I know it’s quite odd for newbies.
Not sure if this version works. Let us know about the result. Maybe you created a new and even more effective recipe.
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Not so bad. I get one Music Broadcast & Film License. The first one.
Do you think I can contact the client to see what the film looks like. What do you do on this case?
Just to add to everyone’s grief (and also test the theory of getting a sale after a moan 
) so far, this has been my worst month for as long as I can remember. Past the halfway stage with just 4 sales. 
I’d be happy. I haven’t sold any high tier broadcast license here yet.
Very slow Thursday and Friday…
Extremely slow. Need a very intense weekend.
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Soooo… not commented anything to the forum for a quite long time.
I need to say that 2016 in general is quite slow. January, Febuary and March results are half of the sales I had last year. Don’t know what happend, but anyhow… I am glad that I still sell music .
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I agree that custom work is the way to go for filling the gaps with any drops in library sales, and I’m doing the same. But it feels like such a shame that so many composers now find it next to impossible to build up a decent ‘pension’ within their industry (that’s how I look at library work anyway).
Really, the core issue is that there’s an over supply of music / composers and part of what we’re experiencing is the effect of that with a lack of exposure of (or possibly interest in) sites like AJ via search engines. We’re selling in a heavily oversaturated market.
A good friend passed over an interesting article the other day talking about this very issue and that one of the solutions is to have a strong Union among composers so that this race to the bottom stops and for music schools / music tech courses to stop churning out more composers. Having a voice and a ‘code of ethics’ between composers would help establish an industry standard where composers don’t desperately try to get sales at ‘any price’ like we’re doing here, but rather there is a consensus on prices and what to expect when buying library music / hiring a composer etc.
Imagine a world where your experience as a composer scaled with your salary like in almost every other industry. A big ask, I know.
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I think you can’t stop these kinds of progressions. In general during the next 10-20 years or so we will probably have to redefine the whole concept of work and income again as robotics and artificial intelligence evolves. There just isn’t enough basic work to be done and the problem of being unemployed becomes so big statistical problem that you just can’t expect single person to figure it out for himself. As a society we have to rethink what to expect from your average human being and stable career is probably not the thing. Of course creative work such as composing doesn’t really fall into this category, but as the music technology evolves, more and more people can create high quality music with your average computer and there we have it - oversaturated market and not much that can be done about it.
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The “union” again 
It’s a nice idea in theory. However… as long as there is music there will be musicians. And unless international laws are put in place, there’s no luck in forcing musicians to join a union. The net effect of, say, 50% of all musicians moving from “cheap” to “union” will ironically be that the competition is less fierce in the “cheap” category, making it viable again to undercut the union prices. This will in turn make it more difficult for union members to sell music at higher prices. The end equilibrium is just the union and the non-union fighting it out, still over scraps. “Ethics” are nice but when people choose between ethics and getting the gig, well I think we knows what usually happens.
About music schools (and art, dance, any culture stuff really) , yes, it is a common theme in the western world that “if you only finish this education you will have a job” and even if people know this to be far from the truth, the dreams of “giving it a shot” lure way too many people into a downward spiral. The result is too many people competing for too few jobs. One would hope that “the market” can sort this out in the end, but even if some musicians eventually throw in the towel, most are left with little choice but to struggle on for years and years. It’s not easy getting another job anyway if all you have is a music education, some bitter experience and a thin wallet. So musicians stack up and the inflow of new talent is just increasing.
It’s a bit too easy to blame the individuals for making these career choices, it’s really a combination of media, culture and lack of career guidance in early stages of education. It’s a really twisted world when the society actively encourages the choices that are the worst, both for the individual and the socioeconomic outcome on a macro level. The music schools shouldn’t advertise promises like “here we teach you how to become successful in music” or “give your dream a chance” - they should come with warning signs just like cigarettes or alcohol - “this education can be harmful to your health and will ruin you financially”. Just like with gambling and lotteries, the ones that are most prone to fall into the traps, game dependencies etcetera, those are the ones that need to be guided away from the casinos early on.
For me personally, I’d love it if it was harder and more regulated to call myself a musician. That way, if I don’t have what it takes, at least I’ll get a good hint I should stop long before I invest all my years in it. Plus, less competition for those who pass the bar. But as the real world works, it’s simply a jungle
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AI is a concern for many for sure, but I think it’s more for manual labour work like putting together cars and other material-based consumables. Making creative decisions with AI may happen one day, but I really don’t think we’ll get to the point where robotics will create music that engages people while evolving with changes in taste / fashion / culture etc.
With respect to those who press a few buttons to create music that sounds half-decent, well, that’s been around for a while. I tend to look at people like that as engineers rather than composers - while they know how to manufacture music by piecing together someone else’s loops or combining a few presets, they wouldn’t be able to get into the details and really understand a musical idea, tweak it or score something from scratch in an original and engaging way without a fair dose of luck.
The more concerning thing for me is that most people consuming music can’t distinguish between expensive and run of the mill music these days. That lack of perception of value has huge implications as it means literally anyone can compete in this market and get sales…
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Strange week. Counter’s stuck again.
I agree, what I’m hoping for though is that there will still be a market for “fresh” music, meaning carrying new relevant ideas. A bit like, fewer are reading a percentage of all books today, but they still all want to read today’s news. Even the most sophisticated AI creating a perfectly mixed track from just a few button pushes will still need to build on a solid musical idea, like a sound or an emotion that resonates with the audience. Knowing what ideas or emotional nuances to go for would still present a problem for an AI (although eventually, that probably can be solved as well).
The marketplace being flooded with large numbers of “copy paste” tracks due to automated production is really another kind of problem, and the answer to that lies more in the hands of the marketplace regulations and selection processes (i.e. reviewing and search engine). Without any criteria for originality and/or relevance, the gates are wide open for all sorts of audio spamming. That will hurt everyone in the end, and possibly inspire new niche marketplaces offering something out of the ordinary. Cheap production isn’t necessarily a problem, but cheap selection always is.
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Last 3 items = ZERO sales. Uploading makes absolutely no sense right now.
With 10 (and counting) items in the queue, that scares me 
Fear not my friend - I have 23.
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Kudos to you, sir. That is a lot of new tracks!
"Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, princess. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money”
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Best. Week. Ever. Finally!
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