Recording - August 2015 - 55

AUGUST 2015
TAXI Road Rally 2014 Panel

Understanding and Profiting from the
Music Library Business, Part 3
PANELISTS:
Matt Hirt, Steve Winogradsky, Jeff Gray, Tanvi Patel
Moderator: Michael Laskow
Matt Hirt is a highly versatile and prolific composer
with about 17,000 unique published songs and instrumentals in nearly every musical style imaginable to
his credit.
Steve Winogradsky has over 30 years experience as an
attorney in the music industry. He is a partner in
Winogradsky, Sobel in Studio City, California.
Jeff Gray, aka Pesci, he's a Composer, Performer, Music
Supervisor, Music Licensor/Licensee, and Music
Consultant.
Tanvi Patel is the CEO and 50% partner in Crucial Music
Corporation.
Let's talk about instrumentals. I'm talking about a 90second instrumental cue that's going to end up on
reality shows. And rather than taking the same cue
and putting it in five different catalogs, I'm a fan of
keeping the sonic template and creating new tracks
with different chord changes, tempos, and melodies.
You could do variations and then put each of those in
separate catalogs. Am I crazy for thinking that's a
smart way to go?
Matt: No, you're not crazy. I personally don't do
that. But that's just my philosophy. I want to create
unique pieces of music, and when you take the template approach, which a lot of people do very
successfully and it works great for them, and I don't
have a problem with it. But for me it doesn't work,
because I feel like I'm just cranking it out. I don't like
to feel like I'm cranking out stuff. I like to write
pieces of music that I actually like and that I would
listen to and I don't have to be ashamed of and go,
"Oh, it's just for this cheap reality show." I just don't
do that personally. So I create copyrights that are
very unique. So that's what I do. I'd rather write less
music, and rather than just giving everybody something, I just try to find the companies that are really
working for me. You have to also understand that

some companies are
better with some
musical styles, for
example. So you
might have a music
style that they are
really, really good at
and then they make
you a lot of money.
Or you might have
the music style that
this particular company isn't known for
in the industry, but
they want to have it
too, and so then when
you end of being in (Left to right) Matt Hirt, Steve Winogradsky, Jeff Gray, and Tanvi Patel during their panel at TAXI's
Road Rally, 2014. (Photo: Ryan Taalbi)
sort of a marginal
area of their company
and you might not make a lot of money. It's difficult Tanvi: No, I pull it immediately, and it's a pain in
to find out who's gonna make you the money, other
my ass to do it. I hate doing it. I have four people in
than just getting your feet wet and trying it out. Give my office, and we all at one point or another listen
the company a few tracks and see what they do.
to the track before it goes live, so there are four
chances of us finding something. But then someTanvi: Can I bring up something? You're talking
times it can be in the catalog for years, but because
about cloning, but you're talking about cloning of
[we can't know] every melody ever written by
your own track. I want to talk about cloning
every composer out there in every country, someor...sound-a-likes. Obviously we tag everything in
times things will get through. And it'll be sitting in
our catalog; it sounds like this artist or that artist, and the catalog for six years, and all of a sudden somewe run TAXI listings where we want music that's in body needs something that sounds like a particular
a specific style. But the last thing on earth I want is
band from another country, and lo-and-behold I
a knock-off. It kills me when I get a knock-off and it's have some tracks and, "Wow, that sounds..." And
a great song and I cannot identify the melody that
of course I don't know this band that they're trying
they are trying to knock off. But I know it's dangerto replace. So I go listen, and I'm like, "Wait a
ous, and eventually I will find it and then I'll have to minute. That melody sounds really familiar,
pull it from the catalog.
because I've heard it a hundred times in my catalog." And then it's, "Oh, wait, that's a problem. It's
Jeff: I have found it, I've identified it, and they didgotta come out."
n't pull it, and they still use it. I'm always amazed at
that! You know, I had to vet a lot of shows while
So what I suggest is, if somebody who is looking for
doing clearance work, and they'd send me the show something in the style of [a particular band or
and I hear the library tracks and I'm like, "Holy
artist] go listen to their overall body of work. Don't
crap, that bridge is the exact bridge of [a particular] try to knock off individual bass lines or individual
song." And I bring it to people's attention, and I
samples or lyrics. Try to listen to the body of work
bring it to the library's attention, and they're like,
of that artist, and then try to think like, well, if I was
Continued on page 56
"Whatever."
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