Hey Reddit. My name is Menachem Engel. I am music producer/composer under the name Kabbalistic Village and I make some of my income by selling music I compose on one the biggest Royalty Free stock music sites called AudioJungle.

Companies such as Ferrari, LA Fitness, Thomas Pink are just some of the companies that have used my tracks.

My portfolio - http://audiojungle.net/user/kabbalisticvillage

Also available on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/kabbalisticvillage

I am here to talk about the process, how it works, music production, how you can track people using your music illegally,etc.

So ask me anything.

Proof - https://twitter.com/MusicMakingJew/status/726614881898778624

Comments: 90 • Responses: 40  • Date: 

two_off9 karma

How can you track people using your music illegally?

Have you found your music being used illegally?

KVillage19 karma

There is a website called adrev where you upload your tracks that you sell. When you go on audiojungle to check out tracks you will hear a watermark in all of the songs. That is the preview file. When you buy a track you receive a zip file containing an unmarked track. Sometimes people will just download the watermarked preview and use it in their YouTube videos without buying a license. Adrev tracks YouTube and put ads on those videos and we can make their ad revenue and adrev takes a cut as well. I find lots of illegal usage and some people who just never cleared their license (they usually have like 14 views anyways so no money). Nowadays before a buyer purchases a tracks he can see on the item page if it's registered with adrev and how he can clear it with the license he receives. It's an extra step but it protects us composers.

KVillage18 karma

wow i messed up the title lol. Sorry.

RufusLoacker6 karma

I'm a musician on Audiojungle too! How do you advertise your work? I've just started, and I find difficult to "reach out" to potential customers...

KVillage12 karma

the best thing to do is write really good music. After your song gets accepted..make a Youtube video for that song with a buy link. I get lots of of buyers from Youtube. Also twitter/soundcloud/vimeo (filmmakers always looking). I also moderate r/royaltyfreemusic where we post links to our songs.

KVillage1-1 karma

Will answer you soon. Out at the mall with my wife.

Slick_Grimes3 karma

Can you write me a theme song tailored to me?

KVillage14 karma

Yes. You can send me a private message if you would like.

Slick_Grimes3 karma

Will do! Do you do lyrics or is it a musical score?

KVillage16 karma

Only musical score. I can't sing lol.

KittensAndKittens2 karma

If you earn of your income from music sales, what do you earn the rest of your income from?

Who paid you the most money for the use of one song?

Have you ever been approached to produce porn music?

KVillage13 karma

I freelance on the side for more custom music production which I can charge more for. I sell some of my own music on the side as well on itunes,etc and I do a little programming.

Ferrari paid me the most because they purchased a regular license off the site but wanted it customized after.

No.

myrptaway2 karma

Ferrari paid me the most because they purchased a regular license off the site but wanted it customized after.

What did they ask for?

KVillage13 karma

They wanted me to redo certain parts of the songs to fit the video better.

NateDogTX1 karma

Is the video available to the public? I'd like to see/hear it.

KVillage18 karma

Yes they are both on YouTube. I'm on my phone and not next to my computer for a couple of hours but I will try find them both. Edit - found one of them - http://youtu.be/HK8zC1oH7f0

Myzerl2 karma

How did you get into such a career. And how consistent is your income? Does it allow you to live comfortably?

KVillage12 karma

The first question is a longer answer so I will answer it later when I have more time. The income from selling is somewhat consistent each month. Between 500 to 800 dollars besides my other jobs. I live in a foreign country so I can live decently I guess.

[deleted]2 karma

[deleted]

KVillage12 karma

I actually have a song that has some sounds that resemble whales that became zombies

music_never_stopped1 karma

Did you study music, if yes where?

What would you say to young people looking to study music and make a living from it?

KVillage12 karma

I did study music production for visual media in an online university which I will not name. I did not finish the course and dropped out early because I felt like I wasn't learning enough to justify the cost. There's so many free resources online that it just wasn't worth it. I would totally tell young people to pursue a music career but also learn another skill/profession on the side.

bertleywjh1 karma

Do you think there is a decent market for rock or metal music?

KVillage12 karma

The best selling category on audiojungle is corporate happy music. Rock is pretty good. Metal not so much. You have to think about what most people use in videos/commercials/advertisements because that is where most of the stuff is being used.

Hrcnhntr6131 karma

What half of sfira do you hold, and does this not matter if you do this for a job?

KVillage11 karma

I don't do half. This is my job so I listen and compose music during sefira. I do everything else though - as you can see I don't need to worry about the shaving part.

killerzac1 karma

Do you ever compose for a specific group or soloist to perform or do you try and be as broad with performers or do it for yourself to perform?

KVillage11 karma

I only compose music that is meant to be used in videos for now.

Bach-Bach1 karma

Do most of your songs follow a simple form? Verse, chorus, verse, etc.

KVillage11 karma

For the stuff that I sell on audiojungle it usually follows a simple formula like u wrote. Music that people buy on there isn't usually very experimental and the more interesting stuff usually don't sell well. The other songs I write that I release as my own stuff is usually much wilder and crazy.

Woodahooda1 karma

What is your advice to a totally new composer?

KVillage12 karma

Be wary of advice on Internet forums. You don't always have to follow all the rules people talk about. Try to just write music and write and write and come up with smaller ideas u can build into bigger songs.

mattylayne1 karma

Do you accept material from outside writers?

KVillage11 karma

No....wait what do you mean?

transc3nder1 karma

I've been writing music with a DAW for 10+ years, have had many digital / CD compilation / vinyl releases so am a competent producer. I'd LOVE to get into writing stock music, but until I saw your post I had no idea how to go about it, so big thanks for that.

My question: how saturated are sites like these? I'd have guessed there's a lot of low-quality music were it not for reading a reply you made below describing their quality control.

KVillage12 karma

Audiojungle currently has close to 350,000 tracks for sale. It is saturated but if you write good music and market a little you can start making sales. There is also featured file of the week and author of the week where you are featured on the front page. The review team pick those and you can get lots of exposure.

transc3nder1 karma

Thankyou for the reply... I shall see how I get on, definitely going to give it a go.

I'd be happy to list you as referrer, seeing as I wouldn't have known about the site without your post! PM me if there's any additional info I need other than your AudioJungle username.

KVillage11 karma

I think the referral program is only for buyers. But thanks anyway.

splorf1 karma

Are there any musicians/composers that make a great living doing this on audiojungle? Has anyone gotten rich off of making music for sites like this?

KVillage11 karma

Yes there are some top authors on the site who do like 450 sales a month which is a very nice amount of money.

splorf1 karma

After doing some research in audiojungle forums it seems like there have been a lot of changes lately and the site is losing traffic drastically.

On top of that, people are complaining that review times for new uploads are taking up to 24 days.

Do you strictly use audiojungle or other sites as well? And have you experienced a sales decline and long review periods recently?

KVillage11 karma

the review period is longer. that is true. People complain about sales all the time dropping. Everyone thinks they are going to sell ten tracks a day which just isn't possible. April just finished and I had a pretty regular month. Don't always listen to the people on the forum. The people who are usually making sales just stay quiet.

slimelabs1 karma

Ive been trying to write an album for several years, I'm a decent musician (play guitar and drums) and to a good standard, however I've never managed to finish a single song, i find all i ever have is a collection of riffs (riffs that i like) and i never know where to go from there. Even if i track them I kinda sit there and I'm like "ok...now i have another riff ...what do i do now". I hope that makes sense, as someone who has written and completed many songs, does this ring a bell? any advice for dealing with this? many thanks

KVillage11 karma

Of course. This happens to everybody at some point. What I suggest is to focus on one riff and start adding more instruments to it. Build an intro, add bass and drums and then come up with a melody which I'm sure you can do. Once you have more ideas you can start piecing then together or restart everything in different orders and see how it sounds. If you get stuck move on to a new song.

HosbnBolt1 karma

how new are you to library music? Do you use any other libraries? Any reason you're choosing to sell for cheap on AJ?

KVillage11 karma

I've been there for close to 3 years. I don't use any other libraries. I chose audiojungle because it was the first one I found out about and I like the set up there.

HosbnBolt1 karma

right on! if it works for you that's cool, but I think you're underselling yourself using AJ. If you're going non exclusive you might as well branch out to other libraries and get more sales. AJ really doesn't pay very well

KVillage11 karma

I'm exclusive to Audiojungle. I don't know how many sales the bigger libraries actually do so I'm afraid to go there.

HosbnBolt1 karma

ah forgot you can go exclusive with AJ, don't know what that's like. I'm non exclusive to a few libraries (I need to add more), but have been getting sales through AudioSparx lately. My experience with AJ is getting a bunch of sales of $5 or $15 whereas with AS I get less sales but I get like $60-$125 depending on the license. Honestly i think you should at least consider other libraries so you don't miss out on $. If AJ works for you that's cool, just know you could probably make more.

KVillage11 karma

Interesting. I'll check out audiosparx for some other tracks that didn't make it AJ

frumactuary1 karma

How was your Pesach?

Have you composed any niggunim for tefilah? Links please :)

KVillage11 karma

It was great bh. Came into New York to be with family. Going back to the holy land soon. I'll post some soon.

liamquane1 karma

Do you do compositions for films? If so, whats the going rate?

KVillage11 karma

I have not done anything original for a film yet. Hope to soon though.

MrKuroko1 karma

Has your music ever been used in a film/television show? And how to you track down people who try to use your audio/music illegally?

KVillage11 karma

Yes. Some of them have been used in small TV shows in America but mostly in foreign countries. I answered your second question before to someone else. It's a long answer so please go look there.

MrHankeyPoo1 karma

Do you ever get affected by anti-Semitism at all?

KVillage11 karma

I live in Israel so not really. I am in New York now visiting and so far nothing. I get lots of funny looks because i have a huge beard. On Reddit though i do get some.

MrHankeyPoo1 karma

Can you share examples?

Can you also link me the music you made for Ferrari?

KVillage11 karma

examples of anti-semitism? last time i stumbled into r/conspiracy and got blamed for all the worlds problems.

here is one of the ferrari videos. There are two different videos using 2 of my songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK8zC1oH7f0&app=desktop

whistlewhileyou1 karma

Let's say you stopped recording today. Would you have passive income? If you don't mind me asking how much? For how long?

KVillage12 karma

i dont have to make songs everyday. Once a song is up there, people can buy them whenever. I sell tracks that I made 3 years ago. For the last couple of weeks I have been on vacation visiting family in New York and havent made anything new and I still made 30-40 sales.

Goulasho1 karma

Is it difficult developing new songs which sound distinct from each other?

Whom do you consult for impartial reviews of your music?

KVillage11 karma

I don't consult anybody. I just write and write and write. The songs that are sold on AudioJungle undergo a review process by a team of professional reviewers and they choose to accept or reject the track. Out of 130 songs that i have made for that site - only 3 were rejected.

Developing new songs that sound different is very easy for me because I listen to so many different styles that I am always coming up with new ideas. I love using Asian instruments in my music and if you combine that with regular Electronic music or Hip hop beats you can come up with something funky. So far I think that most of my songs sound different form eachother.

MintyMenthol1 karma

How much do you earn per song?

Where do find inspiration to produce original music?

KVillage13 karma

there are 5 levels of licensing on AudioJungle. Most composers on there try to make their songs over 2 minutes in length which yield the highest prices. So if you are just starting off as an exclusive author on AudioJungle you will make 50 percent of your sale. The most basic license is 19 dollars. So half of that. Exclusive author meaning that you cannot sell the same songs on other royalty free sites.

As you sell more, your commission level rises and you make more of your sale. Where I am at now: on a 19 dollar item I make $10.26.

The other prices depend on usage.

Music Broadcast (1 Million) - 38 dollars Music Mass Reproduction - 76 dollars Music Broadcast (10 Million) - 152 dollars Music Broadcast and Film - 304 dollars

Full details here - http://audiojungle.net/licenses/music?license=music_broadcast_and_film

The key thing here is that we can sell the same song over and over. People can buy it whenever they want so I sometimes wake up in the morning to money ;)

Inspiration for me comes from many different places: Spirituality, Religion, Life events, messing around with sounds and sometimes just hearing it in my head.

Hope that helps.

liquifiedspinach1 karma

Many musicians unintentionally incorporate sounds from other songs in their music. Has this ever happened to you?

Initially, how difficult was it for you to find clients interested in using your music?

KVillage11 karma

We don't find our clients. The clients know the site and just browse for the right songs that they need. This can be tricky since there are many songs uploaded to there each day. So each author/composer on there does their own sort of marketing - Youtube videos, Soundcloud, Facebook advertising.

I don't think that I have ever used anyone else's sounds. All the songs uploaded to the site undergo a review process for about 1 week to 22 days (depending on how many songs are being uploaded) and if it did happen then it would be caught by the reviewer.

zatch171 karma

How can I do this?

KVillage11 karma

Are you musical at all? Do you produce music currently?

zatch171 karma

Trumpet piano and guitar and a loop pedal

KVillage11 karma

Sounds pretty cool. Get yourself a daw (digital audio workstation) like fl studio, logic, etc. and start recording.

WhiteHarem1 karma

What Do You Think Of Les Folies D'Espagne From The Film Tous Les Matins Du Monde?

KVillage11 karma

I don't know what that is. I'll check it out later though.

biryanikilla1 karma

Hello! What software do use sir!?

KVillage14 karma

Currently Logic X and a lot of plugins. I'm in love with alchemy thee days.

chodaranger1 karma

Have you looked at the stuff from u-he? Diva is incredible.

KVillage11 karma

I use some of their stuff as well