A well designed sound effect library will sell online as single downloads. Since internet speeds are now fast enough to accommodate downloadable products, sound effect buyers are moving toward downloading a handful of sound effects for specific products as opposed to buying full CD libraries. To access this new internet revenue stream, sound designers can use the following tips when designing a online library for sale.
1. A main tenet in building a profitable sound library is to record at least several thousand sound effects. In order to provide enough choices for customers, three thousand total products is a good goal.
2. Video editors like to use loops that they can fit to particular scenes so create loopable elements from longer ambiances such as traffic noise.
3. A wide variety is better than a small variety with tons of repetition so its preferable to have 10 different ambiances of three clips each then one ambiance type of 30 clips.
4. Create a variety of formats including 48k 24bit for video editors, 44.1 16bit for online applications, .wavs for PC use, and .aiffs for Mac editors.
5. Find the maximum number of websites to sell through since each e-commerce site has unique customers bases who may be interested in purchasing your sounds thus increasing your overall sales.
6. In the long run it may be worth the trouble and effort to build your own site for selling your effects. You can self-promote this site via link building, forum participation, and article writing.
As more and more internet users arrive online, the number of buyers for sound effects will only increase and the above tips are general fool proof guidelines for increasing the attractiveness, and thus the sales, of your library.
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