Advice for the 5-Year plan road

[bronstine]

Hello fellow artists!

I would like some advice/feedback regarding the 5-year plan and how to take the next steps. All of my writing is instrumental cues/songs at this point. I currently have two libraries that I write for, have over 200 tracks signed, and have 38 placements on TV. Most are cable, so the money isn't replacement income by any means, but it's a start. I am submitting 3-5 tracks to TAXI every week and am getting forwards about 60% of the time. From what I heard at the road rally, the next step is adding more libraries to work with. I feel like I'm doing my part in submitting to listings, listening to feedback, and improving my writing. While I religiously subscribe to the 'write-submit-forget-repeat' philosophy, is there something else I could be doing to further my progress? I've thought about looking for libraries that I can submit to directly, but don't know which are reputable and worth my effort.

I'm about 2.5 years in to writing consistently, and really want to break through to the next level.

Any feedback, advice, thoughts from those of you that are ahead of me on this path would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Christine

[bronstine]

Hey Paul,

Thanks for response. Yes, I did watch that episode and I found it inspiring and helpful. I think I'm just looking for specifics or anything that I'm not currently doing that others who have gone before me have done.

Best,
Christine

[fuzzbox]

Hi bronstine,
are you 3 or 4 years in to the plan? I see you joined TAXI back in 2013. I only ask as it's my first couple of months with TAXI and like you, I'm eager to get the the next level (well, first level for me ).

Can I ask... How long was it before you had your first forward and how long was it until you had your first placement?

Are you on course for the 5-year plan so far?


Thanks Christine

[Lipskimusic]

Hello fellow artists!

I would like some advice/feedback regarding the 5-year plan and how to take the next steps. All of my writing is instrumental cues/songs at this point. I currently have two libraries that I write for, have over 200 tracks signed, and have 38 placements on TV. Most are cable, so the money isn't replacement income by any means, but it's a start. I am submitting 3-5 tracks to TAXI every week and am getting forwards about 60% of the time. From what I heard at the road rally, the next step is adding more libraries to work with. I feel like I'm doing my part in submitting to listings, listening to feedback, and improving my writing. While I religiously subscribe to the 'write-submit-forget-repeat' philosophy, is there something else I could be doing to further my progress? I've thought about looking for libraries that I can submit to directly, but don't know which are reputable and worth my effort.

I'm about 2.5 years in to writing consistently, and really want to break through to the next level.

Any feedback, advice, thoughts from those of you that are ahead of me on this path would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Christine

Wow! I am very impressed. How do you manage to submit 3-5 pieces a week? Could you tell us a bit of your weekly routine.

Cheers,
Matt

[bronstine]

Hi Mark and Fuzzbox,

Thank you for posting. To answer your questions:

1) I joined in 2013, but was not submitting many instrumentals. Mostly I was doing songs. Summer of 2013 I got my first forward on an instrumental. Then I went to my first Road Rally in 2013 and learned so much about what to do and not to do with regard to instrumentals, structure, etc. and decided to just focus on instrumentals and get my chops up, my production up, and get some momentum. In the first half of 2014 I was getting forwards about 25% of the time, and then in the summer got my first deals with two libraries. At the Road Rally in 2014 I got a deal with my one-on-one mentor, but that has only resulted in one piece getting signed as the direction he was taking his company soon after I met him, changed. After that I really focused on those relationships and getting material signed with them and them developing confidence in me as someone who could produce material and respond to requests promptly. As a result, I didn't do much submitting to Taxi until December of 2016 when I started submitting 3-5 pieces a week. To be fair to myself - there was a lot of life stuff going on - moving, full-time job, etc. I got my first placement in January of 2015, and my first ASCAP check in October of 2015.

2) As far as the 5-year plan is concerned, I feel like I'm 2.5 years in if I look at the times I was actually writing. I'm still not clear on the '5-year plan' itself...that's why I posted this thread to check with those who are further along the path as to their specific experience.

3) My daily routine is to write for 2-4 hours. Sometimes longer, and sometimes less, but I try to write every day. I concentrate on the genres I'm most comfortable in, but still write a piece here and there for a listing that looks interesting to me and that will enhance my learning of other styles. Writing consistently in specific genres is helpful too for knowing which sounds to use, where they are, and how to use them. All of that makes for a quicker production.

I hope I answered your questions. Let me know if I didn't.

Thanks again for posting,
Christine

[fuzzbox]

Thanks for your reply Christine. You have answered my questions, thank you.

Reading between lines, getting a forward is difficult, then getting a placement is harder and can take time and eventually getting paid can take even more time. It is stacked against you. That said, it's not Rocket Science just time consuming (for me at least) but TAXI TV tells you what you need to do and how to do it. If you apply yourself and are disciplined enough you should start to make some headway. If you follow the mantra; write-submit-forget-repeat it should help you cope with the day-to-day strategy for writing. As you say getting to the Road Rally can be of significant help.

I'm starting from ground zero, as it were, as 9/10 songs I have doesn't fit the TV and Film ideal and I have absolutely no cue music. So the 5 year plan is probably about right for me.

I've started with my first cue and it does take time to get it right. consequently, I've missed the deadline on this but I'm going to keep going and finish it. If something similar comes around again I'll have something ready this time.

It looks like it all happens at the Road Rally! Since giving up the day job, I don't have enough funding at the moment to get to LA from the UK for the next Road Rally as it happens to be an expensive flight! Anyway, I have a number of months to try get the money together but probably use the credit card lol

Thanks again Christine

[fuzzbox]

It might help to force yourself to make the deadlines. To quote Neil Gaiman on writing: Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

It does... but the quality wasn't there. I'm a believer that finished is better than perfect. But in this case it isn't quite there yet Thanks for the support though I appreciate it.
Since this will be my first cue I want to get it right and get some feedback, then I'll chase the horizon!

Thanks Pvgeldrop

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Christine, sounds like you're doing all the right things. You're on the right trajectory. As long as you keep after it and continue to build your catalog and nurture your existing library relationships, you'll start to see an explosion in placements and money within the next 2-3 years.

You can take matters into your own hands too and approach libraries directly outside of the Taxi process. Some people have good luck with this, but I personally haven't... The one deal I landed on my own resulted in 50 non-exclusive tracks signed a few years ago, and not one single placement with them yet. Booo... but most of my Taxi-related library deals have all made me money. Nonetheless, if you feel like you're ready and don't mind cold-calling or cold-emailing, you could certainly try.

For me, I'm happy getting the introduction through Taxi and letting the process work from there. Not every forward turns into a deal (very small percentage, actually), but I find it to be a better option than joining the thousands of people sending unsolicited emails to library executives. Most of which - I suspect - get deleted before even being read.

~~Matt

[fuzzbox]

I love your story Matt. It is inspirational. I keep thinking about your story and it keeps me going. Although it is very early days for me (3 months) it is good to know that it can be done. I'm starting from scratch with TAXI, so the 5-year plan looks daunting but doable.

Started with my first rejection but hey! You got to start somewhere! ♫♪♫

Onward and upwards!

Cheers Matt.

[MarkDoyle]

Hi everybody,
This has been very inspiring reading. I'm in my 4th year but haven't had much luck with forwards--only 1 in all that time. To be honest,I haven't submitted too much because,as a full time working musician I have to keep chasing after the next gig all the time. I've been making more of an effort this year,trying to manage my time better. Now if I could only figure out how to interpret the listings and get forwards! I play every instrument and have just recently began collaborating