Music production libraries...... lots of them out there. Some good, some not.
I have been a member of TAXI at various times. (currently not a member) The thing with TAXI, aside from the high cost of getting access to the listings, is that the screeners can be all over the board on what they forward and return.
Example: I sent in 2 songs to a listing. One was forwarded and one was returned. On most forwards, you never hear from the "end user" at all, so imagine my surprise when I got an email a few days later from the library expressing interest. A phone call later, I sent them a total of 3 songs. The forwarded one, as well as the returned one and a third I didn't submit. They signed all 3 songs. I've sent them many more songs since.
Taxi likes to convince people that they are the only game in town when they are clearly not. I get offers and listings from several other sources that do not require a membership to submit songs. One such place is Film Music Jobwire. It has a membership option but for a slightly higher submission fee per song, you can opt not to join and still submit. One thing I must say about TAXI is that they do seem to have a good reputation in the music biz since they are constantly getting new listings for music. Some of the others, while free, and less expensive to join, don't seem to have nearly as many opportunities. But, all it takes is for one or two listings from any source to get you in the door with some good libraries, and you can submit directly to them at any time. Some will even email to their writers directly asking for certain styles of music as the need arises. That's when it gets interesting.
I saw an interesting FMJ listing and submitted one song which I wrote specifically for the listing in question. I figured ahhhh what the heck... it's only 6 bux..... I received an email the very next day from the library president stating that the song I submitted couldn't have been any closer to the mark for what they were seeking and expressing a desire to work with me. Long story short, I signed, and over the next several weeks, I worked my butt off in the studio as I wrote and submitted a total of 41 songs and cues to this library for a hugely popular a A&E reality show. Whether the music is picked up by the show's producers or not is yet to be seen. ( I have not posted any of these songs or cues in the forums here for people to hear) This was in the last half of November and the first half of December.
It's a numbers game with the libraries. The more music you have in a large number of good libraries, the better your chances are to get something cut...... generally speaking.
I just signed with a new library that is currently working with 10 different TV shows and some film production companies. This library was referred to me by a songwriter friend who had 2 songs placed in a reality TV show within just a few months of signing with this library. I'm submitting specifically chosen, full songs to this one.
Anything you send to a production library has to be a finished, radio ready product. They are not going to record it again. That's your job. The bar is high when it comes to production and quality, but from the work I hear in the Songs forum, many folks are at, or near that level.
My suggestion to folks wanting to start placing music with libraries is to listen to..... not watch, but listen to the TV shows. Learn exactly what they are looking for in music. Generally, it's not what most folks are writing. Can you write and record a 5 second cue, a 10 second cue, a 25 second cue? Full songs are rare in TV shows.
That educational thing is where TAXI really excels. They even have a live streaming TV show where Michael Laskow (TAXI president) hosts a number of guests and takes questions from the watching audience. That is free as well. Much of their educational stuff is free as is their forums. In the forums there are a number of folks who drop in on occasion who actually make a decent living in the production music business. Don't ask them for the library names they work with because they aren't giving that info up. It was hard won info. You hear about the "A-list" and "B-list" libraries from time to time. The "A-list" ones are like Nashville publishers. They only work from referrals, and TAXI is the referring company in this case. I'm in one "A-list" library.
The "B-list" libraries are more open to working with people not referred to them after they audition some of your music and find the production and quality to be above the bar. I'm in a bunch of those libraries. They can place your songs just as efficiently as the "A-listers". The A-list libraries tend to limit the number of writers they work with so that once there, you have a better chance of getting a cut since you're not simply a face in a huge crowd like you would be at say Pump Audio and some of the others.
Lots of production music libraries are on the net. Google search them. Have the music radio ready. Make instrumental mixes of vocal songs ready to go.
The net royalties should be a 50/50 split. Most libraries offer 100% writers share to you and keep 100% publishers share for them. To earn a higher percentage, the publisher would need to be placing and getting cuts in very lucrative projects. Then it would be worth giving them a bigger cut. Otherwise, no.
One other thing about production libraries. Exclusive, or non-exclusive? Most of the a-list libraries want the songs on an exclusive basis. Many others will sign non-exclusive deals with you. The best policy for the writer is to avoid the temptation to sign the non-exclusive deal and place that same song with 6 or more other non-exclusive libraries. Treat every deal as an exclusive deal. If you don't think that library can place your song, why are you signing with them then in the first place? The producer's time is limited, and having 2 libraries submit the same exact song to the same project simply wastes their time. It can cause conflicts with the libraries as well.
In summing up, write lots of music and keep the production quality high, and get it into as many libraries as you can. Keep writing. A popular TAXI slogan is:
||: WRITE, SUBMIT, FORGET, REPEAT :||