Seven Year Update

Did you get a deal through TAXI? Lets hear about it!

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Susanstunes
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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by Susanstunes » Fri Dec 09, 2022 12:43 pm


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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by SubRivers » Fri Dec 09, 2022 5:56 pm

Doh! Was running you close on income over the same period from my first library deal in 2016 up to 2021 then you just obliterate it in 2022 :)
Congratulations on the acceleration as it bodes well.

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cosmicdolphin
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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sat Dec 10, 2022 3:08 am

SubRivers wrote:
Fri Dec 09, 2022 5:56 pm
Doh! Was running you close on income over the same period from my first library deal in 2016 up to 2021 then you just obliterate it in 2022 :)
Congratulations on the acceleration as it bodes well.
Thanks ! Yeah, at least you know why it's happened, one library has lit a fuse - now I just need a few more of those :shock:

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by CTWF » Sat Dec 10, 2022 5:43 am

Congrats, Mark. Happy to see you're making progress!

I concur 100% with Mark on getting into the right libraries. End of last year I got into the same extremely good library as him, had several tracks accepted, and (for mini-me) many placements since then. Yupp, I am that guy who spends (and has spent) zero money on VIs and plugins. :lol: :roll:

Anyway, here another take on Mark's stats (I sometimes solve his maths problems over at Discord :mrgreen: ):
571 cues, 421 placements.
That averages $9.67 per cue and $13.12 per placement.
Also, 0.74 placements per cue.

Now everyone can ask themselves:
How many cues do you have in libraries? I assume most/all of the 571 of Mark are in libraries.
How many placements do you have?
How many hours do you need to produce the average cue?

That is why some can only look at this as a hobby. Now, the bragging rights from having your music played on national TV? Invaluable! :D
https://soundcloud.com/ctwf --> 0|°_°|0 <-- I am a producer/composer with TV & radio placements around the globe. -- Music is the mathematical transmitter of human emotions.

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cosmicdolphin
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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sat Dec 10, 2022 6:08 am

CTWF wrote:
Sat Dec 10, 2022 5:43 am
Now everyone can ask themselves:
How many cues do you have in libraries? I assume most/all of the 571 of Mark are in libraries.
How many placements do you have?
How many hours do you need to produce the average cue? That is why some can only look at this as a hobby.
Yes they are almost all in Libraries bar a few. But I think the point is not to focus on MY numbers because everbody's path is different.

There's a guy over at 52 cues who made his first production Music Album...a library signed it , and over several months he's had in excess of 200 placements ...from a dozen tracks. Something that has taken me 500+ tracks & 7yrs

You just can't compare. Did he have some luck ? Sure, probably more luck than me. But he also made a really really great album full of licensable music - and that doesn't happen by luck.

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by Telefunkin » Sat Dec 10, 2022 7:10 am

CTWF wrote:
Sat Dec 10, 2022 5:43 am
Now everyone can ask themselves:
How many cues do you have in libraries? I assume most/all of the 571 of Mark are in libraries.
How many placements do you have?
How many hours do you need to produce the average cue?
......but precise answers to all those questions are irrelevant other than to satisfy curiosity or provide some general directional guide. No two people are the same or follow the same path, and all answer sets are unique. You might also ask - How good is your sync production? What genres? What libraries are you in? Are they the right libraries for you? How good are they at placing your genres? In what shows? Streaming networks, 2am on a cable channel, or prime time on a major network? etc, etc.....

The questions are all asked here, and they produce another set of entirely unique answers for a talented musician who paved a lot of the way for himself many years ago......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctsdb5OkcfI
... but the best we can all do is interpret the answers so they suit our own circumstances NOW and use that to provide some general guidance for ourselves.
Graham (UK). Still composing a little faster than decomposing, and 100% HI.

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by Casey H » Sat Dec 10, 2022 9:30 am

This is a great discussion and Keith's video is awesome. I know him a long time, he's a terrific, talented guy.

I think what we're seeing is how challenging and how much hard work, strategically planned, is needed to make significant income from Film/TV music. The definition of "significant" varies from person to person. Some want a really good supplement to their normal income (e.g. maybe get to 5 figures) while others want it to be come a full time income (Close or above 6 figures).

My observation over many years has been it takes thousands of instrumental cues in good libraries getting placed on decent paying shows. While I'm a vocal song guy, I haven't come across anyone making that kind of money from vocal songs, at least not ALL vocal songs. There are exceptions, of course... always.

Graham hit the nail on the head: Sync-worthiness of the cues, match to the library's' clients, and so on. Hundreds of placements on lower paying cable shows are good but won't add up to a new (or used) car. They can be a part of the portfolio, but not all. However, tons of placements on Kardashians, Catfish, etc. add up to a lot. Those who actively studied the cues used on these shows, learned to crank out the right types of tracks, and connected with libraries that served these shows did well.

Another thing is it's gotta be harder today to get started than it was 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago (But not impossible! MVB came in pretty late to the game). Recent years have seen mega-saturation with libraries and available tracks. Budgets are being cut everywhere. And we still may be recovering from the Covid time of no TV production.

Lastly, I can't say enough about networking with other Taxi members here and at the rally. Build those relationships. Collaborate. Get introduced to more libraries by your co-writers. Get tips and tricks.

:D Casey

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by boinkeee2000 » Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:46 pm

congratz mark

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by Burnzy » Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:41 pm

Congrats!

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Re: Seven Year Update

Post by cosmicdolphin » Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:42 pm

boinkeee2000 wrote:
Sat Dec 10, 2022 2:46 pm
congratz mark
Thanks Man

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