25 forwards, 0 deals

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Paulie
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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by Paulie » Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:56 pm

Yes, this is common, especially as the market gets more and more competitive. Michael has addressed this a few times omniscience's Taxi TV. Often libraries are working with fast deadlines and sometimes they pick music before they even have a chance to listen to the forwards Taxi sends them. Sometimes they go with a writer they already know because they don't want to have to wait for the paperwork or composer on-boarding process to run its course. And sometimes what the screeners forward is not exactly what the customer wants. One thing I have definitely learned the past couple of years is that a surprising number of library owners are not really good at describing what they want. They KNOW what they want, but they can't put it into words, so Michael's team has to do its best to decipher what the customer asked for. Again, it's a very subjective business.

Over a period of three years I submitted 470 tracks, 130 were forwarded (28%). Of those 130 I received 3 library contacts. So, I was averaging one contact for every 43 forwards. I've got 48 tracks spread across those three libraries now. And, I estimate that at least half, if not two-thirds of my returns are now in libraries. Listings get you writing, and that's never a bad thing! :)

Someone mentioned collaborations as a way to get into libraries, and I completely agree. Thanks to a couple of key collaborators I was able to get into well over ten other libraries. Collaborations are like any other human relationship,; they have their quirks and nuances. Some work out and others do not. There are some good threads here in the forums about collaborating.

Also, as someone else said, Taxi is not the only way to get your music into libraries. You can contact them directly. I've had success with this as well. When I hear music I like on a tv show, I watch the ending to find out where they got their music. It helps to record shows on your DVR so you can pause, because sometimes the credits go by way too fast. Then, find their web sites and look for any links having to do with submitting music. Libraries have their own processes, some will take unsolicited material (as long as you follow their directions), while others only take on new submissions during specific windows. Don't be afraid to reach out to them directly!

So, at the end of this lengthy response my main message is this: Do not despair! Keep going! Write Submit Forget Repeat!

Paulie
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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by regardner » Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:34 am

My numbers are similar to those of Fuzzbox, roughly 20 submissions and 1 forward. My forward occurred perhaps six weeks ago so it may not be fair to say I haven't been contacted by the library to which it was forwarded, but it is, nevertheless, accurate.

Experienced members have counseled me to "write, submit, forget, repeat," which is undoubtedly good advice, but I also have reached the same conclusion as DesireInpsires: Taxi should be only one tool in a composers arsenal, not the entire arsenal.

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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by carel11 » Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:02 pm

I have no deals, from a handful of forwards...
and while my percentage for forwards is rising, I am realizing I have soooooooo much to learn
and so many of you are so damn good too...
I'm just gonna write my ass off, and get a catalogue together
thanks for all the comments...especially desire
happy holidays
a little rock, a little roll, and a rather unfocused gaze
carl wurzbach

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https://soundcloud.com/carelw
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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by GuitarKit » Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:46 am

Yup that is very standard. As Michael says, this is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a game for the tenacious so Don't give up.
And try to enjoy the ride. If you are passionate about music, you won't be able to stop anyway.
Learn as much as you can from these forums and screener comments. Own your mistakes so you can change them. I hope success comes your way. All the best.

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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by minoruchan » Mon Dec 24, 2018 9:26 pm

wendyloomis wrote:
Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:02 pm
Greetings - Over time I have had 25 Taxi forwards for instrumental compositions, but have not had any contact after the forward. Anyone else in a similar situation? If so, would love to hear from you. Thanks.
Hi Wendy,

I hope your forwards will lead to some deals.

I do instrumenral compositions as well. My first deal came the second year of Taxi membership. That came from 12th and 13th forward.
They took the tracks, The second deal was from 20th forward of the year. that took 9 tracks from a forward.
the third deal came soon from the second deal, the beginning of the third year.that year was around 25forward maybe.
My 4th year had around 40 forwards though I don't remember well. I had no deal in the year.
last year (5th year) had 68 forwards and one deal with UK library.

This year I got a couple of deals from 38 taxi forwards. One is in March, a FL based library accepted three taxi forwards and
took more than 100 tracks of mine. 11 jazz tracks are digital released by a UK label and a couple of ambient tracks are released by
another label in India having Yoga networks through the FL based Library.
The another deal came in August from another taxi forward. The library didn't take through the forward ,They start sometimes request tracks and a few tracks were taken so far.
I `m makeing tracks for them in these days.

I think deal like ketchup. It comes at any moment. though I have no idea what I should say in English.
Just like goals of soccer games. Taxi forward is like a shoot. so when you shoot , it will come.

Shoot a goal!!

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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by stansongman » Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:10 am

It took me a good while before I was ever contacted by a library, but once they did contact me, they wanted to hear everything I had, and took a lot of it all at once. It will happen for you if you are at a point where you are seeing a good ratio of forwards to submissions, just keep going! When you do get signed to a library, ask to get on their custom request mailing list. Then you'll be able to submit directly for shows they are working on. Turnaround time is key there, because they usually only have a matter of weeks to get all the music to the post-production team.

These days I try to balance submitting to new Taxi listings so I can expand my reach as well as for direct-to-supervisor/agency pitches, with submissions for custom requests. The custom requests are a priority, since I want to stay engaged with the library, and has the most immediate potential for placements.

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Re: 25 forwards, 0 deals

Post by jdstamper » Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:56 pm

Comparing numbers is kind of meaningless, but we all do it anyway, must be human nature.

There's a certain amount of luck involved, and of course the quality of the music matters a lot. One instrumental may be much more versatile than another, even if both get forwards.

But you only need to get lucky once to open the door to many future deals and placements with that library. You may get lucky much sooner or much later, regardless of how many forwards you have.

Best of luck to everyone in 2019 .... :cry: :arrow: :D
Jim Stamper
Production Music ... from Underscore to Overdrive
https://www.taxi.com/members/jimstamper

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