How Long it Takes Before a Deal -- Tell Your Stories Here!

[fusilierb]

I don't know that there is a good gauge of how long it will take to get a deal. I think it has a lot to do with what the listing party's deadlines and needs are and (then) how much they like what Taxi forwarded to them. I think it's really important to remember that Taxi just forwards music that they believe (based on lot's of experience obviously) would be appropriate. That's step one, getting out of the gate. But the most important part is that the listing party has to make their own call on what they really want. So a forward guarantees nothing other than a listen, not a deal.

That being said, I'm in my 2nd year of membership. I've had forwards that are still "out there" from about a year and a half. I seriously doubt if something will come of them, but I've heard about some really long time frames from forward to a deal around here.

The deals that I've gotten were fairly quick. A dispatch listing, turned into five pieces signed two weeks later. Shocked me out of my chair. I think that's probably as fast as it will get. The other two came about three months after the forward.

But remember that a deal is also an introduction. And when that introduction is made you will have an opportunity to submit more of your music to them directly. So be prepared to do that!! Keep writing and stacking up pieces. Because after a few deals you'll be fresh out of unsigned pieces and writing you're butt off to keep up. So don't sit on your hands while you wait. Write, submit, forget...

B

[deankripp]

My forward-to-deal... deal.

The longest forward-to-deal time that I have experienced is about 1 year. That twelve months was just long enough for me to forget all about my forwarded song and when the music-biz-dude-guy called me I had no idea at first what he was talking about. In fact - I was just about to hang up, thinking it was yet another sales call, when he spoke that magic phrase "I got your song from Taxi." My ears perked up, my heart raced, we did the deal.

This particular deal then went into limbo for about two years (I guess no one wanted to use the song). Then one day, out of the blue, music-biz-dude calls me and says that he has placed the tune and asks me if I have any more songs like it. "Yes" was my answer. There was no "front-end money" on that first song - so I'd guess that if you added up the time between this Taxi forward and my first paycheck it was about four years, but.... BIG BUT..... it's 7 years later now and this company is one of my most lucrative connections. (IE - wonderfully delicious ASCAP checks miraculously appear in my mailbox every quarter from this deal - yay)

The quickest forward-to-deal turnaround for me was from a Taxi Dispatch forward. I got a call from the producer the week after my song was forwarded and he recorded the song about two months later. He even invited me down to that big-round-record-company-building in LA to watch the session...

I've had somewhere around fifteen deals come directly from Taxi forwards (another five or six from the Road Rally)... I guess the average forward-to-deal time frame for me is somewhere around the six month mark. Maybe a little longer....I've also got a pile of forwards that didn't become deals... I assume it is because my stuff either wasn't good enough or wasn't what they were looking for. (In case you are wondering - yes, some of my music really sucks - but some of it is pretty good too - I try not to let the sucky stuff get out but sometimes I fall into that fantasy-trap of thinking that I am as good as the Beatles and well..., you know... I'm not *sigh*

The important thing for me is to write, record, pitch, network.... write, record, pitch, network... write, record, pitch, network... (and keep repeating that process) and to also always keep listening, learning, sharing, growing... and be professional (AKA - have some manners.... IE: remember to say "Thank you" and stuff like that)


I'm babbling...


I'll stop now...



deano k

[mazz]

Just received an e-mail today from a forward I submitted, get ready, 7/18/2008! They want to sign the piece. I have to see if it's still available!!

Those forwards are like little seeds planted out there. Some will sprout, some will not. Those that sprout, like in Dean's case, can turn into a whole field.

Again, we can't control if our music gets picked, we can only control the chances of it getting picked by the quality of the composition and production and our skill at targeting it to the clients' needs.

And the beat goes on............

Mazz

[orest]

Well it's hard to say. Anything from 1 month to, well, forever I guess.
I'm fairly new as well, been a member for 2 years so I really can't tell yet.

[gitarrero]

I think I got the first deal offered throught taxi about 4 month after I joined. at the end of that year (ie month 14 after I joined) I had more than 10 offers from diffrent companies. I think I lost count on deal number 15 or so...

note:
this hasn't happened due to a couple of submissions/forwards... to tell the truth I produced and sumitted maaaany songs/tracks, I don't know exactly how many, but I think it'll be at least around 100-150 during that time.

the theory behind it is actually quite simple: the more irons we got in the fire, the bigger the chance one is turning red hot (ie getting a deal offered).

cheers
martin

[suzdoyle]

My first forward-to-deal took 2 months (back in 2006); the second one to a large production music library took 9 months (this one has resulted in hundreds of deals and placements over the years) in 2007; my most recent deal came from a forward 2 years ago. Lots of others have happened in the 4 years I've been with Taxi, with many different time frames -- so in my experience, there is no standard time frame for how things unfold.

The cool thing is that, regardless of whether the time from forward to deal is short or long -- things continue to consistently grow and expand all the time -- often in surprising and unexpected ways. The key is perseverance and commitment to one's craft and path.

It's a heckuva fun ride, and I'm deeply grateful to Taxi for the ways they help me and my community of composing cohorts grow in our abiilities and opportunities!

,
Suz

[coachdebra]

note:
this hasn't happened due to a couple of submissions/forwards... to tell the truth I produced and sumitted maaaany songs/tracks, I don't know exactly how many, but I think it'll be at least around 100-150 during that time.

OK - I love this! The point here is that you need both - quantity and quality - and to stay focused on the end result - not on the small picture of this song, this listing, this result.

But on your intention to become the best you can be, and have a long career in the music industry - not some overnight, get rich quick, flash in the pan, one-hit-wonder experience!

Which means that you are sending those seeds (as Mazz called them) out on the wind and instead of wishin and hopin and dreamin - you're on to writing the next song! And honing and crafting and getting feedback and submitting!

[mazz]

To follow on Debra's points:

I think there's a paradigm out there that says: "All I need is one big hit and I'm set. I'm going to shop my one or two great songs until they land in the right hands".

To that I say (to continue the seed metaphor): If you want carrots, do you just plant one or two seeds and hope for the best? No, you plant hundreds of seeds and some make it and some don't. Some carrots will be big, some will be small. You will never know which seed produced which carrot, but by planting hundreds of seeds, you end up with a garden, by planting one or two, you may or may not even get one plant that survives.

Nature works the same way in any endeavor, I've found, so plant those little song "seeds" out there and nurture them with professionalism, integrity, quality and love. Make them grow by giving them the fertile soil of an excellent production and the light of your sunny personality. (OK, I'm gonna stop myself there before I throw up, but I think you get the point. It's late, I'm going to bed!)

Hang in there everyone. There's an interview in this month's Keyboard magazine with Diane Warren, and she says: "It took me a long time to make a living doing ths. But if you give up, it's never going to happen. That's what it comes down to."

Sleep on that folks!!!

Mazz

[mazz]

OK, one more thing and then I'll shut up.

When I started this whole TAXI thing 5 or 6 years ago, I finally came to the decision that when I'm on my deathbed, I want to look back and say "I gave it my best shot". I don't know if I'm going to "make it", and what does that mean, anyway? If I can give a shot at doing what I love full time for the rest of my life, then I can say that I at least attempted to do what I set out to do, I kept a commitment to myself.

With that in mind, for me it becomes about the process and not really about the end result. Successes are milestones and everyone has to decide what success means for them individually. But the journey is the point, and how do you want to experience that journey? I strongly believe that how one deals with the ups and downs of the journey will determine their quality of life as they go along the path.

So if one forward that goes seemingly nowhere is enough to derail you, how is that affecting the quality of your life as you proceed down the path, and maybe there's another way of looking at it. There have been some good alternative realities suggested just in this thread alone.

OK, I was taking a break from composing and now I'm getting delirious, it's just time for bed!

Cheers!

Mazz

[k o star]

Maybe 5 years down the road, I can come back to this thread & say... hey guess what everybody?? I had a forward back in early 2009 & it's just turned into a super exquisite deal!!!