*Please Note* At this time, we are not accepting any new submissions. We appreciate your interest and apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back soon!

-I’m an artist and I want to submit music to your library, what should I do?

First off, you must own all master and publishing rights to your music.  If those two things are met, please click on the submit tab to the right and upload 3 of your best tracks after reading through this FAQ.  If you do not own these two things, we would have to get clearance from whomever controls your master and/or publishing.  We are very particular about what is accepted, but by all means, we would love to hear your tunes!  We accept all genres.

– What kind of music should I submit?

We strive for the highest quality music for our clients and with that, we pretty much accept most genres, both vocal and instrumental.  Quality is the key ingredient and your tracks must be mastered and mixed properly.   More often than not, we get tracks that are unevenly mixed and mastered.  We cannot use these tracks, as all music in our catalog has to be broadcast ready.  If you have vocal tracks accepted, you will be required to submit instrumental versions as well.  This increases your chances of getting a placement.

-What if I used samples in my tracks?

That’s fine. BUT, you must have clearance to use those samples.   Buyout packages like Albion Strings, LASS strings, Native Instruments are fine.  But if you’re using a piece of a David Bowie song, you better have clearance.

-Can I submit tracks that were written by multiple writers?

Absolutely.  But all writers, publishers and masters of the recording must consent to entering into the catalog when the agreement is reached.

-Do my tracks have to be mastered?

Absolutely they do!  It is critical that your mixes and masters are of broadcast quality.  We know that you want to get placements and we want you too!

-What if I have music on a royalty free (RF) site like Pond 5 or Rumblefish?

Unfortunately, we do not accept tracks that are listed on any royalty free site.  If you would like to submit tracks associated with a royalty free site, you will have to remove those from those sites before we can enter them into our catalog.

-Do I keep ownership of my music?

Absolutely, positively without a doubt.  When entering into an exclusive or non-exclusive agreement with Directional Music,  you are essentially just giving us the right to promote your music for master/synchronization use in commercial television, online media, film and various other digital mediums.  Some libraries require you to sign over the copyright and master to your songs before entering an exclusive agreement.  We do not subscribe to that.  We believe that you should continue to retain ownership of your music, while we hold exclusivity to your tracks for master/synchronization use.  With this approach, you keep ownership and your tracks are exclusive to the end user.

-How much of the licensing fee do you keep when I get a placement?

We offer two types of agreements.  The first type is non-exclusive.  For a non-exclusive agreement, we only keep 45% of the licensing fee.  You, the composer get 55%.  The second type is exclusive.  For Exclusive agreements, you get 60% of any upfront licensing fee and we keep 40%.  This offers a bit of an incentive for being an exclusive artist and could raise the chances of you getting a placement.  We are not aware of any other library that gives the composer such a favoring split.  We built this library on a fair and balanced composer framework.  We want you happy, because you are important.

-What about royalties or backend, how much do you keep?

For our non-exclusive AND exclusive agreement you keep the full 100% writer’s share.  Directional Music keeps the  100% publishing share.  This is a big reason why we think that we are going to attract some of the best talent out there.  No other company can offer this.  We ♥ our artists.

-What is the difference between being an exclusive and non-exclusive artist?

We accept both exclusive and non-exclusive artists.  Non-exclusive means that you can pitch the same tracks that you have with us to other companies, while exclusive means that those tracks would be exclusive to Directional Music.  Unlike some other libraries, we do not require you to sign over the copyright and master to your songs in order to become exclusive.  We just ask that we have exclusive right to pitch your songs for master/synchronization license.  More often than not, exclusive tracks are what the bigs boys want.  Networks and agencies typically want exclusive rights to songs, meaning you wouldn’t find it in any other library.  We are able to accept a hybrid of exclusive and non-exclusive tracks from the same artist.  We know this can be confusing and libraries have their own policies, so please let us know if you have any questions.

-Do I have to be a member of a performing rights society (PRO) like BMI, ASCAP, etc?

While not a requirement, it is in your best interest to be part of a PRO.  If you ever land a placement that pays backend royalties, you could be missing out on royalty payments.

-What if I am signed to a record company, can I still submit?

Yes, but it all depends on the situation.  Please contact your record company and let them know that you want to enter your music into our library.  If you own the masters and publishing, you are welcome to submit.  But if either the master and/or publishing rights are owned by another entity (record label, publishing company), they will have to submit your music on your behalf.  Most independent labels are more than willing to work with us.

-Why do you need a SSN and a W-9 tax form from me?

Because of federal law, we must submit any wages by a US citizen to the IRS.  We need this information to pay you.

-What if I am outside of the United States, what sort of taxes do I pay and what form do I fill out?

First, you must fill out a W-8BEN form if you’re not a resident of the United States.  The amount of taxes you pay depends on what country you live in.  Some countries have what’s called a tax treaty.  For instance, there is a tax treaty with the United States and Canada that requires no extra taxes be taken.  Other countries could be 5% or 15%, it just all depends.  To benefit from the tax treaty, you would also need a ITIN # which can be obtained from the IRS.  For any questions about this, please contact us.  It sounds complicated, but really it’s just a few forms to fill out.

-How much will I be paid when one of my songs is licensed?

That all depends on a variety of factors.  Each license is different.  For example:  if one of your cues was licensed to Pepsi for a commercial spot that was going to be seen by a large market on broadcast television you would be paid a lot more for a corporate conference video that would be seen by 100.  There are varying degrees of how much we charge for a licensee fee to our clients.  When entering our agreement, you give us the right to negotiate on your behalf the license fee.  This is mainly because of the cut and haste situations in media.  For so many years, it was very hard for media makers to get music fast and legally.  This is where we step in.

-What does “One-Stop” and “Pre-Cleared” mean?

When you enter into an agreement with DM, you are giving us the right to pitch your music to our network of music supervisors and agencies.  In addition, you are also giving us the right to clear your music for those pitches should your track be selected.  One-stop means our clients can clear the tracks through us rather than dealing with multiple parties.  This is a key component to our success and why clients come back to us.  In fact, a major majority of our clients will not even listen to a track if it’s not pre-cleared.

-How long does the agreement last?

The initial agreement lasts two years.  After two years, the agreement automatically renews in one year increments on the same terms as the initial agreement.  If you wanted to remove certain cues from our catalog or cancel the agreement, we would need a written request within 60 days prior to the then-current period.

What happens if my music is rejected?

Again, we are very selective with the music that enters our catalog.  We will get back with you within 60 days after audition and let you know either way if we would like to include your music.  If we do not include your cues, it’s nothing personal and does not necessarily mean that your music is bad.  Some music is just more placable these days.  If you are rejected, please do re-submit once you have worked more on your music.

Due to the frequency of submissions, we are not accepting any new submissions at this time. We appreciate your interest. Please check back at a later date.