A Spreadsheet of ALL OF MY SUBMISSIONS

[sguiles]

Rich,

No harm done.
Some of the songs I've done as a band HAVE been placed (MTVs Real World, Keeping Up With the Kardashians) but I believe they were placed BEFORE I was in Taxi when I had a band member actively pursuing placements.

Now, I'm really trying to get my own, studio-created tunes placed.

Also, of interest, the screeners. I can sort it by screener and see what sort of response each screener gives. Not that I have a choice in the matter...

My main goal in all of this is to get better at what I do.
I like the goal of a 50% forward/return ratio idea.
Heck...I'd like to see that at 100%...but I'll be realistic.

-Steve

[keithl]

Not to wander too far off topic here, but I noticed that out of all the 28 FORWARDS there has not been one placement/deal. Now I know that a forward certainly doesn't guarantee a placement and that it can sometimes take a while before a forward gets a deal, but I didn't expect the foarward-to-placement ratio to be null this far into submission history.

I'm sure you heard, but sometimes it takes 1-2 years for a forward to get a placement! Also, think about the "pool" of music that a music supervisor, licensing company, etc..get. The song might be great, but may not fit perfectly for what a supervisor is looking for.

That is why the "write-submit-write more" mantra is always raised. It's obvious that the more forwards you have, the chance of a deal increases. It will happen. It is just a game of patience. There are a lot of composers, all working for the same goal!

[jazzstan]

Ok, for those of y'all who into spreadsheets, here are some seriously geeky ideas:

Add columns for the "Reasons not Forwarded:"
Vocal Performance
-Instrumental Performance
-Recording
-Stylistically Off Target
-Music
-Lyrics
-Other
ENTER an "X" if the box is check, but leave it blank if it's blank on the critique.

And for the listings that are more than "yes/no" and have these, add columns for:
-Melody
-Marketability
-Song Structure
-Production
-Engineering
-Musicianship
ENTER the number 1 to 10 per the critique.

And then insert a PIVOT table. Drag and drop the above items into to the columns and the song titles into the rows. The above items are dragged into the "values" area. Be sure to "refresh" the pivot table when you've added new data.

Other tips for maximum productivity: 1) Make sure your top row has the labels, and is only one row; or at least make sure the row above the row with the labels is blank. 2) make sure your data is in a contiguous block.. I always add a column call "sequence" and do a data fill (Alt E I S). The pivot table will automatically define the range, and I can always put the table back in its original sequence. 3) add a "end" row, and be sure to insert rows above this one, that way you don't have to redefine the pivot table's range when you add rows. You can exclude the end-row by using the selection filters int he pivot table.

[keithl]

and forgot to add, Congrats Rich! Looks like you are definitely on the right path...keep it up!

[sguiles]

Keith,

You are obviously a MONSTER of spreadsheet power users!!


I like your ideas, even though I only understand half of them.
You lost me at "pivot tables".
But you had me at "added columns".

Thanks for the input. (pun intended)

[jazzstan]

Most interesting is that of the 39 songs, the 21 songs that had been forwarded (28 fwds) ... those same songs had 37 returns! (that's what a pivot table can help show).

So, folks, "not on target" for one listing doesn't mean it may not be right for some other listing.

[sguiles]

I find THAT statistic incredibly encouraging.

[bigbluebarry]

Not to wander too far off topic here, but I noticed that out of all the 28 FORWARDS there has not been one placement/deal. Now I know that a forward certainly doesn't guarantee a placement and that it can sometimes take a while before a forward gets a deal, but I didn't expect the foarward-to-placement ratio to be null this far into submission history.

The music is obviously good, even great, considering the percentage of forwards but the end result has me a bit discouraged. Don't mean to put a negative spin on this, but I'm just sayin'.

Rich

Hey Rich,

In my first year I submitted 107 tracks, had 47 forwards and 60 returns. The 47th track that was forwarded (dispatch listing with deadline of 12/30/08) turned into a deal 5 months later in May 2009. One of the tracks that I signed in that deal got placed about 4 months after I signed the deal but I didn't find out about it until at least 6 months after it aired (no sync fee, backend only deal so had to wait for cue sheets to show up). So from the time I submitted the track until the time I actually learned about the placement at least 15 months had elapsed.

All that to say... if you want to be in this business, it's a long term situation. You have to have patience. You have to be thinking of the big picture. Yes, you need to stay focused on the day-to-day tasks so that you can reach your long term goals, but don't get so caught up in the day-to-day aspect that you let yourself get discouraged during the process.

There's a similarity to this and losing a lot of weight... You don't want to focus on the number on the scale every day. If you do, you can get discouraged because there will be days you gain weight (if your body is producing muscle at a faster rate than it's burning fat) even when you're eating "right" and doing your exercise just like you had done the previous days. The thing to focus on is not the actual number of weight that you lose/gain on a daily basis, but instead, focus on the habits that you're doing every day. That's what's really important. Long-term lasting results don't happen overnight. When I needed to lose weight, it wasn't like I gained that weight overnight, it took years to put it on, so I couldn't expect to lose it all overnight. Same thing with music... there is no overnight success, it takes years to get there. The key is to develop successful habits and learn how to manage your time effectively.

Now to Steve... I too have a spreadsheet that I use to keep up with my submission history. The only columns I use are Submission Date, Forward, Return, Track Title, Screener ID, Forwarded To. Over time it has become more of a historical reference for me than a tool of data analysis. I also have a database I built to do more extensive data analysis and in there I put any comments I got from the critiques that I think would be beneficial to making the track more forwardable/placeable (if it was a return). But all in all, I don't spend too much time analyzing the track-by-track submission-forward-return process data anymore. I think it can be beneficial, especially early on, as you're trying to find out your strengths/weaknesses in terms of production quality, songwriting, etc... as well as your ability to identify what genre your music is so you can really target the listings appropriately. But as you learn your strengths/weakenesses/genre id ability and really get that down, I think you'll spend less time on analysis and more time on writing.

Just my $0.02

hth,
-Barry

[eeoo]

You lost me at "spreadsheet"...

eo

[pedrocosta]

Hi Steven,

I started using a spreadsheet a couple of months ago. To reference Pressfield, this was the time I "turned pro". Renewed my membership for 2 years and booked my flight to LA for the rally. I found it very helpful to analyse my submission success overall and on a genre by genre basis. Also helped me not feel more focussed. I can see where my strengths have been and where I need more work. Also very importantly I can see that my percentage has increased over time. More focussed pitching and improvement in all areas.

Thanks for sharing your sheet. Gives me some other ideas for mine.
All the best!