Would you see a member of the opposite sex that you’ve never met and immediately walk up to them and ask, “Will you marry me?” Most people wouldn’t… most “normal” people, that is!
Relationships of all kinds are built over time in increments. There’s a sequence of steps that happen in successful relationships, whether those are romantic, business, or just about any other kind of relationship—business, personal, and yes, even artistic.
The sequence of events that make those relationships and ultimately careers pay off start long before the “ask,” as in, asking someone out on first date. Almost all of those sequences begin with understanding what the end goal is. In a romantic context, it could be to enter into a relationship or marriage with the object of your affection.
The first step in that sequence would be to know what type of person you are attracted to on an emotional and presumably physical level. In the context of a business relationship, you’d need to define the business goal before you begin your sequence as well.
Of course, there are many other types of sequences and incremental steps you’d need to take for other purposes and goals…
Just like NASA has a launch sequence during which thousands of individual systems must get checked off before an “All systems go” proclamation leads to a successful launch, so it goes for success of any kind.
For musicians, you’d need to set a goal, and then figure out what the incremental steps are in the sequence that will lead you to your goal. A word of caution: You can count on your sequence taking more time and effort than you imagined, but it will be worth it in the end.
What’s in Your Sequence?
Let’s assume you’ve decided to go the Film and TV music route VS trying to get a record deal. Your sequence (and the order of things in it) might look something like this:
- Determine if you want to do instrumental cues or songs for film and TV.
- Assuming you plan to do cues, then you need to learn:
- What types/genres of cues are needed that you can already do?
- What length do they need to be?
- What are they like compositionally? Structure, melody, rhythm, etc.
- What the level of production and recording quality needs to be?
- Learn the recording and production techniques—this will be ongoing, and not come quickly, but it will come in time! Patience is your friend.
- Work on a cue every day, and know that your composition, recording, and production will get better every day, though it might not feel like it at first.
- Bounce your work off of fellow TAXI members to get feedback.
- Submit to TAXI’s listings, knowing that you may not get forwarded much (at this stage), but the value will be in the feedback you’ll get and learning to develop thick skin. Each submission will get you one step closer to becoming successful!
- Perfect your cues by incorporating what you’ve learned, e.g., stinger endings, easy edit points, simple and catchy melodies, etc.
- As you become better and get more music forwarded, try getting out of your comfort zone and start learning to write and produce cues in other genres that the industry needs.
- Learn about the business side of music libraries, e.g., the range of typical deal offers/contracts, how Performance Rights Organizations function, the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive deals, the timeline to getting paid when your music is used, etc.
- Build a network of fellow composers who can become collaborators and co-writers.
- Work to get your music in several catalogs, so you don’t fall into the “too many eggs in one basket” trap.
- Follow the advice of veteran TAXI members: “Write, Submit, Forget, and Repeat.” In other words, keep feeding the pipeline so the cumulative number of cues you have “out there” working for you grows consistently over time. Don’t wait for each new cue to pan out, keep writing, recording, and pitching!
That sequence is an example, of course. But it’s pretty close to reality for those of you who choose to do instrumental cues. If you’re trying to get songs licensed in film and TV, your sequence could vary somewhat. You’d want to see what types of songs are used most often, what the lyric themes are for those placements, etc., etc., etc.
If you’re trying to get a record deal as an artist, or trying to get your songs covered by artists on record labels, your sequence could be very different. If you want to be an artist, your sequence would involve deciding what kind of artist you want to be, who the audience for that type of music is, determining how to get your music in front of them, etc.
That sequence might involve more relationship building steps, although you could make that case for nearly any path you choose!
In the end, clearly defining your goal and writing down your sequence will help you become more successful than merely wanting or dreaming about what you want to become. Listing the steps in your sequence in the order you should accomplish them is key, but be prepared to move things around as you progress.
Murphy’s Law dictates that nothing ever goes as planned. 5-4-3-2-1, begin your sequence now!