So how did you do in 2016?

[SabalSounds]

Thanks for everyone’s replies here (i’m not the OP) but it helps to learn from others.

Question: how long did you submit songs to libraries before you saw PRO royalties?

Thanks in advance.

[soundspot]

Thanks daveydad! I’ve been submitting to libraries since 2009 but went full time about 5 years ago… (I wasn’t bringing enough in to justify it, but after losing a pretty cushy gig I decided I might as well go all in and see if I landed on my feet…)

The first two and a half years were a rough ride, I was basically getting by by treading water… The last two were much better, and last year exponentially so…I hit a personal goal where backend made up the bulk of my income, and honestly I thought those days were behind us.

Anyway… despite 2016 being a strange year overall, financially i did very well and was surprised to see you can still earn with backend. I am concerned about where streaming is taking that revenue in the next few years, but that’s a whole other conversation and for the moment I’m doing pretty alright…

[soundspot]

Sabal, do you mean in general, or specifically once they’ve been placed?
(Just trying to understand if you’re asking based on placements vs expectations…)

[SabalSounds]

Edit…Oops I replied to your response on another post too.

I’ve read here and other forums the expectation is that the library gamewill take 1-2 years to start seeing a return and then years beyond that to possibly go full time, etc And there’s a thread on MLR that says full time volume would be 1500+ placements.

I’m just wondering what the average number of cues written before the returns started happening for others? 200? 500? 1000? Not counting edits.

I know there’s a ton of variables and everyone’s story will be different but I’m hoping for some sort of consensus.

[Author]

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