Making progress!

[mazz]

Today was ASCAP writer's day, as you ASCAP members know. The distribution was for the first quarter of 2011.

I was pleased with my check, even though it's not yet enough to live on, it's more than enough to pay for my Road Rally expenses for this year!

There were about 155 lines on the statement and most of those placements were either generated originally from Taxi forwards that turned into deals, or from connections and friendships made via networking at the Road Rally and on the forum here. The community aspect of Taxi has been a boon for me in my career!

A little back story on the journey so far:

At the 2006 Road Rally, my demo made it into the hands of someone who passed it along. I got a call in early December and I was now officially writing for Harpo! Woo Hoo! In the first quarter of 2007 I was fortunate enough to get one placement on the famous daytime show, my first ever. Later that year I got my first ASCAP check for a whopping 87.00!!

In late 2006 I had no pieces registered in my ASCAP catalog. Fast forward to today and I have 497 registrations, not all are unique, some libraries register all alternate mixes, some add code numbers and register those as well, but I guess I have well over 300 unique titles registered at ASCAP. I have many more than that published, but some places don't register unless there's been a placement on a cue sheet.

Why do I say all of this? Well to illustrate that keeping my eye on the ball and executing something towards my career every day is starting to pay off. Since I don't yet write songs, my instrumentals won't generate as much money per placement so I have to have a lot of music out there. I also am just this year starting to venture into the rock and pop rock side of the equation to broaden my horizons in that genre and hopefully generate more placements. The money has been slow to come, but I am confident that putting the best music I possibly can out there will eventually pay off, and the momentum is starting to build.

I know my story has parallels in other of our colleagues' here. I have watched folks start from scratch, like me, and develop catalogs and connections and placements. The common traits in all of these folks are: great attitude, hard work, dedication and willingness to do whatever it takes, willing to learn and listen to feedback, a collaborative spirit, and just all around nice people.

Thanks for listening and thanks Taxi for the opportunities not only for music, but for holding this space here and setting the tone for success for those that will avail themselves of it.

Peace and love,

Mazz

[andygabrys]

Hi Mazz,

I enjoyed reading your writing history, and can see a lot of things that you have accomplished that I am still working towards. Congrats on what you have achieved, and all the best on what is coming! And congrats on having your ASCAP check pay your Rally expenses! that rocks!

[guitaroboe]

John,
Your story is inspiring and amazingly reflective of quite a few folks around this forum-myself included.
I will focus on a couple of things you wrote about: versatility and relationships. Being versatile (and productive)
will multiply the open doors for any composer. I feel that the days of 'one genre' composers are DOA if you wanna
put money on the table (or in your case-drinks at the Rally bar!!! ). It's important to play to our strengths
but being diverse is equally important. Relationships will ALWAYS open doors to good music by good people. If you can
show up with the goods and be a pro about it then the clients will call you again. People in the business need folks
they can rely on for the long haul but also in a moment's notice!
Your music and attitude inspired me from day one at TAXI and I'm so happy I met you!
see you soon
Adonis

[keithl]

Great post, Mazz! Congrats!!

[kitchensinkmusic]

inspirational

[kclements]

Thanks Mazz. Love these kind of posts.

I always find myself wanting to move faster - get results quicker - write faster. What I need to focus on is making sure I am consistently moving forward - not just the pace at which I move.

Congrats on your success and here's to many more!

Cheers -
kc

[peeyo]

Great story Mazz!!!! Very inspirational indeed. Reminds me that I need to branch out as far as my talents will allow and not be complacent. AND, most importantly be patient!
Thanks for sharing.
Paul

[eeoo]

Good stuff Mazz, thanks for sharing. I got my first royalty check just this last July, all from Taxi initiated relationships and it was about enough to pay for my Rally expenses, very stoked. Unfortunately my BMI check for the first quarter of 2011 was less than a quarter of what the last quarter of 2010 payed, oh well...Looking forward to seeing you on L.A.!

eo

[jeffgreenleaf]

Mazz! Congrats! Appreciated this post of yours. Now is where the fun really begins. Your stuff has always been great but now you're cranking out the killer stuff with better sounds/software, expertise in your DAW, and of course more tv musicality. It's fun to watch all these reality shows (good and bad), and say to yourself "Yes, I can probably do that, that sounded cool!" or "wow, I can do something like that and most likely better..." ...and then put the headphones on and do it quickly, deliver it to your contacts, and get em on the shows. I had 313 lines of placements on this last quarter, all from TAXI deals. The check doesn't seem to reflect that, but it's pretty good for all the fun I had (and how much I learned) recording that stuff. Will the checks get bigger and bigger every single quarter? All we can do is hope and keep tearing up the studio 7 days a week. Keep it up!

[hazineju]

Mazz, thanks for the inspirational post! I love to read things like this! Congrats on all your much-deserved and hard-earned success. The way things are going, there's a lot more headed your way!