Forwards...but nothing else...

[Casey H]

Quote:I've gotten probably 8-10 forwards over the past year but only one follow up. And this was from a company that takes unsolicited music all the time. Has anyone had similar experiences?HiI am not a current taxi member, but if you got 8-10 forwards over the past year, your music is obviously very good. Things take a long time. You many never hear from these folks or 1-2 years later you could get a call or an email. And, since your music is being well received, there are probably many more forwards in your future. So, I would keep doing what you are doing inside and outside of TAXI.Regarding the companies that list in TAXI but also take unsolicited material, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I don't there are a great many like that and hopefully, pre-screened TAXI material will get a closer look. I don't know that for sure, but it makes sense. If you get offered a contract from anyone, though TAXI or through unsolicited submissions, just be careful what you sign- get everything reviewed by an entertainment attorney before you sign.BTW, regarding companies that take unsolicited and also list on TAXI... this is a great example where you should send an email to TAXI asking them about it... They always answer promptly and professionally... Good luck! Casey

[oneeyewillie]

I had a forward and got called almost 2 years later...it happens, trust me...

[Casey H]

Quote:I had a forward and got called almost 2 years later...it happens, trust me...It was about time you finally put a phone in that house of yours!! Casey

[boxingrhythm]

Thanks for all the responses...and yes, Taxi is just one route I personally use to promote my music. I guess I had just hoped it would have helped out a bit more than it has. Dave, glad to know you've gotten some mind blowing deals through Taxi. I'll keep submitting and hopefully hear back from some of them one day so I can say the same.

[eightyeightkeys]

Last year 10 of 11 of my submissions were forwarded with one being simply wrong for the listing.This year, 5 of 5 submissions have been forwarded. But, no deals At least no deals through Taxi.Over the past 5 years, maybe more, I've turned my attention away from rock & pop and toward instrumental compositions. Both dramatic underscore and electronica. (Being 46 years old, I'm not that interested in writing ditties - ala Brittany Spears or whoever) So, my chances of getting work thorugh Taxi are relatively smaller compared to composers who do Rock & Pop as well as Country/New Country.Now, interestingly, I've submitted those same compositions to Pump Audio and they were promptly signed. Interesting...no ?My membership is up in August and that may be it for me. I've been a member since way, way, way back - when Taxi started and I haven't made a dime through Taxi. By any standard, those are dismal returns.I think Taxi is a great idea and they do a great job. In my humble opinion, Taxi needs to expand it's listings further - even broader - but, also to make sure that the people listing are real, legitimate companies with a real, genuine and timely need for music. My experiece with Pump Audio (as above) points to the possibility of some of the listings being frivolous. That is, people/companies who waste our time and considerable effort.

[jay10music]

Dear eightyeightkeys,I'm guessing that it was more recently that you decided to orient your pitches through TAXI toward Film and TV, and that most of those were in the last year or two, as mentioned in your post. I only bring that up so that people don't get the impression that you've been pitching to Film and TV “since the beginning.”If you read many of the other threads on our boards you'll see that it's very common for our members to get calls from the companies we forward them to, months, sometimes even a year or two AFTER we forward them. That could very well be the case with you.It frustrates us too, but there IS a reason for it. Let's say a company called us today, and ran a listing asking for summery tracks that were Beach Boy-esque. We run the listing for 30 days, and notify members of their forwards by the end of August.The company looking for the material is building a CD of summer tracks, but they don't intend to distribute it to dozens, maybe even hundreds of post production houses until late next spring (in time for summer). Therefore, when they get the material from TAXI, they may listen a few days, even a week or a month later, and pick the tracks they like. They put them in a pile, and don't touch them again until February, 2008. At THAT time, they begin to send out contracts, and ultimately, the TAXI members who were forwarded by us in August of 2007, won't have signed contract on those tracks until March, April or May of the following year.Our less experienced (film and TV) members often stop sending out other submissions, waiting to hear on the older stuff, and eventually get frustrated and give up. The more experienced members, who kind of already know the drill, keep pitching during the lengthy waiting period, because they know that the name of the game with Film and TV is to fill the pipeline.In other words, you want to get as many tracks as you can, picked up by as many companies as you can over time. If you keep that up for 10 years, you could very well get to the point where you are making $50,000-$100,000/yr. on that stuff that you got into the pipeline during the previous decade.One of our most successful members in the Film and TV genre (Matt Hirt, 'matto') likens this to building an investment portfolio, whereas pitching to the Britneys is similar to playing the lottery:-)If you have questions as to the nature of the companies that list with us being quality outfits, why wouldn't you just pick up the phone and call us to find out more about them?I'll bet that some, if not several of them are companies that have already made some nice chunks of money for some of the folks on this very forum. I'd really appreciate it if next time you'd check with us first before you draw the conclusion that if you didn't hear back yet, from the companies that we forwarded your music to, that they must be sucky companies compared to another that HAS called you back and offered a contract. Fair enough? To say that these companies are wasting anybody's time or are running 'frivolous' listings without knowing how they've done for our membership as a whole is really not fair to them, is it?Also, just to give you some perspective, please read some of these threads. I think they'll give you hope :One last thought… you mentioned (in so many words) that the number of opportunities for somebody like you (I'll take that to mean, doing film and TV) are much smaller than for those doing Rock, Pop, and Country. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. But I'll have Chris Baptiste, our Sr. Director of A&R do a count as to the total film/TV listings out of ALL current listings and post it on this thread today. I think the number will be pretty respectable, maybe even surprising. A month or so ago, I asked Chris to ramp up the label listings, as film and TV was so dominant ;-)Thanks for reading this lengthy post,Michael Laskowhttp://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=success

[Casey H]

Quote:One last thought… you mentioned (in so many words) that the number of opportunities for somebody like you (I'll take that to mean, doing film and TV) are much smaller than for those doing Rock, Pop, and Country. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. But I'll have Chris Baptiste, our Sr. Director of A&R do a count as to the total film/TV listings out of ALL current listings and post it on this thread today. I think the number will be pretty respectable, maybe even surprising. Michael LaskowJust a note... If you are a songwriter (not performing) writing ROCK music, 99.99% of opportunities will be in film/TV. You rarely see rock acts asking for material from outside songwriters. I go through tons of leads and I almost never see "Rock band looking for breakout hit song". However, in pop and country, you see it very often. I see tons of leads for pop songs a la Kelly Clarkson, Christina A, etc, etc... Country artists are often looking for songs (though it's harder to get a song through to them)...In film/TV, rock songs are often in demand. I haven't been a TAXI member for a few years, but when I was a Dispatch member there were many such leads.I hope I am still on-topic here... Casey

[boxingrhythm]

I'd like to see a show hands...anyone on here making $50,000-$100,000 per year because of leads through Taxi? Just wondering.

[jay10music]

Hi Boxing,Look carefully at what Michael said.... 10 years, and I don't see that he said it necessarily had to be a result of TAXI. The point was that if you keep at it for ten years, and keep filling the pipeline, you can make that kind of money. We have members that make that kind of money, but in previous discussions on this board, it seems they dont like to disclose their personal finances. Anybody game now?Jimi

[davewalton]

Quote:I'd like to see a show hands...anyone on here making $50,000-$100,000 per year because of leads through Taxi? Just wondering. How about you? Are you making $100,000 from your music marketing efforts outside of Taxi? If you're not, it certainly doesn't mean that all sources outside of Taxi don't work. That's not a very realistic question for "proving a point". Very few people make that kind of money in film/television placements period, let along having that stream of income coming through just one outlet be it Taxi or any other single source. For me, Taxi is only one of many things that I do. I have to honestly say that the things that I get outside of Taxi are definitely a result of the improvements I've made to my music inside of Taxi. As far as Taxi or any other outlet goes, I guess it depends on how you use it. Having said that, since your tone was to prove that these things don't happen, I won't disclose my income because it's absolutely none of your business, but I'll tell you that from one single Taxi deal, I have music placed into network television on a fairly consistant basis. I'm guessing I'm getting around 30 cuts per quarter and that is slowly climbing as my catalog of music for this project increases. Performance royalties for a single cut or even 30 cuts aren't enough to buy beachfront property in Malibu, but when taken as a whole, performance royalties for year after year after year of increasingly frequent network television placements works out to be a pretty nice single source deal. There aren't many of those inside or outside of Taxi. In short, the listings are real and a lot of deals come by way of the Taxi listings. That's a fact, just as it's a fact that a lot of deals come by way of sources outside of Taxi. It's just one of many but it does work.