Great article in Music Tech Issue 129 December 2013 on 'Get Paid for your Music'. A lot of very useful info on production libraries including a whole swag of libraries and their contacts in the UK.

Guitarhacker
Actually, I was a TAXI member but currently I am not. I'm currently not affiliated with any membership organizations at all...... that's always subject to change but currently.... nope.
 
I don't have a problem paying a submittal fee..... as it keeps everybody and their brother from sending every song they ever wrote to a listing whether it fits the listing or not.  $6 to submit to FMJ is not bad.  $5 to submit to Taxi once you're a member is not bad. That membership fee at TAXI is the killer.  Taxi says that 90% of their rejections come from people submitting songs that do not fit the listing. Sending a vocal tune to an instrumental listing or sending a metal rock tune to a bluegrass listing, and yeah it happens all the time. Imagine what it would be like if there were no submittal fee.
 
In my last year of membership with Taxi, I submitted a number of tunes and not a single one was forwarded, and that was with paying attention to the details of the specs and genre, and everything else. The year before that had a number of tunes forwarded.....I submitted 5 to one listing in particular and had ALL 5 forwarded. And I heard exactly nothing from the other end.....
 
As far as people on the other end getting back to you...... Hey, this is the music business.  Yes, projects often take a long time to get ready. For any given listing call that a producer gives..... for example, the one where I submitted 41 cues to the huge TV show..... I would wager they get thousands upon thousands of cues submitted for that one listing. The job of screening them goes to some lower level staffers. They decide the ones that might work and ones that might not fit exactly. There is no way on this green earth that they are going to send regrets to each and every writer or publisher who gets turned down.  No one has the time for that. So as the songwriter, setting in your studio..... you hear..... crickets from the other end.
 
Even taxi and FMJ tell you they don't review the songs for feedback in most cases. You can get that as an additional service. NSAI, on the other hand exists for that specific purpose of feedback and critiques,  BUT, they are not primarily in the referral business unless the song is really, really outstanding and grabs the staff in a certain way. I had a tune classified as ready to pitch.... then .... I got no help what so ever in referrals to a publisher who might actually be  interested in the "ready to pitch" song. Why would I want to be a member if they're not going to at least give me a name and tell the guy to expect a call from me about a really good song I wrote?
 
It's a rare thing in my experience to actually get a rejection letter from anyone in this biz. It's even rarer to get notice that your stuff is being used. Very often, the only way you find that out is when the mail carrier delivers your PRO statement and royalty check, or the publisher notifies you that your song is on hold or was cut for a certain project where some fairly decent money is involved...... no one's calling you to tell you that your song just made you $5 for a 5 second source cue in a tv show on cable.
 
 
later....

Guitarhacker
Actually, I was a TAXI member but currently I am not. I'm currently not affiliated with any membership organizations at all...... that's always subject to change but currently.... nope.
 
I don't have a problem paying a submittal fee..... as it keeps everybody and their brother from sending every song they ever wrote to a listing whether it fits the listing or not.  $6 to submit to FMJ is not bad.  $5 to submit to Taxi once you're a member is not bad. That membership fee at TAXI is the killer.  Taxi says that 90% of their rejections come from people submitting songs that do not fit the listing. Sending a vocal tune to an instrumental listing or sending a metal rock tune to a bluegrass listing, and yeah it happens all the time. Imagine what it would be like if there were no submittal fee.
 
In my last year of membership with Taxi, I submitted a number of tunes and not a single one was forwarded, and that was with paying attention to the details of the specs and genre, and everything else. The year before that had a number of tunes forwarded.....I submitted 5 to one listing in particular and had ALL 5 forwarded. And I heard exactly nothing from the other end.....
 
As far as people on the other end getting back to you...... Hey, this is the music business.  Yes, projects often take a long time to get ready. For any given listing call that a producer gives..... for example, the one where I submitted 41 cues to the huge TV show..... I would wager they get thousands upon thousands of cues submitted for that one listing. The job of screening them goes to some lower level staffers. They decide the ones that might work and ones that might not fit exactly. There is no way on this green earth that they are going to send regrets to each and every writer or publisher who gets turned down.  No one has the time for that. So as the songwriter, setting in your studio..... you hear..... crickets from the other end.
 
Even taxi and FMJ tell you they don't review the songs for feedback in most cases. You can get that as an additional service. NSAI, on the other hand exists for that specific purpose of feedback and critiques,  BUT, they are not primarily in the referral business unless the song is really, really outstanding and grabs the staff in a certain way. I had a tune classified as ready to pitch.... then .... I got no help what so ever in referrals to a publisher who might actually be  interested in the "ready to pitch" song. Why would I want to be a member if they're not going to at least give me a name and tell the guy to expect a call from me about a really good song I wrote?
 
It's a rare thing in my experience to actually get a rejection letter from anyone in this biz. It's even rarer to get notice that your stuff is being used. Very often, the only way you find that out is when the mail carrier delivers your PRO statement and royalty check, or the publisher notifies you that your song is on hold or was cut for a certain project where some fairly decent money is involved...... no one's calling you to tell you that your song just made you $5 for a 5 second source cue in a tv show on cable.
 
 
later....

Yes but essentially you can do all the above without Taxi and without paying money to a middle man. If you want feedback from your music,post it on a forum and ask questions. If you want your music to be included in a music library call them and arrange a meeting with them.Why rely on a middle man at all ? It sounds like you had some success with them at least,but your last year of membership just sounds like you were being ripped off !!! I've heard your stuff on the songs forum and I know you have a talent in your genre......dont waste it on plebs who just want your $$$$.
BTW I found some work this week with a music library in Germany...so all set to go now :)
 
Kev
 

Jeff Evans
Great article in Music Tech Issue 129 December 2013 on 'Get Paid for your Music'. A lot of very useful info on production libraries including a whole swag of libraries and their contacts in the UK.

Fantastic Jeff,I'll look that up,
 
Kev
 

I have to disagree about posting tracks on a forum and getting forum members to give you feedback. The real reality is that a lot of music that is posted on forums is way below standard. End of Story. The problem you have is all the forum members are saying how great it is to be nice. Many forum members dont have the critical ear required to pick amazing music over ordinary music. Much of the music on forums even in our own songs forum here would not get to first base with a high end production library.
 
The best place to get feedback is from the libraries themselves. And TAXI is still a good source of feedback as well. They have screeners who know a lot about production music and how good it has to be and what the problems might be with your submissions.
 
The reality is if you produce an absolutely amazing cracker piece of music then TAXI and everyone else will fall over themselves to take you on. FACT. If your music is even just slightly shy of this then it will only get a warm reception. From anyone. The reason is the standard is very very high out there. A good idea is to really listen to the best guys doing library music and see what you are up against and I am telling you the bar is seriously high. What it means is if anyone is telling you that certain libraries or organisations like TAXI are not that great it really means their music is not that great either. Sorry to be so harsh but it is true.
 
I watched one of those TAXI pod casts about a guy who earns a six figure salary from doing just library music but as soon as the music came on it was like WOW! Beautiful writing, excellent melodies, chord progressions, musical arrangements, performances and production. (And he was doing it all on an IMac on a little table in the corner of a room!!!)
 
Don't let me put you off though. It is worth doing and this is a growth area for sure. You won't make it big as an artist in the normal mainstream but you have got a very real chance in the production music area. They are not hiring composers as much as they use to. (I know because I am one!) They are using library tracks more and more. Don't copy what is out there either, (listen to it though) you have got to come up with something completely original and fresh sounding. That is the challenge !

Jeff Evans
I have to disagree about posting tracks on a forum and getting forum members to give you feedback. The real reality is that a lot of music that is posted on forums is way below standard. End of Story. The problem you have is all the forum members are saying how great it is to be nice. Many forum members dont have the critical ear required to pick amazing music over ordinary music. Much of the music on forums even in our own songs forum here would not get to first base with a high end production library.
 
The best place to get feedback is from the libraries themselves. And TAXI is still a good source of feedback as well. They have screeners who know a lot about production music and how good it has to be and what the problems might be with your submissions.
 
The reality is if you produce an absolutely amazing cracker piece of music then TAXI and everyone else will fall over themselves to take you on. FACT. If your music is even just slightly shy of this then it will only get a warm reception. From anyone. The reason is the standard is very very high out there. A good idea is to really listen to the best guys doing library music and see what you are up against and I am telling you the bar is seriously high. What it means is if anyone is telling you that certain libraries or organisations like TAXI are not that great it really means their music is not that great either. Sorry to be so harsh but it is true.
 
I watched one of those TAXI pod casts about a guy who earns a six figure salary from doing just library music but as soon as the music came on it was like WOW! Beautiful writing, excellent melodies, chord progressions, musical arrangements, performances and production. (And he was doing it all on an IMac on a little table in the corner of a room!!!)
 
Don't let me put you off though. It is worth doing and this is a growth area for sure. You won't make it big as an artist in the normal mainstream but you have got a very real chance in the production music area. They are not hiring composers as much as they use to. (I know because I am one!) They are using library tracks more and more. Don't copy what is out there either, (listen to it though) you have got to come up with something completely original and fresh sounding. That is the challenge !

Hi Jeff
 
ah so you're a library writer too :-) I've worked with libraries in the past so I know what's involved and whats expected.Maybe my post wasn't very clear,but really what I was hoping for was people to drop names of Music Libraries they've worked with and have done ok with.But music libraries.......not companies like Taxi...:) I've worked with 3 big libraries which I've made some good money from and one minor label. I've never ever had to pay money to get my music listened to and I'll never go down that direction.If it works for others thats fine !! But it's not for me.
As it is I've found work and I'm starting next week !! Its a ten track album based on dark comedy (my favorite style for writing !) So its all good really.I dont know about you ,but more and more I just see it as a numbers game,with the more tracks out there,the more money coming in  !
 
Thanks for your post
 
Kev
 

And Jeff,yep I know what you mean about the song forum being a bit airy fairy and nice. But I find if you do ask questions specifically about a track...you will get answers !!??

Yes I am a library writer for the Castle EMI Music library here in Australia. One of my first gigs was to combine traditional Aboriginal music with modern contemporary feels and grooves. That worked very well for me because it was something that literally no one had done before so it was highly original. It is not so easy now though because they are very protective of their music. But I do have a whole swag of didge playing, vocal phrases and things which are not copyrighted.
 
I also have done an ambient album for a library in the US. Yes you are right though, the more tracks you do the more royalties you earn. Funny enough too some of the most simple and unsuspecting tracks have earned me the most royalties too even more in some cases than the mega productions I have done. So it is hard to sometimes tell what you think will really work for you.
 
And I did not mean to say all the music in the Songs forum here is bad. Some of it is very worthy of library production but only a very few cases though.
 
You will always get feedback from the libraries themselves. All you have to do is find the name of the person in charge of listening to and hiring composers and send him or her some stuff. They will always give you free feedback. They know a lot usually about what works and what doesn't etc..
 
I actually asked the library nicely and they supplied me with a copy of the whole library on CD's up to their latest. (more than 100) That was an amazing learning curve for me. But they dont distribute the music that way any more now. There are still many ways to listen to the other writers though especially in the genre you are doing. Just ask them and they will more than likely let you in and audition all the music in there as if you were a video production house etc.

Jeff Evans
Yes I am a library writer for the Castle EMI Music library here in Australia. One of my first gigs was to combine traditional Aboriginal music with modern contemporary feels and grooves. That worked very well for me because it was something that literally no one had done before so it was highly original. It is not so easy now though because they are very protective of their music. But I do have a whole swag of didge playing, vocal phrases and things which are not copyrighted.
 
I also have done an ambient album for a library in the US. Yes you are right though, the more tracks you do the more royalties you earn. Funny enough too some of the most simple and unsuspecting tracks have earned me the most royalties too even more in some cases than the mega productions I have done. So it is hard to sometimes tell what you think will really work for you.
 
And I did not mean to say all the music in the Songs forum here is bad. Some of it is very worthy of library production but only a very few cases though.
 
You will always get feedback from the libraries themselves. All you have to do is find the name of the person in charge of listening to and hiring composers and send him or her some stuff. They will always give you free feedback. They know a lot usually about what works and what doesn't etc..
 
I actually asked the library nicely and they supplied me with a copy of the whole library on CD's up to their latest. (more than 100) That was an amazing learning curve for me. But they dont distribute the music that way any more now. There are still many ways to listen to the other writers though especially in the genre you are doing. Just ask them and they will more than likely let you in and audition all the music in there as if you were a video production house etc.

EMI...nice one :) I remember us talking about your Aboriginal project earlier in the year on a sampling thread. I'm really happy you managed to get it placed with a decent library.
For sure its the simple tracks that seem to work the best. My first library work was with Atmosphere,which is part of Universal Publishing in the UK. Good company with a good reputation here in the UK and abroad. I did 3 tracks for them on a dark comedy CD,one of which was comprised of just 8 tracks in the project !!!!!! Which sounds crazy to me now as Im using up to 70 or 80 tracks for any given given project at the moment. But it worked,had a good vibe and people used it (and still are) quite regularly in TV. It made me realise at the time that you dont need a huge arsenal of sounds to be in successful in library music or spend $$$.......you just need to be capture a vibe that people can relate to.
At the minute I'm trying to spread out and am playing the numbers game ! I've approached a company in Germany which is part of the APM group. I;m lucky in the sense that I've worked for this group in the UK and so already have a foot in the door. Last night I realised we really are in a good position now as writers !!! I mean you for example,could approach EMI labels anywhere in the world. Its a global market,so why not ? I've worked with Koka (universal publishing) in France ,this work was given me on the understanding that I'd worked for the English counterpart Atmosphere in the UK. I think if you've been fortunate enough to work for a major like EMI you have to milk it for all its worth Jeff !!!!!! Have you tried approaching EMI in differant countries ??? You should try the UK !!!!
Yes library producers are helpful. I have about 8 CDs from Atmosphere which I sometimes listen to as references.Also they have an insight of what makes tracks sell and get picked up on TV,so I always listen to their advise carefully.Damn I gotta get ready for work :( Thanks for you post !!
Kev
 

Sometimes simplicity is the key to good music for television. One thing that is apparent to me when I listen to a lot of music for TV is how simple it can be. (in terms of track count I am meaning more so here) It almost sounds as though there is not quite enough  going on but what it does is create a strong sense of clarity.
 
A lesser number of tracks can still interact in a complex way to form a more complex piece but the complexity is in how the parts are interacting.
 
There is a car ad on here at the moment that has only got three main elements in it. A simple straight rock beat, (mainly kick on all 4) a dub step bass drop type very distorted wobble bass line and a catchy vocal. That is it. You could probably do it on 5 or 6 tracks at the most. Yet they are flogging it. The composer would be doing really well out of it.
 
Even an action trailer type cue or 'Game of Thrones' type cue could effectively be the cinematic drum groove, a string riff and a brass melody line. Big dense huge track count pieces can get lost too. On a small TV you wont hear most of it. That is why the simple things will sometimes cut through so well. I am telling you stuff that you already know I am sure.
 
There is an art to it. When I listen to British themes for various things they often sound like smaller ensembles to me. Those classy grooves in 'The Mentalist' for example are very sparse but very interesting though.
 
You have got to resist the temptation to do album pieces but do music for television instead. It is a different gig and not for everybody. Not everybody gets it. It took me a while. I have not been doing it for a while but want to get back into it. Our conversation is inspiring me to do so.

Jeff Evans
Sometimes simplicity is the key to good music for television. One thing that is apparent to me when I listen to a lot of music for TV is how simple it can be. (in terms of track count I am meaning more so here) It almost sounds as though there is not quite enough  going on but what it does is create a strong sense of clarity.
 
A lesser number of tracks can still interact in a complex way to form a more complex piece but the complexity is in how the parts are interacting.
 
There is a car ad on here at the moment that has only got three main elements in it. A simple straight rock beat, (mainly kick on all 4) a dub step bass drop type very distorted wobble bass line and a catchy vocal. That is it. You could probably do it on 5 or 6 tracks at the most. Yet they are flogging it. The composer would be doing really well out of it.
 
Even an action trailer type cue or 'Game of Thrones' type cue could effectively be the cinematic drum groove, a string riff and a brass melody line. Big dense huge track count pieces can get lost too. On a small TV you wont hear most of it. That is why the simple things will sometimes cut through so well. I am telling you stuff that you already know I am sure.
 
There is an art to it. When I listen to British themes for various things they often sound like smaller ensembles to me. Those classy grooves in 'The Mentalist' for example are very sparse but very interesting though.
 
You have got to resist the temptation to do album pieces but do music for television instead. It is a different gig and not for everybody. Not everybody gets it. It took me a while. I have not been doing it for a while but want to get back into it. Our conversation is inspiring me to do so.

Yes simplicity seems to be a key ingredient in library music,I agree. I've had lots of tracks rejected in fact on account of being too 'busy' and too much going on. There is a definitively an art in the whole process.You have to know when to stop adding parts !!!!! Like this example you gave with the car ad....maybe any more parts in the music would of started to draw too much attention on the music and the voice over would be lost.It's a fine balance for sure.
 
Recently I've been reading this book on orchestration and I find it very useful for writing library music. It reminds you of the importance of having a primary element ( Main melody), secondary element ( Countermelody) and accompaniment.I find it helpful to think about this not only when writing,but also when I'm mixing too. I find keeping to this approach makes for clearer and more intelligible music,with each element having a definite role to play in the music and in the mix.Basically it creates a foreground and background !!! And as you know,you cant have everything at the front all the time as this gets confusing - so if theres a lot of tracks in any particular project Im working on,I always try to follow this basic plan / layout. 
 
I havent seen 'The Mentalist' so cant really comment lol !!! I'm glad you're thinking about getting back into it. You should contact EMI in the UK and try and get some music sold here !!!! What I've found this week in doing my research is that are a LOT of quality libraries all over the globe....as they say in the UK,the world is your oyster !! So go for it Jeff.
 
Kev