Annual Update: YEAR 8

[VanderBoegh]

Wow, it's been nearly eight full years since I came home from my first Road Rally and decided to pursue making music for TV as a money-making endeavor. I've been posting these "annual updates" for the past 4-5 years right before the Rally, since it was a fateful Road Rally attendance by Yours Truly back in 2011 that inspired me to do this. Funny what one little weekend can do to a person's life and future!

Though this is my 8th year on the path, it was my third year of doing this as a full-time job. With one international royalty check still to come in, this will be my most profitable year yet. Sadly, I didn't crest the six-figure mark like I'd hoped (drat!), but I'll have come pretty damn close. Hopefully NEXT year is the one that sends me into $100K+ territory.

I had a lot of highlights this year, both musically and personally. Some of these gave me extra motivation, and some of them took me away from the studio for long periods of time.

I crested this mark last year, but it's so monumental that it's worth repeating again: I've landed over 10,000 placements on various TV shows throughout my career. This year has so far brought me an increase of 590 episodes on 62 new shows. How many unique placements is that in total for this year?? Hell if I know..... I'd need another intern to sift through those cue sheets to count 'em up. I'd guess it's probably around 1,500-2,000 though.

I landed four high-profile syncs recently, which will pay some nice upfront money.

Last January, I was asked to make music for the Super Bowl. Marcus Cohen and I made a whirlwind song that kicks all sorts of ass, but wasn't actually used during the game (bummer!), but has since been used on college basketball and 2019 NFL games (yay!).

In March, I resigned from ASCAP and joined BMI, which took effect on July 1. We'll see how this plays out. I'm crossing my fingers that there's no funny business on ASCAP's end like there recently was with hit country songwriter Shane McAnally (https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ ... ed-states/). I'm a bit nervous about the repercussions now. ASCAP still represents over 3,500 tracks of mine. If they pull any shenanigans with those royalties, it'll hurt. But I won't know about any of that until this time next year.

The biggest news this year is that I was awarded sole physical custody over my 4.5 year old daughter back in early August. Ever since then, my time in the studio has pretty much ground to a screeching halt. Raising a little person as a single parent is so time-consuming that it doesn't leave much extra time for anything else. I'm squeezing work into the cracks now, but I've come to terms with the fact that my daughter's upbringing is more important than music production, and until she starts kindergarten (next year), my focus will remain on her. Which means my output is now little more than "snail's pace", where it used to be "prolific". What used to be an average of 10 tracks per week is now 2 if I'm lucky. At first it was frustrating, but now I've embraced it. My daughter won't be little forever, so I'm just gonna enjoy it while I can. Besides, what other job will allow a person to focus on child-raising and take months off of work while a nice income continues to roll into the mailbox?

Sidenote: the sole custody I have right now is just a temporary custody order. The full trial is scheduled to take place on November 14... the Thursday after the Road Rally. I'll happily accept any well-wishes, good luck's, and good vibes you all can offer when we're down in LA!

Other news, if you happened to see the TAXI TV where Michael came out to my studio in Idaho, well, that studio is about to sing its final swan song. On November 18 (one week after the Road Rally concludes, and three days after my custody trial), I'll be moving. Same town outside of Boise Idaho, but a bigger house and better neighborhood. It's an 800 sq. ft. upgrade in space, will have an amazing upstairs studio area, and has a community swimming pool which my daughter is beyond thrilled about.

Suffice it to say, I once again thank TAXI for ALL of this (well, except the custody decision, lol). The forwards that have led to deals that have resulted in thousands of track signings and even more thousands of placements are ALL the result of Taxi in some form or another. Listings, the Road Rally, these Forums.... all of it has paved the way for this income stream and lifestyle. It's allowed me to work from home for these past three years, pay about $30K in legal fees without going broke or resorting to credit cards, concentrate on raising my daughter, and now affording me the ability to upgrade my house. I can't think of many other professions that give so many fringe benefits like these. And TAXI has made it all possible for me.

So, to Michael Laskow and all my homies who I've collaborated with this past year, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I couldn't have done any of this without all of you.

See you guys in LA!

~~Matt

[cassmcentee]

+1 Matt!
Thanks for sharing!

[lesmac]

Congratulations on all of your success born of hard work Matt.
Congrats on having your priorities in the right order too.

[ResonantTone]

As a fellow dad, I feel your pain about the productivity side.. but it sounds like your making smart decisions on how you’re approaching it, Matt. Enjoy every moment with your daughter. I’ll be pulling for ya that everything goes well on the 14th!

Those numbers are absolutely insane btw.. and the super bowl request is mind boggling as well. Congrats on all your success, and thanks for sharing such a great yearly recap.

See ya at the rally!

Andrew

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks for sharing your annual update. It is always encouraging to read your progress report. We'll be praying for a positive outcome from the custody hearing.

[elser]

You are an inspiration, on many levels. Good vibes!

[jaywilliams]

hey Matt thanks for sharing your successes with us just starting this journey!

I'm old enough and perhaps cynical enough to recognize that you are an outlier as not many of us have the golden combination of natural talent, strong work ethic, and good old fashioned tenacity to accomplish what you have accomplished.

Even so, it shows that in a very real sense this world of music licensing is a meritocracy - do the work, treat people well, keep improving your skills, and sooner or later success will follow.

Maybe not MVB level of success but I for one am fine with that.

Thanks again and see you at the Rally!

Jay

[superkons]

Cheers for the update, Matt, and I do hope the temporary custody will smoothly become a permanent one! Your daughter definitely is your best success in life ever

See you in a week!

[YellowStudio]

Amazing and fantastic journey you've made!

[BMiller]

Matt,
Thanks for the update! It's always great to hear success stories to keep us aspiring musicians focused! Good luck on the 14th! Being a teacher myself, I know how important it is for kids to have a good role model in their life. Kudos to you! And congrats on the new house/studio space!


Brad