Need Music For Your Film?

[TAXI IWILL]

Hi All,

I work at a company in Los Angeles that helps Music Libraries, Music Supervisors, Filmmakers, and Ad Agencies find music for their projects! I'm currently looking to work with Indie Film Makers who currently need music in any style and genre. The service is 100% free, the only thing we ask, is if we find you a piece of music that works for your film you please compensate the composer fairly.

Feel free to reach out and connect and let me know what you need!

Best,

Isaac

 

[indietalk]

What is the name of the company in LA?

 

[TAXI IWILL]

Hello, its TAXI Music. www.taxi.com

 

[ResurgenceAudio]

I'm a bit curious, do you allow composers to submit pieces for consideration? Also, how do you work with Performance RIghts Organizations?

 

[TAXI IWILL]

I'm a bit curious, do you allow composers to submit pieces for consideration? Also, how do you work with Performance RIghts Organizations?

Hi yes, a composer can submit, but there is a yearly fee to Join to access all licensing opportunities. We do not deal with P.R.Os, is up to the composer or the composer's publisher to register their titles.

 

[ResurgenceAudio]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks! I was mainly asking about PRO's for the filmmakers side of things. I imagine that the PRO's performance/streaming fees would apply as part of the composer compensation, but I could also see that being a bit of trouble if a PRO registered piece of music was used unknown to an indie filmmaker expecting publishing rights to be hassle free. Do you categorize music between registered and un-registered music for creators to choose? I love the idea of a bridge between musicians and creators, I'm just really curious how you handle the licensing, copyright, and publishing agreements between both parties. Or is that information at risk of being kept unknown until the last minutes of using a composer's work in a project?

 

[Jeremiah_bz]

PRO registered music can be a major hassle for indie filmmakers, especially in Europe where local copyright laws are much different than the US and enforcement is stricter. I have been in the music licensing industry for years, much of it with "royalty-free" libraries and have seen far too many filmmakers pay for a license and then get hit with a fine or a cease and desist order. It's even worse when it comes to YouTube clearance and keeping your ad revenue safe from copyright claims.

The majority of the music on the subscription music licensing sites is vulnerable because they do not do their due diligence in clearing the music or confirming ownership of the copyright. Many of them are outside of the US and don't follow US copyright law. The big flashy site with all of the ads is based in Israel and there have been way too many claims and legal action on their users.

Exclusive sites within the US that control digital streaming rights are the only safe option outside of contacting the artist/agent directly. The only one like this is Keyframe Audio.

 

[ResurgenceAudio]

Agreed. As a composer I had no idea about this until I started taking film classes along with audio production this semester. I felt it was necessary for me to understand better the film director's and producer's world in order to better communicate. Man, was that assumption incredibly understated in my mind. Copyright and PRO registered music is something brought up a TON in my classes and I'm so glad I took them early on.

Knowing what I know now from both sides, I fully understand where each party is coming from. Composers need protection for their work, especially on sites like YouTube (the copyright claim is a double edged sword and needs MAJOR refinement, but the concept is fantastic for us musicians). We're one of the last standing creative workers without a union so we need to understand our rights and get help collecting what's due. PRO's definitely help. On the other hand, filmmakers need assurance that they won't get sued or targeted because they're using PRO registered music. All of this is something that's, in a perfect world, contracted between the composer and film maker. For Indie filmmakers, it's much more risky. Hardly ever do composers and producers/directors understand the publishing and copyright laws in indie projects. It leads to some pretty awkward situations.

I really do love the idea of sites like Taxi and Audiojungle. I just feel there needs to be more clarification with all of this.

 

[TAXI IWILL]

Hello all and sorry for the late response, this a great conversation, however, I believe there might be a bit of misconception on PRO's in regards to the role they play with composers and filmmakers. The main role of P.R.Os is to collect and distributes money on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers, for the use of their musical compositions in media.

A misconception we come across a lot in my field of the music industry is that a lot of Filmmaker believes they are responsible for paying royalties to the composer, which is why they tend to gravitate to "Royalty-Free Music" which is completely wrong. The P.R.O is the only entity responsible for paying royalties to the composer should your film end up on TV!

In regards to licensing, copyright, and publishing agreements mentioned above. Those are all 3 different beasts that are not related to film making. Copyrights are registered by whoever created the music or whoever controls the music. This protects the artist should anyone ever try to steal or copy their music. Publishing agreements are only handled by music publishers. A publishing agreement is an agreement that grants a party the permission to solicit your work to different opportunities on your behalf. Lastly, licensing falls under publishing. This is a term used when the artists or composer is allowing their music to be used with some kind of visual media i.e film, television shows, advertisements, etc...

A lot of information I know! That said, the point I want to get across is that when you're looking for music for your films, the only compensation you should be paying out is sometimes a sync fee to the composer/artist which is an upfront fee paid for the permission to use the composition to moving images. This fee is needed because unless the film ends up on TV there will be no income for the composer to make. In regards to royalties, the P.R.O has a great system that monitors music and will pay the composer/artists the appropriate royalties should any ever be generated.

 

[TAXI IWILL]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks! I was mainly asking about PRO's for the filmmakers side of things. I imagine that the PRO's performance/streaming fees would apply as part of the composer compensation, but I could also see that being a bit of trouble if a PRO registered piece of music was used unknown to an indie filmmaker expecting publishing rights to be hassle free. Do you categorize music between registered and un-registered music for creators to choose? I love the idea of a bridge between musicians and creators, I'm just really curious how you handle the licensing, copyright, and publishing agreements between both parties. Or is that information at risk of being kept unknown until the last minutes of using a composer's work in a project?

Sorry for the delay, please see my response above. I hope it clears up any further questions you have about P.R.Os!

 

[TAXI IWILL]

Agreed. As a composer I had no idea about this until I started taking film classes along with audio production this semester. I felt it was necessary for me to understand better the film director's and producer's world in order to better communicate. Man, was that assumption incredibly understated in my mind. Copyright and PRO registered music is something brought up a TON in my classes and I'm so glad I took them early on.

Knowing what I know now from both sides, I fully understand where each party is coming from. Composers need protection for their work, especially on sites like YouTube (the copyright claim is a double edged sword and needs MAJOR refinement, but the concept is fantastic for us musicians). We're one of the last standing creative workers without a union so we need to understand our rights and get help collecting what's due. PRO's definitely help. On the other hand, filmmakers need assurance that they won't get sued or targeted because they're using PRO registered music. All of this is something that's, in a perfect world, contracted between the composer and film maker. For Indie filmmakers, it's much more risky. Hardly ever do composers and producers/directors understand the publishing and copyright laws in indie projects. It leads to some pretty awkward situations.

I really do love the idea of sites like Taxi and Audiojungle. I just feel there needs to be more clarification with all of this.

I'm glad you heard of TAXI! We would love for you to use our free services for your next film! Please see my response above to get a better understanding of the role of P.R.O and how it relates to filmmakers! I'll be glad to answer any further questions!

 

[TAXI IWILL]

PRO registered music can be a major hassle for indie filmmakers, especially in Europe where local copyright laws are much different than the US and enforcement is stricter. I have been in the music licensing industry for years, much of it with "royalty-free" libraries and have seen far too many filmmakers pay for a license and then get hit with a fine or a cease and desist order. It's even worse when it comes to YouTube clearance and keeping your ad revenue safe from copyright claims.

The majority of the music on the subscription music licensing sites is vulnerable because they do not do their due diligence in clearing the music or confirming ownership of the copyright. Many of them are outside of the US and don't follow US copyright law. The big flashy site with all of the ads is based in Israel and there have been way too many claims and legal action on their users.

Exclusive sites within the US that control digital streaming rights are the only safe option outside of contacting the artist/agent directly. The only one like this is Keyframe Audio.

We see this very often as well in regards to filmmakers paying for a royalty-free license and then getting hit with a cease and desist order. Which is why sites like TAXI is a great source to find music that can be specifically catered to your film without having to worry about it popping up in other projects or being flagged.