Catalog, IP, & You: A Composer’s Guide

A common rule of thumb is a film composing career can take 10-15 years to really get started. But even before that, you are eventually going to get to a point where you think, “Holy shit, I’ve worked on a lot of projects.” Followed quite briskly by another less fun thought, “Holy crap, where even are all the tracks I’ve written?”

Throughout our careers, we build up a large library of music, from what could be 60-70 finished cues for a feature film (with another 20-30 rejected from the same project) to the gamut of every short film, collaboration, game jam, or even failed pitches you’ve ever done and suddenly you can be looking at hundreds if not thousands of tracks in a short period of time.

On top of this realization, you may have another, perhaps more profound one: “I can do something with these tracks, especially the ones I own outright!” and that is the topic of today’s chat. Catalog, intellectual property, & you!

Your catalog as a composer is not just a fun thought exercise, it is the ever growing collection of all of your pieces, cues, and drafts that you’ve worked on over the years. From 1m01_20230501-A .wav to 4m27_20251143_D.wav, you’ve likely amassed a large collection of tracks throughout the years. A majority of the published tracks will likely be registered with your PROs (as they should be) and others may just be rejected from projects you worked on but still relatively cool pieces you can make use of in the future. All of these are potential money earners for you.

In fact, the entire industry of “library music composers” is built around this idea that back end royalties can build a composer’s creative career can sometimes reach 6 figures “passively” as these tracks get used, played, and broadcast on various tv shows, commercials, and other creative projects all over the world. Many composers even write library tracks in between big projects when there’s some downtime or even repurpose old or rejected tracks to be used in music libraries after a project is finished as this can be a great source of income!

Your catalog then is not just a collection of your music, but it is a business asset and every piece you write adds value to your collection. Typically, better pieces add more value but you can’t predict what will or won’t pop off so you have to keep writing and growing your catalog of works.

Outside of library music (which I hope to explore in the future), what other ways can you take advantage of your catalog and catalog thinking?

Well, there are other forms of intellectual property for composers than just recorded music. There’s sheet music of original composition and sheet music of arrangements, there’s articles, there’s even options like youtube videos (which can generate ad revenue directly and on their own too!) and so much more.

So if you’re an early career composer and trying to figure out what you can do right now to start moving the needle, even if you don’t have a project going on, think in terms of catalog. What can you do today that may not make an immediate difference now, but 7-10 years down the line you will have loved you’ve done it and know it has made a difference?

Practical Ways to Start thinking in Catalogs

If you wanted to start working on your catalog, here are some ideas you can do today:

• Own your rights whenever possible (and know when you don’t)

• Register everything with your PRO and track all splits

• Keep rejected cues organized, documented, and accessible

• Write with reuse in mind (alt mixes, stems, cutdowns, versions/variations)

• Create new IP: sample packs, books, case studies, templates, videos, etc.

For me, I am currently working on building a youtube channel exploring music and sound throughout the world, writing a book of prepared guitar etudes, creating sample packs, and starting to explore the world of library music. Each of these are new IP assets for my catalog and some will be more financially successful than others, but ultimately being a composer is a long term game and the larger your catalog, the more chances of success you have, as well as the more tiny drops of revenue that can form to be a large stream or hopefully even a flood.

So start thinking like a catalog builder, not a gig-to-gig freelancer and get to work!

ScoringTech.Net is operated by Joe Chris as a means of trying to give back to the composer community. Consider joining the monthly mailing list to have these articles sent to your inbox on the first of every month! Follow me on instagram @Joe_Chris_ , youtube, or Join our free discord community where we host bi-weekly composition challenges!