On how many listings you submit your music during a year?

[cosmicdolphin]

Great video Mark. Could be me he is talking about in the video. So If I want to get more placements I have have to change the focus on some of my styles and the direction I want to go.

Yes, you need to perform more of a pivot than a complete U-turn.

If you're into deep House and Techno you sound like you are genuinely into electronic music, so the skills you've already learned should make it easier for you to transition across - Believe me, there will be folks trying their hand EDM Listings that don't understand it and come up with poor quality tracks because they have never lived it. I think that's where us Europeans have an advantage over the US as we have a more vibrant electronic music scene and culture. It's in our DNA. So try to make use of your natural competitive advantage. Good Luck.

Mark

[Paulie]

Most electronic listings are EDM and that’s not the style I do because EDM is a more commercial version of electronic music.

I'm curious, have you listened to the reference tracks provided for the various EDM/electronic listings that are sent out? Or, do you ignore them because you think your style is not EDM? EDM is as broad of a category as "Jazz", so be sure to listen to the references. Just because you enjoy writing ambient/chill stuff doesn't mean you can't write more energetic stuff. This comes down to supply and demand, and there is a lot of demand for more energetic or upbeat electronic music. Watch reality tv for any amount of time and you will hear a ton if it.

Paul

[Martijn]

Hi Paulie,

Yes I always listen to reference tracks if I might think it's something for me. But it's too far off most of the time. I've been thinking about it a lot lately but if I make music, it's from the heart I have to feel it. With most "commercial styles"not all ofcourse I just don't feel it. Problem is when I try to make EDM most of the time I think, no this is all wrong, nobody can like this because I don't feel it. So this is something I am strugling with.

Another thing Mark was talking about the (producing quality) yes that's no issue for me I am 100% confident I can do this but as I told musically it is the issue. So the only thing to overcome this is to work in a team where you constantly can give and get feedback.

Thanks agian for all the tips I just have to think what's the right direction for me.

[cosmicdolphin]

I've been thinking about it a lot lately but if I make music, it's from the heart I have to feel it.

https://youtu.be/SInaooqYOQk

[CTWF]

With most "commercial styles"not all ofcourse I just don't feel it. Problem is when I try to make EDM most of the time I think, no this is all wrong, nobody can like this because I don't feel it. So this is something I am strugling with.

If you have to force yourself to produce commercially viable music because you generally cannot stand it, then there are many more pleasant ways to earn a lot more money.

[cosmicdolphin]

If you have to force yourself to produce commercially viable music because you generally cannot stand it, then there are many more pleasant ways to earn a lot more money.

And funner ways to make music

[Martijn]

Nice video with some good but personal insights. But for me I strongly feel that I have to stand behind the product I am making. I feel that the music I am making is too niche for a Taxi membership. I cannot pay a yearly membership for 1 listing in a year.

[cosmicdolphin]

Nice video with some good but personal insights. But for me I strongly feel that I have to stand behind the product I am making. I feel that the music I am making is too niche for a Taxi membership. I cannot pay a yearly membership for 1 listing in a year.

I agree , if you feel only want to make the music do now and the demand in Sync for it is quite low then Taxi is probably not the best fit.

Writing for Sync requires a certain mindset and possibly skillset. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of most of the genres I've had success with but I've enjoyed the challenge of learning how to make them am proud of the placements I've had which are approaching 300 now. About 80% of those are in genres I knew nothing about before I joined Taxi but if you can produce one genre well then a lot of the skills are transferable.

Then there are the genres I discovered along the way that I realy liked but hadn't thought about writing i.e I got into Cliff Martinez , Trent Reznor, Atticuss Ross, Mac Qualye as a result of writing for Taxi listings.

Whilst I think Taxi's Listings are a pretty good barometer of what Libaries are requesting , you could also go on websites of well known libraries and see if they have music like yours. If they do then maybe compare how it stacks up against your tracks and how it's structured which is very different to what you might do for an artist release. And also compare how much of it there is compared to other styles as it will give an idea how much of a niche it is.

As Graham says there is nothing to stop you trying to fill a niche by approaching directly but you need to know the best approach and what they need in terms of deliverables.

Mark

[Martijn]

Great advice Graham, I was thinking the same and Mark great to hear it is working for you and you got so many placements. I will check out libraries with which would fit my style better. I might assume you did not get all the placements trough Taxi because honestly I am quite dissapointed about the amount of opportunities they have to offer and this is not only for the style I am doing. But I could be totally wrong and it's the same amount with all the licensing companies on an average.

[Paulie]

I might assume you did not get all the placements trough Taxi because honestly I am quite dissapointed about the amount of opportunities they have to offer and this is not only for the style I am doing.

I don't think you have the right mindset or focus for the tv sync business. You want to be an artist, doing things from your heart. I wonder how you would feel if you were given feedback from a library requesting changes... would you say "no, that's not how I feel it?"

Taxi offers hundreds, if not thousands of new music listings every year. To be "dissapointed about the amount of opportunities they have to offer" is an uninformed opinion. You are choosing to limit yourself for your art, that's not Taxi's problem or any music library's problem. I suggest you continue writing the music you love, focus on the best possible quality from a production perspective, build up a catalog of what you enjoy, and then self publish via Spotify, etc. This way you maintain complete control over your musical direction and you serve your personal goals. The music sync business is a business, composers in this business are delivering a product to a market, and success depends on supply and demand.

Best of luck.