What exactly is this five year plan?

[fusilierb]

Hi all,
I've heard many times here people talking about their five year plan. You'd think that after a couple of years I'd have asked this before, but I saw it again today and realized, I have no idea what specifically this five year plan entails.

I'm about five months into my third year with Taxi. Year one, one forward, no deals. My plan at the time was just to figure out how to get forwarded.

Year two, many forwards and some deals. I'm now at a point where I have 65 pieces signed with 6 different libraries. So my current plan is to come up with a plan on how to keep this going and move closer to losing the day job. So maybe my current plan should be to figure out what this five year plan is and see where I'm at on that and get that thing on track.

Anyone want to share the specifics of what this five year plan is and how is all works?

Thanks!
B

[mazz]

At the end of 5 years, or sooner, there will be a point at which the money from music will be enough such that the day gig will no longer be necessary. That amount of money will be different for everyone.

So working back from that, let's say the you would like to have 500 pieces of music or more out there working for you and maybe also 3 or 4 CD commissions a year paying very decent up-front money to custom compose.

How many pieces of music do you need to write a year, a month, a week?

How many library relationships can you maintain and which libraries are getting the placements? How will you manage those relationships, time-wise, along with everything else? Will you hire an assistant at some point?

And so forth.

All of this can be mapped out on a calendar, spreadsheet, whatever. Then you'll know what you are going to be doing every day for the next 5 years and you work the plan. Of course, you'll have to adjust as you go, but it's like having a map when you're leaving on a road trip. If you decide to take a scenic route for a day or two, at least you still know your final destination and when you would like to arrive. If things slip or shift, at least you have a plan you can balance your decisions against.

Another name for this is "Business Plan".

That's about it for the thumbnail sketch, at least for my process.

HTH,

Mazz

[fusilierb]

Thanks mazz. I guess I already did have a vague version of this. Is there a place where I cann find out typical payments for placements? I have no idea what the ranges are. Making a good plan would require me to have a pretty good sense of that. Anyon know where that kind of info can be found?
B

[davewalton]

In a more general sense, it's also a way of getting better perspective in terms of "how we're doing". My original plan, the "8-month plan" was that I'd probably be seeing some money within 8 months of joining Taxi. Here's how that turned out...







The reason... my music just wasn't ready. So... once I started thinking more in terms of a 5-year plan, then the fact that at 8 months I wasn't yet seeing money... it wasn't so bad given that I wasn't even a fifth of the way on my journey. Around year 1.5 is where money started coming in (because my music had improved through Taxi critiques and the forum here), around year 3 or 4 where it picked up considerably. Some of that had to do with the fact that royalties take soooooo long to pay sometimes.

Anyway, many give up before the "miracle" happens (which I almost did). So I'm a big fan of long-term thinking and planning when it comes to the music biz.

[mazz]

Bryan,

I only know from my experience, which is mostly daytime TV and cable.

I've had placements pay as little as 1c for a rerun in the middle of the night all the way up to around 250.00. My HBO placement totaled about 250.00 for the first quarter that it played (I also got 50% of the sync fee). After that it steadily went down as the re-runs dwindled, the last statement was about 29.00 for over 1 minute on one or two reruns of True Blood.

For library music, you need a lot of music in the field and you need to continually feed the pipeline. My PRO statement is around 5 pages of placement listings, I've seen statements from another composer that were almost 100 pages!!! You can imagine the difference in the amount of the checks!!

But focusing on the big picture continually without a clear day to day plan can get very discouraging, so seeing the small victories and landmarks and how they add up over time is a good approach. Of course, keeping an eye on the prize is always there, but you have to do something every day, even if it's a little tiny thing, to know that you're making progress.

Basically we're planting seeds and watering them.

HTH,

Mazz

[crs7string]

Bryan,

I've come to the conclusion that the revenue stream we create with music for tv is basically this formula:

The # of tracks X the # of uses = $$$$

I think that the only part of this formula that we as composers have any control of is the number of tracks.

This is a quality and quantity proposition. Usually, as one increases quantity (doing more tracks) the quality with follow (or not)

If it is a "not", TAXI screeners will help one determine if the pursuit of bulding a vibrant catalog is even a possible reality.

In my opinion, a meaningful revenue stream most likely requires 300 to 400 quality tracks. How long it takes to get there is an individual path. If it take 8 years, so be it. If you can do it in 4, so be it.

Another key to this is developing enough relationships with libraries to have an immediate outlet for a publishing deal.
Again this is math. If you have 20 libraries and can provide 10 per year to each, that's signing 200 tracks per year. (nearly one per "working day" or 365 if you work everyday)


Over time this creates leverage and we all become Matt Hirt. (Matt's ahead of all of us by 7 to 10 years)



Chuck

[fusilierb]

In a more general sense, it's also a way of getting better perspective in terms of "how we're doing". My original plan, the "8-month plan" was that I'd probably be seeing some money within 8 months of joining Taxi. Here's how that turned out...







The reason... my music just wasn't ready. So... once I started thinking more in terms of a 5-year plan, then the fact that at 8 months I wasn't yet seeing money... it wasn't so bad given that I wasn't even a fifth of the way on my journey. Around year 1.5 is where money started coming in (because my music had improved through Taxi critiques and the forum here), around year 3 or 4 where it picked up considerably. Some of that had to do with the fact that royalties take soooooo long to pay sometimes.

Anyway, many give up before the "miracle" happens (which I almost did). So I'm a big fan of long-term thinking and planning when it comes to the music biz.

Dave, your easily one of my biggest source of inspiration for me here on the boards. Mainly because I know you got in part time, used Taxi wisely and have made the journey to full time. Huge congrats to you! So your living proof of what is possible. These numbers are not encouraging in the near term, but I can see how keeping at it can pay off in the long term.

I was going to write this music anyway, so I might as well be as focused about it as possible and keep submitting what I write. I have no problem with letting it take the time it needs, but its good to see that five years is a manageable amount of time if your work it.

Just curious. Was it placements that finally allowed you to go full time, or was it custom writing fees that came along as part of getting your relationships happening?

B

[fusilierb]

Bryan,

I only know from my experience, which is mostly daytime TV and cable.

I've had placements pay as little as 1c for a rerun in the middle of the night all the way up to around 250.00. My HBO placement totaled about 250.00 for the first quarter that it played (I also got 50% of the sync fee). After that it steadily went down as the re-runs dwindled, the last statement was about 29.00 for over 1 minute on one or two reruns of True Blood.

For library music, you need a lot of music in the field and you need to continually feed the pipeline. My PRO statement is around 5 pages of placement listings, I've seen statements from another composer that were almost 100 pages!!! You can imagine the difference in the amount of the checks!!

But focusing on the big picture continually without a clear day to day plan can get very discouraging, so seeing the small victories and landmarks and how they add up over time is a good approach. Of course, keeping an eye on the prize is always there, but you have to do something every day, even if it's a little tiny thing, to know that you're making progress.

Basically we're planting seeds and watering them.

HTH,

Mazz

That's both encouraging and not. I can see how this is going to be a trickle becoming a flood over some time. I have broken down some goals and that is one new piece a week, completely done. I can do that and that will give me 48 tracks this year. I'll probably do more, but I know I can at least do that much. But I want the 48 to really count and I don't mind spending the time to get them all to the next level. I can see that this is really going to be a long term strategy now. No problem, I need to concentrate on writing more than anything else this year anyhow.

You're another one that I'm convinced is very much on your way. I learn a lot from you and you push me here, which I need, and I'm confident that you're the next full timer from the folks I know around these boards. And very well deserved! So five years it is. Unless I can shave a couple off with some new strategies.
B

[fusilierb]

Bryan,

I've come to the conclusion that the revenue stream we create with music for tv is basically this formula:

The # of tracks X the # of uses = $$$$

I think that the only part of this formula that we as composers have any control of is the number of tracks.

This is a quality and quantity proposition. Usually, as one increases quantity (doing more tracks) the quality with follow (or not)

If it is a "not", TAXI screeners will help one determine if the pursuit of bulding a vibrant catalog is even a possible reality.

In my opinion, a meaningful revenue stream most likely requires 300 to 400 quality tracks. How long it takes to get there is an individual path. If it take 8 years, so be it. If you can do it in 4, so be it.

Another key to this is developing enough relationships with libraries to have an immediate outlet for a publishing deal.
Again this is math. If you have 20 libraries and can provide 10 per year to each, that's signing 200 tracks per year. (nearly one per "working day" or 365 if you work everyday)


Over time this creates leverage and we all become Matt Hirt. (Matt's ahead of all of us by 7 to 10 years)



Chuck

Yeah Matt is the reason I joined Taxi. Probably the reason a lot of folks did. I'm not so sure if I'm going to assign a year to this plan. I need to see what gets placed more than other things and figure out what is worth concentrating on. I think that this year is going to be a good indicator of all that for me.

I agree with the getting more relationships with libraries aspect. Seems like when you find the really good one's, there are more opportunities that come out of that. I guess this is going to be the year of figuring out what works in libraries and which one's work for me. Can't wait to find that out as I'm going to bombard them with music. That's my new, this year plan.

I'll evaluate the progress and make next years plan based off of all that.

Seems like the only thing the five year plan really helps with is an overall number of pieces to shoot for having done and signed in a five year period. I gonna shoot for a hundred and gladly take 75 or so, unless people start to pay. Then I'll write 12 hours a day gladly.

I don't need a ton of money to go full time. Time to get focused here.

Thanks,
B

[guscave]

At the end of 5 years, or sooner, there will be a point at which the money from music will be enough such that the day gig will no longer be necessary. That amount of money will be different for everyone.

So working back from that, let's say the you would like to have 500 pieces of music or more out there working for you and maybe also 3 or 4 CD commissions a year paying very decent up-front money to custom compose.

How many pieces of music do you need to write a year, a month, a week?

How many library relationships can you maintain and which libraries are getting the placements? How will you manage those relationships, time-wise, along with everything else? Will you hire an assistant at some point?

And so forth.

All of this can be mapped out on a calendar, spreadsheet, whatever. Then you'll know what you are going to be doing every day for the next 5 years and you work the plan. Of course, you'll have to adjust as you go, but it's like having a map when you're leaving on a road trip. If you decide to take a scenic route for a day or two, at least you still know your final destination and when you would like to arrive. If things slip or shift, at least you have a plan you can balance your decisions against.

Another name for this is "Business Plan".

That's about it for the thumbnail sketch, at least for my process.

HTH,

Mazz

Hi Mazz,
Thanks for the info. I was curious to know, when you say 500 pieces of music, are you also including in there cues or bumpers that may have come from a longer song or are you talking about full length songs only.

Thanks,