How Long it Takes Before a Deal -- Tell Your Stories Here!

[tedsingingfox]

Truthfully, my first deal offer was less than three weeks after the forward. That same song had been forwarded 14 times previously, but nobody else had ever gotten back to me. I know that's incredibly rare, but that's how it worked for me. And after I signed it, I got two more offers on it from much older forwards...which I had to turn down.

Thank you, TAXI.

Ted

[bigbluebarry]

My "first" deal started about a week after a dispatch forward. It was a song for an artist that was signed to a production deal with a manager who's connected to Radio Disney. I got the call about the deal the night before my first Rally in 2008. We (it was a co-written song) worked with the artist for a couple months trying to write some more material for them but things just didn't seem to go anywhere. Things cooled off and we figured that the deal was dead.

Then a few weeks later they called me up and said that they were going to be playing at a GMA Showcase in Nashville (April 2009) and they wanted to do our song in their set. So we went to the showcase and hung out with them, etc... But after that, things cooled off and it looked like the deal was dead again.

Then about two weeks ago, I got another call from the band once again. This time they were calling to let us know that they are in the middle of recording their album and they wanted to record our song for the album. They've already landed a spot with Radio Disney for the lead single and it appears that our track might (you really never know) be one of the upcoming singles.

So in summary, the song was forwarded on October 30, 2008, I got a phone call from the company on November 5, 2008 and then 16 months later we're signing a mechanical license

In between the beginning and end of that story, I've signed a couple of deals that happened 4 months and 3 months after the initial forward. As well as getting a gig as a composer for one of those day-time talk shows (you know the one ) as a result of meeting the library owner at the '08 Rally and giving him a CD. It only took 9 months for that deal to happen

To add in some perspective, the first deal I signed last year (Apr 2009) happened 4 months after the forward (a dispatch forward from 12-24-2008), and that forward was the the 47th forward I had gotten my first year of TAXI out of 107 submissions.

I think to be successful in this business, in particular if you're wanting to land film/tv placements, you need three things:

1) Patience
2) Hard Work
3) Numbers

I think the first two are self-explanatory but by "Numbers" I mean, you have to have a lot of tracks. The more tracks you have, the more opportunities that those tracks can get forwarded, signed and placed. And I think it goes without saying that above all else, you have to have quality. Just having hundreds of tracks doesn't guarantee you any success (technically, there are no guarantees with anything though), but having hundreds of QUALITY tracks definitely will increase your chances.

- Big Blue

[rld]

Almost all of my deals have been over 1 year from forward to contact.
Best thing to do is just forget about the forwards...then its a nice surprise when you get that contact.
Recent money maker...
Almost 2 years ago I submitted 3 orchestral action tunes for a listing.
2 made the TAXI cut.
Months later I was contacted by the library.
He liked the two so I offered the third and ended up signing all three.
Just got my 3rd quarter 2009 PRO statement and the TAXI reject was used by CBS 27 times...

It's not an exact science.

[devin]

Sorry I'm late to the thread!

My longest trip to a deal:

- Submitted 3 songs to a Taxi listing and was forwarded in July of 2008.
- Saw the exact same listing 6 months later in December, submitted again, forwarded again.
- Received a phone call 6 weeks later. I did a reference check with some Taxi forum folk, and signed the deal.

Cashed the cheque and went to my first Rally in 2009...where I got to personally thank my references

[dpenn]

My last deal took "-1 days" (yes, that's NEGITIVE ONE days). Meaning - I received the notification from the company one day BEFORE I was notified of the forward!!!

Definitely not the norm, but me likes the fastness...

Dave

[CharlieErnst]

It took @ 6months for my first deal, and as long as a year for another...I actually forgot about that forward, so it was a surprise....I had to go back and see what the heck I had submitted that track for...

Charlie

[bobadohshe]

There is no telling how long it will take from getting a forward to getting a deal, if at all. And then it's another matter entirely going from your first deal to whatever actually makes you $ first....

My second submission ever resulted in a forward, on 5/12/09, almost exactly one year ago. Then I didn't hear anything, and finally got a call in August from the gent who said he liked my work, I needed to do some work on it, but he would submit it for play to this radio service if I retooled it. So I retooled it and got it to him. No word. No word. No word. Then I got an E-mail from him 3 days ago, stating that the service liked the song and it would be put into their next playlist for the quarter. A cool year later, and now I know this piece will make some money.

So: Forward: May '09 ---- Deal: August '09 ---- Put into use: May '10 ---- Me actually getting any $ ---- Dec 2010 or April 2011


Other deals go down differently. A dispatch forward in June of '09 led to a deal in August of '09. But I haven't heard a peep out of the library since, and don't know if anything will ever come of these pieces. That deal went down just a month later, but will there be any $$? No sign of any yet!

[h3l3n5]

when I signed up I did so with a long term attitude and it has paid off! (I figured it was cheaper than going back to school )

I joined 3 years ago, got my first deal last year and have had several placements as a result.

I am going to the Rally for the first time this year and am really looking forward to it!!

[shanegrla]

Just got my first deal about 7 months after the forward. Would say more but I think I´ll put it in its own thread.

[mfowler]

About 10 weeks for the one I just got.