Keeping track of your music

[pedrocosta]

I asked this same question when I joined Taxi.
What I've settled on is a system almost exactly like Kayle's.
Spreadsheet (google doc) with all tracks, licensed date, re-titled names, colour coding, etc.
Once a track is signed I move the DAW project files into a "signed under so and so's library" folder
A checklist would definitely be a good idea to make sure things don't fall through the cracks.

[remmet]

One thing is certain (umm, or so I've heard ) : It will be MUCH easier if you institute an organizing system right at the outset of your music placement career. Otherwise, you may find yourself hunting through years of email correspondence, contracts, schedule A's and B's, etc., to track down each song or instrumental in your catalog and determine its whereabouts, status, terms, and various titles.

It's good to know that so many of you already have a system in place!

Richard

[allends]

Personally, all I care about is what's in my ASCAP catalog and how to locate the template for my next song. Totally unhelpful answer, but you already got good advice, so a little dumb honesty seems in order <just for fun>

[gklosner]

Okay, inspired by this thread (and the need to keep up with my submissions and the patterns), I have finally created an Excel sheet (gives more info than my Submission History page on TAXI). I do believe there are at least two DIFFERENT spreadsheets that have been alluded to in the above and other particular forum posts:

1) submissions to deals
2) deals to placements (and beyond)

I've had forwards and publishing deals, but no placements yet (except a film end-credit placement we got on our own contacts, not via TAXI), so I'm concentrating on the forward vs return patterns (the "submissions to deals" chart) at this point.

Here are my columns, if any are interested:

Title - song title, of course
Version - i.e., Orig, Instr'l, Short Intro, Solo Piano, etc. (since we all have alternate versions of the same song)
Writer(s)
Artist - some of my submissions are with my sister, and some I do on my own; could be collab'ns in the future
Key - someone in the forum mentioned that certain keys of songs tend to get fwd'd more often, so I'm testing that haha
i/v - instrumental or song (vocal)?
instr (main) - what's the primary instrument? Even if piano, guitar and other instruments are there, which one drives it?
dur'n - duration (minutes:seconds)
BPM - this might matter more to dance/techno, but I'm curious if there's a pattern for my stuff
Submit Date
Listing #
Genre (of Listing) - I put in 2-letter codes for the genre the listing is asking for (in/na/fk/rk/if, etc., similar to TAXI's)
Description - copy/paste from listing, then edit out obvious things like "broadcast quality," "submit 1 to 3...," etc.
f/r - forward or return?
Screener # - lets you know which screeners deserve a box of homemade cookies, or need to be fired hahahahaha
Comments - notable screener comments
Company - Company it got fwd'd to (x if returned)
Deal? - did this fwd lead to a deal? y or blank (I suppose you could put "n" if it was for something you know is over)
Deal Date - good to compare this date with the submission date, see how long it took
Notes - my comments to self

It's a big task overall, but I'm just doing it bit by bit, when I feel like it. Makes it more attainable, and more enjoyable to do. I like the color-coding idea, but don't really need it yet (I use colors on an Excel file I created for my Groupons haha! If you're a Groupon/coupon geek like I am, let me know if you want to know about THAT one!)

[gklosner]

Also search above for the thread "A spreadsheet for all of my submissions" for a similar topic. I'm reposting my above comment there as well.

[fusilierb]

I've built a very rudimentary database to track all this using Bento (filemaker's baby brother) I used Bento because it was cheap and I could push the database to the ipad which is where I keep track of it. It basically tracks libraries, peices, which peices are signed where, alternate titles, and basic placement stats. I've been meaning to actually flesh it out a lot more and this thread has made me think about it again.

I'm going to build a complete database system to track my stuff. If you could have the perfect piece of Composer Tracking software, what would it do? Be specific and maybe, if I actually do it, I'll distribute some copies out to folks here to help me beta test and critique.

[Casey H]

Okay, inspired by this thread (and the need to keep up with my submissions and the patterns), I have finally created an Excel sheet (gives more info than my Submission History page on TAXI). I do believe there are at least two DIFFERENT spreadsheets that have been alluded to in the above and other particular forum posts:

1) submissions to deals
2) deals to placements (and beyond)

I've had forwards and publishing deals, but no placements yet (except a film end-credit placement we got on our own contacts, not via TAXI), so I'm concentrating on the forward vs return patterns (the "submissions to deals" chart) at this point.

Here are my columns, if any are interested:

Title - song title, of course
Version - i.e., Orig, Instr'l, Short Intro, Solo Piano, etc. (since we all have alternate versions of the same song)
Writer(s)
Artist - some of my submissions are with my sister, and some I do on my own; could be collab'ns in the future
Key - someone in the forum mentioned that certain keys of songs tend to get fwd'd more often, so I'm testing that haha
i/v - instrumental or song (vocal)?
instr (main) - what's the primary instrument? Even if piano, guitar and other instruments are there, which one drives it?
dur'n - duration (minutes:seconds)
BPM - this might matter more to dance/techno, but I'm curious if there's a pattern for my stuff
Submit Date
Listing #
Genre (of Listing) - I put in 2-letter codes for the genre the listing is asking for (in/na/fk/rk/if, etc., similar to TAXI's)
Description - copy/paste from listing, then edit out obvious things like "broadcast quality," "submit 1 to 3...," etc.
f/r - forward or return?
Screener # - lets you know which screeners deserve a box of homemade cookies, or need to be fired hahahahaha
Comments - notable screener comments
Company - Company it got fwd'd to (x if returned)
Deal? - did this fwd lead to a deal? y or blank (I suppose you could put "n" if it was for something you know is over)
Deal Date - good to compare this date with the submission date, see how long it took
Notes - my comments to self

It's a big task overall, but I'm just doing it bit by bit, when I feel like it. Makes it more attainable, and more enjoyable to do. I like the color-coding idea, but don't really need it yet (I use colors on an Excel file I created for my Groupons haha! If you're a Groupon/coupon geek like I am, let me know if you want to know about THAT one!)

Wow... Does "anal retentive" have a hyphen? Just razzing ya, Gene.

It's always good to have records. For me, the biggest things I lose track of are special alternate versions I make for specific opps/listings. You know... "A Day Like Today - instrumental, with lead guitar down 3db and drums down 2 db short version, started at verse 2"...

Casey

[gklosner]

haha, Casey! To further that impression, I should note that I was the Index Editor of my high school yearbook - no one else wanted it, and I LOVED doing it! It involved alphabetizing and organizing and cataloging and listing. It was also in 1978, when I may have had an electric typewriter, and possibly some whiteout? And I loved the precision I got that all done with. The year before me, it was done so lazily, so I proceeded to make mine the "best index ever"! hahahhaha
How's THAT for anal-retentive?... hmm, looks like there's a hyphen!

Regarding the rest of your statement, Casey, I can understand a need for cataloging more technical differences in versions of recordings, especially if you often will take a review on a returned piece and then tweak it. I have done that so infrequently that I can just make a note (like I did already on one song) like: "re-mixed and edited the bass after this submission" w/o any technical info.

[CHuckmott]

A composition book with the dates uploaded. The libraries I'm in are all nonexclusive except for one for a specific pitch that I treated as exclusive ( because I don't feel right writing for specific request and then selling it on various sites). I make a point of dealing with a limited number of libraries and can always check in on my account or searching for my user name. Think I would definitely remember if one sells at this point. But have only been doing this with a limited number of tracks for a few months outside of what I do here.

[CabDriver]

I've built a very rudimentary database to track all this using Bento (filemaker's baby brother) I used Bento because it was cheap and I could push the database to the ipad which is where I keep track of it. It basically tracks libraries, peices, which peices are signed where, alternate titles, and basic placement stats. I've been meaning to actually flesh it out a lot more and this thread has made me think about it again.

I'm going to build a complete database system to track my stuff. If you could have the perfect piece of Composer Tracking software, what would it do? Be specific and maybe, if I actually do it, I'll distribute some copies out to folks here to help me beta test and critique.

Bento has been officially discontinued. If you are looking for something more flexible than excels spreadsheets I would strongly recommend TuneSmith. I have been using it for the last 8 month and love it. It has an integrated pitch journal to let you keep track of who received which of your songs. It cost less than Bento as well: http://www.rhymegenie.com/tunesmith.html