Making Six Figures Plus

[hummingbird]

In the interview with Matt & Chuck, they said they knew nothing about the Film & TV Cue business before they joined Taxi. I got the impression that some library owners really liked their stuff and started working with them directly, ultimately getting them a lot of placements. I have also seen some posts suggesting contacting library owners directly. Would anyone have some good advice on which avenues to pursue to build a full-time career?

http://www.westcoastsounddesignllc.com

Well, one thing leads to another; if you start from an attitude of, "How can I help?", rather than the more common, "What's in it for me?", you'll get farther, faster. If you can learn to work quickly and to spec, opportunities are gonna come your way, outside of Taxi. When you're ready to take a shot, Taxi is supposed to be an arrow in your quiver, not your only means of access; you're supposed to take what you learn here and apply it to opportunities you create and/or discover on your own.

Good post Mojo.

[Paulie]

Great thread.

Drive is probably the biggest part, because this is a numbers game. To make any sort of living writing instrumental cues you need to have hundreds and hundreds of cues placed, which means thousands written. Songwriting is different if you are trying to land your songs with a current artist, or trying to make it on your own. Totally different animals.

[VanderBoegh]

Hey John, good to meet you and glad that you stopped by the forums to pose this question.

The reality is that six-figure members DO exist. And they are probably more plentiful than you might think. I know a handful of Taxi members that have achieved this status, and I've seen the checks to prove it, so I know this isn't braggadocio without proof. Surprisingly, these guys are so humble and down-to-earth, that you'd never even know they were as successful as they are. Maybe their jeans or shoes (or cars) are one step above the rest of us, but by and large these guys don't flaunt their money, though they make some incredibly sizable checks. In one case, being curious of this same thing, I asked one of these guys how much money he made on his last royalty check, and he texted me a picture of it. Well, that one quarterly check - just for domestic placements - was worth more than I make in a year and a half at my day job.

But for every 1 of these guys are hundreds of composers who never achieve this pinnacle, either because of lack of time, lack of equipment, lack of a good studio, or - dare I say it - lack of talent (I don't mean to say the less fortunate composers are no-talent hacks, I'm just saying that the six-figure members are incredibly talented - maybe not in their virtuoso musicianship... though there are those... but in their ability to understand TV music and supply exactly what is needed. And they can churn out 3 high-quality cues in a single afternoon for a publisher that needs them asap, they're THAT fast). Not everyone will make it to that level of success. My advice to everyone starting out is to focus on baby steps. Get forwards through Taxi. Sign deals. Let your libraries land you placements. Collect royalties. Shoot for something modest, like maybe even just $200 in your first or second year (and this is even a stretch... it took me 3 years before I made my first $200). As success begins mounting, change your goals accordingly. Big paychecks can - and do - happen. But it takes time. Like, a LOT of time. Plan on at least 3 years before you ever really start to see any traction.

Oh, and the reason you don't see any six-figure members responding, is because they don't really spend their time hanging out here on these forums. They're too busy composing and making money! But I do know for a fact that at least 5 of these members read the forums quite regularly, though they've never posted anything.

The reason you do hear from people who say there is no money in this business is because those people tend to be much more vocal than the successful members, who prefer to just get the work done without excessive chatter.

Don't buy into the negativity from people who have never climbed the mountain and then claim it's impossible to even do so. We know better!

~~Matt

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Graham, I wasn't referring to you at all! Actually, I wasn't even referring to anyone specifically, other than the mentality that is out there in Internet-land that making music for TV is a dead-end. Really, everyone here on these Taxi forums has the right mentality. It's when you start to venture outside of this neck of the woods and check out other forums, blogs, websites, etc where a more negative attitude tends to reign. But here in Taxi world, we're all making moves because we know - deep in our hearts - that hard work does indeed pay off. Maybe next month, maybe next year, maybe next decade. But eventually we'll get there. That's one of the multiple things that makes Taxi such a great place to hang out... we're in the company of positive people, and the Negative Nancy's don't stick around very long!

And you're absolutely correct about keeping things in perspective with your brain surgeon analogy. I'm a college professor by day, and I always tell people (both here in Taxi and other places) that this is a very long-range game. Just like college students shouldn't expect to enter their freshman year and get their PhD by the end of their 2nd semester and then be making millions by the time they're 19, we also can't expect music to be any different. Really, the time-frame between becoming a successful composer and graduating with a college degree is about the same. Bank on around 4-6 years, and then don't be surprised when you're initial paychecks are less than you'd hoped!

P.S. don't worry about that $6. It's a worthy goal to start out with, lol! Considering my first couple of years netted me a grand total of $0! I would have LOVED that $6. It could have bought me lunch at Subway, which is a huge step up from Top Ramen!

~~Matt

[hummingbird]

I forget where I heard this... but I'll put it into my own words.

There are people who will say you can not make money with a music career. But for creative people who think outside the box, that's simply a challenge.

One example I heard was a sax player who recorded music written for relaxing with a glass of wine. He had several CDs and he got tables at wine shows and played his sax at his booth. He offered deals (1 CD $8, 2 for $10 etc).. and he was making, after a while, the 6 figures you talk about.

There was another guy who would sing to the line-ups outside of Broadway shows and sell his stuff.

And lastly, with myself. I moved from a major city to a smaller town a few years ago. I'd been teaching music for awhile and decided to go talk to the local conservatory about the possibility of teaching for them. They said they had no space, and they specifically and firmly said to me that there was little likelihood of me finding students in the core area, I should aim for the suburbs. Well that depressed me. I started looking for office jobs and that took the heart out of me. So I decided to try putting an ad in a local weekly for a month to see if anyone would want lessons. Guess what. After two weeks I had to cancel the ad because there was so much interest in working with me. So the 'experts' said it couldn't be done and guess what, it could.

It's easy to be negative & say it can't be done (as many do), but.. we have to be realistic as well. The way the 6-figure guys did it may not be 'the way' now because too many others are trying to get on the road to 'the way'. So we have to find our niche and work at it with passion. Whatever way we choose TAXI is a good part of the arsenal, this forum and the screeners comments, this community and the Rally are all part of our education.

now... back to the track I'm working on lol
hugs
H

[wcsdproducer]

Thanks guys for all of the insight and encouragement.

[Russell Landwehr]

I think we all dream of an easy way to fame and fortune, but it doesn't take too long at Taxi to realise there are:
some incredibly talented people,
some incredibly knowledgeable people,
some incredibly experienced heads,
some incredibly well-equipped folk,
some incredibly driven folk,
some incredibly business-oriented minds,
and perhaps a few incredibly lucky people too.

I believe that if you happen to have the right combination/balance of all those things then anything is possible and that the route to making big money is open to you.

Here's the thing. Immersing yourself in this business actually turns you into a person with all those "incredible" talents mentioned above.
But the trick is NOT to focus on the "fame and fortune" at the end of it, but to focus on and enjoy the day-to-day activities of creating and learning.

Russell

[mojobone]

Exactly that, Russell! It's kinda like the only way you can make a "diet" work; you can't just change what you eat, you have to make it your way of life. You have to change who you are. Now, I'm not saying you have to change your values, unless you have some really sh**ty values; mainly, it's a matter of changing your habits and maybe your attitude. We're trained practically from birth by the media, I guess, that art and commerce are oil and water; they don't mix. Maybe that's instilled by journalism schools, I wouldn't know, I never went, but since it's the music business, you'll need some chops for both. Then there's this myth of the self-made businessperson; it's a self-serving lie made up by egotists who want all the credit for their success. I don't know why anyone listens to that, cuz every successful person I personally know gives all the credit to their clients, if only for being smart enough to hire them.



But really, if you wanna make world-class music, you need a team.

[PeterD]

Wcsd,

Can I chime in?
I've been a member since May, 2009. Written a few hundred cues/songs since, submitted about 250 times for various genres, have had dozens of forwards, had a music supervisor and 2 libraries sign some pieces. Supervisor placed a few last year (still haven't been paid) and no library placements as of yet. Had a collaboration with another member earn a few dollars last summer, and since day one have invested over $6,000 on submissions and road rallies (this is just Taxi expenses).

Either I'm a rare case of bad luck, or I'm the silent norm. I'm told I have to keep on doing what I'm doing, only more seriously. I'm not sure how much more seriously I can do it, already dedicating 30+ hours/week to it.

Let's just say 6 figures is a VERY difficult, but possible acheivement.

I'll let you decide how difficult ...
Best of luck,

[Russell Landwehr]

...Written a few hundred cues/songs since, submitted about 250 times for various genres, have had dozens of forwards, had a music supervisor and 2 libraries sign some pieces. Supervisor placed a few last year ... Had a collaboration with another member earn a few dollars last summer...

This is how the road to 6 Figures starts.