SHR4C007R~001 25100446 Library Composer Research Portfolio 

by

Suraj Vaja 25100446

 

For this assignment, I wanted to explore the career path of a library composer. 

There is no known qualification that’s needed for a library composer however there is need for some experience. This experience includes working with daw’s, structure of library tracks, variations of a library track, and knowledge in creating music/ musical elements. You’d also need a strong portfolio of tracks to show a library that your capable of composing and delivering high quality music.  

As well as having basic knowledge in music theory and creating music, a huge part of a successful library composer is submitting tracks to library companies. I found a video on submitting tracks from ‘Steven Beddall’ on ‘Crafting the PERFECT Music Library Submission’. He’s worked with Artlist.io, Motion Array and Epidemic Sound: libraries that are known for having quality sounding and well-structured tracks, easy to use for editors.  

In his video, he gave some great points on what library companies look for in a composer, ultimately adding onto how to have success in this career. One way he does this is by stating “It’s important to understand the library’s brand and to consider how your application would fit the picture”. He took artlist.io as an example. When you’re on the website, each profile visually looks professional. It includes a high-quality profile picture, banner and a clear bio of the artist. The profiles also match the libraries brand and gives something libraries would want to sell.  

Towards the end of his video he stated, “The next thing to consider is personalization…personalizing your email”. One way to personalize you email is through signatures. This can be a neatly organized name with links to your website or socials at the bottom of your email, (in a different font from the normal font used in emails). Another way to personalize your email is by doing some research beforehand on the library. This could be adding what you like about the library and why your music fits it. It’s important to add this when sending an email to a library, makeing it stand out, and show you’re interested in joining.  

Another quality of a successful library composer is creating library tracks. I’ve decided to analyse a track called ‘Symmetry’ from Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen and Jakob Ahlbom. Instrumentation, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics in this piece works together to create an effective composition. But what truly makes a library track is how it’s structured and orchestrated, and who it’s for. This track is in Binary form, where each section is repeated twice (ABAB). This may seem normal; however, each section has a different length, and both A and B sections are different variations of each other.  

Library tracks are usually for editors and directors: for them to put it over a moving image, film, ad, or even a video game. The track is meant to be easy to put on any part of the given media. One way the track does this is by not allowing any space at the beginning of the track, giving editors the choice of starting it at any point, allowing them to fade the track in using volume automation.  The first B section is very quiet: not only can it act as a transition into another scene, but also a build up into something climatic (the 2nd A section).  Variations of both A and B sections allow the editors to choose which best suits the scene. The first A section can suit dialogue scenes as it contains less harmony, Instrumentation, and quiet dynamics. Whereas the second A section is the opposite and can suit more climatic scenes.  

From a video on an article page called ‘The songwriting academy’, I learned that the duties of the profession include, “writing to a brief, follow song structures, professional production quality, and meeting deadlines”. Within these duties, you’ll find that you have to stick to “required Lengths” when writing library music. A typical day’s work involves mostly what’s mentioned above.  

“Essentially how these jobs all start is with the brief”. A brief is something given to the composer to specify what music the library wants. For an album to be commissioned, someone who works in a library company will find a need for a specific type of music for films, tv, or ads. They then hire composers who can make that style of music. “There’ll usually be a 10 track album of something, and it’ll be in a specific style”. This quote is self-explanatory following on from the previous explanation. Libraries usually ask for 10 tracks for variations, and to see if the composer is a good fit for their library. For him “Writing this way feels much better”. With deadlines, it’s not usually a tight timeframe in comparison to doing film or tv projects “where it’s all about like getting it done in 48 hours”.  

Although there isn’t usually a tight timeframe, your responsible for making your own deadlines so you don’t go off track, and you get it done without additional pressure. The tracks or album is then submitted to a library via a contact form or email ready for review. Overall, this is the process of writing music for a library, “working in there five days a week writing, and self-employed. So pretty flexible, enjoyable, fun stuff. Writing music for TV and film”. 

One of the legal and financial issues as a library composer is ‘retitling’. This happens mostly with non-exclusive libraries. A non-exclusive library is a library that will allow you to submit your tracks to other libraries after submitting it to theirs. After you’ve registered your work with a library, they can register your work under a new title with a PRO, “naming themselves as a publisher”. It Also confuses music supervisors as multiple libraries can claim ownership over the same work.  

Another legal and financial issue is “Blanket Fees”. Once a film company licences (purchases) a song, The money the library gets from that, none of it goes to you. Instead you’ll get money through a PRO when the film company uses it. CD baby considers this “sneaky” as this is not usually outlined in their policy. This is also sneaky as the money is usually less from placements (what the music is used for), than the money you get from when someone purchases a licence for your song/piece.  

One last issue is entering into a lot of non-exclusive libraries. It seems great as you think you’ll get more money from PRO. However music supervisors will end up listening to the same song over and over again. It becomes a bigger problem when the music doesn’t fit in the first place when a film company is finding music for their film. It could lead to the supervisor ignoring your music in future.   

Within this year in college, I decided to make an album of 5 tracks in the ambient/orchestral genre. This was going to be submitted to ‘Pond 5’ and I was going to personally promote it.  

I made a cover for each track on Canva and only the name and secondary colour were different for each track.      

These are only some examples. The five pictures were posted on social media on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Community. I then put a link in the bio for people who need it for their project. 

When I was marketing my work for this library, I had to consider my Font, Brand, Colour Scheme, and the Audience I was aiming for. I also had to include a title for each my tracks, a description, and relevant tags so it’s easy for my audience to find the tracks they’re looking for.   

Some libraries can also market your work for you. They are able to pitch emails to supervisors and put your music in a recognized playlist for increased sales. According to ‘Aris Take’ on “How to get your music on tv, video games and in movies (Sync Licencing)”, another way to promote your music is using sync agents. Sync agents help composers by finding out what type of music they make, and then finding people who want that type of music, essentially acting as the middle man. If you have a catalogue of library music, sync agents can place it in the right films. Your PRO would then collect royalties from that track which would go back to you, including any other royalties from other platforms you released it on.  

From the author Ari Herstand “After Lindsay Wolfington placed my song in One Tree Hill back in 2010, not only did my iTunes numbers skyrocket that night, but for years after that placement people at every show came up to me saying they discovered me from that show”.  

There are some challenges in the career of a library composer, one of which is “Limited Recognition and Exposure for New Composers”, according to “InterviewGuy.com”. Although their article is about challenges as a composer, this is also relevant for a library composer. Composers not only have to make great music, but they have to self-promote themselves to get recognition to lead to sales. If the tracks are not marketed properly, the composers may not get the recognition they deserve and not get as many sales.  

Although I put work into creating an album of 5 tracks, I had to mix, master and promote it on social media platforms. As it’s a highly competitive field, there are composers who get other people to mix, master, and promote for them, having more time to compose for libraries, making the possibility of getting a sale more likely as there’s more music for people to purchase. This can relate to the article as “the music industry is highly competitive and saturated, making it even harder for new composers to get their work heard and appreciated”. In future, I might get advice from experienced library composers to find how they were first recognized in the industry. I’d also like to research more into marketing strategies for library composers who are just starting to get more of an idea on how to get my music seen.   

Another challenge I faced as a library composer is writing to a brief. Although it’s the main job, it limited my creative expression as a composer. I found that there were instruments, structures, and melodies I couldn’t use. Overall, there wasn’t much room for experimentation, as I’m sticking to something that most people can easily edit into their project. Therefore, writing to a brief usually meant I had to stick to certain rules which can limit my creativity to create something new.  

To overcome this problem, I listened to some library tracks from top library composers including Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen and Jakob Ahlbom, both from Epidemic sound. I chose 3 tracks to analyse including “Symmetry”, “Mirroring”, and “A trace of light”. I specifically analysed the musical elements, variation and structure of each track. This taught me how to create music with limits and still stick to something editors look for when searching for music for their project.  

Each library gives you the chance to edit your profile including your bio, any links to your work, email, and a profile picture of you. If a company, director, or editor likes your music, they can hire you directly for their projects and contact you through the library. This is one way to progress as a library composer and get more opportunities for work.  

Another way to progress within the career is expanding your catalogue and genres of music. By making different types of music for libraries, you have more of a chance for your music to be placed in big projects including feature films, television, or adverts.  

Bibliography 

  • Beddall, S. (2023). Crafting The PERFECT Music Library Submission. [online] Youtu.be. Available at: https://youtu.be/8LChF9MB11Q [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026]. 
  • Herstand, A. (2024). How to Get Your Music on Netflix and Other TV shows? [online] aristake.com. Available at: https://aristake.com/sync-agents/ [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026].