[Jack Gray]

Thanks to everyone for your very valuable feedback thus far.

It seems that corporate / industrial is the main focus for many of you, and so, a library aimed at commercials (like Shord and Sweed Music) is not going to be especially relevant to your day-to-day business needs.

By way of responding to specific questions and points that have been made:

Nick: “The real market that exists these days (IMHO) is mid-priced, higher quality stock music. Less expensive than the major libraries, and of better quality than the majority of royalty-free / buy-out stuff that’s out there now.”

JG: This is similar to the market plan of Shord and Sweed Music: attractive rates, but – no generic stock music. Our catalog has been chosen specifically to sound like custom advertising music (rather than to cover all genre bases, as seems to be the case with even the very best of the existing libraries). Of course, tastes and opinions vary, so I think you’d have to do some listening to our catalog to really get a sense of what I’m driving at here.

Nick: “…why are you limiting yourself to spots?

JG: I don’t think it’s possible to build a new omnibus-style library and compete with leaders such as Killer and Non-Stop without a huge store of capital, time, and (as you say) marketing muscle. On the other hand (again, to your point), I have learned via my own advertising placements that custom music is not always a given. So, I’ve built relationships with a worldwide bunch of talented contributors who, like me, prefer short form over corporate (more musically rewarding). Several of them have custom credits with major advertisers (refer to our credits page).

Nick: “You really can’t customize music on an on-demand basis.”

JG: Hope I haven’t misunderstood your point, Nick; maybe I need to explain myself a bit further. Generally speaking, Shord and Sweed tracks are available in multiple versions, with increasingly spare arrangements. Thus, if a client likes a basic track, but needs it to be less foreground at certain points, then the final arrangement can be quickly tweaked via edits without involving the composer.

Is there anyone here whose business leans a bit more toward spots, and would care to weigh in on whether existing libraries really deliver value in terms of specific suitability for commercials AND attractive rates, etc.?

Thanks again.

Jack Gray
Shord and Sweed Music: profile on CreativeCow
Shord and Sweed Music: website