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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 7,911 Likes: 1
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I have just established a page on music library AudioSparx. AudioSparx
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Joined: Jul 2005
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Cool page, Colin - impressive bio too. Scott
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Cool page Colin! Good luck with Audio Sparx. Barbie and Lee are very dedicated to their work. Best, John
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Hey Colin,
It takes awhile to set up, but I think it's worth it. I've had a couple of placements through Audiosparx, no biggies, but it all helps with the promotion of your work. Good company too, so no crits from me.
Good luck !
cheers, niteshift
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,579 Likes: 13
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I still have a hard time accepting this company. They falsely attacked me personally and our site with lies, attempted to destroy a long standing relationship with one of our sponsors (which backfired on them) again with false accusations and to their credit at least they DID come to us, in their own words, and admitted it was their mistake and apologized.
It all revolved around Tammy Edwards and Michael Borges and goes back years. But it still showed that they were interested in personal and professional attacks out of revenge until we proved them wrong with FACTS and they had to back off.
I don't know who is still involved, but back then it was ownership of the site. They may have sold (I have no idea) and I long ago removed the posts and thought we'd all agreed to move on, but now I find their name popping back up.
The problem wasn't the mistake they made (anyone can make a mistake) but it was the attempted character assassination and attempt to destroy our relationship with a sponsor which I still find heinous. Their apology only came when the facts were so 100% clear they couldn't do anything else BUT apologize.
The original posts are all taken down. You can only find a much later reference to them between Michael and myself.
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 7,911 Likes: 1
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Scott,
Thanks!
John,
They seem very professional. I saw your page.
Niteshift,
Good news. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 7,911 Likes: 1
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Brian,
That's unfortunate. I guess the event predates my interest in such subjects because I have no recollection of that exchange. The gentleman who communicated with me directly is Rodney Peterson who is very professional. Their website is detailed and comprehensive. I hope to have some successes there. They are one of the best rated companies on the Music Library Report. Hopefully everyone has moved on.
Colin
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 10,190 Likes: 30
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The two people I deal with on Audio Sparx are great in the communication department. Barbie and Lee are wonderful to work with. I highly recommend Audio Sparx. Owner corp. name: Navarr Enterprises, Inc. John
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 772
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I still have a hard time accepting this company. They falsely attacked me personally and our site with lies, attempted to destroy a long standing relationship with one of our sponsors (which backfired on them) again with false accusations and to their credit at least they DID come to us, in their own words, and admitted it was their mistake and apologized.
It all revolved around Tammy Edwards and Michael Borges and goes back years. But it still showed that they were interested in personal and professional attacks out of revenge until we proved them wrong with FACTS and they had to back off.
I don't know who is still involved, but back then it was ownership of the site. They may have sold (I have no idea) and I long ago removed the posts and thought we'd all agreed to move on, but now I find their name popping back up.
The problem wasn't the mistake they made (anyone can make a mistake) but it was the attempted character assassination and attempt to destroy our relationship with a sponsor which I still find heinous. Their apology only came when the facts were so 100% clear they couldn't do anything else BUT apologize.
The original posts are all taken down. You can only find a much later reference to them between Michael and myself.
Brian I have to agree with Brian here. My experience with them was pretty bad, and I asked them to pull all my music. When I posted about my poor results I got attacked repeatedly by representatives from the company like Barbie who personally insulted me. Other members on MusicLibraryReport were pretty shocked at how they acted, actually. AudioSparx is a big dumping ground. Anyone can upload basically anything. There's no quality control. For the "privilege" of being crammed on a website full of ads, you lose over half your royalties and you have to do ALL the work with tagging, descriptions, etc. At least libraries like PumpAudio that take more than 50% do all the work for you (and, in my experience, get better / more licenses by several orders of magnitude.) I would recommend checking out PumpAudio and CrucialMusic.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Hey Andrew, one never knows how one will fare with any large music library. Sorry you had a bad experience. If the tracks you pulled were non-exclusive, why would you pull them? I've had some non-exclusive libraries where it took 2-3 years before I started getting placements. It's the old numbers game using non-exclusive libraries; more possibilities with more libraries working for you. However, I understand if you were using their exclusive option with no results over a 2-3 year period. "Other members on MusicLibraryReport were pretty shocked at how they acted, actually" - AndrewAll the reports I've read on Music Library Report had nothing but praise for Audio Sparx and Barbie. "AudioSparx is a big dumping ground. Anyone can upload basically anything - Andrew Actually some composers on Music Library Report reported not being accepted on Audio Sparx. Yes, after the initial acceptance, one can load tracks without further review. "For the "privilege" of being crammed on a website full of ads, you lose over half your royalties and you have to do ALL the work with tagging, descriptions, etc. - AndrewIf you're referring to licensing fees, yes, at least on their third party sites. PRO royalties are split the same as any other library (100% writer's share for writer, 100% publishing share for publisher). Also you can opt-out using Audio Sparx as the publisher. I like doing the descriptions on Audio Sparx. It's nice having that control. However, Barbie's been wonderful with adding descriptions and polishing up the pitch. She's giving me much of her time. And always responds to my emails quickly. I have music with Pump Audio and Crucial Music as well. Both are fine. Audio Sparx is just another avenue like them. One disadvantage with using large libraries is the large amount of competition. For every search a client makes a thousand results come up. I hope you don't have anymore bad experiences in the music library business Andrew. I've had a couple myself. Always a bummer. John
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Joined: Sep 2006
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If the tracks you pulled were non-exclusive, why would you pull them? I've had some non-exclusive libraries where it took 2-3 years before I started getting placements. It's the old numbers game using non-exclusive libraries; more possibilities with more libraries working for you. However, I understand if you were using their exclusive option with no results over a 2-3 year period. I had earned some money, but I felt that overall it was such a bad deal for composers that it was actually devaluing my music (even though they had me as a featured artist.) Only library to date where I've ever done that. All the reports I've read on Music Library Report had nothing but praise for Audio Sparx and Barbie. If you read through the archive for AS thoroughly you'll see our exchange. Not so nice stuff. Actually some composers on Music Library Report reported not being accepted on Audio Sparx. Yes, after the initial acceptance, one can load tracks without further review. Maybe if the quality is absolutely abysmal. Overall they'll take just about anything. One only needs to listen to a selection of random tracks to hear there isn't much of a bar compared to, say, Crucial. Not saying there's no place in the world for a company like that, but again, I think it's an incredibly bad deal that they take over half the sync fee AND make you do the work. One disadvantage with using large libraries is the large amount of competition. For every search a client makes a thousand results come up. AudioSparx IS a large library. They're enormous! In fact, when I was leaving, Barbie (I think) took a jab at me, bragging about the sheer number of tracks they had, and how mine were just a drop in the bucket. Crucial is way smaller and I'm pretty sure Pump is smaller as well. I've also been involved with companies like UniqueTracks that have very limited release schedules but high bars and treat music with respect. On AS, it feels like a race to the bottom. Of course, this is just my 2 cents. I'm not saying AudioSparx is a scam or doing anything immoral/illegal. I just think their business model is not good for composers and shouldn't be supported by us.
Last edited by Andrew Aversa; 07/22/11 11:18 PM.
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Yes Crucial is smaller and much more difficult to get through their review system. Also Crucial reviews one track at a time. Each track has a separate 12 page contract. Pump Audio,/Getty Images is another large library. However it takes 1-2 years to get new tracks approved and in their play engine. I still have three CD's of tracks I sent them over a year ago. They're approved, by not in their system as yet. Yep, Audio Sparx is huge. Not sure about them devaluing music anymore than other libraries. You do have the option to set your own price. Best, John
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,579 Likes: 13
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For the record: I will say Audisparx acted immorally and were LYING to their members about their policies and due diligence on who they would license to. (In this example, Tammy's music was licensed to a site that made offensive videos against Christianity and Tammy had licensed Christian music and was very concerned. When confronted by the fact, they lied about it. When we stuck up for her, they threatened us, called US liars AND wrote heinous and untrue things about us to one of our sponsors (maybe more, who knows) but one they wrote to contacted me and shared their nasty attack. So I went point by point, proved THEM to be both liars AND completely clueless about who they were doing business with. Only when the truth was inescapable by AudioSparx, did they write me an apology admitting we were in fact correct, always HAD been correct throughout, were only trying to help a member here and they were 100% responsible and guilty. They had tried to trash us so badly that our long time sponsor would drop us. Good thing the owner of that company and I have become good friends or I might never have known just how sleazy and dishonest and most of all unprofessional someone could be. Anyone can make a mistake, but the rest takes a real low life. Michael Borges knows the people who were involved well and could, if needed, offer their names, I tried to forget them and not waste any more time on them since.
I just realized, however, that this post comes up early on searches for AudioSparx and other various search terms and I wanted to get the truth out there. I still have their apology letter on file as does the sponsor (who they did business with at the time) should any questions arise.
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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Joined: Dec 2006
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Hey Brian,
That doesn't sound so good, but I hope it's all worked out.
I was going to put up a post in regard to streaming payments, re Spotify, ( and the rest ) and saw this thread.
I get regular payments from AudioSparx, but it took about a year to get things churning along.
I noticed one days streaming of 499 streams paid $0.99 ( their accounts are very detailed ), so they're paying about $2 per 1000 streams. Or $2000 per million. I think that rates pretty well in relation to broadcast royalties, remembering that streaming is a one on one thing, against a broadcaster playing a song once to a million people.
Anyways, sorry to hear to had problems with them on a personal level. I'm fairly sure you can choose "usage" when uploading and can prevent your works being used in a manner you don't approve of. Then again I could be wrong, as I've taken the scatter gun approach and my work is plastered all around the place, on probably too many internet sites.
I don't endorse the company, nor either dis-endorse it. And sorry to hear you got the reaction you did, when trying to right some wrongs.
cheers, niteshift
PS - I'll try to find the other thread re streaming, and write a few words there.
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"If one man can do it, any man can do it. It is true. But the real question is, if one man did it, are you willing to do what it takes to do it as well?" –Brian Austin Whitney
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