Any advice or encouragement?

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garagegods
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Any advice or encouragement?

Post by garagegods » Fri Oct 28, 2022 10:07 am

Hi, I have been submitting quite a few music cues for TV Background and nothing is happening lately, is the market just over-saturated? I have a deal with a music publisher going back to the 1990's and had many background cues accepted and placed in shows. Seems harder and harder to get anything accepted. anyone else frustrated or having any Luck out there?
thanks!

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Paulie
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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by Paulie » Mon Oct 31, 2022 5:55 pm

It's easy to get discouraged. The music scene and genres have changed drastically since the 90s. Home studios are incredibly powerful, so the bar is much higher from a quality perspective.

Have you tried posting any of your music in the Peer To Peer section of the forums? You can post anything, or you can post something you submitted to a listing (along with the Listing details) to get excellent feedback from the community. Your ear might be stuck in the 90s, or your production might not be up to snuff. Best way to find out is to share your music here. :)
Paul "yo paulie!" Croteau
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http://www.yopauliemusic.com | https://www.taxi.com/members/paulcroteau | https://youtube.com/@yopauliemusic

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Telefunkin
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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by Telefunkin » Tue Nov 01, 2022 2:28 am

garagegods wrote:
Fri Oct 28, 2022 10:07 am
Hi, I have been submitting quite a few music cues for TV Background and nothing is happening lately, is the market just over-saturated? I have a deal with a music publisher going back to the 1990's and had many background cues accepted and placed in shows. Seems harder and harder to get anything accepted. anyone else frustrated or having any Luck out there?
thanks!
Hi, your post prompts some questions.
- How many is 'quite a few'? It looks like you've only just joined the forum, so if you joined Taxi about the same time it can't be very many.
- If you have been with Taxi much longer why did it take so long to join the forums? :)
- Have you checked the Successes forum, where some folks share their good news (or 'luck' as you call it)? There's always new entries.
- If you have submitted 'quite a few' tracks through Taxi then you must have had a lot of feedback. Any consistent conclusions? Submitting wonderful music that doesn't fit the listing is a different problem to submitting appropriate music that doesn't meet the quality bar.
- Did you listen to any of the forwarded tracks to identify why they might have got through while yours didn't?
- Are you writing fresh music to the listing requirements or re-submitting existing music in the hope that it fits?
- Are you writing all the time and getting better at it?
- Are you sticking to one style that you're good at, or trying many styles that you're less familiar with?
- Are you watching Taxi TV and picking up new information all the time?
- Are you listening to current music, watching new TV shows and listening to the music that gets used in them?
- Are you getting briefings from the library you're already with and are you submitting to them? Anything accepted lately?
- Have you tried to find other libraries that the one you're with?
- Have you tried collaborating with other writers/producers? Ideal collaborators will be highly productive in current styles and have great library connections (but maybe not so easy to find right away :D).
- Are you going to the Taxi Rally? Have you watched the videos from last year's online Rally?

It isn't easy, if was it was it would be even more saturated. There is a lot of help around, but IMHO you have to start by helping yourself (eg doing as much as you can of the above). Beyond that, you can seek help and advice from others, and where it makes sense to do so, actually be willing and open to let them help you. You can also learn a lot from helping others, so be open to that too.

There's more TV channels, streaming services, online services, shows being made, advertising, games, etc than ever before. All those things need content, so the opportunities are there. I agree with Paulie though, that it would be good to post some of your music, particularly where its for a Taxi listing.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by boinkeee2000 » Tue Nov 01, 2022 4:25 am

This gig is super tough to break through atm due to saturation. I wont even base it on quality cause its now a prerequisite. even if you can whip up something better and faster than their tenure and in-house composers most notable pubs are overstretched at the moment and struggling to get everyone an opportunity so its been difficult bringing more new writers on board (their words not mine)...im having difficulty expanding myself despite having contacts so you are not alone...try to find collaborators or target boutique libs along with the opps here in taxi, try attending conferences to meet them face to face...its also worth noting that timing is everything so patience is needed...good luck!

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by Casey H » Tue Nov 01, 2022 4:33 am

Telefunkin wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 2:28 am

- How many is 'quite a few'? It looks like you've only just joined the forum, so if you joined Taxi about the same time it can't be very many.
- If you have been with Taxi much longer why did it take so long to join the forums? :)
- Have you checked the Successes forum, where some folks share their good news (or 'luck' as you call it)? There's always new entries.
- If you have submitted 'quite a few' tracks through Taxi then you must have had a lot of feedback. Any consistent conclusions? Submitting wonderful music that doesn't fit the listing is a different problem to submitting appropriate music that doesn't meet the quality bar.
- Did you listen to any of the forwarded tracks to identify why they might have got through while yours didn't?
- Are you writing fresh music to the listing requirements or re-submitting existing music in the hope that it fits?
- Are you writing all the time and getting better at it?
- Are you sticking to one style that you're good at, or trying many styles that you're less familiar with?
- Are you watching Taxi TV and picking up new information all the time?
- Are you listening to current music, watching new TV shows and listening to the music that gets used in them?
- Are you getting briefings from the library you're already with and are you submitting to them? Anything accepted lately?
- Have you tried to find other libraries that the one you're with?
- Have you tried collaborating with other writers/producers? Ideal collaborators will be highly productive in current styles and have great library connections (but maybe not so easy to find right away :D).
- Are you going to the Taxi Rally? Have you watched the videos from last year's online Rally?
And where were you on September 17th at 8:30PM? :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Casey H
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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by Casey H » Tue Nov 01, 2022 4:43 am

Obviously, I was joking around, in my post above. :D Telfunkin gave a great list of things to consider. :D

I got the impression you were referring to direct submissions of cues to libraries, not (or more so than) Taxi listings? I've also experienced it being harder to get instrumental cues (I don't do that many, I'm mainly vocals) accepted by the same libraries that used to take those tracks and place them. So yes, the market is very saturated. Why wouldn't it be? Years and years of so many people jumping in, the ease of setting up home studios, more and more libraries, etc.

Like many businesses, it's adapt to changes or die. So what can you do to make your tracks the most contemporary possible, stand out from the crowd, etc.? If you send libraries the type of cue they have hundreds or thousands of at this point, they probably won't bite. One thing that's great about Taxi listings is the reference tracks because whether you submit or not, get forwarded or not, you get a great idea of what is in demand right now. And as been said, Taxi TV and the Road Rally are at your disposal. Taxi TV costs you nothing, and although travel to the rally can be expensive, it's worth it's weight in gold. Good luck!

:D Casey

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:32 am

They're not over-saturated with real high quality music

Mediocre stuff ? Sure...there's terabytes of it at all the libraries.

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by garagegods » Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:16 am

Paulie wrote:
Mon Oct 31, 2022 5:55 pm
It's easy to get discouraged. The music scene and genres have changed drastically since the 90s. Home studios are incredibly powerful, so the bar is much higher from a quality perspective.

Have you tried posting any of your music in the Peer To Peer section of the forums? You can post anything, or you can post something you submitted to a listing (along with the Listing details) to get excellent feedback from the community. Your ear might be stuck in the 90s, or your production might not be up to snuff. Best way to find out is to share your music here. :)
Thank you no I havent tried peer to peer will look into it!

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by garagegods » Tue Nov 01, 2022 11:25 am

Casey H wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 4:43 am
Obviously, I was joking around, in my post above. :D Telfunkin gave a great list of things to consider. :D

I got the impression you were referring to direct submissions of cues to libraries, not (or more so than) Taxi listings? I've also experienced it being harder to get instrumental cues (I don't do that many, I'm mainly vocals) accepted by the same libraries that used to take those tracks and place them. So yes, the market is very saturated. Why wouldn't it be? Years and years of so many people jumping in, the ease of setting up home studios, more and more libraries, etc.

Like many businesses, it's adapt to changes or die. So what can you do to make your tracks the most contemporary possible, stand out from the crowd, etc.? If you send libraries the type of cue they have hundreds or thousands of at this point, they probably won't bite. One thing that's great about Taxi listings is the reference tracks because whether you submit or not, get forwarded or not, you get a great idea of what is in demand right now. And as been said, Taxi TV and the Road Rally are at your disposal. Taxi TV costs you nothing, and although travel to the rally can be expensive, it's worth it's weight in gold. Good luck!

:D Casey
yes i have had minor success submitting direct to library's, Been using Taxi off and on for 3-4 years and not had anything make it past screeners the feedback is sometimes helpful and other times im at a loss tor the reasoning? Im doing all instrumental background helps to hear others say they are also having better luck with vocal tracks. I guess we just keep plugging away :lol:

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Re: Any advice or encouragement?

Post by garagegods » Tue Nov 01, 2022 12:16 pm

boinkeee2000 wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 4:25 am
This gig is super tough to break through atm due to saturation. I wont even base it on quality cause its now a prerequisite. even if you can whip up something better and faster than their tenure and in-house composers most notable pubs are overstretched at the moment and struggling to get everyone an opportunity so its been difficult bringing more new writers on board (their words not mine)...im having difficulty expanding myself despite having contacts so you are not alone...try to find collaborators or target boutique libs along with the opps here in taxi, try attending conferences to meet them face to face...its also worth noting that timing is everything so patience is needed...good luck!
very good questions to contemplate thanks for bringing them up!

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