Big Hello!

[unclecharlie]

Hello, I am new to all this and would like to introduce myself. My name is Charlie and I am wanting to sell my songs. I have a few questions, has anyone in here actually made money with their music through Taxi? I mean decent to big money, lately? I am not talking about making $5 on a library listing. I have been a lurking in here and l mostly see a lot of the wanna-be types. Is this true? Thank you everyone in advance and I am happy to meet you. I will have a web site very soon hopefully so I can share my music with all of the people in this board.

[53mph]

Quote:I have a few questions, has anyone in here actually made money with their music? I mean decent to big money, lately? I am not talking about making $5 on a library listing. I have been a lurking in here and l mostly see a lot of the wanna-be types. Is this true? Thank you everyone in advance and I am happy to meet you. I will have a web site very soon hopefully so I can share my music with all of the people in this board.Hi there uncle Charlie, Not sure how I feel about being called a wanna-be. I can think of nicer names like "struggling musician" or "aspiring artist".Has the idea ever occured to you that all the really successful people making lots of money from their music won't have time to chat on here? If we are naming names though, you should keep an eye out for Matto who haunts this board from time to time.

[hummingbird]

Hi uncle charlie, welcome aboard.First of all, for the most part, songwriters don't "sell" songs, they licence them. I suggest you take the time to read John Braheny's "The Craft & the Business of Songwriting" so you understand how the industry works - crucial if you want to negotiate deals for your music.I think if you work on the craft of songwriting & the art of producing your own work, eventually you do make some money, however, if your goal is to make money, I think there are much easier ways to do it. Might as well take accounting or plumbing.If your goal is to make music, and slowly progress to the point where you are making some deals, then I think for most of us it's having a significant number of songs out there working for us in different ways that adds up to making a living. And for most of us I think it takes 7 to 8 years to get to that level. And yes, there are people here (remember the members of this forum are only a small percentage of the total number of Taxi members) signing music to tv shows like Oprah and getting music placed in films. Others aspire to get to that level and are having mixed results as they struggle to understand the needs of the industry and how to produce music effectively and target the listings.If you think that we're a "lot of wanna-be types" then our feedback on your music and our support of your process probably won't be that valuable to you. Or perhaps you didn't mean to put us down in your first post? I think it's wonderful that folks like Matto, Dave, Mazz, Andreh, Casey and others who are placing music take the time to come here and pass on information & review our music. I can't tell you how valuable their time & feedback has been to me.Hummin'bird

[davewalton]

Quote:Hello, I am new to all this and would like to introduce myself. My name is Charlie and I am wanting to sell my songs. I have a few questions, has anyone in here actually made money with their music? I mean decent to big money, lately? I am not talking about making $5 on a library listing. I have been a lurking in here and l mostly see a lot of the wanna-be types. Is this true? Thank you everyone in advance and I am happy to meet you. I will have a web site very soon hopefully so I can share my music with all of the people in this board.Hi Charlie,I'm just doing film/television instrumental stuff so my comments are based on that end of things.One of the annoying things about the music industry in general is the seeming difficulty in establishing what kind of money can be made. I've come to understand that it's not because of anything shady or that it really doesn't exist, but because each situation is inherently unique in a way that makes this industry so much different than any business I've dealt with (I'm a former business owner, several in fact over the years). In other words, my experience can't be easily transferred to another person's potential like it can be from, say, one cardiologist to another. Unless they choose to do so otherwise, all cardiologists make GOOD money. Of course, not so with all musicians and unfortunately it's not all about talent. "Lifestyle changing" money isn't, in my opinion, realistic in terms of something to really be able to count on, at least not like going to med school, becoming a cardiologist, and cultivating a successful medical practice. By "lifestyle changing" I mean something like having the ability to easily afford beachfront property in Malibu or something similar. Of course it does happen and many successful television composers (i.e. John Keane - CSI, Mike Post - Law & Order and many others) have certainly experienced "lifestyle changing" success through their music.In my case, I'm finding that I'm not yet able to share the basics of what I'm getting paid in terms of royalties for television placements - cable, daytime television, and prime time evening. The process from placement to payment takes SOOOOO long that I'm still waiting for my first BMI check even though my first television placement was around this time last summer. The Taxi forward for the music library deal that gave me this first television placement was more than 2-1/2 years ago. The music industry does NOT move fast. A subsequent Taxi forward placed me into a small group of composers to write music for a popular daytime television talk show, which I've been doing, but it's still going to be a while before I have a few quarterly royalty checks to get any kind of bearing on how this is turning out.Once I get something to report, I'm planning on posting examples... not my personal income but examples such as placement in a late-night cable television informercial payed $X amount for each minute, placement in a daytime show payed $X amount for each minute, prime time television payed $X amount for each minute, etc. This will be for BMI so ASCAP people may do better or worse in those situations and probably it varies. I'm not even sure that BMI people can "count" on always making $X per minute in a given situation. Plus instrumental background music pays the least (from what I understand) so anyone who gets a vocal background will have different results (better, from what I understand). Definitely the reason we're all here is that we're working toward something in music other than being part-time amateurs. Some (probably most) want to make a living, some just want to be better musicians. There's some killer musicians and songwriters here so "wannabe" only applies in the phrase "we wannabe makin' some money". Regarding my personal experience, I keep very busy hunting down opportunities outside of Taxi in addition to Taxi, but through Taxi, I've received the biggest opportunities by far and away.I'll certainly post royalty payment samples when they eventually show up, but if anyone were to ask me I'd say that the most likely scenerio in the next couple of years is that I'll be making a respectible living but I won't be shopping for Malibu beach property anytime soon. More info when it comes my way. Dave

[bc]

Hey Charlie, This wannabe has made a great living from music all my life: Bought and paid off an 80 acre farm; new car every year; lots of family vacations; raised three children; put my daughter through med school (with some scholarship help); still putting youngest through college; have investments that are now doing great; able to afford to spend lots of time in Nashville (have three cuts by up and coming artists up for release this year); most of my studio and gig gear is paid off; looking to purchase a cottage on a lake in upper Michigan; partner in a new record label; have placements in music library's (thanks to TAXI); and last but not least, I am far from "rich" in money, but I am quite comfortably ensconced in the love of my family and friends. And that's where I wannabe! ALL with earnings from making music in one form or another...PS: Do some simple math: divide the number of posts by any individual, by the number of months they've been registered here; research and factor the variables (how much cogent and relative information contained in each post, as well as street creds) and you will be on your way to creating an algorithm for wannabe rankings! best,bc

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Hello, I am new to all this and would like to introduce myself. My name is Charlie and I am wanting to sell my songs. I have a few questions, has anyone in here actually made money with their music? I mean decent to big money, lately? I am not talking about making $5 on a library listing. I have been a lurking in here and l mostly see a lot of the wanna-be types. Is this true? Thank you everyone in advance and I am happy to meet you. I will have a web site very soon hopefully so I can share my music with all of the people in this board.Hello Charlie.Many years ago somebody gave me a book called,How To Lose Friends and Effluence on people.Did you write it?!!!!

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Hi uncle charlie, welcome aboard.If you think that we're a "lot of wanna-be types" then our feedback on your music and our support of your process probably won't be that valuable to you. Or perhaps you didn't mean to put us down in your first post? I think it's wonderful that folks like Matto, Dave, Mazz, Andreh, Casey and others who are placing music take the time to come here and pass on information & review our music. I can't tell you how valuable their time & feedback has been to me.Hummin'birdDo I detect just the merest hint of indignation Miss Bird?

[edteja]

I don't know about the other wannabes, but I got a letter from ASCAP this very morning that shows me I am on the right track to fame and fortune--they offered me a platinum visa card of my very own. How far away can lifestyle change money be after that?Of course I can't seem to get them (ASCAP) to accept me as a friend on myspace, so perhaps its all contingent on getting the card. For my retirement fund I plan on recruiting a bunch of Taxi neer do wells into a band that will play old punk hits and release them on 78 rpm vinyl disks--it will be the leading edge of the post retro modern music movement. I hope that answers your questions.

[hummingbird]

Quote:Quote:Hi uncle charlie, welcome aboard.If you think that we're a "lot of wanna-be types" then our feedback on your music and our support of your process probably won't be that valuable to you. Or perhaps you didn't mean to put us down in your first post? I think it's wonderful that folks like Matto, Dave, Mazz, Andreh, Casey and others who are placing music take the time to come here and pass on information & review our music. I can't tell you how valuable their time & feedback has been to me.Hummin'birdDo I detect just the merest hint of indignation Miss Bird? Just a hint

[mazz]

Hi Uncle Charlie,Welcome to TAXI and the forum.I'm not clear what your exact definition of "wanna-be" is. I wanna-be the best composer I can and I wanna-be a much better business person in the music business. I wanna-be able to make my living from music full time. I wanna-be the best person, husbanc, brother, son that I can be. I also wanna hear your music! Sounds like you wanna-be selling your songs too. Good luck! A wise person once said "you catch more wanna-bees with honey". There's a whole bunch of nice folks on here willing to spend some time writing posts and helping out with what they know and their experiences. Before you pee in that pool and make assumptions about us, I suggest that you give us a chance to get to know you better. Maybe you really do have something to bring to this party of "wanna-be's".Looking forward to hearing your music.Mazz professional "wanna-be" and proud of it.