Is TAXI Music Worth it? (Tips on Sync Licensing for Producers)

[@MusicalWizardryMarcoIannello]

I was a Taxi member for 2 years, which resulted in 2 deals with libraries I have a very healthy and great relationship with. However, before my membership ended, I had already started approaching libraries directly, because I though I had figured out the system. Well, it took me a while to actually understand the "direct approach", but eventually I have been able to get into a few more libraries by presenting myself to them directly. I too spent a lot of money on music submissions, but I did get education back, which ultimately I assimilated and now I can liaise directly with libraries and publishers, which of course requires more effort, and normally does not include feedback, if the music gets rejected

[@mkirbymusic]

Thank you for sharing that in the comments Marco. I pinned it so any non-believers can have a read in the future.

[@MusicalWizardryMarcoIannello]

@@mkirbymusic my pleasure. I too was a non-believer, actually, but ultimately I decided to give it a try, anyway. I think it is very important to reiterate that Taxi is not a priority lane to instantaneous success. Sure, very few can be very successful right off the bat, but that is not the norm. Understanding that is crucial

[@sultangod8686]

Thank you

[@NseeMusic]

So from your deal you get money only from PRO ? No got money from sync fee ? ( sync fee can b 2k$ +.. )​@@mkirbymusic

[@kirklandcole2904]

Okay......for anyone who will listen (and want to criticize), I'm going to touch on some things I've learned since I got into Sync Licensing a few years ago: First...when you get into Sync Licensing, you are in the TV/FILM INDUSTRY, NOT the music industry. People will think because they write music, they're in the MUSIC industry, but they're NOT. Second....when I see the money part explained, when you break it down, it's really not a lot (Well, to me it isn't). Without any "specials", in your first year you pay $300 to join, and let's say with fees and so on, you kick out $400 for the year (That's around $33 a month, and It would be nice if TAXI had a payment plan, because that would make things easier for people to join.) Personally, I pay $125/yr with the Audio Engineering Society, and $99/yr with the Production Music Association. That's $224 a year. I could easily cancel those memberships, and pay less, per year, with TAXI renewal fees ($200). And then if you add music submission fees and other fess to TAXI, that could amount to $100-$200 a year. I pay more than that with plug ins subscriptions. So it depends on the individual's finances, and what they're willing to risk. And if you're not satisfied....just cancel and take it as a life lesson learned. Third....people are going to praise and criticize things based on their experience and success. I graduated from Full Sail University, years ago. Since I graduated, I've had great success in the music, audio and tv/film industry. But I've seen, and read, where people criticize Full Sail and say it's.......a rip off and a scam, because they can't accomplish the success THEY dreamed of. With ANYTHING they set out to do, people are going to have different results and success. You just have to take your chances and live through your own experiences. You're going to get out what you put in. Nothing is guaranteed. Fourth.....Sync Licensing is a marathon. If you expect instant results....."fuggedabouddit". I'm just getting royalties from music i did 2-3-4- years ago.

[@mkirbymusic]

That was well articulated! And I agree with everything you said. There is a big disconnect with a lot of the younger generation about how investing in yourself works. Some people seem to think that when they spend money on a service or knowledge, that they are then entitled to getting results without doing the required work still.

[@Cuttaman100gran]

You did an amazing job explaining this! Thank you fareel 🙏🏾

[@mkirbymusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JuanQQuinones]

People complaining about taxi don’t realize that in todays sync licensing game there are probably more than 200 submissions per request. Or even more I’ve seen 600 submissions per request. So that means you have to compete with lots of great producers and sometimes more than 2 brains worked in a track. So you have to be extremely clever with your craft in order to cut the line getting placements quick. Once you learn how to produce at that level then you might be able to research and submit on your own to who ever you find on the web.

[@stevierico5934]

I like your honesty and humbleness

[@nathanmarshallmusic]

Thanks for the info. I'm currently working to get a few more pieces of gear n sample packs to begin trying to license music. I got a degree in music management/audio production mainly to understand the industry and to be able to record and release my music on my own. They warned us about pay to play and how we should always avoid it but when asked about Taxi they made it clear that the company was an exception to the rule. Taxi owner Michael Lasko is a genuinely decent person and as soon as I am ready to begin licensing music I plan to become a Taxi member as well. See ya in the forums.

[@mkirbymusic]

Thanks for sharing that!

[@anonymike8280]

I'm a beginner in songwriting. I picked up the interest, which had been dormant for decades, after a friend brought me to karaoke and group vocal class at the local senior center. My abilities as a vocalist are not good enough for performance although my voice as such is pretty good and could be autotuned for demo purposes. My level as an instrumentalist is intermediate beginner. However, I have a strong sense of chord progression due in part to a little guitar background earlier in my life. In songwriting, my strength is lyrics and stories. I consider and list my influences as Bob Dylan, the Beatles (Lennon and McCartney), and Oscar Hammerstein II. My present instrument is keyboard. I have several questions. The first one pertains to demos. Is it possible in the present songwriting market to make a simple demo (vocal, lead line and chords) and have a band or artist pick it up? I am getting the idea that bands and artists want to be provided with complete arrangements. I would think they would want to do their own arrangements and maybe even alter the chords progressions to suit themselves but maybe it doesn't work that way. What's the situation in the present market? My second question pertains to Bandlab, and it is pretty simple. Does Bandlab have any value as a marketing tool for songwriters? That is apart from its value as a DAW. I ask because Bandlab seems to be a site for promoting finished music. My third question is more in the realm of a beef or complaint. I am trying to learn how to use DAW programs. I understand the issue with these. They have to be designed to meet the needs of advanced users and furthermore the advanced users probably constitute the great majority of the customer base for both the free ones and the paid ones. I have not been able to get good information about how to use any of these. All of the videos I have found are heavy on explaining what you can do and fall short on explaining the details of how you do it in any particular program. Seriously, the basic idea is not hard to understand. You layer tracks. Nothing new about that. The question I have is, do you know of any source of concise instruction in how to use DAWs? Concise instruction means, explaining how you get the program to do what you are trying to do. I have gotten the furthest so far in Waveform and Bandlab. I should count Paul SImon as an influence too. As a writer, his powers of evocation have been off the charts throughout his career, but he is too much of a squeaky complainer. He should know, once you put creative work in front of the world, you cannot control what other people think it means. He seems to have a problem with that and I don't want to be mentally involved in having to push back against it.

[@martybaggenmusic]

Can you build your own house? Can you rebuild your vehicle? Can you be your own legal representative? Can you successfully submit material to a music supervisor? Sure.... but my house would fail inspection, my car wouldn't start, and I would lose my court case. The music submission stuff.... well, there's a pattern developing here.

[@0010303]

You should never pay to submit music. If you have managed to sign 10 tracks to a library through it you would have to have those tracks synced a lot to make back the money you spent submitting, it could take years if you are lucky. My advice, stay clear of pay to submit. There is a wealth of knowledge out there if you take the time to research it. Listen to what the top publishers are putting out, listen to what you are writing. Is your music hitting the same the production levels? Does your arrangement keep momentum in the same way etc. once you are getting to the same quality as the top libraries just submit music straight to them, I think you would be surprised how receptive they are. Your music just needs to be undeniably good.

[@Keithsings4food]

Can anyone speak to how much, in dollars, this amount of "success" brings in? Placements mean very little to me. I want numbers. What did you make last year from this service?

[@YoPaulieMusic]

Most people don't ever talk about what they receive, they only talk about their placements. I woujld say the overwhelming majority of people that are having "success" in sync are making less than $10k per quarter, probably most are making less than $5k. I've got friends that would be happy to get a $2500 royalty statement. There are always exceptions, people that land five-figure ad placements for example. But the industry is incredibly competitve and increasingly saturated. Tons of composers out there, but musical skill is just part of the equation. You need tohave basic business skills, know how to handle your inbox, have to be able to meet deadlines, and you have to be able to understand and accept constructive criticism and feedback. If you don't, please find something else to do. :)

[@ikonictaeofficial]

Great video. Love the honesty and unbiased position. Thank you.

[@mkirbymusic]

Thanks!

[@singingfedexmanjoshcampbel1614]

I’m an independent studio engineer who writes and releases his own albums every couple months The Josh Campbell Band on Spotify and iTunes.. Im wondering if dropping the $300 would be worth it for a guy like me with a very specific genre style

[@danhargrave1018]

Thanks for the informative video! Thumbs up! One thing I wish you had covered is you said "I made whole bunch of not licensable music". How do I know if my music is licensable? Googling that doesn't immediately give a clear answer.

[@mitchelledels9762]

How much money have you spent ? How much money have you earned?

[@mitchelledels9762]

Taxi is the best way to learn to write music! Just keep writing no matter how many songs you write

[@PattyRichardson1]

Thanks so much! 👍. Great video!!!!

[@mkirbymusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@mrsmithsmith8418]

Respectfully, DO NOT GIVE your money, in a "chance" to make money. $300.00 a year just for two placements that is wicked unreal... I get forwards for free all the time on top of placements. The only money out of your pocket as a songwriter/composer is if there is any commission from that company (the middle man as referenced in the video) for any successful placement from a music "deal" that they may be offering of their own clients. If your working with a publisher, sure they will get the publisher percentage from your performance rights organization of any extra royalties from that placement. Please don't fall for all of this. If your read and research around the internet you'll find music libraries / other that are looking for music from songwriters/composer with no out of pocket costs, it only really cost you your time and effort.

[@pauljordan6295]

Could you write some music libraries (free ) that in your opinion on your real experience work really good? Thank you Mr Smith!

[@gsmith31329]

Yea can you help us for free then lol would really appreciate it brother

[@sammybrank]

thank for been honest

[@mkirbymusic]

No problem! I know honesty is rare nowadays on KZbin LOL

[@boiboi8008]

So it seem like you have to wait a year for your music to get out their

[@mkirbymusic]

Yea if not more 😅

[@laluna5192]

I have a 10 song album...Rock Music.mostly with vocals.... HELP

[@Charliesan2315]

Would you say Taxi more for music artist or beat makers as well?

[@mkirbymusic]

It’s equally for both I’d say. You can check out the listings on the site and sign up for the daily emails each day to so you can get an idea of what requests for music there are. The key is just learning how to turn a beat into a licensable instrumental

[@thomascuevas9862]

Is taxi effective spanish songs?

[@nitalovly]

Thank you so much for this

[@mkirbymusic]

My pleasure. Glad it helped

[@rayericphillips]

Excellent!!

[@the.6pod]

Hi Chayse, Thank you so much for this information! I wanted to ask if we are eligible for this if we are a cover artist? Also, are we eligible even if we have our music already streaming through a distribution service such as Distrokid?

[@mkirbymusic]

I see a good amount of listings pop up for cover songs. Best thing to do would be to check out the current listings on their site and even sign up for the daily email with new listings

[@djcata7474]

Where's that dislike button?... There it is! PRAAAAISE THE TAXI.

[@rasamerlock4042]

🚕Respect to you!

[@bugamail]

Sync licensing 😅😅

[@lukesimas]

You guys have severely inconsistent screening. And this is coming not from a bitter guy who gets none of my work forwarded. A lot of mine do. I never complain when my music didn’t fit criteria. But when you send the same composition to two trailer briefs, and one said this is perfect for a trailer, and the other says this doesn’t sound like a trailer it sounds like a cue, it completely feel like an unprofessional company. I had a piece that was featured song of the month. It was forwarded every time, around 4 times, then the last time a screener returned it and said the brass was too low or something about the lack of melody or motif. It was total nonsense. I have also not been contacted from a single forward besides one for a non exclusive library that wanted to exclusively own my music for three years but sell my music non exclusively for under $100 in which they would keep 40%. I feel very disappointed by the whole experience

[@lovegod7295]

good for you, still doesn't work for the 99% that signs up.