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  • Music Licensing - Stock Music - Is this a sham???
2018/03/09 18:06:58
mikebeam
I recently came across the site stockmusic.net. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with this type of stuff...  
 
I have a non-music day job. I play enough locally to support building my studio, etc. Recently, I've helped some friends producing podcasts and have tons of music for that sort of thing. I've also scored a handful of independent films. 
 
Considering I have tons of stuff that's very similar to the tracks on the site - I think it might be fairly easy to get in the door. There are also lots of other sites. Not looking to get rich here, but I'm curious to hear others experiences. Is it possible to actually make money off these things??? Any advice? Warnings? Suggestions?
 
Lay it on me!
2018/03/09 18:32:26
slartabartfast
I do not have any experience with these sites, but the idea is pretty standard now. Typically these libraries offer ad and film producers access to synchronization and other rights at very reasonable prices. Obviously this stuff does not become the sound track of an expensive production, but it lets them put something on the product that sounds like it is coming out of the car radio without having to pay a ton to clear stuff that actually comes out of car radios in reality. As often as not they are distributed as small cuts of a song, since it is not often necessary to play anything for a couple of minutes in the use to which producers put these fragments.
 
The promise is that you will make money on stuff you cannot sell otherwise, and the false promise is that you will be able to break in to major sound track work because someone will discover you from their twenty second purchase. The problem for making money is that they typically stock many of these so it is like listing your hand made doilies on Etsy. The other contributors to the library can be major competition if the site is willing to accept just anybody uploading anything. 
 
If they are charging you anything to contribute your stuff be very wary. If not, and the time cost of massaging your material into a format they require is negligible, you probably have little to lose, but probably also not a lot to gain. 
2018/03/09 19:16:22
mikebeam
Thanks - yeah, I'm not looking to get discovered or anything - but it would be nice to make a little extra to justify buying more gear!  
 
I've created at least 50 tracks for my podcasting friend of "stock music" that he splices and shapes to fit into his podcast - it's exactly like what you described. And exactly what's on this site...
 
Definitely not going to pay a dime to get in the door!  What's encouraging is that this particular site has some entry requirements - and requires contributors to have a web presence and be a part of ASCAP or BMI. I'm already a member of ASCAP and I have a (very neglected) soundcloud page for my "stock music" and a website for my gigging stuff... I've already done everything I need to get in the door. I think they might be looking for musicians exactly in my position.
 
But it would be really nice to hear someone say - Yep! did it, made $50 bucks over 6 months - or something like that...
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