Hi! While Michelle has her toes in the sand and a drink in her hand for some much needed down time, I have the pleasure of writing this guest blog. Thanks for the opportunity, Michelle! My name's Charles P. Hurowitz (better known as “Casey”), and I'm a friend and colleague of Michelle's through Taxi, the independent A&R company that we both use. If you’d like, you can read about me and hear songs I’ve written or co-written at www.caseysongs.com and www.soundcloud.com/caseyh. Let me share with you some information from the business side of writing music for Film/TV. A very large percentage of all music used in Film/TV comes from production music libraries (I’ll just call them “music libraries”) so I’ll focus there. Understanding all the terminology, types of contracts, etc. can be a real challenge at times, especially for those just getting started. For discussion purposes, “Film/TV” can mean any application involving synchronizing music to video including movies, TV, advertising, Internet, etc. Well, here goes… What is a music library? A music library is basically a music publisher that focuses only on Film/TV placements (i.e. not artist cuts). They become your agent to pitch your music to Film/TV music supervisors and other decision makers and often perform administrative duties such as registrations and royalty collection. When you place your music with a library, you give them permission to sign a wide variety of licenses on your behalf. That’s a good thing! They can quickly and with no hassles sign a deal for a movie or TV show to use your song because the music is what’s known as “pre-cleared.” In most cases, all income between composer and library is split 50/50. There are many different types of music libraries and contract terms. Keep in mind that there is no absolute right or wrong type of deal, every deal has to be evaluated according to a composer’s specific situation, comfort, and goals. Here are some of the most common contract types: Exclusive An exclusive contract allows only that library to pitch the music you sign with them. In some cases, it also involves assignment of your copyright. For the term of the contract, the library has sole control over what happens with your tracks. Now that can sound very scary but there can be situations whereby a library that represents tracks exclusively can open doors that couldn’t be opened otherwise. Sometimes the term of the contract is finite such as 3 or 5 years. Other times it is “in perpetuity” which is the fancy legal way of saying “forever”. Advantageous to the composer is a “Reversion Clause” which states that if the library does not secure a placement within some time period (e.g. 2, 3, 5 years), all rights revert back to the composer. Deciding whether to sign an exclusive, especially if there is no upfront money and it is in perpetuity with no reversion, is one of the toughest decisions for a composer. Lots of factors need to be weighed. What is the track record of the library as far as securing placements? How prolific are you as a composer? Are these your “babies” or do you feel you could write 10 more just as good with relative ease? How risk aversive are you? Non-Exclusive With Re-Title Many libraries will pitch your tracks on a completely non-exclusive basis which means you can still do whatever you want as far as pitching elsewhere including other non-exclusive libraries. In order to distinguish performance royalties generated by a non-exclusive library’s efforts from those generated by other libraries or entities, re-titling is used. Let’s say you sign a song called “The River Of Tears” with Happy Face Music Library. They may re-title it as “Flood Of Tears” or “HFML The River Of Tears”. Then they will register it with your PRO under that re-title with themselves as the publisher. Another non-exclusive re-title library may sign the song and re-title it “Crying A River” and register it that way. When a track is used on a TV show, the production company files a “cue sheet” with the PRO’s (e.g. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.) listing all titles, cue lengths, writers, and publishers. The different titles uniquely identify which publisher made the placement, allowing the correct publisher to be paid their share. The writer always gets their share. This is great, isn’t it? You can put the same song in lots of libraries. Well not so fast. Although you CAN do that, there are definite pros and cons and re-titling is one of the most hotly debated subjects in the music library world. Some think this practice of composers putting the same tracks in many libraries has driven prices down and become a nuisance for music supervisors who get tired of receiving media from multiple sources with the same tracks. We have seen some TV networks or production companies begin to only accept music from exclusive libraries. On the other hand, many composers feel the exclusive deal, especially with no money upfront, is too restrictive. And despite predictions that re-titling will become a banned practice, non-exclusive libraries are still making lots of placements. Exclusive with Respect to Film/TV Only This is the same as an exclusive contract but the exclusivity applies only to pitching the songs to Film/TV. The composer has total freedom to pitch the songs for artist cuts, release on his/her own CDs, iTunes, etc. This makes a lot of sense if you are an artist working on your own career and want to pitch your music to film/TV in parallel to seeking Film/TV placements. Or maybe you want to pitch songs for artist cuts and still have options open for Film/TV. Exclusive with Respect to Other Music Libraries Sometimes called a “semi-exclusive” deal, this type of deal only has exclusivity as far as placing the same tracks in other music libraries. You can still pitch the tracks directly to music supervisors, ad agency executives, or anyone needing music as long as it’s not a music library. Summing it all up One of the best ways to place your music in Film/TV is through music libraries. As you can see, there are different types of music library deals. Understanding what they mean, the pros and cons, and balancing it all with your own situation will help you move forward in the music library world. PS Casey’s Extra Tips Tip 1: To pitch tracks for Film/TV, you must own 100% of the rights to the composition and the master recording. If you hired any musicians or vocalists to work on your project, you need to have each of them sign a Work For Hire/Musician’s Release agreement. This agreement would state (paraphrasing, not legal language) that they performed the work as work-for-hire and have no future claims to any payments or royalties and you maintain all rights to the master and composition. Tip 2: Google is your friend. Search for “production music libraries” and you’ll find tons of good information right there on the word wide web. Of course, always be careful about the source. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Just because it’s on the Internet doesn’t make it true.” Tip 3: Recommended resources: www.taxi.com www.musiclibraryreport.com http://thebusinessofmusiclicensing.com/ (eBook for purchase) Thanks for reading and good luck! Casey
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One of the hard things about writing for Film & TV is to not only write Universal lyrics (no names, places, dates, specifics etc.) but also to a make the listener deeply FEEL what you are saying in the song. If I say in a song “ I think I love you”. Ok, well that’s great, but a little boring and doesn’t give you the emotional goose bumps (unless this is someone who is standing in front of you and says that to you, which is totally different, but we are talking about songs, not your specific love life ;). You want the song to really bring up the feelings in someone. So if I say: “Unsteady I fall for you, you’re stirring up my heart, its true, there’s no one else on earth for me, and I realize that you’re the one, …” (Together (We Belong) written and recorded by Stephen Wesley Guiles and Michelle Lockey) Saying it this way gives more of a sensation of what’s happening,- butterflies, fainting, increased heart rate, all things associated with falling in love with someone. In Ingrid Michaelson’s song The Way I Am, she describes things lovers do for one another to depict a feeling of love and security by using associations “If you were falling, then I would catch you If you need light, I'd find a match Cause I love the way you say good morning And you take me the way I am” Those words bring up the feelings of being loved and feeling secure and comfortable in a relationship… much more so than if the song said “Hey, I love you and feel secure” while those are nice words, in a song, they don’t bring up the same secure love filled feelings. In my song Easy to Love (written with Michelle Murray, of our band Michelle Michelle) we use these associations like : “ You’re like my favorite pair of shoes, we fit together just me and you. You’re morning kiss, is like a blanket of love, it wraps me up and it’s more than enough” That kind of association helps to give insight and to bring the feelings alive for the listener. Another technique is the use of metaphors, Instead of saying “ Man, I just want to feel good, I’ve had so many bad relationships” You could say, as does Ingrid Michaelson in Be Ok: ” Open me up and you will see, I’m a gallery of broken hearts, I’m beyond repair, let me be, and give me back my broken parts” (Sorry for all the Ingrid references but studied her stuff a lot since I have a similar style ;) EXERCISE: Take a look at these lyrics: “Cause I don’t stand a chance in these four walls and he don’t recognize me anymore Burned out flames should never re-ingnite But I though you might… Take me home, Take me home” (Daughter “Home”) What feelings do they bring up in you? Write them down in the comments The point is to try and find ways to use clever ways to describe a feeling, using an association or metaphor. Use images, sensations, associations and metaphors to convey emotions Another thing to do is to associate emotions with color, then associate the color with an object, or something physical or idea, action Here is a true to life exercise for a song I wrote with my friend Amanda Jane Anderson. She sent me the basic lyric and then to solidify and adjust the lyric we imagined being afraid and wrote down words and colors associated with that feeling. Fear- frozen, hair rising up on my arm, being chased, screaming, ghosts, haunted, running, black, creepiness, stalker, shadow, darkness, Using those words the following lyrics were crafted: In The Dark - by Amanda Jane Anderson and Michelle Lockey https://soundcloud.com/michellelockey/in-the-dark-a-tale-of-love-cello-mix-new-melody “I’m the shadow you catch in the corners of your mind And you think it’s the wind that brushes you by You’re head starts to pound and the pain stops your heart When you see me watching you, in the dark” Instead of saying “I am afraid because there is a stalker following me” we tried to use associations and metaphors to convey fear and if you listen to the song with the music, hopefully you will feel all creeped out! EXERCISE: Take the following words and write down any colors, action words, images, and objects, sensations that they bring up. Then try to describe the emotion using the items from your list. I do this all the time, it is a bit more automatic now and it will be for you the more you do it: Love Hurt Anger Pain Fear Joy Lust Depression Regret Lost love Blissful Panic Hope that was helpful! The next couple weeks I will be out of town but I will have a couple of guest writers to talk about the types of Film & TV deals . Thanks for reading! -Shell Writing & Licensing Songs for Film & TV Episode 5: Titles, Ala's and Broadcast Quality... Oh My!3/3/2015 Titling your song may seem like a no brainer, BUT for a Music Supervisor scanning through songs, the title is everything. In and instant the title will tell the Music Supervisor what the song is about and if it will fit the scene. Titling your songs is important to capture the mood and vibe of the song. That sometimes means that the title is NOT the hook , sometimes it is. Titles like: Love on the Rocks, Am I Invisible?, Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, I’m Gonna Let You Go Now, Strong Enough, Everybody Smile, Haunted Moon, This is the End, Stuck on You Instantly give the Music Supervisor an idea of what the song is about and if it will match the scene or commercial. Titles like: Cue no#1, Yes, Paper, Gold, Piano Tune #7, Together, Glue, are not as good or meaningful. (ok, so those are a bit extreme) Seems like a no brainer? Maybe, but you can always fine-tune your title to be more meaningful and stand out. Like the title “Together” may stand out more re-titled as “We Belong Together” Glue might be better as “You are the Glue” or “Stuck on You” For Instance my song “Mama’s Eyes” has been used in a few shows where the mother was getting married or something related to mothers. “Everybody Smile” has been licensed in everything from Web commercials, weddings, B2B corporate videos, to someone’s YouTube video of their kid’s birthday. No doubt the title caught the attention first before they heard the song… “You’re My Sweet Sweet Home” was used in ABC family show where the family was all together happy , eating breakfast. You get the idea.. It’s not rocket science, but just thought I would hammer the point home. Titles are also a great way to come up with song ideas. An exercise to try is to set a timer for 2 minutes and come up with as many titles as you can. Come up with titles that are about people, situations and emotions. Flip to a page in a book and see if some ideas are sparked there. Google a word and see what comes up. Put these in a notebook and when you are running low on ideas go to your title list and pick one to start working on. The title may change in the end, but at least it will get you started. Ok moving on to Ala songs. Often times you will see music supervisor/publisher listings (i.e., descriptions of what they want) referring to Ala songs aka “In the style of” . Most of the time, the actual song they want by a famous or well-known artist does not fit their budget. So they want songs that give a similar feel to the ala song. They DO NOT want you to rip off the song.. meaning they do not want a sound alike. You can come close to infringing if the song is too close in sound, lyric and style of that particular artist. So you need to study how the song is constructed and use those elements in your song, but put your own unique style to it. This is sometimes a hard thing to learn. A few times a song of mine has been rejected because it was too close to the ala. But it is all a learning experience. So when you see a listing that mentions and ala song, study those songs and artists. Does the song have a dynamic build? What instruments are used? What effects are in the song? Do the vocals sit back in a bed of reverb or are they up front and dry? What kinds of characteristics are in the vocal? How is the percussion being used? What is the emotion of the song? What is the song structure? What is the melody doing? All of this should help you to incorporate those elements into a song that could replace the actual song /artist/style they are looking for . Broadcast Quality: In almost everything I read , you must have a broadcast quality song. This is sometimes a confusing thing to understand. It does not have to be the over compressed expensively produced songs you hear on the radio. You can make simple guitar or piano vocal songs in your home studio and it can be broadcast quality. This definition is from Robin Frederick’s book Shortcuts to songwriting for Film and TV… Shortcut 65 “A broadcast quality recording is the result of several things, all working together and working well: -Instrumental arrangement and performance -Vocal arrangement and performance -Recording and mixing quality “ Basically your song has to be as good as other songs used in Film and TV. Go to TuneFind.com and pick some shows and listen to those songs. While they may not be hit songs on the radio, they are good enough in overall style, performance and production to be used in film and TV. Even unplugged versions of songs, that you can do at home, will be fine if they are constructed well, sung well, instrumentally performed well, have universal lyrics a good melody and a basically clean recording. If you are not good at playing or singing, then hire someone who is, and you don’t have to spend a lot of dough to get this done. When I first started this I was spending a lot of money at a studio getting these great productions done. Then I started to collaborate and co-writing with people that had home studios and through these partnerships I was able to get really good sounding songs for less money. And now I am starting to produce my own songs at home with basic piano or guitars with vocals. These songs are getting some traction and I am so excited! Down the road I will talk more about collaborating and networking, getting more bang for your buck, being your own producer etc. Ok, so if you have read this far, and I hope you have here are your exercises for this week: Title exercise: 10 titles in 2 minutes set a timer for 2 minutes, come up with as many titles as you can and write them down in a notebook for future ideas Re-title a song If you have any songs with vague titles, what title might make them more noticeable by Music Supervisors? Ala exercise: Here something typical you might see in a listing. Music supervisor needs Female Singer Songwriter songs for a new TV show. Slow to mid tempo songs, ala Gabrielle Alpine, Cat Powers, Priscilla Ahn. Songs about love, heartache, moving on. No sound alikes ! Universal lyrics, broadcast quality songs needed. Basic piano or guitar with vocal songs Ok for this pitch. Look up those artists and start listening to some of their songs. Write a song similar, but not copycatting the artists Broadcast Quality The only way to learn this is to start listening to songs used in Film and TV Make a playlist on Pandora or other service, like Spotify and just listen for the items I mentioned above about Broadcast Quality. Instrumental arrangement and performance -Vocal arrangement and performance -Recording and mixing quality “ |
AuthorMichelle Lockey is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter sharing the knowledge she has learned over the years writing for Film & TV. Like what you are reading? Please Sign up to receive a FREE Music Licensing checklist! 10 Steps to Sync Success
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