Anyone heard from the $150 sync fee movie?

[Casey H]

Never scoff at a $150 sync indie film deal. Definitely the wrong attitude.

What is the average earnings in a lifetime for a track we place in a library? Like many, I have hundreds of tracks in libraries. Some get placed, many never. Lifetime earnings per song varies from $0, to pennies, to coffee money, to dinner money, to hundreds, and occasionally thousands. But doing the math, you'll see that $150 is not a bad number, especially when it's upfront/guaranteed as opposed to a trickle over 10 years.

Occasionally an indie film makes it big. I recently got a placement whereby the small indie company got bought out by a big one and now it will be distributed to movie theaters. While US writers don't get PRO on movie theater uses (don't ask, it just sucks), we do get paid for overseas theater play. And some will make it to streaming (Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, etc.) which can earn you more money. The one I just got may release a soundtrack album as well. More money for me. We can't expect this often, but the potential is there.

You have a realistic shot at landing that $150 deal whereas when a sync is in the many thousands, the competition is fierce beyond words involving major artists, publishers, lawyers, labels, etc. While some unknown artists like us do earn 10-20K sync deals, your odds are in the teeny weenies. An indie filmmaker doesn't have budget to go after those known artists and that is why they will look to companies like Taxi.

And finally, once you get a deal with that music supervisor, you've started a relationship for life that may gain you more placements. Who knows where that person's career will take them?

So, go after those $150 deals. There is no scoffing at Taxi.

Best,
Casey

[eeoo]

And to piggy back on what Casey said, I got an indie movie placement a few years back, upfront was like $200 or something. But I was able to negotiate a "step deal" whereby I got money when they reached certain attendance metrics, i forget the exact details of those attendance numbers but I think I ended up making about $1k. Not a lot but definitely better than $200. I would look at as a door opening with possibilities, the worst that can happen is you make $150.

[Casey H]

And to piggyback on the piggyback, eeoo mentioned earning $1000 on that placement. That's way more than the average earnings per library track in a lifetime.

[SubRivers]

And to piggy back on what Casey said, I got an indie movie placement a few years back, upfront was like $200 or something. But I was able to negotiate a "step deal" whereby I got money when they reached certain attendance metrics, i forget the exact details of those attendance numbers but I think I ended up making about $1k. Not a lot but definitely better than $200. I would look at as a door opening with possibilities, the worst that can happen is you make $150.

Sorry to go off topic but was that your track "song before I go" - I remember that one from some time ago and it stuck in my head since - great song.

[eeoo]

Sorry to go off topic but was that your track "song before I go" - I remember that one from some time ago and it stuck in my head since - great song.

Yes! Good memory, it was a long time ago. Glad you dug the tune, appreciate it!

[CsFire]

YES! if we are talking about the HipHop movie, then yes. 150$. Not much at all but still kind of cool. Signed contract last week.

[CsFire]

All very good points here. And exactly! The 150 $ is nothing but the relationship-connection i made now with the director is the win!

[Casey H]

YES! if we are talking about the HipHop movie **** *****, then yes. 150$. Not much at all but still kind of cool. Signed contract last week.

CONGRATS!!! Yes, the relationship is everything! You might not want to mention the name of the film yet here, unless you know it's OK with the director. Sometimes they prefer to keep it hush and prevent a barrage of phone calls and emails from over-eager music folks.

Best,
Casey