5 Year Report

[BEATSLINGER]

Hello to all. I look at it this way. “Any monies that come out of your being creative are a blessing!” Keep going, and keep growing!! Everything is not based on a price tag. Being able to make a denomination from the thoughts that you have in your head; and turning them into something for others to enjoy is PRICELESS!!!

[Alan]

boinkeee2000,
I’ll glad you liked that post. I’ll try to remember to do a 7 year update in January

[Alan]

Happy New Year all!
Here is my 7 year update as requested by boinkeee2000

Total income – $26K
Breakdown:
PRO – $10K
RF Sales – $10.5K
Sync Fees – $5.5K
Track Count – about 280. I only did 28 tracks this year due to lot a couple of deaths in the family and other “life” stuff.

Thoughts. I should be pretty happy about my progress, it would look great as a graph, but I’m feeling a bit discouraged. I tested the exclusive waters this year and I think it was a mistake. There were a couple of doom-and-gloom threads about the state of the industry by some seasoned vets here on MLR that got into my head too.

I hope to get a fresh start this year and I’m going to focus on writing the highest quality stuff I can, regardless of how many tracks I do.

[boinkeee2000]

thanks alan for remembering. congratz on hitting your goal of +20K, how does it feel? would you start considering going full time now? you also seem bummed out about your exclusive venture…

A special mention that you also hit your target with only 280 tracks! Im sure theres folks that have double that track count who are not hitting those figures…a testament to your work.

heres a left field question, are you still making $$ now from your first 50 tracks 6-7 years ago?

[Alan]

would you start considering going full time now?

I don’t really have a day job to quit. I have a military retirement pension and a good paying part time gig has a house sound engineer. I think 30-40 tracks a year is about all I can do and keep my sanity.

you also seem bummed out about your exclusive venture…

I think it was a mistake, but I’ve learned I really won’t know for 5 years. They all have a reversion clause, so the bright side is I’ll have a large batch of Non-Ex tracks to send out in 3 years. Most are reality TV types that probably won’t do well, but a couple have potential for long term income.

are you still making $$ now from your first 50 tracks 6-7 years ago?

Absolutely. The old non-exclusive tracks are the majority of my income. Those are the ones that also get the occasional 4 figure sync fee too. I should mention that 4 figures in PRO income from from a track reality TV is possible, it just takes a long time for me (5+ years). That was the reason I did all those exclusive tracks last year, for long term steady PRO income. My January ASCAP just hit the bank today. It is by far my best January payout. Maybe those exclusives will do something after all 😉
Cheers…

[Michael Nickolas]

My January ASCAP just hit the bank today. It is by far my best January payout.

Good for you Alan! I thought the ASCAP statement was scheduled for Monday, you’re seeing yours already?

[Alan]

I thought the ASCAP statement was scheduled for Monday, you’re seeing yours already?

My direct deposits from ASCAP normally hit the bank as pending deposits 1-2 business days prior to the statement date.

BTW, I am expecting less income next year. I had a couple of big sync fees and the ASCAP survey treated me well one quarter. I doubt that will be the norm though.

[Alan]

Art,
FYI, The close tags button didn’t work with firefox on the above post. I tried to edit it and got the same result.

[Michael Nickolas]

I’m in the same boat as you. I had a big sync fee for the almond commercial, sold some tracks for up-front money and I got lucky with the survey. We’ll see how next year goes!

[ChuckMott]

Nice to be able to say after a somewhat disappointing year in 2017, my first quarter ascap check is about double what I earned all last year. No statement yet, but the funds made it to my account this a.m apparently. My track count is about 190 so far.

[Frequencee]

Great thread Alan! I remember being inspired when you first posted this 3 years ago. Despite how long it feels it takes for things to start churning each passing year seems to be going faster & faster. PRO payouts now feel like holidays lol. I just completed my 4th year at this. Hope it’s okay I share my results on this thread as well. Seems like a similar trajectory.

As of today I am at 210 tracks. About half are exclusive & non-exclusive. For the moment the non-exclusive tracks are out earning the exclusives but many of the exclusives were added this year so time will tell whether it pays off or not. I also have not been nearly as aggressive in the RF market as I have focused primarily on submitting to libraries for tv placements and that’s certainly reflected in my earnings but I will be giving more attention to RF this year in an effort to diversify.

2014: $240 (RF), $0 (PRO)
2015: $195 (RF), $10 (PRO)
2016: $500 (RF), $410 (PRO)
2017: $420 (RF), $500 (SYNC), $8,015 (PRO)

Looking forward to what year 5 has in store. I am cautiously optimistic on the percentage increase YOY since they say it is a roller coaster ride but so far I feel my investment is paying off.

Happy New Year!

[spiker]

This is a great thread! Thanks Alan! Here are my royalties:

2013: $76
2014: $300
2015: $318
2016: $520
2017: $1166

Currently I have 160 tracks in music libraries. I made the decision to go mostly Exclusive, with most earnings being on the back end, which in hindsight was a mistake. Seeing what you guys have done with RF and non-exclusive libraries is a testament to that. I think my earnings could possible be double (maybe more) of what I’ve been getting. I’m in the process of fixing that now by adding RF and non-exclusive libraries. MLR is a great service to composers. We need this unbiased info to make good decisions for our futures. Thanks everyone!

[Alan]

Thanks for sharing pike60 and Frequencee. I think it’s important for us to share this info. The newbies need to know that this is a long game and persistence is rewarded with exponential growth. Congrats to you both and keep going!

[Art Munson]

Art,
FYI, The close tags button didn’t work with firefox on the above post. I tried to edit it and got the same result.

Hi Alan, I’m on FireFox and works here. Did you try typing the close shortcode?

[daveydad]

Been at this 4 years now. Feeling better as I watch my PRO grow each year. I’m now getting a lot more placements so hoping 2018 is even better!

2014: $16
2015: $250
2016: $1100
2017: $2174

I also make money streaming on Spotify, Pandora, etc, and RF/sync sales. For 2017, I made a little over $5000 total from all music income.

[Author]

Posts