Defend Sound

A production music library, also referred to as a catalog company, collects music and the rights to music from different sources to license to various tv shows, films, commercials, artists, etc.



For struggling yet talented artists unsigned to a major, or those who are uninterested in being signed by a major label, production music libraries can be a great way to gain notoriety amongst potential fans and production studios. They can also help struggling artists make a consistent living doing what they love. “The music you put in a music library may outlive you,” said Jonathan Firstenberg, Senior VP of Musicbox, LLC. and a speaker on the Production Music Libraries: A One-Stop Shop for Placement Across All Media panel.

Although tons of music libraries exist, the top notch libraries are unlikely to budge on a few deal points. “Exclusivity is critical to (a music library) exploiting your music,” says Rich Goldman, panelist and President of RipTide Music. Most reputable libraries will not ask for exclusivity of the artist’s services, but they want exclusivity for every composition submitted to them. This eliminates confusion when music libraries pitch your music to music supervisors. When music supervisors are pitched the same song, by more than one person or company, they become disgruntled because of the potential ownership and title issues that arise as a result.

Another major pet peeve of music production libraries is the submission of sampled tracks. Music libraries want original music. Music supervisors come to libraries because they don’t have to worry about clearing rights from more than one place. A sampled track is relatively worthless to a library if you don’t own all the rights to the composition. While record labels specialize in clearing rights from multiple sources for albums, music libraries make their money by having a streamlined process. If they cannot guarantee that their compositions are free and clear they will lose business to their competitors.

-Muammar Reed (ASCAP I CREATE MUSIC EXPO)

“Ask not what music can do for you, but what you can do for your music!”