Year-End 2015: Looking Back, and Forward

I hope everyone who stops by this blog had as great a Christmas as I did. In fact, this has been a very positive year on a number of fronts, especially my music.

Looking Back

This is the best full year for my stock music since I started licensing tracks on Pond5 in 2012 (about 10 percent better than last year). I set out initially to diversify my music portfolio and I'm proud to say I've licensed tracks in numerous genres, including Caribbean-style, rock, orchestral, and ambient.

Also, 2015 saw the release (finally!) of my first independent album project, Circadia. I've wanted to do this since at least 2013, but things (including my own self-doubt) got in the way. Things are starting slowly for the project, but I have high hopes.

Looking Forward

As positive as 2015 was, my stock music revenues overall are still well below what I'd like them to be. I intend to look for ways to expand revenues. I plan to continue to expand my portfolio (over 280 tracks as of this writing), and to start making greater use of YouTube for previews. I plan to also go back and review my back catalog to see where I can rework older tracks to improve quality and marketability.

Meanwhile, the experience of producing and releasing Circadia was so rewarding to me on a personal level that I've already begun work on the follow up. The working title of this project for now is Exstasis, and it seems to be leaning less toward the New Age space vibe and more toward slow tempo electronic music. However, I'm still a long way from having a finished product and don't plan on releasing anything until November. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, on a personal note, my son Alex is getting married this week, and I'm very happy (and will probably be very busy). So congratulations Alex and Leah!