[Perform-talk] From Writer's Division List Re: [stylist] Becoming a Lyricist/Getting my songs out there

Brad Dunse brad at braddunsemusic.com
Mon Jun 13 18:09:46 UTC 2011


It was suggested this be re-posted here...

Subject: Re: [stylist] Becoming a Lyricist/Getting my songs out there

Good point Donna. Those nasty folks preying on eager artists are 
often called song sharks. The best advice is never shell out any 
bucks to have your song
published. Reputable publishers will advance demo bucks if they 
believe it is worth pitching. No I hadn't posted it to the Performing 
Arts list but will
send it over.
Brad
On 6/13/2011  12:09 PM Donna Hill said...
Brad and Katie,
This is an excellent summary of the business with lots of great resources
and info. Brad, did you cross-post this to the Performing Arts Division
list? I think others would appreciate the answer even though the question
came from the Writers' list.
Katie, this is what I meant when I said the industry isn't really looking.
We used to joke that, if you want to know how many songwriters are out
there, take the current world population and add one. The other thing you
have to watch out for is  scamming. Some companies, which often have
authentic sounding names will offer to place, record or otherwise market
your music for a price. Be ware.
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [
mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On
Behalf Of Brad Dunse'
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 7:40 AM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Becoming a Lyricist/Getting my songs out there
Katie,
Sorry for the delayed reply. I'm still climbing out of email from a
week off and now down to stuff I want/need to reply to :). If you go
to my web site
http://www.braddunsemusic.com/
  under the Songwriting
area there's an html file you can download there with various links
to songwriting resources and a listing of book titles. I haven't
added much to it lately but there's a fair bit there. A good book is
one called This Business of Music available from what was RFB&D that
recently changed their name to something Ally... can't remember the
name now. That aside here is a summary of how it generally works with
songs in the commercial market.
I'll use Nashville as example but it is pretty much the same with NY
or LA. Ninety-nine out of a hundred cases the rule of "Must be
present to win" applies. What does that mean? It pretty much means
you generally have a small  opportunity/chance to get a song in the
right hands unless you live in a MMC, Major Music Center. e. g.
Nashville, New York, LA. Why? The thing is although the music
industry is a large one, the music community is really kind of small.
In Nashville for instance  a few years back the general statistics
were approximately 40,000 writers in town vying for probably 15 new
song opportunities per year for airing . Granted not all songs cut
are aired but that gives an idea of the balance and scale. What this
does is cause the publishers, of which are a very small number who
are getting stuff recorded, to be very cautious of who they'll even
listen to. Imagine for instance, if in your email inbox you had two
or three hundred emails to read and yet you had time to skim through
maybe 10 of the ones you recognized the sender. The rest make the
junk bin out of just shear lack of time. Publishers are basically
forced to accept only material they know is coming in through a
personal meet and greet or some other contact. No unsolicited
material. Unfortunately nine out of ten times if you call there, they
will not accept material at this time or deny a meeting. So how does
one get published? Well this is why they call Nashville, a  five year
town. Generally you  have to be there enough to get folks to notice
you, write with other writers who have been published, working your
way up to those who maybe are artists? And when you've paid your
dues, they've come to a point of saying "Hey, haven't I seen you
around town before?" you start to gain some opportunities. Granted it
isn't  100% of the time as such because there are exceptions to any
rule but it is 99.99% of the time this way. It is done purposefully
really because they only want/can afford to deal with serious writers
and  the process sort of separates the wheat from the chaff if you
will. Ask anyone in the music business  that has been  in it a while,
and they'll tell you it is really almost more of a relationship
business more than a music business. You've got to take the time to
develop the relationships, play the industry politics, schmooz with
this writer, schmooz with that writer, go to writer nights,
performances of others, join a Performance Rights Organization and
get their help and get to know the rep, and just be in the face  of
music folks in a good way. Often people fall prey to what is known as
"gherming". Weird word I know, but it basically means this. You go to
an outdoor concert, you happen to find yourself four feet from Kelly
Clarkson as she's talking with folks near the stage, or maybe you won
a backstage pass on a radio contest,  you go up, clear your throat,
introduce yourself and while shaking your hand you give her a CD to
listen to of your songs. Trust me, people have done this and as nice
and polite as the artist will be in the moment, the first opportunity
the artist gets, they'll chuck it in the waste bin without listening.
There are reasons of just general turn off, as well liability reasons
they will not listen to it which I'll save for another time.
Someone suggested correctly to get up with a musician and maybe
co-write if you do lyrics only. Co-writing is huge and almost a
rarity for anyone to get a solo write  cut these days. The
independent market is huge and more approachable but many write their
own stuff, but not all and if its a good song? They may prefer it
over their own writing. Taxi yes is a good organization for your
market. There is an organization called SongU.com which is Nashville
based which is an educational site that also has pitch opportunities
to major and indie artists alike. They have co-writing opportunities
and a whole network and are just good folks. Its at
www.songu.com
Danny and Sara are awesome. It does lean heavy to the country market
but not exclusive to that.
I don't mean to sound like its an uphill bummer of a ride,
unfortunately there are a ton of  fishermen with poles in the water
to catch the few trout swimming around. Plus publishers have staff
writers they are paying advances on future songs cut who are building
up a nice fiscal liability of which needs to be recaptured by the
publisher. It is a business that just happens to deal with artists.
So these writers will generally get their songs published. I used
Nashville as example but it is very similar in LA or New York. This,
plus the internet, and home digital studios, are reasons why the
indie market has grown so much in recent years.
Sorry for the long post. Due note that someone has to get songs in
these folk's hands and persistence always wins, always and
eventually. Its just a matter of what one is willing to do to hang in
there, how important it is. For some it is paramount and so they'll
continue for however long it takes, years and years even to make the
calls, be rejected for reasons that might have nothing to do with
their music, invest into song demos, make friends and contacts, make
networking their life with an eye for the next rung on the ladder of
published music, and etc. , For others it is more about just getting
their indie message out there on their own rather than play music
business politics. Its just a matter of what you want to do and how
it fits in with your goals and lifestyle. Again someone has to write
them if they are going to be played or cut to CD so if that is your
dream, go for it.
Brad
On 6/6/2011  11:07 PM Watson, Katherine M said...
Hello Everyone,
  I have written lyrics for over 60 songs, and would like to
submit some of them to be used in mainstream music. (Think artists
like Kelly Clarkson and Evanescence.) I think Brad has had some
experience with this sort of thing, but I wanted to send this to the
whole list to see if any of you know anything about how to go about
sending songs in. Four of my songs, "Green Scapular," "7th Song for
April," "No Running Back to You," and "Inspirational to Me," can be heard at
www.myspace.com/kmorganmusic
and I'd really appreciate any feedback. Click on "My Playlist" under
the "Music" heading to hear the songs--there is a "play" button for
each song. Thank you for your time and assistance.
--Katie Watson
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