How did you actually get your first publishing deal/contact?

[Kolstad]

First deal was directly.

I was a Taxi member for 2 years, a few years ago.
Only submitted 2-3 times back then, as I didn't have much music that matched the listings.
I learned a ton about how to be on target, and what to create for the current market, though.

You only really learn the lessons, when you actively try to match the listings, imo.
The big take-away is to continue to work like that.

So, when I have the right goods for the right Taxi listings, I'll become a member again.
Haven't given up on Taxi, on the contrary. In stead, I've learned to be more focused and persistent.
I want to submit one high quality track, and have 10 more in the catalogue and 10 more in the pipeline.

That just takes a bit more planning, effort and time, as a weekend warrior.
Still working on that game.

[divinorivera]

Searched for "music libraries" and sent emails or filled out submission forms for everything I could find.

Michael

I have tried searching for music libraries, too and I suppose should be registered with a PRO?

[ceedub]

I have made deals by all three of those methods. But most deals, and the best deals, have been by direct contact with the company. It's good to try every method available!

[Jack]

Aside from the one library deal I have made so far through Taxi, I have had success in the past with film placements just by browsing the talent section of Craigslist (Los Angeles). You have to sift through a whole lot of garbage but every now and then there are some good opportunities in there. I also got a couple placements from listings in Janet Fisher's newsletter (Goodnight Kiss Music). I don't know if linking is allowed so I'm not gonna risk it but you can go ahead and Google her! lol. The newsletter doesn't seem as active though nowadays.

[andygabrys]

I have tried searching for music libraries, too and I suppose should be registered with a PRO?

absolutely Divino - there are two parts to making money via placements in movies, tv, and commercials.

up front license fees (which range from nothing to tens of thousands for big commercials and naturally those high pay jobs are extremely hard to win) and performance royalties that are paid by your PRO.

In most cases these days - signing with a publisher or library means you will give up the publishers share on the music - so that's usually half of any up front money, and you would only get the writers share of Royalties. Still very worthwhile because Publishers have contacts you don't

In response to Gar - my first placements were on a web site called http://www.howcast.com that started off with me giving the music super three free tracks after responding to a Craig's list add when I lived in Brooklyn. Then I got paid for the first three, and it lead to me creating a bunch more tracks that they used on a WFH basis.

After that my first TV show placements were on Sesame Street (custom tracks written WFH via connection from a friend who was working on the animations the music ran under), and American Pickers - from some spec tracks I placed with a library that was just starting out at the time (and are now a big gorilla). Around the same time I did a spec piece of music for another library type firm that was also in its early days and it ran under a McDonalds Commercial and resulted in a Sync Fee, AFM session payments and royalties.

The amount of emails, demo reels, networking events attended, hands shaken, hundreds of business cards handed out, small talk made, free projects that lead to other paid projects to get this small start was simply dizzying. Not to mention the unpaid time spent interning at a music house in Chelsea etc.

[jdstamper]

My first deal was from a Taxi forward, I got the offer almost exactly a year after the forward, and then it took another 4 months for the track to appear in the library.

But then on another deal, I received an offer from the library on the same day I got the Taxi email that it had been forwarded. Fast is nice.

I've gotten several deals through Taxi, and then deals on more tracks directly with those libraries ... every time.

[Russell Landwehr]

My first deal was from a TAXI forward.

My first money (slightly over $3) was from placement that I found on my own. Now the $$ I anticipate from the TAXI-forwarded deal will WAY out-strip that.

Russell