Yes, typically, we average about a Dispatch Listing per day, but they definitely come in bursts... not always linear. We're at the mercy of the industry's whims.
The reason some of the Dispatch listings run for longer periods of time is NOT that we're pulling them from regular listings. We sometimes get listings that don't fit on the deadlines of our publishing dates of the 1st and 15th of each month. So rather than pass on the listing altogether, we'll put it out as a Dispatch. In other words, if somebody gives us the listing on the 2nd of the month, and needs the music in their hands by the 10th, it falls between the cracks. I hope that makes sense.
As for our recent flurry of one-off listings going out to all members: there are two reasons; 1) We know from experience that these particular listings would draw VERY low submissions because of their genres/requirements, therefore, probably no forwards. We've begun working closely with some top music supervisors and ad agencies and we REALLY want to impress them with how quickly we can find great music. In order to insure that we DO find great music, we've had to put those out to the masses. And honestly, we didn't expect so MANY listings so quickly, but we're happy to have that problem
BTW, our guy in NY said after getting our first batch of quick turnaround forwards, "Can you always do that?" I was happy to respond, "Why yes, yes we CAN." He was really impressed when we sent him the second batch that also blew his socks off. The bad thing about ad agencies is that they always tell you they need it by tomorrow, then take weeks to decide
2) The other reason we are sending some of the quick turnaround things out to all members is that we are once again testing yet another email provider... or should I say, they are testing US! When you have a list the size of ours, you are required to go through some fairly rigorous list testing, in which we need to meet certain deliverability/bounce rate specs. Rather than sending out blank or other meaningless emails, I made the call to test the services by sending out these quickies. All parties win.
So there you have it. No subterfuge, just a collision of circumstances.
Moving forward, we're not entirely sure how we're going to deal with quick turns that we know we won't get large enough batches in for. We know that singer/songwriters don't often join Dispatch, but that's what's being asked for at the moment. We also have expenses that we incur when we do quickies. we have one staff member mostly dedicated to Dispatch and as is the case this week, there will be night time screening. And to add to all this, we have some new plans in the works for a different delivery method for ALL Industry listings, and that COULD include each listing being a one off. There are MANY factors for us to consider and more work to get done on 2.0 before we move forward with that.
Sorry for any confusion, and please feel free to spread the word on other TAXI Forum threads. We'd really appreciate the help, as right now our MAIN focus is on bringing you the best possible opps. As you've seen recently, our efforts are really beginning to pay off. We hope to keep increasing the number of Listings that give 100% to the writers/composers.
Frankly, you are now starting to see one of the biggest differences between TAXI and the companies who try to copy us. We're able to leverage relationships that most other companies don't have. In a perfect world, the day will come when nearly all of our listings will put 100% in your pockets. It's been a long time coming, but we ARE making real progress.
HTH,
Michael
