How long before your fist placement......

[CHuckmott]

Just curious, but for guys who get placements (or sales), how long did it take to get the first one? And how long from that point, if this is you reality, that placements ( or sales) became more consistent as a relatively consistent source of income? Can we answer in terms of time and number of tracks?

[kclements]

Hey Chuck -

For me, my first placement came this year, July, 2013. I signed with that particular library in December of 2012. So far, I have made $64 in royalties. I don't know if you call that steady income, since I only have one quarter to base it on. This last quarter ended 12/20 - which will pay out 1/17/14. Hopefully, my income will continue to grow.

But there are so many variables in play that it is hard to predict any kind of pattern. A lot depends on the style, genre, the library(s) you are with, and the needs of the music sups...

hth

cheers -
kc

[CHuckmott]

Just trying to get a general sense from when fold started pursuing this tv film placement thing how long it took to get something placed. , I think John Mazzei said his first placement came after his third year in. I'm not in any rush though, having been chasing this for about a year and 8 months.

[Casey H]

Mine was at least 3-4 years after I started putting tracks in libraries. I never even expected to get a placement! Then one day, my ASCAP statement came in the mail. I almost didn't open it because I was used to it saying nothing earned in that quarter. But this time, there was a check for $123! A cue of mine had been used on America's Got Talent (NBC)... That same library went on to make many more placements for me in a variety of reality TV shows.

As far as how long it might take a given person, there is no answer since it varies all over the board literally from weeks to months to never.

Casey

[kclements]

Oh, I see. Sorry, I kind of missed the point.

Well, in that case, I joined Taxi in May 2011. I got my first deal in January 2012. And my first placement in June, 2013

cheers
kc

[CHuckmott]

So right around 2-3 years with a big maybe..........America;s Fox Talent is a heck of a first placement. I was thinking maybe a 15 second spot in some third world country somewhere . KC, thanks. No nice to know the time line from when the library picked it up to the placement. My first year stuff was basically terrible and not even a consideration. Second year better, coming on the last 3/4 of it some of it even halfway decent.

[CHuckmott]

Er, first placement, not fist placement ......

[mazz]

There's so many variables that are out of our control when it comes to placements that I don't think there can be a time line.

Not to be flip about it, but it took my entire life up until that point to get my first placement. I had to learn how to compose placeable music, before that I had to decide that I wanted to be a composer and so on and so on. It's really simply a journey with no ending.

What you do have control over are:

Quality of your music
Quality of your networking abilities
Quality of your connections
Consistency of your business activities
Consistency of maintaing your business relationships
Maintaining a positive attitude
...........and so on................

As far as consistency of income, well that's an individual story as well, different for everyone. I know people that started getting royalties after I did that have surpassed me monetarily and that is because of so many factors, a big one being that they specialize in more "popular" styles of music than I do. So that's a big factor right there. If you write music that is more "classic" or less mainstream, then your income stream may grow at a slower pace than someone who specializes in indie rock music that is popular "right now". Of course, if you get in with a publisher that specializes in that and gets tons of placements in high end productions then maybe your story would be different.

Don't sweat it too much, just make your business the best it can be in all areas and keep moving forward on the things that are directly in your sphere of control. The rest will take care of itself.

Happy new Year!

Mazz

[kclements]

Don't sweat it too much, just make your business the best it can be in all areas and keep moving forward on the things that are directly in your sphere of control. The rest will take care of itself.

Happy new Year!

Mazz

Exactly my goal for 2014 - Thanks Mazz.

cheers -
kc

[CHuckmott]

Thanks Mazz....was just curious. Hoping something starts to happen within a few years time, but in it for the long haul. Had a run with recording that lasted a few years prior, bu nothing a sfocused asI am trying to do now. The opportunities didn't seem to exist, I returned to playing in cover bands, computer died, and just never got replaced. For people who have been doing this consistently, seemingly at least a track a week for a number of years and placing those into libraries, skimmed the 'net for peole saying "not worth it", "not making anything at this", but have found these comments don't exist. What's encouraging for me is what people are NOT saying as much as it is what people are saying. So consistency, and working at improving all those things Mazz mentioned, seems to be pretty much the ticket. I do think that taking a college level course in composition, etc. could only help.