The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 13 Summary

It’s hard to believe that the 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge I set for myself back in June is finally over! I find myself wandering to my laptop and doing Google searches with terms like “Music libraries accepting submissions” and “music supervisors looking for new tracks.” The last six went off without a hitch, and here’s what went down in this last week of the 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge.

The first one was to www.songzu.com, a music production company with an entertaining, if somewhat hard to follow, web site. The next submission was to www.songandfilm.com, another site I found from www.musiclibraryreport.com.

After that was www.halo8.tv. Number four was another international submission from www.musiclibraryreport.com, De Wolfe Music.

My second to last submission was to www.songplacements.com, and the 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge finished with one last international mailing, to England’s AKM Music. They accept demos at the mailing address listed on the site.

Well, it was certainly a fun and interesting, if somewhat tiring experience. When I started, I didn’t know the difference between an exclusive and a non-exclusive contract; I didn’t realize that CDs were still a relevant way of conveying music; I had no idea there were so many libraries, post-production companies, supervisors and other parties out there who are accepting music. I heard yesses, nos, and not surprisingly have yet to hear from many of the companies. I may never–that’s the music business. Maybe I have a few more yesses filtering in.

So the 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge is completed, but I will still update the blog when I encounter situations that are relevant. I want to thank everyone who read and provided feedback on this blog; I hope you have found it helpful.

For more information, comments, suggestions, etc., feel free to email me at www.findmymusicteacher.com.

You can hear some of the music at www.cdbaby.com/cd/davidlockeretz.

Also please check out my other blog, www.maestrosmusings.wordpress.com, and stay tuned for future projects. A new 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge just may come up soon.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 12 Summary

I’m getting pretty close to the end here! Of course the last few submissions are going to be the hardest, as I have to keep digging deeper and deeper, but I am doing just that and came up with seven more this week.

My first submission was to Zoo Street Music, which can be contacted through their Myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/78765140. Following this was www.arpix.com, a site associated with noted music supervisor Ron Proulx.

I then discovered a valuable resource, www.musiclibraryreport.com, where composers weigh in on their experiences with various music libraries. Although the site was difficult to navigate, there were several contacts I found here, including my third submission of the week, www.indigimusic.com.

More searching yielded Greece-based www.themusiccase.com, to which I mailed a CD, and Britan-based www.fivemissionsmore.com, to which I submitted my link.

My sixth submission was to another library I found from Music Library Report, www.scorekeepersmusic.com. I was plesantly surprised that my “audition” tracks had been accepted within a few hours and I was asked to sign their non-exclusive agreement and send more. My final submission was another overseas company, www.musicrange.com.

Coming soon – the final installment!

90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 11 Summary

This week began with a submission to www.omnimusic.com, a site that accepts online submissions. My next submission, to www.4six3sound.com, was a bit of a longshot, as their catalog seems to be more R&B/hip-hop oriented, but you never know.

Following that was a submission to www.reliable-source.co.uk, a British site I found on www.iconmusic.com. I sent them the demo CD, as I did for my fourth submission, to www.megatrax.com.

I continued to vary my search engine terms, not only by adding but also subtracting (for example, leaving out “submissions” and “licensing” which sometimes could lead to non-music related sites) and came across www.elysianpictures.com and www.musicforproductions.com, both of which accepted online submissions.

The last submission was to www.naturalenergylab.com, a site I learned about from an interview with noted music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. She’s the music supervisor for many TV shows including “Gray’s Anatomy”, “Chop Shop” and more. It pays to search out music supervisors such as Patsavas, because even if they themselves aren’t seeking new music, they can provide insight into the industry and sometimes specific leads. I also came across another interview with music supervisor Dominique Preyer (see summaries for weeks 6 and 7) at www.woodyssoundadvice.com.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 10 Summary

This week started with a pair of submissions to the United Kingdom. The first was to www.music-library.co.uk, a site that encourages composers to read their agreement before submitting. The agreement was pretty much straight ahead so I mailed off the CD. The second was to Audio Network, a site which I had found from the listing on www.iconmusic.com.

With bills for material and postage to England adding up, I started to shift my focus to finding places where I could submit online. Continuing to try various search phrases such as “send links to your music”; “send mp3s” and more, I found a few. One was www.cre8ivemusic.com, followed by www.looplibrary.com. Incidentally, I found one site, whose name escapes me, that invited composers to send links but specifically said “we don’t listen to music on Myspace players.”

My fifth submission was to www.eclectichousepublishing.com, a relatively new company. They specialize in “traditional and modern gospel, pop and country music in instrumental, group, choral and vocal music.” It seemed like a longshot, but one of my more popular instrumentals, “Not Long Ago”, is in a folk-type style that might pass for country music. The beauty of online submissions is that with less time and no money invested, even longshots might just be worth it.

The last two submissions were to www.pp-music.net and www.reallyfreemusic.co.uk. I also heard back from two companies: Quest Worldwide Production Music (www.qwpm.com), who said they enjoyed the stuff I uploaded but needed something heavier (so I uploaded my loudest, most obnoxious track, with the unlikely name “Partial Asphyxiation”, the one I left off of most of the demos I sent out and that I need to warn people about when I give them the full CD). I also heard back from www.1-800play.com, who liked my jazz/swing track “Look but Don’t Touch” but wanted me to sign an exclusive deal with them. Their argument for signing an exclusive deal is that, down the line, should a big company want to sign the track for a large sum, having several companies representing the track (even if it’s renamed) could prove problematic. I have noticed more and more companies that I research seeming to want to sign composers to exclusive deals. For my part, I still opt for non-exclusive deals, although if an objective observer could convince me that exclusive was the way to go I would reconsider. Either way, it’s nice to continue to get feedback and to know that some of my submissions are panning out.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 9 Summary

I came across www.iconmusic.comthis week, which turned out to be a fairly valuable list of many different production companies.   Some I had already contacted; some links were defunct; some handled all of their music needs in-house, but I did make three submissions based on the list.  The first was www.nightingalemusic.com, which informed me that they received my submission but it may be two months before they got back to me.  Next was www.freshmusic.com.  The third was www.primaryelements.com, the second Long Beach company to which I’d submitted (unlike the last package, this one actually had a Long Beach postmark).

Following that was www.lastudiotracks.com, another company close to me in Seal Beach, CA, although I submitted music to them online rather than in package form.   I’ve realized that it costs about $4 every time I mail out a CD (between postage and supplies), plus it’s more time-consuming.  When I do mail packages I look at it as an investment, but all other things being equal, I tend to prefer sites where I can submit online.

For Sunday, online submissions were my only option anyways, so I hit up www.royalty-free.tv (submission page  http://www.royalty-free.tv/rftv/submit_music.htm).  I went back to snail mail for my sixth submission, to Asylum Entertainment (submission page http://www.asylument.com/pages/flashindex.htm).  My last submission of the week was online, to a site with the unlikely name www.300monks.com. 

I also got feedback from two prior submissions this last day: Two songs were accepted into the www.licensejazz.com catalog, but I did not make the cut at www.beatpicks.com.  At least Beatpicks almost stuck to their word about getting back to me in 4 weeks.  Oh well, the show goes on.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 8 Summary

I kept my streak intact through my vacation and am now writing this summary from back on home soil.  This week began with a submission to www.cuepop.com.   Continuing to vary my search engine wording, using terms such as “post production company”, “libraries accepting submissions” and “send us mp3s” I came across a few new sites, including www.audiomicro.com, a site where composers can upload files to sell.   My inquiry to www.kussu-productions.com was returned with pleasantly surprising quickness and I made my third submission of the week to them.

Next up was www.songplacements.com, a site similar to www.youlicense.com in that it serves as a portal for composers to make submissions to specific projects (although as far as I can tell, all submissions are free, where www.youlicense.com only allows one submission per month with its free membership).

Www.animoto.com/musicoffers an interesting model that might be described as “crowdsourcing.”  The site allows composers one submission per month, and site visitors determine which songs become the most successful.   That site was my fifth submission of the week; number six was to Chicago-based Olive Entertainment.

The week ended with somewhat of a longshot.   On their site, www.2b-royaltyfree.com clearly states that they are not actively soliciting new material, but they do invite composers who “think [they] have what it takes and can fill a niche with 50 high quality tracks” to submit links to their music.   We’ll just have to wait and see on that one I suppose.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 7 Summary

Irony was abound in week 7.  The week started off with a dilemma.   With me heading out of town to upstate New York, would this be a vacation or a working vacation?

The consensus among everyone whom I talked to seemed to be that I should keep the ball rolling, so roll I did.

My first package of the week, however, was mailed from California soil, to www.licensejazz.com.  After including the word “jazz” in my Google searches, I came across that site.  From Woodstock, I did two submissions: to www.gratismusiclibrary.com and www.paywhatyouwantonline.com.

My fifth submission was to the Quest Worldwide Music Production company (www.qwpm.com), to which I had made an inquiry a while back.  I uploaded two tracks and then moved onto my sixth submission of the week…also back to the Golden State, this time Greenlight Music Group in Northridge.

The last submission of the week was to none other than Mr. Dominique Preyer, of www.hearitclearit.com.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from him, after giving him the wrong gender in my inquiry email.  Whether he didn’t notice my salutation or did but is used to that particular mix-up, I’ll never know, but what I do know is that my seventh week wrapped up with a package being mailed from Brooklyn to Round Rock, TX.  Hopefully that’s not the last I’ll hear from Mr. Dominique Preyer.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 6 Summary

Right off the bat, I learned a valuable lesson this week: When sending a letter of inquiry to a music supervisor, it’s not a bad idea to get their gender correct. 

I came across the site www.hearitclearit.com and wrote a quick letter to the music supervisor, one Dominique Preyer.  Assuming that the spelling of the name was feminine, I addressed my email to Ms. Preyer.  Unfortunately, according to Dominique’s bio on the site, “He has supervised over 35 films…”  Yes, like the hero of the Kinks’ classic “Lola”, Dominique Preyer is a man.  As of now, no word yet from Mr. Preyer, although it should be noted that I still haven’t heard from plenty of supervisors whose gender I got right.

That said, I did successfully submit my first track of the week to www.freeplaymusic.com.   My next submission was to a film, “Sleepless on Sunset”, through www.youlicense.com, thus using my one free submission for the month from that site.  Continuing to add terms like “music libraries” and “jazz” and “instrumental” to my searches, I came across New York-based www.siblings.com, to which I mailed a CD.  A CD went out the next day to Spain, to Barcelona-based Partners in Rhyme.

My fifth submission was to www.matchlessmusic.com.  This was a simple, online audition of one track, to determine if I was a “matchless musician.”  No word yet.

Next up was Prolific Arts, a company affiliated with www.radicalmusiclibrary.com.   This company, as their name suggests, apparently positions themselves as cutting-edge library, so I sent them some of the tracks I’ve been a little hesitant to play for anyone over the age of 50.  (Anyone who’s heard the CD knows what I’m talking about).

Last but not least was the Anthem Music Library (www.timhelisek.com.)  I found this site through www.musicianstaff.com and sent them the standard, more sanitized demo.  The week ended on a positive note: Spencer from www.siblingmusic.com got back to me about including my music in the catalog.  More on this soon hopefully.  For now, that will wrap up this sixth week of the 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge.

The 90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 5 Summary

The week wouldn’t be complete without some more flash drive drama.  On Wednesday, I had a break in my work schedule and went to the local library to access the site www.1-800-play.com.  Due to some technical difficulties I was unable to upload my tracks to the site, and planned to do so when I got home.  Unfortunately when I did, I could not find my flash drive and figured I had left it at the library.  Not a big deal; there was nothing irreplaceable on the drive, it was just more of a pain than anything else.  I could just go back to the library tomorrow morning and pick it up.  Unfortunately I still was without a submission for the day, but by a stroke of luck found www.jamnation.com, to which I sent my web page.

The next day, I went to the library but they did not have the drive.  Perhaps someone had taken it; that would lead us both to disappointment.  I bought a new flash drive, the same model, at Office Max, got into my car and put it in my glove  box, right next to, as it turns out, the old one.  My original flash drive had fallen behind some random junk in my globe box.  An hour and ten dollars later, I, if nothing else, had an extra flash drive to use as a backup.  Storage drama out of the way, I successfully uploaded a track to www.1-800-play.com.

My third submission was to www.earth1studios.com in Atlanta, run by fellow Berklee College of Music alumni Alex Ginzburg.  I made sure to mention my Berklee education when submitting my site link to him.  More Google searching yielded CS Audio, to which I sent a demo CD, and  www.hellagoodrecords.com, which sounded promising enough, but unfortunately my email was rejected by the server with the disclaimer that they would try again later. 

Monday’s submission was to Soundfiles, in Los Angeles.  They had posted on www.craigslist.org searching for new music; the first opportunity I had found listed on that site, although as with most of these others I got there with a Google search.  My last submission of the week turned out to be tricky to find (not helped by the fact that I spent the morning fishing and the afternoon sleeping) but I finally sent an email with my site link to Chris Mollere, the music director of Fusion Music Supervision.  I found his site, www.chrismollere.com, through www.musicnomad.com.

Thus ends another productive week of searching and submitting.  The question of the week is, after all of the drama caused by the lack of organization in my glove compartment, did I clean it out?

Of course not!

90-Day Music Licensing Challenge: Week 4 Summary

This week started with another submission north of the border, to the unlikely-named Dogstar Music in Ontario.   My next submission was to Bankrobber Music in New Jersey. 

I began to start changing my search terms, adding “instrumental”, replacing “licensing” with “placement” and got a few new results from this.  The British company Bucks Music Group accepted submissions online; just as well because I was starting to get a little weary of the post office (not to mention the fees for overseas shipping).  My next shipment was, in fact, domestic, to the Boulder, CO-based Rhyme 2 Reason.

On Sunday, my fifth submission of the week was online, to www.positionmusic.com.  On Monday I mailed off a package to Fliktrax, in Rhinebeck, NY.  I also heard from www.crucialmusic.com, to which I had submitted back on July 4th.  Oculus: No.  Not Long Ago: No.  Look But Don’t Touch: Hold on, where is that email they sent me?  Oh, here it is.  No.

Oh well, everyone hears “no” in this line of work.   One rejection isn’t the end of the world.

My last submission was, admittedly, a longshot, to one Ursula Castle in Toronto (so much for keeping it domestic).  I got her name from www.coochmusic.com, a site with postings that may or may not be up to date (the year 2007 seemed to keep popping up).  But she welcomed the solicitation of music, including instrumental, so a CD she was sent.

Well, www.crucialmusic.com or no www.crucialmusic.com, the 90-Day Music Licensing train rolls on.