Things to do before submitting music to music libraries
For any musicians and songwriters who don't yet have connections in publishing and licensing
Music libraries are one way you can seek revenue generating opportunities
Here are a couple of things you should do, before submitting your songs to music libraries
First get your music ready for licensing
Choose three to five tracks from your catalog
Even if you're not 100% confident in your tracks, as a songwriter, being a perfectionist can hold you back
Of course before you submit your songs for any licensing opportunity you want to make sure
everything is properly registered with a performance rights organization
Quality is key in music licensing and the absolute last thing you want is to have
the perfect song for placement only get turned down
because the audio quality isn't up to industry standard
Always export high-quality mp3s,
preferably 320kbps and WAV files preferably 24-bit 48 kHz
Here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to audio quality
24-bit is better than 16-bit
320kbps is better than
256 kbps which is better than 128kbps
WAV and AIFF are better than mp3
48 kHz is preferable to 44 kHz for any music that will be used on video because that's the standard for TV and
film
Metadata embedded into your music tracks will allow libraries,
publishers and music supervisors to find and contact you
should they want to use your song. At the very least have the following information in your metadata
track name, artist name, album name,
genre,
recording or release date,
email address and website.
It's important to research music libraries
Music libraries are just one of the many ways you can seek music licensing opportunities
They are also one of the most accessible, especially for musicians and songwriters who don't yet have many connections in the publishing and licensing industry
Music libraries are platforms that curate music and make it available for ad agencies, youtubers,
podcasters,
independent filmmakers, TV music supervisors and others, to license and use music in their projects.
As you research music libraries you should
Analyze the music they already have is your music and obvious fit. Is there a gap in their catalogue you might be able to fill?
Find out how to submit music to them. You'll usually find the information on the FAQ or contact pages
Find out if they sign tracks on exclusive or non-exclusive music licensing deals
Check out the description box under the video for a list of music libraries you can start with
The last thing to do is submit, submit, submit.
Submit to as many libraries as makes sense for your brand of music. There's not much to explain here
Just make sure you follow the submission guidelines of each library
They will each have their own guidelines if you don't take the time to follow them,
they won't take the time to check out your music. As you start submitting
remember that continual action will get you far in the world of music licensing
Don't worry if you don't have a publisher a big catalog or a top mastering engineer working on your tracks
You don't need any of those things to get your music licensed. They might help but you don't need them
Try taking one hour every day over seven days to get started
Commit to that and the momentum will start building
There are a few ways you get paid if your songs get licensed
First, a synchronization fee is paid by whomever is licensing your music from the music library
Depending on the terms of the agreement you signed with the library. You will probably get a percentage of that sync fee
Check out our previous video on sync licensing for more info
Then there's performance royalties
If your music is played on TV radio or internet you could receive performance royalties based on the number of plays
that's where your performance rights organization or PRO comes in.
A PRO oversees collection of royalties for you
We have whole other videos explaining performance royalties if you need more information on this
Finally, there's ad revenue. If your music is used in a YouTube video. You could receive a share of the ad revenue
However, this side of the business gets tricky because you need your music to be part of YouTube's Content ID program
That can create a whole host of problems for music libraries you work with, if you're just starting out our
advice is don't worry about this type of revenue just yet
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