Latest success story
The reality these days is that most cuts
are inside jobs. The old adage "you have to know someone" has
never been more true. We're connected and we can get songs
where they need to go to be considered by the top artists but that
won't help anyone if we don't have a great song to pitch.
Many 'experts' in Nashville will tell you your songs are great
and that they're ready to cut.
However, 97% of the outside songs we received in 2008 (first submissions) were not ready to compete on Music Row.
Ninety seven percent!!! The
reality is that there are less than honest people that will tell you
that your songs are 'there' when they're not. Why?
Simple. To get your demo business. And it works.
Vanity is, and has always been, a very hot seller.
The frustrating thing for us in 2008 was that among the songs
that we received
that weren't ready to pitch to artists, many still had significant potential.
We saw great lines, great ideas, great titles, and we heard great
melodies. We saw great writing skills and we got tired of throwing
away songs because they needed rewrites.
At Write THIS Music we don't pass on songs that need rewrites anymore.
And we're glad. We find significant potential in 10-15% of the
songs we receive; so much potential, in fact, that one is currently on
the charts (April, 09) - see "Latest Success Story" on
this page).
If you have a song that has potential, we're very interested
in hearing it. And we'll help you get it in shape to pitch.
Canadian country artist and Write THIS Music songwriter
Rick Stavely hit #58 on the charts in March (03/09/2009 ed. "Country Music
News")
Co-writer Cheryl Stavely proclaimed the song's
continuing success as "a win win situation and a dream come true."
The
song was produced by Bill Renfrew at
Bomb Shelter Recording of
Nashville. Compare the initial
work tape to the
finished master that resulted
following a rewrite consult.
with the song
"To Fly Again". Some of the proceeds from the
sale of the song have gone toward the purchase of cancer treatment equipment for a B.C. treatment center.
Tip of the Month
Much gets written about all the 'other stuff' to worry
about when you pitch your songs; who you know, who knows you, what type
of demo to record (full band or gtr/voc), how to contact industry reps,
to hire or not hire a plugger, even how to shake hands! But
surprisingly little gets written about the song itself. The truth is that just
about anyone can get a sit down appointment with an industry rep if they try
long and hard enough. The question is how many can get a second sit down with
that same rep? If you go in with a
song that's not ready you'll hurt yourself more than help.
So, before you pitch, run your song by as many people as you can to get
feedback. In short, don't go in without your guns loaded.
You
won't have to worry nearly as much about being shot down.
