Help me define success

[Casey H]

Quote:I just read the taxi broadcast email about this post. Reading this wants me to stop even trying....how frustrating....you rate a success story by making $5000??? that is not even enough to survive a month in LA. And based on my interpretation is that you loose the rights to shop the song around more once you have to sign an exclusive deal with a MLP and they can actually make millions of it if it becomes a hit?How does a songwriter actually make a living unless they do mass quantity productions which is far from being a creative songwriter...I'm starting to understand the whole "writing by numbers mentality" that I've been seeing when reading reviews.My biggest question is actually why in the world are composers so badly organized? Everyone makes money but the writers? Are there no decent music lawyers around? Do people really take so little pride in their work/creations that they are willing to sell them for as little as $500? Music is what brings emotions into life, movies and tv....imagine Jaws without the music...it'll be whatever...Why aren't writers/composers getting better organized to actually claim what their work is worth? Everyone else does it. I know I'm ranting here but this is seriously frustrating. I guess I'm lucky that I have no illusions of making serious money in music. If it happens, great... but I will always have a full-time day job and enjoy the ego satisfaction I get when my music gains acceptance. This week I finalized 2 placements in indie films. One paid $100 (the one that listed me on imdb) and the other $0. I am thrilled!!! A few weeks back, a key person at MTV said he thought my songs would be perfect for some of their reality shows and requested a CD. That felt great! I know I am coming from a completely different perspective. It's hard for me to feel anything negative about a $5000 placement. That would be an awesome achievement for 99% of us.The reason license fees have come down so much is simply a supply and demand thing. With the advent of PCs and good home studio equipment, the amount of good material out there is staggering. As was mentioned in the newsletter, some major networks pay nothing upfront at all! You collect on back-end performance royalties only.Think about it. If ABC said they wanted songs but were paying no upfront license fees, do you think there would be any lack of submissions from songwriters who would love the opportunity?? No, there will never be some unionizing to force the fees to a minimum level. It is what it is.My advice for beginners is and always has been, "do it for the love of it and the ego grat. and if money comes, all the better".Anyway, maybe I'm different than others who hope to make a living at music. Success is the little things too. Casey

[arkjack]

SUCCESS.......On an island beach in a chair in the sun.... the portfolio report and royalty checks that arrived in todays mail are brought down to you by the steward..... along with your 3rd margarita..... wait... Thursday bloody marys... .. its noon.... I wonder which guitar I should play today?.... . the gibson..... the guild..... I definitely think that kind of scenario would have a positive effect on my creativity and songwriting.... seems to work for the big stars..... Arkjack

[longrider]

I'm like you Casey I create the music because I love doing it. To me success is the people that told me I had a good thing going here and I should do something with it. I had one song that I put on garageband.com and it placed 29th out of 124, and made Track of the day. To me that was success. Now if my music falls in to the hands of the right people and they want to use it for a movie or TV. I think I would call that being blessed. I will never give up trying. No matter where my music ends up. I just love doing it...

[matto]

Quote:Reading this wants me to stop even trying....how frustrating....you rate a success story by making $5000??? that is not even enough to survive a month in LA. Hmmm I've survived on MUCH less $5000/month in LA for YEARS. I think making ANY money from music is a success. Quote:And based on my interpretation is that you loose the rights to shop the song around more once you have to sign an exclusive deal with a MLP and they can actually make millions of it if it becomes a hit?Uhmm huh?? Who makes millions off what? Typical publishing deals (even exclusive ones) are 50/50 splits so if the publisher makes "millions" you make "half of millions". Also music libraries are not in the hit song business and it would be a once in a lifetime event for them to make a million dollars off of one song.Quote:How does a songwriter actually make a living unless they do mass quantity productions which is far from being a creative songwriter...I'm starting to understand the whole "writing by numbers mentality" that I've been seing when reading reviews.Most professional songwriters, even those who specialize in writing songs for artists, or even those who are artists themselves and write their own songs, will have a catalog of 100s to 1000s of songs or even more. I don't see how any of this has to do with being creative. If all you write is five songs a year... how does that make you more creative?Quote:My biggest question is actually why in the world are composers so badly organized? Everyone makes money but the writers? Are there no decent music lawyers around? Do people really take so little pride in their work/creations that they are willing to sell them for as little as $500? Music is what brings emotions into life, movies and tv....imagine Jaws without the music...it'll be whatever...Why aren't writers/composers getting better organized to actually claim what their work is worth? Everyone else does it. I know I'm ranting here but this is seriously frustrating. I don't think you fully understand the concept of songwriting/composing for a living. Nobody i know sells their song for a net sum of $500. You may assign the rights to your song to a publisher or music library who is in a better position of generating revenue from it (for you and themselves), so that you can concentrate on being creative instead of having to market your song yourself. You (and your heirs after your death) get a portion of all money generated from that song for the duration of that copyright. matto

[nomiyah]

Quote:I just read the taxi broadcast email about this post.I didn't see the email. Did they give a link to this post? Since I started the post, I'll have to take that as success!!!!Little things mean a lotAppreciate what you've gotAnd deal with what you haveNot what you have not

[arkjack]

Reprinted without any permission.... hope they don't hang me for it.... I found this great thread on our message boards, and two thirds of the way down the thread, there is a fantastic post from TAXI member Matt Hirt. Matt is a classic example of a member who didn't get much action in his first year with TAXI, but hung in there to reap his rewards. He's been quite successful using TAXI, and now earns his full-time income doing Film and TV music with companies he's met through TAXI.Matt is extremely generous with his time and knowledge, and his highly educational posts are all over our message boards.Thank you for sharing with the entire community Matt!Here's a link to the whole thread, and Matt's response to Nomi Yah's question about how much money one can make doing film and TV music:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... 05&page=1I hope you enjoy this as much as the people on the boards and I have.Talk to you soon,Michael

[nomiyah]

I just got the email and yes, I do consider it a sign of success that Michael Laskow mentions my name. Thanks Michael! So yeah, there are all kinds of levels how success is defined.

[davewalton]

Quote:Uhmm huh?? Who makes millions off what? Typical publishing deals (even exclusive ones) are 50/50 splits so if the publisher makes "millions" you make "half of millions". Recheck this math about the publisher getting twice as much as the writer. If the publisher is getting 100% of the publisher's share and the writer is getting 100% of the writer's share and they're splitting the licensing fees, then each share is the same. No?

[matto]

Hahaha you're correct of course...I should've said "if the song generates "millions" you make "half of millions"..."Math was never my forte

[beatsbygc]

RE: Foreign Theatrical Royalties, Network TV License Fees, and MTVThis is for those people wondering about foreign theatrical royalties. I had about 3 minutes of instrumental music in an american film that went overseas and performed well in europe and japan. Long after the film had been written off, I started to get checks from BMI that was anywhere from $800 to $1300. Over two years they ended up totaling around 6-7 grand. They continue to trickle in...Remember those royalties usually take about a year and a half after the inital performance. And the movie would be considered a hit in europe , UK and France.I did a 15 second placement for NBC and the Master Sync License was $5,000, full buyout. Meaning they had the rights to use it in any way for the show (web, dvd, all that). But I still own the copyright and song. That's probably not typical for TV, but common for network primetime. The network performance royalties paid good, something like $200-300 for the use. However its replay on cable was in the $1-2 range for each play.Currently, I'm negoiating a song for a movie with a budget of $12-$15 million. In movies, your license fee will depend on the overall budget. There are a lot of big names (The Killers, Radiohead) contributing songs, those guys are taking anywhere from $20,000 - $80,000 a song. The total music budget is around $350,000. They've offered me $5,000, which I find to be low and has insulted me personally. But those are my problems. A good guideline for film would be this: Any film that has a legitimate distributor should shell out at least $500 - $1000. A music budget will be (typically) around 5% of the total budget, then take about 3-5% of the total music budget and you have a figure that you may get in your wet dreams. Seriously it depends on the song and the other songs in the movie. Sometimes us unsigned are being used as a sound alike or replacement for a song by a signed act, cause they will demand at least $10-20-30 grand and the budget won't permit it. But I don't think its completely unlikely that an unknown could score $10,000-$20,000 on a movie placement for a mid-budget film. Just don't expect it.Be very careful about signing anything without them giving you any money in the indie film arena. If you sign away stuff for nothing they may still get a distributor in the future and everyone gets paid but you!! Don't fall for the "Oh we'll pay you when we get a distributor" or the like. Once you sign a license, they don't need you anymore, so get money up front or don't expect any, besides royalties.VERY IMPORTANT for royalties is to check in with your PRO (BMI, ASCAP) to make sure your songs are registered and the connection has been made periodically. I've had to do this for almost every placement. I've had to contact BMI cause the production company has f-d up. Befriend the music sup on a project if you can. They call ALOT of music shots and they are responsible for the magical cue sheet.Lastly, I've done a ton of beats that MTV uses in a few of thier shows. License fee for MTV is $0 as in nada. I'm still waiting to see what the BMI checks look like.Sadly, I'm a taxi member and none of these placements came through taxi. What the deal, yo?