3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

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MusicToMotion
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3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by MusicToMotion » Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:52 pm

Howdy folks,

I've had 3 forwards a while back for bluegrass instros. I'm wondering what the usual timeframe is to determine whether or not to move forward and submit them for other opportunities vs waiting to hear from a library on whether they accept them.

3 songs are Major Express, Spring Rising, and Walking Rain on my Taxi member page.

https://www.taxi.com/members/musictomotion

Thanks for any advice :)

Michael Johnson

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Telefunkin
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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by Telefunkin » Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:28 pm

Hi,
Only 3 with no word back? I think you might be a few score short of the record ;).

Well done on getting the forwards, but hearing nothing afterwards happens a lot, and people ask about it a lot. If you search the forums its discussed just about every time someone gets their first forwards, especially if they don't get contacted. Here's an example....
newbie-here-my-song-got-forwarded-now-w ... 46047.html

There's a heap of reasons why you might never hear back after a forward. If your music is great and the library is still interested they might well get back to you, but it could be tomorrow or in several weeks or even months time, or never. It can be frustrating, but you're on their clock. Some have reported being offered contracts immediately, whilst others get many forwards that lead to nothing at all (been there). There is no standard, just lots of waiting. All anyone can tell you is that the better and more appropriate your music is, the better your chances of being contacted, but until that happens you might as well submit it for every suitable opportunity. If you've been with Taxi for any length of time you must have heard the saying - write, submit, forget, repeat.
Last edited by Telefunkin on Fri Aug 06, 2021 9:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by Casey H » Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:41 pm

Hi!
Like Graham said, you may hear in days, weeks, months, years, or never. It's quite common to have forwards with no contact. As far as whether to pitch to other listings, YES YES YES! Keep pitching until you have a signed contract. A forward is not a deal. As a friend said, it's a "favorable introduction".

Good luck!
:D Casey

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by gitanosoy » Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:44 pm

Hi Michael,
You will hear from a library the next day, the next 2 years or never and when you forget about it after 10 years you might get a placement that is if you got the track signed to a library.

That is the reality of this film/tv sync licensing business, how ever there are exceptions to this, there are a few on this forum that got a deal with their first forward but that is like winning the lotto.

You can always send your tracks to other libraries but if you are new to the game I would wait to get one track signed so you know what procedures you have to go through with the library that signs you.

That's all for now and good luck.

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by hummingbird » Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:53 pm

Congrats on the Forwards, that is a good sign your music is commercially viable and well produced!!! This is not easy to achieve, so well done.

As others have said, keep submitting and keep producing as it is a numbers game. No one can say how long it will take to hear anything, if you hear anything at all, for this one particular listing. I've heard within a few days and I've heard several months after and many times it's just been crickets. However I have signed deals and I have placements, so perseverance is the key.

Remember the motto: Write, Submit, Forget, Repeat :)
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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by MusicToMotion » Tue Aug 10, 2021 4:26 pm

Thank you for all the great responses! I have worked directly with other libraries in the past few years, about 20 songs under contract with them, 1 confirmed placement thus far but as we have all learned, it can take time to see if something was placed or not. I just wanted to see if Taxi forwards worked differently, but you all have explained it very well :)

Thanks,

Michael Johnson (MusicToMotion)

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by rob3rto » Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:27 am

Casey H wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:41 pm
As far as whether to pitch to other listings, YES YES YES! Keep pitching until you have a signed contract. A forward is not a deal. As a friend said, it's a "favorable introduction".

Good luck!
:D Casey
Curious, is that advice the same for both exclusive and non-exclusive opportunity forwards? Many thanks.

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by PeteCrane » Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:43 pm

I was wondering about this too. I guess I had really good luck at the start as I heard back and placed tracks in 3 libraries from my first 3 forwards, so I started thinking that getting a forward was a sure thing to get a spot in a library. But my latest 3 forwards from about 3 months ago to present haven't yielded any contact from those clients. Those first libraries who contacted me were for much more style-specific tracks within my wheelhouse (industrial electro and cyberpunk stuff), whereas the latest forwards which haven't yielded a reply were for more broad styles (drone cues and a trailer-style sci-fi electronic/orchestral hybrid cue), so maybe the "competition" is a bit more intense on those more broad styles and those clients may have gotten a lot more forwards from other Taxi members than the more genre-specific stuff.

It's reassuring to hear in this thread that it's not uncommon to get a forward and not hear from the client. I guess it just means I can keep submitting them for other listings :)

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by cosmicdolphin » Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:15 pm

rob3rto wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:27 am
Casey H wrote:
Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:41 pm
As far as whether to pitch to other listings, YES YES YES! Keep pitching until you have a signed contract. A forward is not a deal. As a friend said, it's a "favorable introduction".

Good luck!
:D Casey
Curious, is that advice the same for both exclusive and non-exclusive opportunity forwards? Many thanks.
Yes...just pretend like they've never been forwarded and submit to any appropriate listings until a Library gets in touch

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Re: 3 Forwards Recently - No Word From Library

Post by melodea » Tue Nov 02, 2021 2:12 am

I got several songs forwarded 3 or 4 times. I will continue to submit them until someone bites! First come first serve.
About libraries contacting you after forwards, here are my stats:

9 Month of Taxi
45 Forwards
2 Libraries contacted me
2 Contracts
2 Instrumentals signed
0 placements

It's all good and I'll keep on pushing :D
[glow][/glow]Melodea a.k.a. Chris Moser

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