Musicians, Make Money With Production Music
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Production Music
Songwriters/Producers/Composers: Are you looking for another way to make money from your music?
It's no secret that many people in the music industry see TV, film and video games as the new big earners for artists. Record sales have slumped and touring is never going to be cost-efficient when you consider transport and living costs.
Of course, the world of film and TV music is very difficult to get into - there are so many talented musicians and so few projects which need bespoke music. It's expensive and time consuming to be negotiating with composers and then working alongside whoever is chosen.
Enter Production Music.
Production Music (or Library Music) is pre-recorded music that is licensed to media (e.g. TV, film, radio and internet) companies at a set rate. It is cheaper and easier to use as Production Music Libraries own the entire copyright to their music, hence the composer's permission is not needed when a media company wishes to use a particular piece.
The great thing about production music is that a track is never exclusively signed to a programme or film etc, it belongs to the library - even famous library music tracks such as the Ski Sunday Theme always belong to the publishers. This means that your music can be used by a number of different people, earning you some lovely royalties every time.
Even better is the range of potential uses you can gain these royalties for. TV, film, radio and video games are the obvious ones; but what about theatre performances, public events or even wedding videos! Music is often required when the time and budget to create it from scratch don't exist.
It's no secret that many people in the music industry see TV, film and video games as the new big earners for artists. Record sales have slumped and touring is never going to be cost-efficient when you consider transport and living costs.
Of course, the world of film and TV music is very difficult to get into - there are so many talented musicians and so few projects which need bespoke music. It's expensive and time consuming to be negotiating with composers and then working alongside whoever is chosen.
Enter Production Music.
Production Music (or Library Music) is pre-recorded music that is licensed to media (e.g. TV, film, radio and internet) companies at a set rate. It is cheaper and easier to use as Production Music Libraries own the entire copyright to their music, hence the composer's permission is not needed when a media company wishes to use a particular piece.
The great thing about production music is that a track is never exclusively signed to a programme or film etc, it belongs to the library - even famous library music tracks such as the Ski Sunday Theme always belong to the publishers. This means that your music can be used by a number of different people, earning you some lovely royalties every time.
Even better is the range of potential uses you can gain these royalties for. TV, film, radio and video games are the obvious ones; but what about theatre performances, public events or even wedding videos! Music is often required when the time and budget to create it from scratch don't exist.
Some Famous Production Music Tracks
The BBC 'Ski Sunday' theme is also known as 'Pop Goes Bach' by Sam Fonteyn and is a Boosey & Hawkes track and is available on Boosey & Hawkes' Cavendish label.
Also heard regularly on the BBC is the theme to Radio 4 drama 'The Archers', this track is called 'Barwick Green' and is by Arthur Wood.
Also heard regularly on the BBC is the theme to Radio 4 drama 'The Archers', this track is called 'Barwick Green' and is by Arthur Wood.
How The Money Is Made
Where does this cash you promised me come from?
Money. It's probably what brought you here! So how do you make money from Production Music?Well, as a musician, you may well have heard of royalties. Royalties are payments made for the use of music. Production Music libraries ignore the big synchronisation fees charged by record labels and established artists and makes money from the royalties.
There are two types of royalty, Performance and Mechanical.
Performance royalties are paid to the writer every time a piece of music is played, on TV, Film & Radio, or live at a music venue. Every time you hear a piece of music on the radio or TV, the artist is getting a small fee for it.
Mechanical royalties are slightly more complicated. They are paid when a piece of music is 'attached' to a piece of media, e.g. to a Film or Advert or Computer Game, so that every time that piece of media is played/used the piece of music is heard. Mechanical royalties are much larger than performance royalties as they are one-off fees.
As an example, to put a song on an advert, the advertisers must pay a mechanical royalty. Every time that advert is seen, the TV company playing it must pay a performance royalty.
It's important to note that most production music companies buy out their artists and keep the mechanical royalties to themselves. The artists only get 50% of the performance royalties (and an upfront fee) for their music. Others, especially a number of those in the UK and Europe, will split all royalties 50-50 with their composers.
So, How Do I Become A Production Music Composer?
What it takes to find a dream job like this
The production music you are most familiar with could be the lush orchestral sound of the 1940s-1970s or the cheesy synthesised TV and Film music of the 80s-90s.High quality production music today is a compromise between the two. Professional orchestras/musicians are far more expensive than they ever were. While, on the other hand, musical taste when it comes to quality of sound is probably more sophisticated than in the 80s and early 90s.
With the huge leaps in technology in recent years, production music can theoretically can be made in the bedroom. However, not only must the musical ideas be good but the sound quality must be great too.
Because production music is often used to accompany moving images and to underscore scenes, the form is normally quite different to other contemporary music. For example, a modern dance track might slowly build up to a massive drop whereas a production music version of the same track would have noticable changes every 15-30 seconds, making it more useful for its intended uses.
Yes, that's a lot to work on! And you have to get it right because there are more and more people doing it. But it's worth it once you have your music out there, because it is no longer up to you to promote your music, and you don't have to perform it yourself to make money from it.
There's a great lens here that provides further information and resources for budding production music composers.
Try An Example
How does it work, and how does it sound?
This is an example of a production music track being used on an advert. The track is '4 Chords' from the Cavendish album 'Original & Quirky'.
Listen to how the form of the track is different to how it could have been if it was a track for general release. There are a couple of big changes in the track. These don't have to appear in any particular place in your music but similar moments should appear somewhere so the music can be edited to different events.
When the demo for this track was submitted, there was no further production work to be done on it, bar mixing. This is the bar for your production, if you can't get close to it, try and team up with a techie who might be able to help you (for half your royalties of course!).
Listen to how the form of the track is different to how it could have been if it was a track for general release. There are a couple of big changes in the track. These don't have to appear in any particular place in your music but similar moments should appear somewhere so the music can be edited to different events.
When the demo for this track was submitted, there was no further production work to be done on it, bar mixing. This is the bar for your production, if you can't get close to it, try and team up with a techie who might be able to help you (for half your royalties of course!).
Your Production Music Checklist
Tick all these off before your demo goes ANYWHERE!
- Are you trying to emulate a style? If so, listen to some and honestly tell yourself whether or not your track sounds right.
- If you've used samples or synthesisers, make sure they don't sound cheap, fake or tacky, unless that's truly (truly truly) the aesthetic you're going for
- Get some fresh ears to tell you if your composition sounds professional. If it doesn't, work on it, get someone else in if you have to.
- Make sure the form of your track is suited to use in adverts rather than just being a song. Listen to the example above and pay close attention to the music used in any media you consume.
by CharoLaRock
I make music, I play music, I listen to music, I work in music. Now, I write about music!
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