Stock music
differs from what I call "artist music" in a number of key ways. Here are some of the key differences
1) Stock music tends to be used more as "background music" than artist
music. Stock music is not used as prominently and is
often used in the background of scenes to enhance the mood of the scene.
2) Since stock music isn't featured as prominently as artist music with
vocals, placements tend to pay less. Most
musicians who specialize in stock music that make consistent money have large
catalogs that collectively create a substantial revenue stream. Most individual placements generate royalties
in the low hundreds of dollars or even less per placement.
3) There are more opportunities for stock music. Stock
music is used in tv and films but it's also used in a variety of other media
outlets like youtube videos, websites, podcasts, ringtones, apps and video
games. Since stock music can be licensed
cheaper than artist music, a lot of media creators use it, not just tv and film
producers. Like with performance
royalties, licensing fees for stock music tend to be lower than artist music
per track, but most stock music creators make up for this by creating and
licensing large catalogs.
4) Production isn't quite as important. Since
stock music tends to be used in the background, production standards aren't
quite as stringent with stock music. It's
still important, but there are more opportunities for stock music to be placed
in a wide variety of media outlets and in some of these outlets production isn't
scrutinized quite as intensely. For
example, I've placed music in non TV projects that have generated substantial
money that I know isn't good enough for most TV projects. If you have music that you've recorded that
sounds good but isn't quite "broadcast quality" for TV there are still
opportunities to monetize it via stock music libraries.
5) You don't need to be an expert in a genre to create and license stock
music. One of the things Aaron Saloman talks about openly in the course is how he's been able to create tracks in styles that are
completely out of his comfort zone that he's still been able to license and
make money from. Aaron even talks about
how he's been able to make several thousand dollars licensing a hip hop track
that by his own admission is "bad hip hop".
Creating stock music allows you to experiment by writing in different
styles and often times you can still earn revenue from music even if it's in a
style you haven't mastered.
For more
information on how to earn money by creating and licensing stock music, be sure
to check out our new course, "How To Make Money With Stock Music Libraries". This 100 minute audio course features the
most in depth information available specifically on the topic of creating and
licensing stock music.
Get the
course between now and this Sunday, July 29th for 20% off of the
regular price.
More
information: http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com/stockmusicspecial.php
