Happy BMI Day & 3 Year Recap/Update
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 8:25 pm
First off happy royalty payday to all my fellow BMI folks
This week also marks the end of my third year with TAXI, and things are really starting to take off. I always loved seeing people post about their journey when I first started and found it super inspiring, and I still do very much, so figured I would share a little bit of my journey in case this might do the same for some of you just starting out.
I don't have super specific numbers as I've shied away from tracking them so diligently, especially over the last year. I've been focusing more and more on daily habits and routines, not analyzing numbers so much and focusing on how far I still have to go, just taking it one day at a time. I find a lot more satisfaction focusing on the process of showing up every day rather than thinking where I need to be in x amount of years and all that. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely still have long term goals and am shooting to make the 5 year plan work, but I focus more on the daily habits that will get me there as opposed to spending all my time thinking about some point in the future. It's easy to take a day off when your goal is several years away. Not so easy when your goal is right now, on a daily basis.
Oh and something really cool that happened recently that I'm excited to share: I got a placement with the one and only Anna Yarbrough on The Ellen Show! Well sort of.. Ellen had Kris Jenner on the show, and as she introduced Kris, they played a clip from the Kardashians that happened to be a scene that used our cue, it was a good 30+ seconds if I remember correctly. So technically our music was on The Ellen Show, but it was via a clip of KUWTK. Not sure how that works in terms of royalties or if we'll even see anything.. but it was still cool to find out that our music was on the show.
Anyways.
2016: Year one
0 libraries/publishers
0 placements
Did not attend the Road Rally, but spent tons of time on the forums, watched Taxi TV very regularly, and made connections in the Taxi community. Got lots of returns and failed fast and often.
2017: Year two
2 libraries/pubs
2 placements
Attended my first Road Rally and met many of the people that I had begun building relationships with, continued with forums+Taxi TV, made more connections and continued to grow relationships.
2018: Year three
7 libraries/pubs
Somewhere around 80 placements (that I know of, but very well may have more than this as this is just from Tunesat and placements I caught live on TV). Most are in US Reality shows, about 20-25ish were foreign placements consisting of ads, promos, and foreign reality shows.
Got my 1st Royalty Check
Attended my second Road Rally and continued with forums+Taxi TV+connections etc.
Started to somewhat regularly see my music in the reference folders for various briefs from publishers and shows.
------------
I know these numbers don't tell the whole story, but as you can see - things don't happen in a linear fashion at all with this stuff. It's definitely exponential growth. If it weren't for this community I very well may have given up after year 2 or earlier, or at least slowed down quite a bit. However SO many Taxi members and vets told me to keep going and that it would pay off. SO many vets gave me priceless advice and encouragement. So many times in Taxi TV episodes and here on the forums I kept getting the messages we all hear. It takes time. Write, submit, forget, repeat. Marathon not a sprint. etc etc etc.
Also I want to stress the importance of the Road Rally - that was HUGE for me. Honestly it's too impactful to really get the point across in words. I kept reading how life changing it was, how great it was, this and that. I was like "yea, yea, yea..", and "Oh yea? Standing in line for 8+ hours is fun? And it'll be life changing?.. puh-lease!!" LOL. I knew it was going to be great, but I thought some of the hype was, well, just hype. But you know what? It's all true, and so much more. Seriously. Go to the Road Rally.
None of this to boast. Heck there are many other members' annual updates with stats that are way more impressive than mine, and far more inspiring - that's not the point. Point is - trust the process. It WORKS. It can be super frustrating. It can feel like things aren't going to happen. Just keep doing the work and follow the path so many members have laid out. Taxi TV + Forums + Road Rally. Write, submit, forget, repeat. Do the work.
Lastly to emphasize my point: I've been doing this on top of holding down a day job that I work overtime every single week at. A job that is often physically exhausting. If I can do this, you definitely can too.
Hope you all had a killer 2018 and have an even better 2019!!!
Only 287 days until the Rally!!
This week also marks the end of my third year with TAXI, and things are really starting to take off. I always loved seeing people post about their journey when I first started and found it super inspiring, and I still do very much, so figured I would share a little bit of my journey in case this might do the same for some of you just starting out.
I don't have super specific numbers as I've shied away from tracking them so diligently, especially over the last year. I've been focusing more and more on daily habits and routines, not analyzing numbers so much and focusing on how far I still have to go, just taking it one day at a time. I find a lot more satisfaction focusing on the process of showing up every day rather than thinking where I need to be in x amount of years and all that. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely still have long term goals and am shooting to make the 5 year plan work, but I focus more on the daily habits that will get me there as opposed to spending all my time thinking about some point in the future. It's easy to take a day off when your goal is several years away. Not so easy when your goal is right now, on a daily basis.
Oh and something really cool that happened recently that I'm excited to share: I got a placement with the one and only Anna Yarbrough on The Ellen Show! Well sort of.. Ellen had Kris Jenner on the show, and as she introduced Kris, they played a clip from the Kardashians that happened to be a scene that used our cue, it was a good 30+ seconds if I remember correctly. So technically our music was on The Ellen Show, but it was via a clip of KUWTK. Not sure how that works in terms of royalties or if we'll even see anything.. but it was still cool to find out that our music was on the show.
Anyways.
2016: Year one
0 libraries/publishers
0 placements
Did not attend the Road Rally, but spent tons of time on the forums, watched Taxi TV very regularly, and made connections in the Taxi community. Got lots of returns and failed fast and often.
2017: Year two
2 libraries/pubs
2 placements
Attended my first Road Rally and met many of the people that I had begun building relationships with, continued with forums+Taxi TV, made more connections and continued to grow relationships.
2018: Year three
7 libraries/pubs
Somewhere around 80 placements (that I know of, but very well may have more than this as this is just from Tunesat and placements I caught live on TV). Most are in US Reality shows, about 20-25ish were foreign placements consisting of ads, promos, and foreign reality shows.
Got my 1st Royalty Check
Attended my second Road Rally and continued with forums+Taxi TV+connections etc.
Started to somewhat regularly see my music in the reference folders for various briefs from publishers and shows.
------------
I know these numbers don't tell the whole story, but as you can see - things don't happen in a linear fashion at all with this stuff. It's definitely exponential growth. If it weren't for this community I very well may have given up after year 2 or earlier, or at least slowed down quite a bit. However SO many Taxi members and vets told me to keep going and that it would pay off. SO many vets gave me priceless advice and encouragement. So many times in Taxi TV episodes and here on the forums I kept getting the messages we all hear. It takes time. Write, submit, forget, repeat. Marathon not a sprint. etc etc etc.
Also I want to stress the importance of the Road Rally - that was HUGE for me. Honestly it's too impactful to really get the point across in words. I kept reading how life changing it was, how great it was, this and that. I was like "yea, yea, yea..", and "Oh yea? Standing in line for 8+ hours is fun? And it'll be life changing?.. puh-lease!!" LOL. I knew it was going to be great, but I thought some of the hype was, well, just hype. But you know what? It's all true, and so much more. Seriously. Go to the Road Rally.
None of this to boast. Heck there are many other members' annual updates with stats that are way more impressive than mine, and far more inspiring - that's not the point. Point is - trust the process. It WORKS. It can be super frustrating. It can feel like things aren't going to happen. Just keep doing the work and follow the path so many members have laid out. Taxi TV + Forums + Road Rally. Write, submit, forget, repeat. Do the work.
Lastly to emphasize my point: I've been doing this on top of holding down a day job that I work overtime every single week at. A job that is often physically exhausting. If I can do this, you definitely can too.
Hope you all had a killer 2018 and have an even better 2019!!!
Only 287 days until the Rally!!