Submission/Forward/Deal Statistics

[ResonantTone]

Question for those that have been around a while...

Is it common practice to track your submission/forward/deal ratio? If you do, would you mind sharing your statistics?

I'm sure it varies quite a bit, but I'd love to hear any statistics like this you may be proud of or find interesting. I'd love to be able to set my sights on something with a high bar, but that I at least know is attainable.

Thanks!
Andrew

[ttully]

Hey Andrew,

I know I posted this before somewhere....

Everyone is completely different...BUT
My first 160 forwards got me 23 deals with libraries or shows.
My latest 160 forwards have gotten me 1 deal.

My forward rate varies... but is around 70% forwarded.
Last year I had 59 Forwards from 84 submissions....


Tim

[ResonantTone]

Very interesting!

Thanks Tim!

Andrew

[ttully]

Hey Tom!

Knowing you....you will probably get 3 DEALS from them!!!


Tim

[cosmicdolphin]

Somewhere around 38 Forwards over 2 yrs from 120 submissions = 2 Library deals via Taxi plus several other deals by reaching out and cold calling myself

4 placements - from around 250 cues signed to the above.. All 4 placements came from the Taxi Libraries so far which accounts for approx half the cues ( royalties pending )

It's year 4 but it still feels like early days

[VanderBoegh]

Hey Andrew, you can track all this stuff until you're blue in the face, but comparing your ratios to other people's will be one of those apples-to-oranges things....

There's just so many variables that to compare forward-to-deal ratios with other people is wasted effort, and will probably just make you depressed.

For example, some listings result in a higher number of signings than others. In some cases, the listing-party is running a cattle call for composers or for a certain style of music a library wants to collect for future opportunities. In other cases, the listing-party is looking for one single song to use in a commercial. In both cases, let's say 50 tracks get forwarded.... The library might sign 10 of those because they just want to have more stuff in the catalog. In the case of the commercial, only one song gets picked, and the chosen track might not have even come from Taxi.

Lots more variables like that, that will affect these ratios.

If someone only submits to Dispatch library listings, they may get 7 deals out of 10 forwards (70% forward-to-deal ratio). Another member might only submit to big budget commercial listings, and get zero deals from 10 forwards (0% ratio). The difference is in the opportunities that were chosen to submit to.

~~Matt

[ResonantTone]

Thanks for all the input guys!


Matt - I totally get what you're saying. Without really knowing all those variables, it makes sense that it would just get depressing if you're just out to compare. On the other hand, I'm really curious about just learning what all those little variables are. Seems like the more info you have regarding what's causing the variation, the better shot you have at submitting to the most opportunistic listings.

Teach me, Senpai!

Andrew

[VanderBoegh]

In my experience, the best chance you have a getting a deal is through Dispatch music library listings. Look for stuff that says "Company is looking to beef up their catalog of ____ style of music. They need lots of this style!" When you see stuff like this, the chances of getting signed after a forward are high.

Compare that to the listings that say "Ad agency needs ____ type of song for a commercial. Budget is $100,000+". In these cases, only one piece of music is going to make it to the commercial, and you're gonna be up against the best of the best of the best. Even the big-time players like Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Sia, etc, aren't going to shy away from pitching music for something like this. So, the competition is much stiffer, and the fact that only one piece of music gets used means the chances of landing the spot are quite small. Not saying impossible, just small.

So, for anybody new who's starting out and just trying to build a resume of placements and get a handful of companies to sign them, the best route is submit to the general music library listings.

Then you can post about an 85% forward-to-deal ratio here in a year, haha.

Other experiences may vary!!

~~Matt

[ResonantTone]

Dude, you rock.

Thanks for the info!!!


Andrew

[RobertElse]

Great advice, Matt!
Robert