Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

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guest4254
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Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by guest4254 » Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:06 pm

Tell me again why we need to pay an extra $150 to get a few extra listings a week? I subscribed to Dispatch for several years, and though I've had a number of forwards, none of them amounted to anything. I do understand that Dispatch listings are things that are needed pronto, and that's a good thing for us submitters, I just don't understand why the extra fee? Isn't it just as simple or simpler to send everyone an email with the listing than just those who subscribe to it? Times are tough right now, and I do feel like I could be missing something, but would hate to shell out the money, and still come up empty...

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by lowden2000 » Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:27 am

Hey Harry,

I guess a good way of looking at the Dispatch fee is to consider it a "Premium" fee to tap into a smaller pool of submissions.
So, like buying a more expensive lottery ticket, you chances of being forwarded are probably better, I would imagine?
Also, turnaround times should be faster, but it's discouraging that you never heard anything after having been forwarded on Dispatch .... :?:


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DIrk

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by guest4254 » Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:37 pm

Hey Dirk,

Thanks for the reply...I just went and did a count. Going back to June 07, when Taxi started web hosting on their own site, I've had 11 forwards through Dispatch. Ironically, one of the Music Libraries just contacted me for a submission that was forwarded on 3/31/09...so much for a speedy reply because of Dispatch...I spoke with the person in charge and wasn't very impressed. I went ahead and sent a copy of the contract to my Music Attorney, with a request for any info about this library, and am waiting back for his answer.

FYI, the guy who runs the Library (sounds like a 1 man operation) told me he had a bad 2009, and was hoping things would pick up in 2010, but he wanted a 5 year exclusive contract...that's what made me wonder if it's worth signing. Hate to tie up a song, that's been forwarded a couple other times (plus there's another listing for this type of song coming up) exclusively for 5 years.

I'd love to hear other peoples comments....

(Perhaps this thread may end up belonging/moving elsewhere)

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by jeffgreenleaf » Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:47 pm

My first dispatch submission was forwarded and I was offered my first deal the next day. This turned into a great relationship with a publisher who has gotten me some very good placements.

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by Casey H » Tue Jan 19, 2010 3:55 pm

guest4254 wrote:Hey Dirk,

Thanks for the reply...I just went and did a count. Going back to June 07, when Taxi started web hosting on their own site, I've had 11 forwards through Dispatch. Ironically, one of the Music Libraries just contacted me for a submission that was forwarded on 3/31/09...so much for a speedy reply because of Dispatch...I spoke with the person in charge and wasn't very impressed. I went ahead and sent a copy of the contract to my Music Attorney, with a request for any info about this library, and am waiting back for his answer.

FYI, the guy who runs the Library (sounds like a 1 man operation) told me he had a bad 2009, and was hoping things would pick up in 2010, but he wanted a 5 year exclusive contract...that's what made me wonder if it's worth signing. Hate to tie up a song, that's been forwarded a couple other times (plus there's another listing for this type of song coming up) exclusively for 5 years.

I'd love to hear other peoples comments....

(Perhaps this thread may end up belonging/moving elsewhere)
Hi Dirk
I can't say (obviously) whether this library deal is right for you or not but a few things... A lot of folks in the industry had a bad 2009. The economy tanked and the entertainment industry was hit hard as well. So that it itself doesn't mean much. As far as the 5 year exclusive, some of the best libraries only work exclusively. There is a backlash right now against non-exclusive with re-title-- some networks are refusing to deal with anything other than exclusive. IF the library has a good track record overall, going back before 2009, it could be worth considering. A great many libraries are one man operations. Again, I have no way of knowing if this is the right place for you and your track.

Even with Dispatch, time from forward to deal can be very long- sometimes even 2-3 years or more. 3/31/09 is only about 10 months ago which is a relatively short time in this slow moving business.

You've had 11 forwards through Dispatch. I know the membership fee can stretch the budget BUT 11 forwards means it's definitely working for you. Now that you see you can be contacted almost a year later, consider continuing to build the pipeline. Just keep feeding forwards into the production pipeline.

Only you know what works best for you. I just wanted to throw in some thoughts.

Best!
:) Casey

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by davewalton » Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:01 pm

guest4254 wrote:Tell me again why we need to pay an extra $150 to get a few extra listings a week?
Dispatch wasn't always there. The Dispatch listings (which require Taxi to turn the results around quickly to the listing party) are a whole different business model and require (as you might imagine) certain screeners to drop whatever they're doing and do the dispatch thing. Obviously that costs extra money to set up that infrastructure in the business.

When it did get introduced, Taxi membership (the members) wanted the fee to be separate. Those not able to make a quick submission didn't want to be charged for something they weren't using.

Anyway... I got my biggest deal so far through the Dispatch listings but that's just the way that thing was. They do have value is what I'm saying... SOMEBODY gets the deal on each of those listings. ;)

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Re: Extra yearly fee for Dispatch

Post by mazz » Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:02 pm

One thing that tends to be forgotten, IMO, is to understand how the business works at the client end.

Imagine if you're a busy one man music library. If you are running TAXI listings, then you're pretty successful, not just anyone can run a TAXI listing, they have a pretty high bar for listing parties. Let's say that you have a high end music supervisor client at a network looking for a particular type of music. If you're a smart business person, you'll run a listing with TAXI and you'll also turn to your other reliable sources, including music you already have received, signed or not. Putting all your eggs in one basket with a major client may not be the best strategy here. So you put the call to your trusted sources, including TAXI, and lo and behold, a piece comes through that's perfect and you send it along to the client and they're happy. Some lucky composer got a great placement. A few months goes by and another call goes out and again you look through what you have and put out a call. Well, in that stack of music that you got from TAXI 6 months ago is the perfect piece for the project, so you place a call to the composer to get the piece signed.

That's one imaginary, but I suspect pretty common, scenario in the production business. Things move really slowly and then they speed up right near the end when they need music, of course. So understanding the cyclic nature of the production business, which the libraries feed, and the reality that we are providing a "product" in the eyes of the end user and that it's not personal, can make these things easier to take.

The fact that you got 11 forwards for Dispatch means you're doing something right. Like Dave, I made some good connections via Dispatch and made enough from one placement fee for about 3 years of Dispatch, so it does work. Like any business, it's up to you to decide what types of promotional activities to invest in, and for me, Dispatch is a worthwhile investment and it is still only one of the tools I use to put my music out there. I don't have a lot of connections with music supervisors so I rely on libraries to get me in front of them, and I feel that Dispatch is worth it for me.

It's hard sometimes to remember to step back, take a breath and raise our heads out of our studios to see a bigger picture, but it's a healthy thing to do every now and again.

Hang in there, forwards are a good indicator.

HTH,

Mazz
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