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

Mon Jun 13 18:00:48 UTC 2011

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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>Brad Dunse
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Brad Dunse

Either make a plan for your life, or settle for being part of 
another's. --American Proverb

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