A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

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jefflaplante
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A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by jefflaplante » Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:06 pm

I have Taxi to thank for all of my contacts and deals, and I am so appreciative, but do I just renew as a thank you, knowing that I will nor have much use for the service anymore? I am connected to 6 different libraries that expect new music every few months, as well as a library that is sending weekly briefs to composers. These are more than enough to keep me busy and find homes for my 150-200 cues/year which I can produce comfortably. I'd very much like to stay loyal to Taxi, but paying $200 for a year in which I probably won't be submitting music seems unnecessary. I thought about renewing just so I can go to the rally, but the flight and hotel costs are more than I can afford, so that is no longer a motivation. Any thoughts?

Jeff

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:20 pm

jefflaplante wrote:
Sun Jun 19, 2022 2:06 pm
I am connected to 6 different libraries that expect new music every few months, as well as a library that is sending weekly briefs to composers. These are more than enough to keep me busy and find homes for my 150-200 cues/year which I can produce comfortably.
I think at this stage you have enough going on, and whilst there is value in the RR for those that can go ( I never could ) there is nothing to stop you putting Taxi on hold until you want to dive in again and find new libraries.

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by VanderBoegh » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:35 am

A different perspective here.... but 6 libraries really isn't all that much. What happens when business slows up for just 3-4 of them? Then all of a sudden you're out 50% of your library workload.

I have music in well over 30 - maybe 40 - libraries. I still submit to Taxi listings, and keep renewing my membership. You never know when business is going to get slow for some companies. My mantra has always been to scatter my music as far and wide as possible, and I will continue doing that until.... well.... probably forever.

Six libraries may feel like a lot when you first get traction in this world, but really this is just a start.

Two cents from a guy who's been doing this a loooong time now.

~~Matt

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:48 am

VanderBoegh wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:35 am
Two cents from a guy who's been doing this a loooong time now.
Two cents ...Is that what ML gives you on commission :lol: ...kidding.

30 - 40 though. Wow.... How many of those were worth your time ? The old 80-20 rule seems to apply for me..I could ditch 80% of them and not really be any worse off. In fact, if all my music was in the best couple of libraries I'd have been massively better off now. 20-20 hindsight.

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by melodea » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:05 am

VanderBoegh wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:35 am
A different perspective here.... but 6 libraries really isn't all that much. What happens when business slows up for just 3-4 of them? Then all of a sudden you're out 50% of your library workload.

I have music in well over 30 - maybe 40 - libraries. I still submit to Taxi listings, and keep renewing my membership. You never know when business is going to get slow for some companies. My mantra has always been to scatter my music as far and wide as possible, and I will continue doing that until.... well.... probably forever.

Six libraries may feel like a lot when you first get traction in this world, but really this is just a start.

Two cents from a guy who's been doing this a loooong time now.


~~Matt
Good one Matt, I‘m in the same position as Jeff but always feel like I‘m not having time to write for listings right now but this can change so quickly! So my thought is to always reserve some time to write for taxi listings and make new connections….(didn‘t manage to do so lately though 😩)
[glow][/glow]Melodea a.k.a. Chris Moser

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by Casey H » Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:11 pm

There are folks to whom I definitely would suggest don't renew. Usually it's because of a lack of commitment, willingness to adapt to contemporary music, just not having the ability to generate forward-worthy tracks. Or folks who just want to incessantly complain about screener returns.

You are not one of those. :D You are having good success with Taxi. :mrgreen: So some points to consider. $200 is not a lot of money in terms of expenses for what we do. If you don't renew and wait more than a certain amount of time, it will be $300 to come back. Even ONE more library contact can mean a lot. And then there's the road rally which I highly recommend.

Good luck with your decision.

:D Casey

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by jefflaplante » Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:28 pm

Woah...responses from probably my 4 most respected folks on here...and I truly appreciate it. Chris, Matt, Mark, and Casey: Thank you for responding and making this an active post...I was getting a little discouraged when there were 50 views and only one response. I'm still on the fence about it, but I'm able to see Matt's perspective as well. However, I have no idea how I would ever be able to write consistently for 30-40 libraries. I'm honestly having trouble keeping up with just the six.

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by boinkeee2000 » Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:21 pm

keep in mind being accepted and building a catalog for libraries is only half the equation, the other (more impt) half is if you're getting consistent placements with any of them (not sure where you stand with your backend). for example atm my first 6 has been duds for me, and i fed them for years, while a friend is doing excellent for one of them where now its the majority of his income. now for how long his endeavor with stay fruitful, or if the tides would change for me per my first 6 libs, we cannot know. all i know is that my strategies and priorities is in a constant flux on whats working and whats not, which libs i prioritize now is way different from 5 years ago, and im sure it will change again in the next 5 as new doors open.

i also agree with matt per volatility of the landscape, everything in this industry is a moving target including libs. there's been a constant gyration of breaking news in the past years that its imperative to stay well informed, keep your eyes peeled, and adapt to sudden changes in a heartbeat. just my opinion

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by VanderBoegh » Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:47 am

To answer Mark's question of how many of my 30-40 libraries I actively write for, the answer is probably 10-12. Yes, I've got some complete duds in that overall number. And I've got some libraries that I only have a small handful of tracks in. So, maybe 30-40 - though accurate - is a bit misleading.

But my point is that you never know WHICH libraries are hot-shots and which are duds until you've been with them for years and can look back and see what they've done for you. What if these 6 libraries you're feeding right now just don't get much action for you? It's possible.

Another likely scenario - especially with the smaller libraries - is that they'll have a great relationship with a particular show or music supe or group of editors who will slam in their library's tracks into the show like a clown car. I can think of three libraries off the top of my head that make (or made) nearly their entire business revenue from a single show. Now.... what happens when there's a change of the guard at that show, or the music supe moves on, or there's a falling out for some reason? Then, boom, all of a sudden that great library gets decimated. Those of us that have been around long enough have seen it happen with more than a few. Access Hollywood switched music providers about 8-9 years and BAM like that, some great income dried up for a lot of us. The Oprah show switched music providers 10-12 years ago and BAM there goes another great source of revenue.

So, again, I can't stress enough the importance of scattering your bets around the table as best as you can. In my mind, Taxi is the only way to do this effectively.

2 more cents. I'm up to 4 cents now on this thread!

~~Matt

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Re: A Great 2 Years...Does it make sense to renew?

Post by jefflaplante » Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:45 am

I renewed. Like a sign from the heavens, a brand new library called me this morning and is signing multiple tracks that were forwarded last week. Can't hurt to make more contacts, right?
Thanks everyone!

Jeff

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