Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/87274
Sound Libraries: Opinion Production Music 2013:opportunities and challenges I By RON MENDELSOHN President/CEO Megatrax www.megatrax.com North Hollywood t was the best of times, it was the worst of times… In many ways, this famous open- ing line from Dickens' Tale of Two Cities can apply to the state of production music librar- ies today. On the one hand, production music libraries continue to grow and benefit from advanced online systems and new technolo- gies, such as audio fingerprinting for one. On the other hand, the democratizing effect of the Internet has led to an explosion of com- petition, not only from new libraries but also from entirely new business models. THE OPPORTUNITIES While there was a time when library music was derided as "stock" or "canned" music, the quality of today's top tier libraries is often on a par with commercial music. The lines have blurred to such an extent that in many ways today's production music libraries (PMLs) are becoming the new record indus- try. Libraries are increasingly signing and promoting indie artists, hosting artist show- cases, releasing albums on iTunes and posting videos on YouTube. As the traditional record industry has waned, even top artists and composers who once shunned the library world are now will- ingly signing library deals to tap into additional revenue streams and benefit from the expo- sure opportunities that PMLs can provide. Today's major libraries, including both corporate-owned and independent players, now offer tens of thousands of fully-cleared tracks in virtually any musical genre, delivered through their own Web-based search and delivery systems. Due to their scale and con- venience, PMLs have become the go-to music source for professional music users around the world, from broadcasters to post houses to music supervisors. Despite the explosion of entities pitching music, from individual songwriters to indie publishers, a closer look reveals that many music users are actually becoming overwhelmed with the number of choices available, and increasingly they are turning to PMLs as their trusted source for curated content. New technologies, such as audio finger- printing, represent another area of opportu- nity for the PMLs. Using services such as Tunesat, libraries are now able to obtain reports detailing exactly where their music is being performed and by whom. This is a remarkable development for an industry that 22 Post • October 2012 promise of more accurate usage reporting and performance tracking directly translates into increased revenues for PMLs, as well as for their affiliated writers. THE CHALLENGES Established PMLs face challenges not only in the form of competition from new librar- ies, indie artists, traditional publishers and labels, but also in the form of entirely new business models such as aggregators and non-exclusive "retitling" libraries. Aggregators are not unique to the PML industry. As in many other industries from travel to retail to insurance, third-party online aggregators have attempted to consolidate content or services from multiple providers onto one unified platform. In the PML industry, this consolidation theoretically allows music users the ability to access content from mul- tiple libraries simultaneously without having to switch between Websites or hard drives. Aggregation in the PML industry has been challenging for many reasons, not the least of which is the lack of an industry-wide standard for music categorization. Many PMLs consider their categorization methodology proprietary and have understandably been less than recep- tive to the idea of an aggregator positioning itself between them and their clients. Another shift in the industry has been the emergence of retitled non-exclusive libraries. Whereas traditional PMLs own or exclusively control their content, these new entities offer tracks on a non-exclusive basis — changing the title in order to collect back-end perfor- mance revenues. While these new entities www.postmagazine.com for decades relied on the "honor system" for music reporting. In addition, audio finger- printing is being adopted to some extent by all three US performing rights societies (ASCAP, BMI & SESAC) to improve the accuracy of their performance tracking. These developments bode well for the PMLs as the have been able to quickly ramp-up their offerings by soliciting existing tracks from songwriters and composers, confusion has often resulted due to the fact that identical recordings are circulating in the marketplace under different titles. This non-profit has taken a stand against those giving away music for free, calling it an unsustainable business practice. According to client testimony at several recent industry conferences, con- flicts over "who got the placement" are increasingly common to the point where a gr owing number of music supervisors and executives at major studios and networks now attempt to steer clear of retitling libraries due to the potential hassles and legal liability inherent to the business model. This scheme also runs afoul of audio fingerprinting since it is impossible to distinguish between identical recordings sim- ply based on title. Considering that this tech- nology is increasingly being used by perform- ing rights organizations around the world to monitor performances, the end result is that retitling artists may soon be missing out on their most important revenue stream. Finally, the explosion in content available from both exclusive and non-exclusive librar- ies, as well as other entities pitching music, has inevitably resulted in downward pressure on licensing fees. This trend has been particularly noticeable in the area of television place- ments, where some upstart libraries have even resorted to giving away music for free in a desperate attempt to tap into back end performance revenues. The Production Music Association (PMA) has taken a position firmly opposed to these types of unsustainable busi- ness practices, as they are detrimental to the industry and destructive of copyright value. CONCLUSION Despite the challenges, production music libraries are well positioned for future growth as they are a convenient, trusted source of quality content in a universe of nearly limitless choices. Ultimately, success in the digital age depends not only on amassing content, but also on effective curation and promotion of that content, and this is where the PMLs have established themselves as market leaders. Ron Mendelsohn is a founding member of the PMA, a volunteer organization that includes major-label publishers, national independents and small boutique libraries.