Are you devaluing your music by signing non-exclusive license agreements?
Do music supervisors privilege exclusive deals?
What are the risks of signing an exclusive deal?
Are you shooting yourself in the foot every time you sign a non-exclusive deal with a new music library?
These are some of the questions that come up every time musicians receive an offer to license their music.
I’ve got you covered with this article.
The Non-Exclusive License Agreement
Definition
When you license one of your songs through a non-exclusive agreement, this is what happens:
- You are the licensor
- You give the licensee (e.g. a production music library) the right to offer your song to a third-party
- The third-party can purchase the right to use your song
- The licensee pays you part of the fee received from the third-party
- You can sign another non-exclusive agreement with another licensee to shop that same song around to third-parties
Advantages of the non-exclusive license agreement
- Your song is not tied down with one company who may or may not find you licensing opportunities
- You can maximize small opportunities
The Exclusive License Agreement
Definition
When you license one of your songs through an exclusive agreement, this is what happens:
- You are the licensor
- You give the licensee (e.g. a production music library) the right to offer your song to a third-party
- The third-party can purchase the right to use your song
- The licensee pays you part of the fee received from the third-party
- You can NOT sign another agreement with another licensee to shop that same song around to third-parties.
Note: we’re talking of exclusive deals that cover a given set of songs. That is not the same as exclusive deals for the composer’s entire existing and future catalogue.
Definitely don’t sign one of those unless you get paid a huge advance!
Advantages of the exclusive license agreement
- Music supervisors are more likely to consider it because they know they’re getting the best price
i.e. there are not 20 music libraries selling the same track for less and the song won’t be used on 100 low-quality projects, thus devaluing the project the music supe’s working on
- You are more likely to get a fair price for the sync fee…
…unless you gave exclusivity to a really cheap music library. Don’t do that. That’s a crazy thing to do! 🙂 )
- Advance
If you can negotiate it that is…. A tough ask, especially when you’re just starting out.
Biggest risks when you sign an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement?
In the case of an exclusive license agreement, you risk handing out your hard work to a company who doesn’t get you a single placement.
If you’re an indie singer/songwriter, that could mean a couple of years working hard to put together your album down the drain in the snap of a finger.
With non-exclusive deals, the biggest risk is devaluing your reputation as a serious music composer.
The emergence of hundreds of non-exclusive music libraries pitching a similar catalogue with seemingly random prices has led music supervisors to focus on music they can license exclusively.
How do you get the best of both worlds?
Here’s a simple trick to enjoy the advantages of non-exclusive deals without being perceived as a little nobody musician: use pseudonyms.
So simple!
There’s nothing stopping you from uploading some of your songs to non-exclusive music libraries under a pseudonym. That leaves you free to place another section of your catalogue with a more premium agency looking for exclusivity.
Now to be clear: you should NOT, under any circumstances, place a song in a non-exclusive library under a pseudonym and then sign an exclusive agreement under your name for the same song.
This is NOT what I am suggesting at all!
What I am suggesting is that if your catalogue is big enough, you might want to offer say 10 tracks on an exclusive deal and sign non-exclusive deals for another 10.
How to mitigate the risks associated with exclusive deals?
Even when you have a fairly large catalogue, signing a few songs on an exclusive deal can be a little scary.
There’s always the risk that the company isn’t going to get you the placement that would make your initial music making investment worthwhile.
Here are some things I do to limit that risk to a minimum:
Trying to figure out if they’re likely to place my music…
How long have they been around?
Are they currently a big player?
What are the chances that they’ll just disappear (taking my songs with them) in the next few years?
Do they have a huge roaster of composers or will they be hands on and dedicated to my music?
- I limit the costs of making music
Why?
So that, if the library never places my tracks, I haven’t just wasted 20 hours of my time and 300$ on one song that’s never going to make me money.
- I test drive the exclusive deal
How?
I sign over 10-20 tunes and wait 6-12 months before making a further commitment.
- I stay in touch with my contact there
Make sure I stay at the front of their mind in case an opportunity suddenly arises 😉
Where Does That Leave You?
That’s a lot of information and you’re probably still not quite sure what YOU should do.
Here are a few scenarios that might help you make a decision based on:
- the size of your catalogue and
- number of credits you already have or don’t have.
