Annual Update - Year Seven (2018)

[VanderBoegh]

For the past three years, I've posted an "annual update" prior to the Road Rally, as going to my first Road Rally back in 2011 was a turning point for me..... It's where I decided I'd learn how to produce music on my own, and began writing specifically for television, rather than recording expensive albums at professional studios and essentially flushing money down the toilet. So, it just makes sense to reflect back on how much has happened between each Road Rally, as so much can change in a year.

This is my 7th year aggressively pursuing production music. And it's my 2nd year of doing it as my full-time job.

The biggest music news first: I'm fresh off receiving my biggest ASCAP royalty check to date. This one eclipsed my previous record by over two thousand dollars. I'll refrain from mentioning how big it was in this public forum, but I'll be happy to share that info with anyone at the Road Rally. I won't be cracking into that elusive six-figure club populated by the likes of Chuck Henry and Stephen Baird THIS year, but it's closer than I've ever been in my entire professional life. In fact, I might send in my early-bird membership card in hopes that I get into that club next year.

Oddly enough, it was Chuck and Stephen who were my early inspiration for doing all of this. Their Taxi TV episode back in 2013 was monumental for a newbie like myself, and it gave me the drive and motivation to keep going and keep chasing that pot of gold while ignoring the people who made light of their small royalty checks as being "just enough to buy a Big Mac".

In terms of quantity, this year was actually LESS productive than last year for me. I had a lot of things come up since August that have set me back considerably, and have kept me out of the studio. Some of them have been fun (two long vacations, including a cruise with Chuck Henry); others have been maddening (Baby Mama drama and the ensuring custody court battles); and others have just been sickening (losing two hard drives full of music, loops, and programs... without having backups of them). This will be the first year that I miss the goals that I set for myself on January 1. It took me a while to be okay with that.

So, even though productivity went down, the money went up. And most of that money doesn't even account for the work I did in 2017. This is all residual income from stuff made in 2016 - two years ago - and earlier.

My TV show count is up to 236 programs (1,758 episodes). In some of these shows, I only have one single placement, but on most of them now I have 3-8 placements per show. I'd need another intern to run the numbers for me, but I'd say I probably average 5-6 placements on each new cue sheet that pops up into my ASCAP account now. My record so far is 13 placements on one episode of "Killer Kids". Second place is 12 placements on a single episode of the Kardashians.

I've got thousands of signed pieces of music "out there". Many of them have been alive in libraries long enough now that they've seen action on multiple shows. The multiplying effect - call it "compound interest" in the musical sense - is giving me an idea how much longevity and money a single piece of music can make over its lifetime. And the results are spectacular. Granted, for every track that churns out a ton of revenue and gets placed in multiple shows, there's two pieces of music that have remained dormant and haven't generated a single penny. I suppose that's the Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) in full effect.

Bottom line for those just getting started - or for those who just need an extra shot of motivation - is that the money is there. And it's GREAT money. And even better, it's attainable to anyone willing to put in the work. Trust me on that.

I can't wait to see all of my Taxi Family in about 10 days. The friendships that I've made via Taxi are some of the friendships that I treasure most in my life. To have a network of amazing musicians that I can call true friends is one of the best parts of this life, and is an undersold benefit of a Taxi membership.

See you all soon!

Oh, for funsies, here's a look back at my previous annual updates. Kinda fun to read back on these, haha. It's like looking back through a diary.

Year 6 (2017): post538532.html#p538532
Year 5 (2016): post520682.html#p520682
Year 4 (2015): post495219.html#p495219

~~Matt

[funsongs]

"Cheers!"
(edit: no, sorry, Professor Matt - that report definitely deserves a big...)
"CHEERS!"

[WeWillWriteUaSong]

You're MY inspiration brother. Can't wait to bust it up and celebrate at the Rally! Congrats on all your well deserved success

[ttully]

Hey Matt,


Very inspiring....congratulations!


Tim

[Unstar]

Congratulations.. Now i have to read all 7 years

-Vic

[SteveBaruah]

That's awesome, Matt!! Big congrats!
You are a big inspiration.

This info really helps me to keep at it. Knowing that........This is all residual income from stuff made in 2016 - two years ago - and earlier....is really good to know.
So I really should be waiting two years to see if my signed cues are getting placements or not.

Plus, Second place is 12 placements on a single episode of the Kardashians... that's just insane!!

Well done, mate! I hope to buy you a beer at the Rally sometime.

[johnnyrowing]

Thanks for sharing man. Let's hope 2019 is the year you crack that next tax bracket. At least you will know you can write off your new hard-drives as a deductible business expense. See you at the Rally.

[VanderBoegh]

Thanks gents! It's been a helluva fun journey so far, and I still feel like it's just getting started. The sky is the limit, really... it just depends on how much you want to work, how hard you want to push yourself, and how much of your heart & soul you want to pour into it. And hell, the real moral of this story is that if I can do it, ANYONE can, lol!!!!!

See you all at the Beer Station (aka, Westin Lounge) in a week!!!

~~Matt

[funsongs]

Let's hope 2019 is the year you crack that next tax bracket.

Me thinks you're onto a bit of new terminology: don't you mean TAXI bracket...? ...
The Professor's on that ride.
(meanwhile, at the back of the parade, I'm in like my 13th year of getting ready to hope to begin my 5-year plan...)

[dotted8]

Awesome! Pretty amazing, Matt! I was trying to think of an adjective other than "inspiring" since it has been used multiple times, but that word pretty much says it all! I can only imagine what your update will look like in another seven years...