My Take On The Royalty Free Curating Process

I posted a video to youtube about my best selling track on Pond5, and why I think it has been successful. Also about why other libraries have rejected it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kciR__V1G8

Really awesome video Erick! I completely agree with you about 'feel' being more important than the superficial qualities of a track. I gave up on Audio Jungle - not worth my time and for 30% of a fixed price set by them, I'm happy with my choice.

Best of Luck.

Thanks for watching and for the comments! In no way am I saying we need to disregard quality. But there is an aspect of quality that is missed when you merely look for the surface qualities, which is the feel and mood. Those also have to do with quality, but are far more subjective, and thus require a more discerning ear. But in a way, they are also far more important than any other aspect of quality. There is some great stuff on Audiojungle, don't get me wrong. But I really think Pond5 is probably the best marketplace, as they seem to let the market do the talking. I have had music rejected here, but I've always understood exactly why, whereas sometimes I'm just left bewildered with Audiojungle review decisions. And I also have no motivation to spend lots of time on tracks, because when I do, they get a few sales, and the tracks I have spend 10-20 minutes completing from start to finish get between 50-100 sales across all market places. I've learned that I might as well play into my strengths, which is to do impromptu pretty much all the time. Build a track within 15-20 minutes. That way, all of my ideas are coherent, and it all makes sense. Maybe it doesn't work for all composers, but for the most part, it has worked for me.

I just find with AudioJungle that you feel pressured to fit into this mould of what is accepted or popular in the industry at the moment. I love that with Pond5 they accept any style or genre to suit all tastes and hence why their library is so diversified.
10-20 minutes? Wow, awesome :)
I do agree with your point of getting a track done in one session in a short amount of time so your ideas are fresh and coherent. I'm off to try haha! ;-)

I think eventually all of the cookie cutter tracks, the upbeat ukulele tracks, the corporate motivation track, they're going to essentially vanish because there will be so many of them. No one track will be distinguishable from the other. The pool of income from those tracks is going to grow thinner and thinner as their quantity increases by the thousands and thousands. The only thing that will be left is music that stands out in its uniqueness. So if you can make really catchy music, that is also very unique, you're all set. I still haven't figured that out myself. I think of something like Pet Sounds from Brian Wilson (well, okay, The Beach Boys). Still immensely unique even compared with today's standards, but also very catchy.

Thanks for posting Erick ! I learned a lot from listening. I have also been surprised by which tracks have sold and appreciate what you've said very much . Thumbs up to Pond5 for being the best !

Thanks for the comment pauldornquast! I'm glad the video helped :)

Thanks for sharing the video Erick! I also have a similar story with an ambient track I thought it'd never sell, so it's always great to hear about other composers' experiences. Pond5 FTW :)