How To Be a Composer That Music Libraries LOVE

Successful Production Music composers that I know really have got their skill-set down:

 

• The production sounds great and authentic to the style.

 

• The mix sounds clear and works for TV.

 

But perhaps most importantly…

 

• The tracks ooze application.

 

How Did They Do That?!

 

Dig a little deeper into a successful Library Music composer’s history and you’ll often find that they churn out one or two styles of music again and again and again.

 

There are a few reasons that this is a commonly seen path to success for many such composers, (success here meaning quality Libraries loving to license their tracks regularly and production companies actually syncing them.)

 

The first is plain old practice. They’ve got that style down.

 

I mean reeaally down.

 

Malcolm Gladwell’s hugely popular book Outliers explores the different factors as to why some people prevail and live remarkably successful lives, whilst others fail to reach their full potential. Within that book he has a chapter about the “10,000 hour rule”.

He states that: “Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours.” Gladwell actually cites research on the practice hours of expert musicians as a stimulus for his provocative generalisation to this magical number.

How many Library tracks have you written within your niche? How many hours have you invested into writing, (and studying), these kind of Library tracks? I’ve spoken to many writers who have written one or two or ten tracks and wondered why they’re not getting accepted yet. Take the time to become an expert. (I’ll take you through exactly how to approach this in the video below.)

 

Another reason that a niche strategy can lead to Production Music success is that if you’re writing predominantly in one style again and again, you’re also going to develop a very usable palette of instruments and production techniques. As such, it stands to reason that you’ll get quicker at writing such tracks too.

 

So how do you become a genre expert as quick as possible without a huge amount of trial and error? How do you avoid going 10,000 hours in the wrong direction?! What if your favorite genre to write in is slightly different in it’s Library Music form?

 

I’ve broken down a simple but effective technique for this in the video below. Hope you enjoy it!

 

 

Disclosure: Please note that I may use affiliate links within this blog. (I only recommend products that I think are great!) Affiliate links mean that, at no extra cost to you, we may make a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.