How May Are Earning $5000+ Per Year @ Taxi?

[cameron]

Taxi is just one tool in the box. I think if you pin all your hopes on Taxi you might be disappointed, but I sincerely believe it can open doors for you, assuming of course that your work measures up to the competition.Also, your chances of success will vary a lot with the type of listings you respond to. I think it's safe to say that you're more likely to get forwards and signed contracts for film/TV work than for high-bar listings with a major record company.Cam

[zircon]

Can't say I've made that much through Taxi annually... maybe divide that by ten, to be a little more accurate, over my Taxi career But in terms of out-of-Taxi stuff I've found myself, I started making five-figures through music alone last year (I'm also a full-time student) which is growing this year. Licensing, custom composition and CD sales are my revenue streams.

[wta]

heinsite, Now thats the kinda honey that'll catch this bear! Here's the link to my entire new album called "Acoustical Warfare" and it's artwork, don't give it out cause I make my living selling cds, promise? (I've asked a musician to make a promise once, ONCE! lol...) I am a performance based singer/songwriter who loves peace and justice and this whole album is as organic and real as I can be. Feel free to have a listen and I'd love to hear what you have to say mate, you really have a cool vibe about the way you post. Send a pm with critique or post it here that maybe others of the same genre may benifit, its up to you. That is an open invite to any who would like to do a random act of kindness to help me and my writing, all is a blessing.http://www.williamthomasanderson.com/ac ... arfare.htm wta

[wta]

I really want to thank all the folks investing time into the pm's I've been getting, thank you for the warm words and encouragement, priceless... wta

[matto]

Oct 2, 2008, 6:43pm, mrsunshine wrote:...such long answers to such a simple question.I wonder how many would even attempt to start a business and build a customer base without doing a bit of research on earnings?!? ChuckSure you gotta do research, but unless you ask the right questions the results of your research won't be relevant.Wta, you say Chuck (the other Chuck) makes it sound like Taxi is a religion, but I don't think that's the case at all. He simply uses a different approach to gauge whether the Taxi model might lead to success for him. One that I think is more accurate actually.Chuck is looking at people who have been successful with Taxi and compares himself to them. He's also looking at people who haven't succeeded and compares himself to those people as well.If people who are similarly talented, have a comparable skill set, same type of work ethic, same personality etc etc are succeeding with Taxi, then chances are quite good he will succeed as well. If on the other hand everybody he'd compare himself to fails to succeed using Taxi, obviously things wouldn't be looking so good for him.By contrast, your question "how many here make 5k or more" is looking at simple odds. Odds are fine if you believe succeeding is purely a matter of luck, like playing the lottery or something, and that everybody has exactly the same odds regardless of their background, talent, skills, work ethic etc.I find it hard to believe that you, as someone who makes music as a full-time living, would think all of your success is simply a stroke of good luck. Surely you are talented, have developed your craft over the years of doing this, work hard on your music and quite obviously have something to offer people are willing to pay money for. None of that has much to do with luck or odds.So it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that you would simply look at what percentage of forum members are making 5k or more and base your opinion/decision about Taxi on that. Particularly since the forum membership is only a small portion of the Taxi membership. And since the vast majority of forum members are not doing music professionally, and therefore their odds of succeeding and yours may be considerably different from one another.Taxi is not for everybody, I think everyone would agree on that. To find out whether it is for *you* IMHO requires a somewhat more refined approach than a simple random survey of earnings of a small percentage of Taxi members with whom you may have little in common.FWIW,matto

[wta]

matto, I must state for the record how glad I am that you've taken a deep interest in my situation, it is evedent by just your word count on this thread that this is the case. I apologise if I've given you the impression that I haven't done any other research on taxi other than this simple question because I have exausted my resources on getting a working understanding of taxi so I am now left to ask some market survey questions to help. In my background, time is money and I want to get my finger on the pulse of how the best taxi songwriters are doing and the only way to find out is to ask. I totally understand that this forum represents only a portion of the taxi members but like any market analasys you've only got averages to go by. Would I base my desicion if taxi is right for me only on this data, you're right I didn't become a full time musician and businessman on that kind of approach. It think if you slept on this question you just might get a deeper understanding of why I've asked the question to start with. I'd be as much of a fool if I only when by what the industry mags adverts are sayiing as well. Now I think the model is brilliant and thats why I'm a member but just because a model is great doesn't mean that it works. So far out of a few hundred views we've got 3 or 4 who say they earn $5000 per month from there taxi revenue. Now there are 6381 members on this forum (now I know that not all are members of taxi proper but let's try and cruch this number with some flexiblility) and 12000 members in total. So the numbers would say that the 200 views to date represents 1/60th of total member amount so our number of members who have posted that their annual earning exceeding $5000 represent 1/60th the total taxi member earning $5000+ per year. Average total would breakdown to 180-240 members earning $5000 plus per year or 1.5 - 2%. Does this alone help me decide how many hours/dollars per week to invest into taxi and its model, no but I can say with all confidence that is sure helps... My total investment in dollars alone into my gear is about $40000 US regular retail and 25+ years of practice, writing, performing, ect and those I'm sure would make for more great test market questions, "How much in US dollar value is your equipment to produce music for taxi?" another would be "what types of equiptment"..."How many years experience in music/music production do you have?" and another..."How many hours per week/month do you invest into producing music for taxi?" and so on. The data would become more valuable with more reference information but of course thats how surveys go... Me thinks we have a few more threads to start, how bout you?" Oh, and I totally agree with Chuck and his quote, "I wonder how many would even attempt to start a business and build a customer base without doing a bit of research on earnings?!? " A very good point indeed... '-) wta

[benjamine]

Oct 2, 2008, 8:51pm, wta wrote:heinsite, Now thats the kinda honey that'll catch this bear! Here's the link to my entire new album called "Acoustical Warfare" and it's artwork, don't give it out cause I make my living selling cds, promise? (I've asked a musician to make a promise once, ONCE! lol...) I am a performance based singer/songwriter who loves peace and justice and this whole album is as organic and real as I can be. Feel free to have a listen and I'd love to hear what you have to say mate, you really have a cool vibe about the way you post. Send a pm with critique or post it here that maybe others of the same genre may benifit, its up to you. That is an open invite to any who would like to do a random act of kindness to help me and my writing, all is a blessing.http://www.williamthomasanderson.com/ac ... arfare.htm wtaI.m sorry but,I find your voice difficult and unpleasant to listen to and I think your songs are no better or worse than tens of thousands of others.The recording seems quite clear and well done.

[wta]

benjamine, Hey thanks for taking the time to listen to my music, it's surely not for everyone but I'm gratful that you're first post was to comment on my tunes. I'm really glad the recordings clearity came through I just got a GREAT preamp from Focusrite (i have no affiliation with Forusrite whatsoever) to couple with my really great mic from B.L.U.E linked with a top quality Mogami mic cable and link cables. I REALLY am thankful for that imput! It's the most amazing thing about art, one person can just hate what you do and the next will love it. Just yesterday I got a review back from a father and son in England. They not only loved the album and played it over twice for their company but the son (a strapping 11 years of age just leaning guitar) asked for the chord charts so he could learn the music. My voice really is not middle of the road, it's a love it or hate it kinda things it seems but it seldom gets lost in the shuffle... lol. Cheers benjamine, what kind of music do you write, I'd love to hear some... wta

[jh]

Statistically speaking, the data you have gathered is quite useless. (but I think you already knew that). Even if you hadthe exact number (or percentage), it would be rather useless.(Think about all the "variables").But, I would say that if you really put your mind to it,the probablility is high. (applies mainly to instrumental music)According to my useless statistics, if you get about 60tracks placed with a music library/libraries, you willearn about $5000 per year. (plus license fees)And according to my careful estimate: You will have one (music library) deal per 50 forwards.When compared to "cold calls", that´s a good result. One of the benefits of being a TAXI member isthe "credibility" of a TAXI forward. The probability of your song getting signed is higher if it´s been pre-screened (makes sense?). Industry professional´s opinion weighs more than yours. (a slight "peer pressure" effect, maybe?).And let´s not forget that they actually asked for TAXIto send them the music. (it´s easier to sell if there´s an actual need.) OTOH matto´s tracks might be onthe same CD... Anyway, I think TAXI is a great tool, and how you useit, is up to you. And it works like a coffee maker ifyou have the right amount of water and ground coffeebeans. (...and it´s plugged in, of course).It´s possible and you can do it too, if you set your mind to it,that´s what this thread is all about, right? You just need to be atleast one tenth as good as matto is (OR, work ten times harderthan he is...which would be about 140-150 hours per day )HTH- JH

[billg]

Hey there wta, I just went up to your site & listened to your music. Actually, I think it's pretty cool and a good "artistic" statement. Maybe someone else can chime in with some ideas but I can't think off the top of my head of the "alas" where you would be that perfect fit. I'm not picking on you, I'm trying to offer some insight based on comments I have received about my music & the other thing . . . and this is a biggie . . . it's difficult (if not impossible) to get a song forwarded that doesn't have a big obvious hook. Personally I think big hooks are not so important & a lot of my "returned" songs reflect that opinion.