer and I closed down several online outlets that bootlegged many titles by others. Others outlets had to pay up, as they were caught red handed. It really was that simple.

Essentially I am a very old school composer, what one might call a journeyman. I go from gig to gig, whatever it is, and then on to the next. Most often they overlap. At times I've gone as long as three months without having to write a note, but that hasn't happened in a long time.

While not blessed, I do count myself as very lucky. Frankly, it all boils down to a stupid mistake on my part when I was about 18. I decided to pursue improvisation in the styles of the great masters (after many years as a percussionist and guitarist singer/songwriter before that). It wasn't (and isn't) an academic approach. In my ignorance, I assumed that improvisation in those styles was the norm. Biographies of the great composers all mention they were great improvisors. I listened, learned the repertoire, and mimicked their styles. I think of that more as their own language. I think that's what composers do: create their own individual languages, they way Martha Graham created her own language of dance. Working with her for 7 years was definitely an influence in developing that esthetic.

This gets back to the whole idea of apprenticing, and even going to college for music these days. I for example remember how in college I had nowhere to get information and generally nowhere to learn, and now I'm very glad that there are plenty of sources, such as this https://freebooksummary.com/category/of-beetles-and-angels where you can read books or even listen to the audio summary. I now use this to inspire me to make music, the last one I listened to was Of beetles and angels, this was one of the most interesting books I have read. I usually prefer to go to the library but since I found that you can listen to it in audio format, I can sit in my headphones for days and listen to this one. Some people can recognize it. I know immediately if I hear something I wrote. If I hear it reproduced illegally, I protect it and defend my copyright.

That's pretty much my philosophy. It is pretty broad and, frankly, I've never had a master plan nor an ultimate goal. What comes my way comes my way. What doesn't wasn't intended for me. And I NEVER EVER chase the dollar (or peso). NEVER! I'd rather die a poor composer with a unique voice and a legacy that will outlive me, rather than sellout to the corporate world and be known as a second rate "famous composer's name goes here" or worse, someone who is willing to sellout what is rightfully theirs to some greedy bastards. No thank you. I grew up poor. Really poor. Anything I've earned I've earned through hard work. That means endless hours of practice, research, fantasy, imagination, and fearless determination to make the best music I can. I don't care if people know who I am, but I do care that when they hear my music, they know who wrote it. It was good enough for Mozart and Bach. It's good enough for me. Just because our world has TV and film doesn't change who I am, nor will I let it guide me, trap me into doing its bidding. Again, if they want me they'll come to me. That's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it. I think you have to go into being a composer expecting to starve. If you can make a living at it, great. If I can't, then I'm going to die a very skinny man. I still have a ways to go for that to happen.

I absolutely agree with you! I also have no end goal.

[daniel.sneed]

FM, in theater projects I'm working on, your idea would be described as:
*at that moment, diegetic music turns into extra-diegetic music*