Is it allowed to go non-exclusive and eventually go back to exclusive?

Envato Authors AudioJungle
#1

Hey people!

So, everyone knows how bad things are going for the vast majority of us, the non-invited to the Elements feast so I’ll skip the intro and go straight to the point.

Many long and mid term authors are finally, after years of exclusivity, going non-exclusive. Every move Envato’s making lately seems to push things in that direction probably in order to grab that extra percentage specially from Elites and they’ll most likely win the push.

Soooo… I was wondering, if you eventually go non-Exclusive and things don’t work out as you expected, are we allowed to delete all tracks uploaded to other platforms and switch back to exclusivity?

@Wavetoys, @MojoSoundtrack , You are going down that road right now, ain’t it? Any idea?

Thanks my friends. Have a good one!

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#2

Yes, you can go back to exclusivity. In fact if you decide to do this exclusivity starts back instantly.
To become non-exclusive you have to wait for 30 days for this to become active.

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#3

Clear as water. Thx so much! :slight_smile:

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#4

Yes there should be no problem going back to exclusive again if you should regret it. There are at least 1 site I can think of that you need to wait 30 days before your tracks are removed but most sites you can remove files instantly as far as I remember.

It’s sad that such great authors as you guys (and many others) are being forced to jump of the exclusive deal. But I think in most cases this is the only sane thing to do at the moment, IMHO. That way you can at least try for yourself what might come out of it. I would at least wait 6 months or preferably 12 months before judging if it was a good move or not, because getting traction for tracks on other sites is usually very different then on AJ.

I have several tracks that have started to gain traction after a year at least. Non exclusivity is the only reason I still have stock music as my main income. There are also other possibilities if you look at more Film and TV oriented libraries, might be an idea to remove an “album” or 2 and try that as well.

I have some small hopes that the new Envato CEO would eventually do some healthy sustainable changes around here, BUT I would not count on it.

On a bright note, competition sites are very lucky to get such great portfolios as yours in their catalogue :fire: that’s for sure.

I also think you can EASILY compensate for lost commission by raising your prices @WormwoodMusic !

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#5

I am also an advocate for not keeping all the eggs in one basket so to speak. I’ve not regretted the move to non-exclusive, although I know that it was an easier decision to make for me because my percentage drop was much smaller than it is for you, and I think it would be kind of remiss of me not to acknowledge that fact. I still recommend non-exclusivity on the whole. I think staying tied exclusively to AJ whilst they are shepherding all your customers to a different exclusive library, from which you are excluded, is folly.

A less drastic option for you could be to open a new non-exclusive account and run them both simultaneously like Soundroll does. I’m not certain of the ins and outs of the process, but I think you can move, or request to be moved, tracks from your exclusive account over to your non-exclusive one. Don’t quote me on that though, that’s second-hand information which was sketchy at the source! But it would give you the freedom to be selective about which tracks you think would be more successful in other libraries.

As André said, other sites would love your portfolio. And with a catalogue as diverse as yours, it might be fun to research which tracks would fit best on which platform. Love him or hate him, the guy with the beard who does the YT videos has some great advice about how to make your music work for you in different places.

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#6

Thanks so much guys! You’re the swiftest and wisest support anyone could expect!

True, and that’s exactly what’s been keeping me from making a decision till now, but at this point sales here are soooooo absurdly meagre that it seems pointless to stick to that % only to collect a few extra bucks. It’s more than obvious that Envato is making all possible efforts to drive away customers from the markets to Elements and all the downpricing encouragement campaigns are frankly disheartening. But well, “it is what it is” or thus speak the gurus.

Anyway, it’s so great to receive support from you guys. I’ll probably be doing some research these upcoming weeks, dust my portfolio a bit and see what my chances are out there.

Thanks again! All the best!

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