It's now just about the end of my 6th year of Sync Licensing so I thought it was time to post an update - If you would like to read my previous posts on the subject they can be found here:-
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4 Year Update : four-year-update-t144067.html?hilit=yea ... r%20update
5 Year Update : five-year-update-t147037.html?hilit=update
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Here is where I'm currently at :
2016 - 87 cues produced - 1 Library Deal - Total Earnings £0
2017 - 70 cues produced - 2 more Library Deals - Total Annual Earnings - £50
2018 - 88 cues produced - 2 more Library Deals - Total Annual Earnings - - £120
2019 - 50 cues produced - 2 more Library Deals - Total Annual Earnings - £720
2020 - 100 cues produced - 3 more Library Deals - Total Annual Earnings £ 700
2021 - 100 cues produced - No additional Libraries this year - Total Annual Earnings £598
10 Libraries in total ( I stopped trying for more as i felt that was enough )
So once again earnings have decreased for the 2nd year in a row and I actually made less in backend royalties in 2021 than than 2020 but more than in 2019 when that year's inome was boosted by some up front money.
So whilst this all looks a bit doom and gloom there is good news if we dig into the actual number of placements :
2016 - 1
2017 - 1
2018 - 8
2019 - 29
2020 - 21
2021 - 141
Total number of placements is now 201 from 486 cues. This is WAY up from my 2020 results when I'd had 50 from 380 cues.
So why such a huge leap in placements ? Well I've not suddenly cracked any special code and figured out some secret handshake to get stuff placed. Simply put..." It's the Library "
One of the publishers I joined towards the end of last year has been resposible for most of this year's placements and without them I'd still be somewhere between my 2019 & 2020 placement figures.
Whilst I won't be spilling names I can tell you that this is a bigger library than the others I've signed music to, with multple offices and about 30 staff who seem really efficient and easy to work with. Whilst I've enjoyed good realtionships with a couple of boutique libraries that seem well run by a small staff, some of the others I've encountered have left a lot to be desired. Lack of communication, unreleased albums , or multiple tracks signed for several years with zero placements.
So this library are like a breath of fresh air and their clients seem to like my music a lot more than some of the other libraries I am with. Maybe it's because they are based in Europe , as are most of their clients, as am I ? The back end royalties are still some way off, hopefully I'll have news in my 7yr update
It did get me thinking that maybe there is a more of an element of luck to this than I'd figured. If I'd gotten into this library a few years earlier where would I be at now ? Maybe the people that go on to do well are not only good at what they do but also land in a library that's a great fit for their music at an earlier stage ? IDK - maybe if any Taxi RR type superstars read this care to chime in it would shed some light on the matter as I think a lot of other people would have given up on sync licensing as a possible 2nd income by this stage, and whilst it's true I've gotten better over the years I didn't exactly suck to begin with either
Some firsts this time around include :-
A placement used as a theme for a month long show segment.
Running out of detections for the month on my free Tunesat Account
Teaching !... A couple of people asked me if could help them with their mix / production so I've done a couple of remixes and follow up Zoom calls to explain the process.
Getting banned from the official forum for my DAW for ( politely ) arguing with a moderator - before getting reinstated by the head Admin after continually circumventing their bans
I've not updated this in a while but some of my main placements are here if anyone wants to listen :
https://soundcloud.com/user-45178330/se ... al_sharing
Thanks as ever to my friends @Andygabrys ( stay safe this year Bro ! ) and @Telefunkin for putting up with me and screening all my music. To @helenrobertson who is not only very talented but has helped keep me on my toes too.
To @todddunnigan and Michelle of True Swans and @Mmichaelis -It was great to work with you guys this year
Here's to 2022
Mark
The link to your music doesn't work. Can you fix? One thing you definitely do is some work for hire productions for other Taxi members, if so inclined. If my math is correct, 598 British pounds is about $800 US dollars. That may not seem like much to some, but we have to remember how many people get into what we are doing and never earn a penny.
