MEMBER DEALS ON FIRE!!!

[dmonsd]

Blair Bielawski (Delafield, WI) / The Sci-Fi channel show “Painkiller Jane” used his song “Crazy For You” in a recent episode.Brad Mersereau (Portland, OR) / 1. Had 2 songs (Song For Sonia” and “Feeling Lucky”) placed in the Chris Rock film “I Think I Love My Wife.” 2. The ABC show “Ugly Betty” placed his song “Departure” in a recent episode.Barry Schleifer ( Charlottesville, VA) - / His song “Returns & Exchanges” was used in 2 TV shows - “Cold Case” (CBS) and “The Sopranos” (HBO) - and 1 new movie. It’s the new Adam Sandler vehicle called “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.”Stephen Snider ( Johnston City, IL) / Signed a 13-song publishing deal with a West Coast Library and had 2 of those songs placed in the “Northern Exposure” DVD collection (6th season version).Ben Connelly ( Minneapolis, MN) / Just signed a 10-song deal with a Music Publisher for placement in film & TV Projects.Gabriele Bazzi Berneri (Italy) / Signed 3 songs to a California-based Music Library.Joe Aukofer ( Lawrenceville, GA) / His song “The Last Heartbreak” was placed in the iTunes/DVD version of the ABC show “Friday Night Lights.”Joseph Curtis ( Hermitage, TN) / In the past year, has signed 20 songs to 4 different Music Publishers.Chuck Henry - (Hollywood, CA) / Recently had one of his tracks included on a Jazz Compilation CD released by Sony/BMG. Thus far, it’s only been release in selected European countries (where it’s already gone triple platinum in Poland), but plans are in the works for wider release.Vince Constantino ( Yorktown, VA) / Recently had one of his tracks included on a Jazz Compilation CD released by Sony/BMG. Thus far, it’s only been release in selected European countries (where it’s already gone triple platinum in Poland), but plans are in the works for wider release.Malcolm Sloan ( Phoenix, AZ) / Had a song os his placed in the Warner Bros. film “Spring Breakdown.” Scott Gerow (Spring Hill, TN) / From his 32 Forwards, Scott has struck deals with 6 different Music Libraries / Publishers. Mary Thompstone (Ireland) / Singed a deal with a Nashville-based publisher for film/TV opportunities.Keith Anderson (Seattle, WA) / After being forwarded to 10 different companies, he has signed publishing deals with 2 of those companies for film/TV/commercial projects. Matt Hirt - (Sherman Oaks, CA) / Matt’s song “Jungle Love” was used in a recent episode of “Ugly Betty” (ABC).Denny Earnest ( Livingston, MT) / “National Lampoon’s Bag Boy” used 6 of Denny’s cuts:Hawaiian CowboyAloha From WaikikiLazy Hawaiian SurfLonely Hawaiian BoyHolokaiKahula CoveMargaret McClure ( San Clemente, CA) / MTV just licensed 5 of Margaret’s songs for 2 shows: “Taquita & Kaui” and “Making The Band.”Clay Butler (LaGrange, GA) / Signed deals with 3 different Music Libraries in 1 week!Athena Byrne (Sherman Oaks, CA) / Signed a 15-song deal with a successful West Coast Publisher for film & TV placement. Athena made the connection at the 2006 TAXI Road Rally.

[gitarrero]

...deal-o-mania, so to call..!really cool!cheers,martin

[dmonsd]

From Matt Hirt....Hi Clint, I just saw your post on the Taxi forum, thought I'd add a little fuel to the fire...so to speak  I received my BMI statement for Q4/2006 and found the following placements (and feel free to update your post with these): 2 placements on "Dancing With The Stars" (ABC)2 placements on "Ugly Betty" (ABC) [that's in addition to the one you mentioned in the post, which is in Q1/2007]3 placements on "How I Met Your Mother (CBS) [all in the same episode]1 placement on "Cold Case" (CBS)1 placement on "Las Vegas" (NBC)1 placement on "America's Most Wanted" (FOX) This is just the broadcast network stuff, there's a bunch of cable things on top of that. All of these are a direct result of Taxi deals.I'm sure I'll have more to report in the fall when the next statement comes in... Thanks guys (as always)!! Matt

[evens1]

FANTASTIC!!!!!As the Monkees once sang...."And I saw her stats, now I'm a believer!Not a trace... of doubt in my mind"LOL!!!Great showing people!!!EV

[yod]

I'm new around here...not sure whether it makes cents to take the TAXI plunge....but it appears that 90.5% of the placements are for music libraries. Is that correct?Considering how long a song can sit in a library without even being used...and then the amount of time before someone actually gets paid for that...does anyone ever break even around here?Help me with the math here:If I joined today and got forwarded next month to 4 companies that signed my songs for a library and one them gets it placed, it is still at least a year before I see anything from that.That means I've got 2 years membership ($600?) and however many listings I've sent in times 5$ per month (lets say 10 listings @50$ month = another $600 per year) so now I've got approx $2,400 investedDo the most successful writers around here make decent $$$ per year doing music libraries? How long did it take to get there? The long term plan of going full-time even if you have the goods is at least 3-5 years, right? It takes a while to establish oneself so even a fully-committed individual would need some patience but averaging $1,200 a year for 5 years would be 6k. Is there a realistic chance that could be totally recouped in that same 5 year frame?It doesn't sound all that hard on cyberpaper, if I'm willing to committ to an all-out songwriting binge to fullfil the orders over the next 5 years. So after much rambling, I guess the real question is does anyone have an idea what a successful writer of "other-than-label-artist-material" can realistically hope to make?I'm just wondering if there is some general average of the best someone can hope for recording these kinds of songs as a full-time professional?If I can find 10 people here who are making real-world $$$ doing this from deals through Taxi, I'll join today.Which is not to say that I won't join later anyway...just trying to do the math about that avenue.Next question would be much simpler:How many major label/distributed artists have used Taxi songs/writers over the last 3 years? Just the numbers of each year would be very helpful...but I'd also be interested in which genres does Taxi have the most success with major distributed labels.

[davewalton]

Quote:I'm new around here...not sure whether it makes cents to take the TAXI plunge....but it appears that 95% of the placements are for music libraries. Is that correct?I never thought about it that way but that seems to accurately reflect the number of slots available in the industry in general for various film/tv placements vs the number of slots available for "hit songwriter" or "Def Jam Record's latest and hottest artist" or whatever.Slots are available all the time in film/television for every music genre and era under the sun whereas the slots available for hit songwriter or hot artist are few and far between.Quote:Considering how long a song can sit in a library without even being used...and then the amount of time before someone actually gets paid for that...does anyone ever break even around here?The time is takes for things to happen is sometimes astounding and not in a good way. That's not a "Taxi thing" either. If you have the contacts, you can bypass Taxi altogether and get placements directly or through music libraries and publishers but the time it takes for that to happen won't be sped up. I didn't think this originally but now I believe that (inside or outside of Taxi) if anyone "gives up" before a minimum of five years of really trying, they gave up too soon.Quote:Help me with the math here:If I joined today and got forwarded next month to 4 companies that signed my songs for a library and one them gets it placed, it is still at least a year before I see anything from that.That's actually some optimistic math. Say you bypass Taxi and only send four demo CD's next month. It's unlikely that you'd get any deals from just four blind, unsolicited submissions. Of course you'd only be out the postage and cost of CD, but you'd never know WHY they didn't take your music - the most important thing. Was it great music but they just didn't need that style or was it because the bar worldwide is higher than we can imagine in our own limited environment? In my case it was the latter, the Taxi critiques showed me that and I had a little road map to get to where I needed to get to. If I hadn't known that then everything I sent from that point on would have been a waste of time and money.Quote:Do the most successful writers around here make at least $1,200 per year doing music libraries?The MOST successful make a LOT more than that but there's no way to draw any conclusions for each of us individually. The criteria I used when I joined or rather the reasons I joined were this: I needed a reliable way to guage myself so that I knew if or when I started meeting the basic standards of quality and style for film/tv placements. The fact that my wife, kids, and friends thought I "had the goods" didn't really matter. I needed a place where I could submit for things where the listing companies were actually looking for something specific as opposed to me just sending blind, unsolicited CD's in hopes that whatever I was sending just happened to be what they were looking for that week. A computer salesman bidding on a solicited request for new computers for a school district that's actually looking for new computers has a better chance than that same salesman approaching school districts at random, hoping to find one that just happens to be shopping for new computers. This is more of a "forum" thing so joining Taxi isn't necessary but I needed to "hang around" a group of people that were doing and/or trying to do the same thing I was doing. I'm in the Midwest so my "collegues" are really only here on the forum, not anywhere close in proximity. Trying to learn to play basketball by myself wouldn't work very well... I'd at least hang around others who are also working on their basketball skills.Anyway, if you've read any of the forum threads you'll see that some are REALLY disappointed with their Taxi experience and some (like me) are really thrilled with their Taxi experience. My criteria for evaluating the benefits of Taxi were varied and since I was looking more for guidance, assistance, whatever, I've been more than happy with Taxi because, literally, I've transformed my music through the critiques. Optionally I've gotten some good deals but I'd still be happy without those because through the critiques, my music has improved to the point where I've gotten a lot of interesting and good deals outside of Taxi. That never would have happened if I was still doing "out-of-date" New Age, thinking that I'm being "current" which is what I was doing. Nothing wrong with hanging around for a while and observing before actually deciding. Even if it's "thanks, I'll pass" the forum here is always a great source of information and inspiration from real, regular, every-day kind of people. Except for Matto, of course, who is currently on top of a mountain in Yosemite imparting wisdom to those who trek to seek him. HTH,Dave

[yod]

I never thought about it that way but that seems to accurately reflect the number of slots available in the industry in general for various film/tv placements vs the number of slots available for "hit songwriter" or "Def Jam Record's latest and hottest artist" or whatever.and that kinda works for me... I believe that (inside or outside of Taxi) if anyone "gives up" before a minimum of five years of really trying, they gave up too soon.I agree.Just wondering from those who have been generally-succesfully-fowarded Taxi members that long whether you've broken even yet. That's actually some optimistic math. Say you bypass Taxi and only send four demo CD's next month. It's unlikely that you'd get any deals from just four blind, unsolicited submissions. - I completely understand all that. It's the only reason to consider joining TAXI, imo. I'd like a staff that handled the details for $300-??? a year. It's cheap.I'm still wondering about practical things like how long my investment of time/focus/resources would take to get back so I could calculate the overall life-value to me.The MOST successful make a LOT more than that but there's no way to draw any conclusions for each of us individually. Ok...I'm not interested in conclusions of everyone individually anyway. Just wondering about the most successful folks here who started from listings they get from Taxi. Who is the reigning longest member for instance? How is he/she doing? How long before they couldn't afford to work at another job?If I'm already a full-time musician who wants to submit music for these various library/jingle/tv background music deals, is it (realistically) going to be worth the distraction after 5 years?I'm not asking anyone to state their income on such a public forum but rather asking if there is any way for someone as arrogantly confident as me to know.Anyway, if you've read any of the forum threads you'll see that some are REALLY disappointed with their Taxi experience and some (like me) are really thrilled with their Taxi experience. That is why it's good to know that your own expectations are realistic. Thus, I'm asking... Nothing wrong with hanging around for a while and observing before actually deciding. Even if it's "thanks, I'll pass" the forum here is always a great source of information and inspiration from real, regular, every-day kind of people. I've lurked for a long time....haven't visited in a while. Still wondering But I went through the password recovery thing (again) and maybe Vista will hold the password for me?I wish they'd let us make our own password to log-in. Has that changed since I was last here or are we stuck with that monstrously hard-to-remember-thing they generate?

[gitarrero]

@yod: as a direct result of a taxi-forward, 4 of my tracks are on a sony/bmg sampler.this answers your question if there is any major distribution deal through taxi.and I'm by far not the only one.

[davewalton]

Quote:Just wondering from those who have been generally-succesfully-fowarded Taxi members that long whether you've broken even yet.Well, I have broken even over three, going on four years. Actually more than broken even. These have been both directly and indirectly related to Taxi. I mentioned that the critiques helped me get "modern". The better music allowed me to start picking up film scoring opportunities for low budget independent films and the experience I got from doing those made it so that I was both experienced and prepared when a Taxi deal to write music for a television show came my way. So for me, it's all been intertwined in a semi-complex way. Quote:I'm still wondering about practical things like how long my investment of time/focus/resources would take to get back so I could calculate the overall life-value to me.Calculating the "life-value" of Taxi in a vacuum or whatever would be like trying to calculate the life-value of a film scoring class or degree for that matter at USC. Some film scoring students are going to flop, some will succeed beyond their wildest dreams, and most will probably be somewhere inbetween. It just can't be done to any degree of certainty because nothing is in a vacuum and there are always outside factors. I can't even see quantifying the purchase of a new guitar in that way. Who knows if the purchase of a new guitar in and of itself is going to end in a profit, break-even, or loss on that one expendature alone?Quote:If I'm already a full-time musician who wants to submit music for these various library/jingle/tv background music deals, is it (realistically) going to be worth the distraction after 5 years?It's not much of a distraction really and if you're already full-time, so much the better. Take Taxi out of the equation for the moment. I sent some tracks yesterday to a music library that takes unsolicted submissions. It took about an hour to put the whole package together and get it mailed. Taxi submissions, especially done via their website, takes only minutes. If you have tracks laying around, might as well take a few minutes or an hour or whatever and do something with them. If you're writing music specificially for each listing (like I tend to do), you've got new tracks that you might not otherwise have that can be used for other opportunities if they don't pan out for the original intent. I'm saying "you" but I'm really commenting on my own experience, just don't feel like re-typing the whole paragraph. Anyway, CAN you or anyone start and/or develop a film/television music career through Taxi? Absolutely and that's from my own personal experience as a guy living in a small Missouri town but getting frequent television placements as a direct result of a Taxi listing (I only watched the show one day last week but had three tracks on that particular show ). WILL you or anyone? There's a lot of factors beyond Taxi, beyond your own musical talent, beyond anything you can control. I think a person has to be talented, be prepared, and be a little lucky. It's that last thing that's so unpredicitable. Quote:I wish they'd let us make our own password to log-in. Has that changed since I was last here or are we stuck with that monstrously hard-to-remember-thing they generate?After you've logged in using the impossible password, click "Profile" in the "Home, Help, Search, etc" menu above. Then click "Modify Profile" and you should be able to change your password.That'll be $50 for that last piece of info. Anyway, I want to be encouraging and I'm a Taxi believer from my personal experience but I don't want to cause anyone to do something just on my words and then have them come back to me a year later (even though they could have gotten a refund from Taxi) saying "Hey bub, I didn't break even and you owe me $300!". DavePS - This forum probaly only has 1% of the total Taxi membership, hardly representative for drawing definitive conclusions either way. Of the nineteen or whatever deals that Clint listed, only one guy (Matt Hirt) is on the forum here. If all we had was forum member info, it would look like there was only one deal or placement recently. FWIW.

[horacejesse]

Which brings me to a question I have had for a while, Dave. And that has to do with the marketability score.I have believed most of the scores on a critique are inteneded only to be relevant to that listing.For instance I would interpret a 9 for production on a song pitch as meaning, "easily good enough for this listing." Whereas the production score for the same song could be a 5 on a library listing where broadcast quality is needed.I am wondering if the marketability scores are only to be interpreted in terms of the particular listing. Could a piece that receives a 10 for marketability receive a 5 or a 6 for a different listing, or is the marketabilty score considered more of an absolute than the other categories?