A '5-year plan' writing songs?

[denalihighway]

Hey dudes / dudettes,

Been meaning to discuss this for a while. So we've all heard of the '5 year plan' as regards placing a critical mass of cues in libraries in order to, someday, have a decent income coming in from placements etc.

I do have quite a few cues, and hopefully will place some of them, its still early days for me.

But what I really wanna know, (as Lenny Kravitz said), is...what about placing actual songs? Is there is a similar plan / business approach out there for placing enough songs in libraries to get a similar result income wise?

Or is the instrumental / cues market more sustainable as regards repeated use of your work?

Perhaps people don't look on songs this way because they don't get as much repeated play? OR...are songs with lyrics MORE lucrative given the higher profile placements that good songs can get?

There are probably answers to these questions and good reasons why people are doing what they're doing...but I don't have them - which is why I'm asking!

I've resolved to getting at least one song every month , that I think is great (whether others agree is another story), and that has good ad / TV / film placement potential, professionally done every month and starting with that.

EDIT - I want to say also that I won't be limiting to submitting 'one song per month' to libraries obviously. My mixing is getting better and before too long I hope to be able to get my simpler productions with vocals to broadcast standard - especially, vocal-guitar stuff etc.

Its a constant push and pull with me as regards what areas of the industry I should focus on. Some success would focus me more, so hopefully that comes sooner rather than later..

Be VERY INTERESTED in your thoughts

Thanks
Gar

[Casey H]

Matt Hirt would be much better at answering than me but...

*I* don't know anyone making a true living or even a decent supplemental income in film/TV music (that doesn't mean they aren't out there!) without a large percentage of the tracks being instrumental. I'm talking about through production music libraries. Somewhere there are probably some very seasoned pros with direct contacts with major film/TV folks who do vocal songs on spec.

If you think about it, for every vocal song that gets placed on TV, there are probably 100 or more background instrumentals. The other thing is vocal songs take longer to produce, even if you get very efficient, and the lyrics and vocal performance are 2 more variables for music sups to consider. Many production music composers can produce 10 quality instrumental tracks a week or month.

However, vocal songs are much more likely to command a sync fee and therefore earn more money. One good placement of a vocal can earn way more than a bunch of backend-only paying cable reality TV placements.

My guess would be keep doing both but try to skew the ratio of instrumentals to vocals you put in libraries heavily toward the instrumental side.

One important caveat... You have to like what you do or you won't be good at it. If you hate cranking out instrumentals, you won't be good at it. You need to love what you do. Some of us who prefer vocal songs have stayed with that because it is what we love to do.

Casey

[denalihighway]

"If I you think about it" eh? Awww.....don't make me think about stuff Casey!

I hear ya. I'm not averse to writing cues at all, I have many already. It wouldn't be my first choice in a dream situation but I would knuckle down to pretty much anything music-related that brought some income in. One of the big things on my to-do list is to get these properly organised to get a royalty-free publisher catelogue together for those sites etc. I would definitely have no problem in churning out cues for a publisher or whomever. I'm just waiting for the requests

But what you say about the bigger sync fees is what makes songs so attractive. Ads are still paying good money, and some sync-fee focused sites we know and love are very much about songs. And I guess if you 'think' you might be able to write competitive songs and be prolific, then there seems to be less competition in that area than there is in the cue world. Could be wrong about that though?

I'm often wondering about how the demand for cues is developing and changing. I remember hearing a couple of years ago that songs were gonna be in more demand soon, that the market was becoming saturated. But on the other hand, there seems to be endless demand for run-of-the-mill and 'solid' kinda cues, as well de jour stuff like tension and horror, urban and hip-hop and the various ways those genres are morphing with new production tools and technologies. It doesn't seem like the demand is going anywhere, but the supply seems to be crazy. I guess that's why its important to try to stand out even within the confines of a las.

Its very true what you say about liking what you do. If your 'day job' turned out to be churning out tension tracks all day to hungry publishers, it could turn out to be as annoying as any other day job. You'd probably develop some kind of anxiety disorder as well . Perhaps the way you stay sane is by doing both side by side.

Ahh...what music to write? A problem all non-signed musicians like me know all too well I guess everyone's journey is different and there's no formula like there can be in other industries. That can make things quite disorientating if you're spreading yourself about.

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks for the question , Gar. I had been thinking about the same subject. Thank you Casey for your input.

I am experimenting with working with collaborators that have in depth knowledge and passion for specific genres. I have a saxophonist that I perform with regularly. We are working on songs and cues that fit within our common areas of expertise. Then I have a guitarist that I am working with in totally different areas. The diversity helps a lot. Their insights for their respective genres are a real blessing to me.

[Casey H]

Obviously there is an inverse relationship between what placements pay and how competitive the opportunities are. So you need to devote your time to different segments accordingly. The worst thing you can do IMHO is only go for the huge dollar opps. Yes, ad agencies could pay $20K for a license. But deals like that are few and far between.

I think there may be some old Taxi TVs with Stephen Baird and Chuck Henry who make full time livings at film/TV music.

Casey

[Kolstad]

Listen to Casey, there are few with more experience posting here.

I can only add my own thoughts, which is not based on "what works" ect.

I started out writing songs, mostly because that was what I knew how to do and what got me into music in the first place. It is fun to gather the big puzzle of a song. Songs are vehicles to express feelings and thoughts (your own and/or artists), and that's what sells records and gets you out playing live gigs.

Now, when I work on music, after a few days (or weeks!), I get into it again by sketching out a song. But now I always feel that I could have been smarter, because songs are such a tough game. It's still part of what I do, but I try to reduce actual songwriting to about 20% of my time. Maybe I will completely leave that game, and only pick it up when someone begs me (ha, ha, like that would ever happen).

I think much of this is about planning. Not the 5-year plan, but the 5-day or 5-week plan. Sometimes life is lived forwards and experienced backwards. A plan shouldn't restrict you, but help bring you closer to your goals.

The big 5-year plan can be put together by many smaller 5-day and 5-week plans. If you think in portfolio, you can sketch out smaller projects like working out different styles:

- 3 pop instrumentals aimed at advertizing
- 5 electronic cues for reality TV
- 4 EDM songs
ect

And experiment with genres and uses. You should still work from listings, to be in sync with music needs. You may find that doing some of these styles doesn't work all that well for you, and with others you find that you work great and fast and have a lot of fun.

When you have worked like that for a year or two, you may begin to see what you can/want to do, and what you don't. Then you can hold on to some styles and experiment with others, so you develop a bread-and-butter style you do really well, and continuously experiment with new things as well.

After 5 years, you may have realized what you do well, and have built a portfolio of styles with a number of songs (and not to forget, appropriate TEMPLATES).

That is portfolio thinking.

If you know what you can and love to do, and have your gear and templates set up accordingly, have a list of collaborators/ team, have some songs signed and know where to find new opportunities. You would have reached the part where you can set your goals and build your music library with confidence.

It's a process to reach that spot, so don't forget the development part. Realizing your own potential is a life's work.
We all try to find our way in this crazy world, and there really are no universal blueprints.

Just personal ramblings, of course, but maybe that can bring perspective too in some odd way..

[denalihighway]

@Casey...absolutely man, don't worry I'm not deluded enough to pin any hope those marquee opportunities...maybe in a few years. And even then, the kinda competition in those areas is ridiculous. Grabbing a deal like that is a once in a lifetime thing if you're lucky so you need your meat n' taters day stuff going on.

@Kolstad - I always to Casey . You've basically echoed a lot of my thoughts which is great. I have various 'immersion' projects on my to-do list after I get past this month which is a particularly crazy one. And like I said everyone's core competencies are slightly different, and even within all that, your route can change according to what deals you get and where you then happen to place more emphasis. Songs will always have to be written and made, and the good thing is I'm getting better and quicker and writing, making and producing them.

I just find it stresses me out a bit at this nebulous point of my career. Am I picking the low-hanging fruit? Am I wasting time? etc etc...It'll be less of a problem when hopefully I can find a deal or two and find some focus. I'm not as idealistic as I might sound, its just this lack of focus while I discover my path that is a problem. That said, I do realise most people aren't trying as many things as I am, and that does present problems. I've just finished 2 short films this week, and a feature length documentary this month too, which is massive for me - so more areas that kinda pull on me and want/deserve more time. It can be reasonably lucrative too, even in a small market like Ireland.

Its pretty likely at this point that I'm going back to college Sept - May to get a qualification in game audio too. I can do this course free, cuz I'm broke basically so its a cool opportunity. I figure 9 months out of my life to see if its a runner. I can still tip away at everything else as the course is 'full time' but not super demanding. Game audio has so much crossover, especially in the genres I enjoy. And the industry is booming, with Ireland seemingly developing quite a hub.

I suppose, all going well, in 10 years if I'm doing OK in music, I'll look back on these years as an exciting learning process. But it can be overwhelming at the moment. I put stupid amounts of pressure on myself. I'm sure I'm not alone. Trying to make up for lost time, failures and wasted years in offices in denial I'm in it for the long haul though. I've tried giving up and 'going straight' - but it ain't gonna happen!

What I do need someone to do though, which would help, is to find a way that I can cut my sleeping hours to 2/3. I'd support that Kickstarter campaign.

Thanks for the replies.

[Casey H]

I'm sure you already aware of these 2 things...

> Dean's book "Demystifying The Cue"
> The "Five Year Plan" class at the rally

Again, there are many **WAY** more qualified than me to address your issues. I'm not looking to make a living at this, I just do some part time stuff, more for personal pleasure (with a few bucks earned here and there). Folks like Matt Hirt, Chuck Henry, Stephen Baird, Dave Walton, etc. are the ones to talk to... I'm sure you can chat with them at the rally (again) if you make the next one (I hope you will!!)

Best,
Casey

[denalihighway]

Flight's booked dude

Got a cheap promo deal from Ethiopian Airlines. Offer was closing on April 30th so I jumped on it. Now, I know what you're thinking...but they were recently given Star Alliance status

Sweet deal on a direct flight on the Dreamliner. So yes, I'll be there.

Thanks

[Casey H]

I'm sure you'll have a great flight!!

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