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Offline NickT

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Thanks for the update Mark!

Looks like you are keeping the pipe full.

Best wishes for more success!

NickT
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"...My life just Ain't TV..."

www.AintTV.com

www.TestafiedRecords.com


Offline AndyG6508

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Hi Mark,

Looks like things are rolling in the right direction for you, well done!

Andy


Offline CosmicDolphin

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Looks like things are rolling in the right direction for you,

Haha..yeah...uphill Andy  :o
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten



Offline CosmicDolphin

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Keep us updated Mark.   8)

Steve.

I will do Steve.  It's a long term thing for anyone interested.
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


Offline CosmicDolphin

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Back with an update folks....

Since my last post I've added a new Library to my roster. Like most it's exclusive but I sent them my lockdown project which was a 10 track album of tension cues basically made up of piano, synths and a bunch of ticking noises. After sending it to 3 different companies ( wait 2 weeks..chase...wait 1 more week..ditch..repeat with another publisher )  and not hearing back from any of them I did get a response from a UK based publisher but they were asking if I could change a bunch of stuff ..like majorly for some project they were working on but I said apart from minor edits they were kind of a done deal so they passed.

Library number five however came back to me the very next day, loved it and I signed a deal with them for it. They asked me what else I had and I sent them some links to my other unsigned tracks, one of which they asked if I could make a whole album's worth ( Pop Funk type stuff ) ...I am just about to start track 10 but it'll have taken me just under a month to make all 10 so I must be getting quicker. It also helps not going out to work , my day job involves driving up and down the country to see clients and nobody is taking visitors right now so it's all virtual and saves me about 4 hrs of driving every day all of which I've pumped into making music.

You  can hear the album here but pls do not share publicly :  https://soundcloud.com/user-45178330/sets/ticking-time-bombs/s-6Neu0PNspPi

Then about a week after I signed it , Library 4 came back to and said..okay we'll take it as is - there's some stuff come in we could use it for now ! I've offered to write some more for them if they can wait but in this game everyone needs things like yesterday.

A few more placements landed since I last posted too, one on a German Reality show and another on HGTV:  Caribbean Life Cooking Up a New Chapter on Anguilla and one of my co-writes was used on a promo on CNN where they advertise an upcoming programme . The show was called Shades of America but the track wasn't in the actual show, only the promo for it that played a bunch of times. Some folks have said they never got paid for promo usage as it's done on some kind of survey system and if you ain't included in the survey then it's tough luck. So we will see.

This week was royalties week, the amount was my 2nd highest at £192 but to be honest I was hoping for more as it included payments for 20 tracks which is my highest yet but the average is obviously quite low , about half the highest I've had ...but more cues in more libraries is the way to royalties.

I also passed a little milestone of 350 track produced,  that's taken 4.5yrs...which isn't too bad when you consider it too me 5 years to make my Cosmic Dolphins Album 

CD
« Last Edit: October 13, 2020, 03:04:52 PM by CosmicDolphin »
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


Offline Albino

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That's fantastic Mark. Well done! 8)

One of our MCS family is living the dream!!  Don't forget us!!!  8)

Steve


Back with an update folks....

Since my last post I've added a new Library to my roster. Like most it's exclusive but I sent them my lockdown project which was a 10 track album of tension cues basically made up of piano, synths and a bunch of ticking noises. After sending it to 3 different companies ( wait 2 weeks..chase...wait 1 more week..ditch..repeat with another publisher )  and not hearing back from any of them I did get a response from a UK based publisher but they were asking if I could change a bunch of stuff ..like majorly for some project they were working on but I said apart from minor edits they were kind of a done deal so they passed.

Library number five however came back to me the very next day, loved it and I signed a deal with them for it. They asked me what else I had and I sent them some links to my other unsigned tracks, one of which they asked if I could make a whole album's worth ( Pop Funk type stuff ) ...I am just about to start track 10 but it'll have taken me just under a month to make all 10 so I must be getting quicker. It also helps not going out to work , my day job involves driving up and down the country to see clients and nobody is taking visitors right now so it's all virtual and saves me about 4 hrs of driving every day all of which I've pumped into making music.

You  can hear the album here but pls do not share publicly :  https://soundcloud.com/user-45178330/sets/ticking-time-bombs/s-6Neu0PNspPi

Then about a week after I signed it , Library 4 came back to and said..okay we'll take it as is - there's some stuff come in we could use it for now ! I've offered to write some more for them if they can wait but in this game everyone needs things like yesterday.

A few more placements landed since I last posted too, one on a German Reality show and another on HGTV:  Caribbean Life Cooking Up a New Chapter on Anguilla and one of my co-writes was used on a promo on CNN where they advertise an upcoming programme . The show was called Shades of America but the track wasn't in the actual show, only the promo for it that played a bunch of times. Some folks have said they never got paid for promo usage as it's done on some kind of survey system and if you ain't included in the survey then it's tough luck. So we will see.

This week was royalties week, the amount was my 2nd highest at £192 but to be honest I was hoping for more as it included payments for 20 tracks which is my highest yet but the average is obviously quite low , about half the highest I've had ...but more cues in more libraries is the way to royalties.

I also passed a little milestone of 350 track produced,  that's taken 4.5yrs...which isn't too bad when you consider it too me 5 years to make my Cosmic Dolphins Album 

CD


Offline CosmicDolphin

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April 2021 - Back for another update !  8)

Since I last updated in October I've completed around 60 new tracks, most of which have been have been signed to various Libraries.  I managed to pick up another new Publisher based in Germany after I co-wrote some stuff with a friend who already had his foot in the door and one track has already yielded some placements on German TV.     Very efficient !

After what seemed like a long stretch with zero TV placements detected things seem to have picked up this year as TV production companies get their schedules back up to more normal levels after Covid19 , since last time some placements have included:-

 
Chef Bootcamp                   - Food Network
Golden Globes pre-show  - E!
Vice News Tonight             - Vice Network
Hessenschau & Lokalzeit -  WDR FS & Hessischer Rundfunk FS  ( these are German local current affair type programs  )

The good news is 3 of these tracks got used 5 or 6 times times , sometimes in the same show and other times in multiple shows spread across several weeks so those will each trigger some extra royalties. It will probably be the end of the year before I find out though what they've earned.

The April PRS distribution amounts were released last week and I have earned £268 in royalties from 25 tracks.  It's a new record for me but this is somewhat on the low side and I have found out there has been hold up in the payout for 10 of those tracks due to an Admin error at PRS so it should have been a fair bit more. Hopefully I can get that resolved.

I'm still working from home for the day job and writing away in between on different briefs that come through. I've tried a few new styles I've not done before this year including a pizzicato string track and some East European Folk hybrid  :o

Mark
« Last Edit: April 11, 2021, 05:04:24 AM by CosmicDolphin »
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


Offline AndyG6508

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Hey Mark,
Fascinating, and it's good to know that you are seeing some success!
Long may it continue!
I must commend your tenacity and enthusiasm. on keeping away at it.....I  was a keenie too, but I think I'm on my last legs musically :).

When do you quit the day job :)

Did you and your family get your COVID vac shots?

Cheers
Andy


Offline CosmicDolphin

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Did you and your family get your COVID vac shots?

Yeah I quit the day job in about 20 years when the mortgage is paid  :o

I have had my Covid shot...wife is younger than me so not had one yet.....child 2 is in at risk group ( cardiac ) so has had his.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2021, 10:28:41 AM by CosmicDolphin »
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


Offline NickT

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That's great news Mark!

Wishing you continues success!

Nick
NickT

"...My life just Ain't TV..."

www.AintTV.com

www.TestafiedRecords.com


Offline CosmicDolphin

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6 months -  time for another update !

My July royalty payout from PRS was a very poor £87 which I gotta admit bummed me out a little. Although there were 25 tracks that paid something out there are still a bunch of international royalties missing , and I've had to raise online queries with my PRO in an attempt to get them sorted.  Because of Covid response times to these emails are about 3 months so it is taking forever to get to the bottom of it.  My case has been sent over to the International Dept now but I can't see it being sorted out by Octobers payout. Some of these TV placements are 3 years old now and I still haven't been paid properly.  i.e. getting £3 instead of £100 - 200

On the plus side this year has been the best yet in terms of TV placements.  So far it's 54 for the year ( I was hoping for one each week so I've exceeded my goal )  with the majority of them being on German TV shows.  I've had one track played repeatedly on the Bundesliga ( soccer ) coverage on the main channel in Germany so I'm hopeful of some decent royalties when they start coming through.

My all time total placements has now exceeded 100 and I'm hoping to complete at least 100 new tracks this year for the libraries I am working with.

The next royalty distribution is in about a month so I will drop by once I know the figures and share. 

CD
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


Offline j

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Sorry to hear the payout is so slow. otoh, way to go getting to the 100 mark! It's cool that you set these goals and exceed them, plays no small part in your success, I think.
wazzzzzaaaap


Offline Albino

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Offline CosmicDolphin

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Back with another update, sorry it's been a year - time has flown quickly again since all the Covid restrictions got lifted and work kinda went back to some form of normality.

I ended up smashing my goal of 100 TV placements and 2021 saw me getting 145 in total and 2022 has already exceeded it at 165. So my lifetime TV placements total about 370 now. As you can see from my post a year ago things have really accelerated and it's mostly down to the German Publisher I've been supplying music to.

The money is still quite slow to follow , last year ended with a total of £582 and this year it's increased to £857 so far but I still have 2 more quarters worth of royalties that will pay out and the next quarter in October will be the first time I should receive anything from Germany so hopefully it will be quite a boost as that's where most of my music is being used.

I'm still writing away, last year I completed 100 tracks but this year I've been back on the road for work so I won't make the 100 and I'm currently on 60 with a few months to go.  I've written a total of 545 tracks now since Jan of 2016.  :o

I've had some interesting TV placements, too many to mention really from NBA , to Reality Shows , News items, I had a Hip Hop track in a promo for Shark Tank, a track used on CBS in a promo for a show about hurricanes etc. Plus loads of German daytime TV shows on ARD & RTL plus the regional channels they have.   

This is an example of one of mine I found online, it's had a lot of airplay in a CNBC Promo recently.

https://youtu.be/iXWR239QBTk

So that's where I am at right now - I will try not to leave it so long to update next time. If anyone wants to know more just message me, or reach out of Facebook.

CD





 

« Last Edit: September 26, 2022, 06:44:26 AM by CosmicDolphin »
We never finish a mix... we simply abandon them.
You can't polish a turd, but you can always spray paint it GOLD
Great songs are not written, they are re-witten


 

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