JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Anyone heard of MIBE music library?

I’ve never heard of MIBE, but new music libraries are sprouting-up like weeds. If it’s fairly new, it may take a couple years to build up a client base before you’d see placements.

MIBE appears to be the typical non-exclusive library. MIBE is listed with Music Library Report: http://musiclibraryreport.com/ I’m not a member any longer so I don’t know what was said about them there. Now MLR has reviews of 500 music libraries.

Though I only concern myself with exclusive libraries these days, I still have tracks in several non-exclusive libraries from the past. Here’s how retitling works…

Say you have the same track in three different non-exclusive libraries. Library A, B, and C. You submit your track titled “Gruesome Encounter”. The retitling in all cases I’ve experienced, the library adds a prefix or suffix to your original title. Thus… new titles become Gruesome Encounter A, Gruesome Encounter B, and Gruesome Encounter C. All three libraries will register this track with their prefix/suffix to your PRO. Your PRO will consider these separate tracks. Actually my exclusive libraries also use the prefix/suffix labeling method.

When “Gruesome Encounter A” gets placed, a cue sheet is sent to your PRO and credit will be given to the title with the “A” suffix. Since you’re the writer registered with all three title variations, there is little chance you won’t be given credit. A bigger issue is the many clients that don’t turn in cue sheets at all. Without the cue sheet, you’ll never know where that track is being used regardless if it’s a non-exclusive or exclusive library. But that’s another issue entirely. Though if there is upfront money, you’ll find out directly from the publisher where it was placed.

As far as being ripped-off, it’s just as easy to be ripped-off by an exclusive library as it is with non-exclusive one. Any dishonest library can change your title and credit themselves as the writer. You would never know (save digital fingerprinting).

So the bottom-line is… do you trust the library you’re using? I’ve formed close relationships with a couple libraries that I totally trust. They’ve proven themselves over and over. It’s a chancy business, thus, that’s the reality. Then again, I’ve also found libraries I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy.

Best, John