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

[billg]

Ark, I don't think it's fair to throw in the time we spend . . . Didn't we all start doing this just because we liked (love) it? I can dig what you're saying but I believe that most of us are probably in the situation of being frustrated because we're not earning any money but at the same time doing something we'd probably do for free anyway. You know what I mean? It's frustrating & I'm right there . . . but getting bummed out because we're not getting paid for something we'd do for free is, well, there's probably some sort of textbook example of this as being some kind of mental disorder! I've got it. We've all got it. Somebody give it a name.

[deankripp]

For your research....I've been over the $5K per year mark (from Taxi deals) for three years. I'm not to where matto is - yet - but it ($) keeps growing. Now..., back to work..... gotta catch up with matt ;-)d

[davewalton]

Oct 3, 2008, 12:17pm, billg wrote:Ark, I don't think it's fair to throw in the time we spend . . . Didn't we all start doing this just because we liked (love) it? I was co-writing a song, typical co-write for the pleasure of music. Halfway through, an opportunity for a film placement came through... a "deferred pay" situation (if the film became profitable). My co-writer refused to finish the co-write if we were doing it for the film (because they weren't getting paid up front). When the film opportunity went looking elsewhere for the music, the co-writer gladly finished the co-write we started in the first place.So my co-writer was smug in the fact that they "stuck it to the man"... I was bummed because I didn't have another credit that could lead to deferred pay and/or more credits. All depends on your perspective.

[audiogeek]

Oct 3, 2008, 12:17pm, billg wrote: getting bummed out because we're not getting paid for something we'd do for free is, well, there's probably some sort of textbook example of this as being some kind of mental disorder! I've got it. We've all got it. Somebody give it a name.Musical Aspiration Distraction Disorder (MAD Disorder). A psychological condition where frustration at not "achieving success" distracts a musician from aspirations of achieving that success. Now if I say I'm MAD that I didn't get a forward, I'm simply talking about my musimedical (or is it medimusical) disorder. And to comment on wta's original question: I'm a newbie... I'd be happy just to make enough money to cover my TAXI membership and submittal fees. That's step one of my 5 year plan. Brad

[wta]

I have to say I am really glad to have posted this thread, I'm learning so much about other writers and their views and success/soon to be success stories. I am a origianal singer/songwriter and in that vein its my job to have my own sound and NOT sound like anyone else or al as... My goal, to anwer a previous question, is it to cull out of my original work what might be commercially viable and submit that work for licencing purposes hence killing two birds with one stone. My second goal it to take the gear that I've purchased to follow that path and spend a percentage of my time writing commercially targeted tracks and in this was my major reason for joining taxi. I'm really at the beginning of the second path and so understanding who and what the taxi hitmakers are doing in conjunction with understanding the screening process have come to mind as priceless information and so I've started this and another thread to sort out the best I can some information on these lines. I've got a dimmly lit candle and trying to make my way through the relative issues of the industry and it is not for the week at heart I assure you but as we've progressed through these threads I can say with all honesty that these threads have really helped me get a good grip on things. I would like to restate for the record that I joined taxi because I saw a great model and my research showed that taxi is the top of the pile for indy A&R groups, the challenge has been sussing out the details to understand the steps in the process. The two biggest keys I set my sights on learning...1) What/how are the screeners trained and what are they thinking, what they want and don't want?2) What are the hitmakers doing to earn more than $5000 US a year? If I can get a handle on this information I feel the taxi system with be bulletproof, provided I can produce what is being sought. The old proverb is true, "Ask and ye shall receuve, seek and ye shall find and knock and the door will be opened unto you"... My two threads have produced the fruit and I am thankful to all who have posted and especially to Michael Laskow for his "above and beyond the call of duty" to create the model and assist taxi members... Cheers, wta

[billg]

Oct 3, 2008, 1:08pm, audiogeek wrote:Oct 3, 2008, 12:17pm, billg wrote: getting bummed out because we're not getting paid for something we'd do for free is, well, there's probably some sort of textbook example of this as being some kind of mental disorder! I've got it. We've all got it. Somebody give it a name.Musical Aspiration Distraction Disorder (MAD Disorder). A psychological condition where frustration at not "achieving success" distracts a musician from aspirations of achieving that success. Now if I say I'm MAD that I didn't get a forward, I'm simply talking about my musimedical (or is it medimusical) disorder. And to comment on wta's original question: I'm a newbie... I'd be happy just to make enough money to cover my TAXI membership and submittal fees. That's step one of my 5 year plan. BradBrad, THA'TS GREAT! I Love it. We're all suffering from MADD . . . perfect!

[Casey H]

Oct 3, 2008, 2:07pm, wta wrote: I have to say I am really glad to have posted this thread, I'm learning so much about other writers and their views and success/soon to be success stories. I am a origianal singer/songwriter and in that vein its my job to have my own sound and NOT sound like anyone else or al as... My goal, to anwer a previous question, is it to cull out of my original work what might be commercially viable and submit that work for licencing purposes hence killing two birds with one stone. My second goal it to take the gear that I've purchased to follow that path and spend a percentage of my time writing commercially targeted tracks and in this was my major reason for joining taxi.Why didn't you say it like that to start with? Either you didn't say it like that or I (and others) didn't hear it like that. Although the first part of your goal is a bit more challenging, you can get a lot of help regarding your second goal here on this forum. (Not that you can't get help regarding goal #1 too)... Also, you might consider collaboration as a way to take some of the older tracks and make them more marketable. Just a thought...Best of luck, Casey

[flood]

Counting hours spent seems like a near impossibility.Many of us have songs that we spent dozens or hundreds of hours on that haven't paid off.Yet.It may, in three years or in three days.I would be doing this for free. In fact, I was, until I realized that I am owed royalties for pieces that have been in use for many years. I had no idea I qualified as a composer or performer, it was simply something I did as part of my voiceover work, providing background music or beds for clients.Some of them were HUGE clients, radio and television stations in markets like New York and Los Angeles, who used my work dozens of times per day. I could kick myself, now that I know.I guess my point is, I did it for free before. And I would again, if there were no royalties, but I certainly want to make money for my work when possible.Counting the hours spent as a wage equation would probably be disheartening, even to the top people on the forum. On a dollar per hour basis, we'd probably be better off handing out burgers at a drive-through (not that there's anything at all wrong with that. It's just not a creative thing).If I didn't spend my time working on music, I would probably be playing an online game, wasting time in someone else's world, when I have a whole world of my own at my fingertips in the same room.

[tedsingingfox]

Oct 3, 2008, 2:56pm, hurowitz wrote:Oct 3, 2008, 2:07pm, wta wrote: I have to say I am really glad to have posted this thread, I'm learning so much about other writers and their views and success/soon to be success stories. I am a origianal singer/songwriter and in that vein its my job to have my own sound and NOT sound like anyone else or al as... My goal, to anwer a previous question, is it to cull out of my original work what might be commercially viable and submit that work for licencing purposes hence killing two birds with one stone. My second goal it to take the gear that I've purchased to follow that path and spend a percentage of my time writing commercially targeted tracks and in this was my major reason for joining taxi.Why didn't you say it like that to start with? Either you didn't say it like that or I (and others) didn't hear it like that. Although the first part of your goal is a bit more challenging, you can get a lot of help regarding your second goal here on this forum. (Not that you can't get help regarding goal #1 too)... Also, you might consider collaboration as a way to take some of the older tracks and make them more marketable. Just a thought...Best of luck, CaseyYou might also want to consider using better punctuation and paragraph differentiation. Your posts are very painful to try and read...thus discouraging more responses.Just a thought.FWIW, when I first joined TAXI, I only had 8 songs recorded/finished that I considered submit-able. Although many of them were for the same two songs, I got 8 forwards my first year of membership. Two months into my second year, I got offered my first deal on one of those tunes, and the company wound up taking two more within the next 4 months.I have now signed 5 pieces to deals, directly through TAXI forwards, in less than two years of membership.As a matter of fact, I've signed enough of those original 8 pieces that I have had to allow my membership to expire until I have more music available. (I have no home recording set-up and have to depend on traditional studio time to build my stuff...something I hope to change in the very near future...and being a waiter who makes $2.50 an hour, it takes me a while to save up. )Granted, I haven't made a dime from them yet; but the motivation from this good news alone is worth 10 times what I paid for my membership.This isn't about how much I'm making now. It's about learning ways to make future monies that will continue to flow and build on themselves.And again (as MANY have said already)... the VAST majority of TAXI members who ARE making that kind of $$ per year through TAXI are NOT even members of the forum, much less ACTIVE members...$.02, and nothing more.Ted

[Casey H]

Oct 3, 2008, 4:36pm, tedsingingfox wrote:You might also want to consider using better punctuation and paragraph differentiation. Your posts are very painful to try and read...thus discouraging more responses.Just a thought.Hi TedYes getting responses has been a real problem here, LOL!! Casey