(newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

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hammerstreet
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(newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by hammerstreet » Fri Sep 11, 2020 1:59 am

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie and so I'm sorry if this question has been asked before. I did try searching in the forums and I couldn't find my question. It seems simple, but I'm not sure what to do (if anything).

My song was forwarded (yay!) for ticket S200623CD, which was one of the Instrumentals For COVID-19 Pandemic Projects tickets. The feedback was good, the certificate looks nice, but now I don't know what to do.

I've been trying to listen to the Taxi podcast in my free time and there's a lot of talk about contacting libraries directly. But the name of the library still hasn't been revealed to me. So do I contact anyone? Do I let them know I'm interested in doing business together? Do I just wait for them to contact me?

I joined Taxi in 2016 and I had 7 songs forwarded that year. I only ever heard back from one library.

Is this common? Perhaps this may come off as naiive, but it's diminishing the value I put in getting a song forwarded. It's a little deflating to get ones hopes up after getting their song forwarded and then to just never hear anything back, not even a rejection from the library, not even a year later. I know they're busy, sure, but it seems as though Taxi has helped them by sorting through lots of songs to find only the best ones. A copy-paste form email might be nice.

Which brings me back to my original question: Am I simply doing this all wrong? Am I missing a step where I need to go out there and email the library?? My polite email writing skills are polished, I'm ready to email a library respectfully. I just can't help feeling like I'm missing a huge step in the process of getting into the music licensing industry via Taxi.

Thanks for any help. Sorry again if this is a repeat question.

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Fri Sep 11, 2020 1:52 pm

hammerstreet wrote:
Fri Sep 11, 2020 1:59 am
Which brings me back to my original question: Am I simply doing this all wrong? Am I missing a step where I need to go out there and email the library??
Well done on your forward.

No you're not missing a step or being naive - It's simply how it works. The Library will get all the music that was forwarded ( you can see how many other tracks were forwarded and listen to many of them on the Forwards Blog ) and they will listen to them and if they hear anything they would like to sign into their catalogue they will be in touch.

Now most of the time you're never going to hear back, and it's bad form to go contacting the Libraries yourself ( they just don't have time ) which is why the actual company name is no longer on the certificates.

There's no way of telling how many forwards it will take before one of them gets in touch , for me it was between 20-30 forwards each time. I've read recently of someone who got contacted after just one forward and signed some music right off the bat.

So the best thing to do is keep writing, keep honing your skills because the more irresistible you can make the music , the better chance you have of being contacted.

Mark

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by hammerstreet » Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:02 am

Thanks Mark. Good to know I wasn't missing a step. I really appreciate you taking the time to write such a thoughtful reply.

Ok, back to writing more music!

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by cosmicdolphin » Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:53 am

hammerstreet wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 2:02 am
Ok, back to writing more music!
Write - Submit Forget - Repeat !

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by Telefunkin » Wed Sep 16, 2020 12:12 pm

.....but there is one thing you should do just in case this or any others library gets in touch and wants to offer you a contract. That is to make sure you have PRO membership (e.g. BMI or ASCAP if in the US). If that's already in place then you're ready. If not, it'd be a good idea to sort it out now because PRO details will be needed for typical library contracts so that royalties can find their way back to you.

Another thing you might do is to have one or more similar tracks ready. Then if the library does get back to you, you can offer them some more similar material, and potentially turn the one forward into a multi-track signing. As cosmicdolphin says, not all forwards lead to signings (and far from it) but there's no harm in being prepared.

Good luck for a call-back.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by JohnDroese » Wed Sep 16, 2020 4:38 pm

Just make sure you entered your contact information in the metadata of your mp3/wave files if not there is a good chance they won't have your contact information when they get around to listening to your track.....
what you should do after a forward is the same thing you should be doing every week.....shopping your stuff Taxi is only a tool to help you achieve your goals they don't do it for you.

Take 10 to 12 of your tracks definitely use the tracks that were forwarded as that is validation that they are the needed quality. create an album that fills a specific niche or scene like medical/investigative tension cues create a cover give it a catchy name like "finding the cure" or something and send it to a library.... Try to find a persons name not a generic submissions email..... Do a little research and investigating hell play your investigative tension cue while you are hunting....lol. How do you do this? find a library online I would start with a smaller boutique one why? you ask.... because I don't think your stuff is good enough for one of the mega conglomerate libraries? not at all..... because its easier to make a connection with a person at smaller library and this business is about connections.... Find the owner it's usually one or two people google until you find their work email tip #! use linkedin.... Ok so why did I have you compile your 10 to 12 best tracks in the same genre create an album cover.... come up with a cool descriptive name... and post it on your website or soundcloud? Because that is less work for them to do... you just scored huge brownie points.... Now research the library know who their clients are.... Do they even need tension cues? listen to some uf the tracks in their library is your stuff on par? recoding quality? mastering? Next send the email.....introduce yourself by name... If you are an artist state that but otherwise they don't care about your background not at this point.... Ask how they are doing? say you have seen some of their placements and you have some music that you hopes can serve their clients needs? DO NOT say how great you are and how perfect your music is for a particular show etc. etc. Next tell them you know they are busy because trust me they are all busy....Thank them for their time in advance post a link to your album.....do not send a file.... Put your contact information.....Hit send!! Wait two weeks if you have not heard back.... take your original email and forward it back to them say " I'm not sure you received this I know how spam grabs some e-mails" reiterate how you think your music can help serve their clients and re-send waitt one week if you haven't heard from them move to the next library. If they do respond start to build a relationship with them but that is a story for another day....lol
Sorry for the rambl

Best of Luck
John

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by elisalzman » Wed Dec 22, 2021 10:28 am

"Just make sure you entered your contact information in the metadata of your mp3/wave files if not there is a good chance they won't have your contact information when they get around to listening to your track....."

uhhhh.....how could that be true? I just had my very first track forwarded, so I"m reading this thread, and then you say this. So I call Taxi, and they say this is absolutely false. Of course they send your contact info along with the forwarded track. I mean how could TAXI still exist with a paid membership if they didn't perform all of the services you are paying for?? Although I can see how adding that metadata is a good practice in general as an extra insurance, I think you may be unnecessarily freaking out the newbies with what is more likely just an extra very cautious pro tip....which I still appreciate....but man you gave me a little heart attack!! :D :D

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by Casey H » Wed Dec 22, 2021 7:29 pm

elisalzman wrote:
Wed Dec 22, 2021 10:28 am
"Just make sure you entered your contact information in the metadata of your mp3/wave files if not there is a good chance they won't have your contact information when they get around to listening to your track....."
uhhhh.....how could that be true? I just had my very first track forwarded, so I"m reading this thread, and then you say this. So I call Taxi, and they say this is absolutely false. Of course they send your contact info along with the forwarded track. I mean how could TAXI still exist with a paid membership if they didn't perform all of the services you are paying for?? Although I can see how adding that metadata is a good practice in general as an extra insurance, I think you may be unnecessarily freaking out the newbies with what is more likely just an extra very cautious pro tip....which I still appreciate....but man you gave me a little heart attack!! :D :D
Yes, Taxi sends all your contact info. Don't worry about what happened before, no panic needed. However, it is good practice whenever you send an mp3 file anywhere, including uploading to sites like Taxi. to put basic metadata in your mp3 file-- song title, your name, your email address, your phone number. That way, in the unlikely event the file every accidentally gets separated from other information, it is safely in the file. Note that wav files do not reliably hold metadata. Mp3 and aif/aiff formats do. So if you are uploading mp3 or aif/aiff, definitely tag the files.

Good luckl!
:D Casey

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by Casey H » Wed Dec 22, 2021 7:37 pm

JohnDroese wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 4:38 pm
Just make sure you entered your contact information in the metadata of your mp3/wave files if not there is a good chance they won't have your contact information when they get around to listening to your track.....
what you should do after a forward is the same thing you should be doing every week.....shopping your stuff Taxi is only a tool to help you achieve your goals they don't do it for you.
While you are correct, we should have basic contact info in our mp3 files, it incorrect to say there is a GOOD CHANCE they won't have your contact information when they get around to listening to your track if it was a forward by Taxi. Taxi does a good job sending the info and is readily available if a client has a question about the artist. It CAN happen that a music file gets separated form the information and that's why we should always tag our files. But to say it's a frequent occurrence with Taxi forwards/clients is wrong.

But yes, tag your files with basics-- song title, your name, your email, your phone number.

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Re: (newbie here) My song got forwarded... now what do I do?

Post by JannieM » Sat Feb 19, 2022 11:13 am

Just a thought - it is better to have contact information provided twice, rather than not at all - just in case one contact iteration gets lost in the cloud - especially if you are sending your work to a specific library (not through Taxi).

Back on topic: Way2 go hammerstreet! Hope you keep the 'forward' movement and hear back from those libraries soon. In the meantime, as the saying goes "Write - Submit - Forget - Repeat". And, 'rewrite' could also be added to that list when necessary. imho
Jan
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