Write THIS Music prides itself in being one of the good guys in this
business. We don't
mislead clients by offering the false hope that some do, meaning we don't tell
you all your stuff is great just so we can get your demo or plugging money.
We'll tell you the truth. If you write a great song, we'll tell you.
If your song shows promise but we think it needs work we'll tell you that as
well. If your song isn't ready for Music Row we won't tell you it is.
While some 'publishers'
are actually offering single song contracts these days on lyric-only song submissions (
before the
demo is even recorded?!) we're mentoring, guiding and developing writers who
embrace
the craft of
songwriting with a passion. Some choose to cater to those in the vanity
game. We're more interested in people who are serious about pitching their
songs on Music Row.
Finally, we began our venture with a theory that the music business can be conducted with
integrity. So far so good.
Some sobering facts:
Opportunities for writers getting cuts are greatly diminished
It has never been harder to get a cut in Nashville than it is today. Since
so many people download their music for free, or copy it from their friends, CD
sales have basically dried up. Artists now rely on touring for much of their income
where in the past touring was a necessary duty to promote an album and a source
of supplemental income. Add to that the fact that concert attendance is
down and you can appreciate why artists are seeking new sources of revenue.
To make up for their loss in income from mechanical royalties (revenue from CD sales)
artists such as Tim McGraw, Reba McIntyre and Martina McBride, who previously wrote
very few songs, if any at all, for their projects, are now writing or co-writing many
of the songs on their CDs. Some of these artists can really write. Other
times this translates into an artist co-writing with time tested, highly
successful Nashville writers who've had many chartbusters. By writing
their own material artists now share in performance royalties (money generated by radio airplay) which
were once reserved for the writers and publishers alone. That means fewer
available slots for the outside writer for any given CD.
As a result writers with multiple number 1 hits are even struggling to get
cuts. There just aren't as many to go around as there used to be. This makes it tougher
than ever for the unsigned writer, and even harder for the unsigned out-of-town writer. This
said not to discourage you but rather to give you an advantage by knowing the
truth. If you don't know the playing field you're on
you don't have a chance.
But wait, there's more bad news.
There are now fewer record companies, fewer publishers, and fewer artists being signed.
Drive up and down Music Row and if there's one thing that stands out it's the
staggering number of 'For Sale' signs in front of businesses that once thrived on
Music Row. Companies are merging, downsizing, or getting out of the
business all together. There's a joke here that if you ask directions on
Music Row, "where so and so used to be" will be used at least once as a
landmark. Once again, businesses have folded as a direct result of illegal
downloading...people aren't buying CDs so the money just isn't there.
Writers are being taken advantage of like never before.
Why? How do they do it? How do they get away with it?
Unfortunately, some previously active and successful publishers, pluggers, and
artist development agencies (some with big names on their resumes) have chosen
to exploit their reputations, which were gained through prior successes, to take
advantage of inexperienced writers. They do so to supplement incomes that
were once gained honestly and legitimately in more
lucrative times. Some of those tactics include the following:
Paid Song Plugging agreements. I've had multiple
clients tell me they had many or all of their songs 'accepted' for plugging by
pluggers with proven track records
on the first submission! They're
told things like, "You're the best undiscovered writer I've heard in years!",
and "I can't believe I got to you first!", and "We'll be able to pitch these
right away!" The most popular is, "These songs are GREAT! All you need is good
demos! And this is your lucky day because WE can record your demos AND pitch your songs to the
major artists. We can get it to the people that matter!" They start
dropping names of big stars and big producers who they 'see on a daily basis' and the
less experienced writer starts getting stars in his/her eyes.
The truth is that anyone who works on Music Row sees the the big artists and big
producers on a daily basis. Anyone who's name isn't completely in the
gutter can get their songs to the people that matter. The question is who
can get sit down appointments with the artists producer (instead of dropping off
a CD at the A&R desk). Not everyone, but more people than you might think!
Read on.
It's true that anyone with enough tenacity, persistence, and professionalism can
eventually get sit down appointment with a major producer. But how many can get
a second sit down with that same producer? Not many, and writers or
pluggers who get a sit down who play an inferior or miscast song probably won't
be invited back for a second round.
REALITY CHECK:
Consider this: Out of the thousands of songs
Write THIS Music
has received for review or evaluaton, we have not received one single song to date that was
100% ready to pitch as is. We've had some that came really close. With every
song, even the super close ones, we felt that tweaks were needed to the lyric or
to the arrangement, but more often to the demo. That's why we started the
rewrite consult
service to help writers who were 'almost there'. We've got some great new
songs in our catalog as a result...songs we pitch regularly. Please know that
the songs we deemed as 'not ready for Music Row'
weren't judged as such by opinion. These were songs that had major, fundamental, well known and widely accepted
songwriting issues that would have stopped them in their tracks anywhere in town, such as
repeats of rhyme words, song concepts that have been written many times (and in more
unique or interesting ways), lyrics that don't adequately address the title,
songs without hooks, and of course demos that were way off the mark.
Some of our writers submitted some of the songs we said weren't ready for the
Row to certain "paid song pluggers" for a second opinion. Fair enough.
We're big believers in second opinions. After all, we're not always right.
But we were surprised to learn that one or two pluggers accepted the same songs outright as
ready to pitch on Music Row! You can imagine how happy those writers were
(not to mention how anxious they were to let us know!)
These pluggers said they'd start pitching their songs tomorrow (ahem...for a
substantial fee of course), and they didn't even need demos! They said they'd
just use the recordings the writers
sent in!!!
But all did not turn out well as you'll soon see. We took
a closer look at some of these firms who were accepting "anything and
everything," and we learned some interesting things.
The first thing we wondered was how these pluggers get away with this without
jeopardizing their reputations. We found out that some avoided tainting
their reputations by simply dropping the songs off
at A&R desks
with the writers name on the envelope, not theirs
.
(And for obvious reasons. A plugger can be quickly blacklisted if he/she pitches songs (or
demos) that aren't up to grade with Nashville standards).
It turns out these certain paid pluggers avoided this risk by leaving their names off the package,
while keeping their promise to 'pitch' the songs. The plugger's proven reputation, which
writers would obviously think they'd benefit from,
doesn't even come into play.
Secondly, they obviously don't do 'sit down appointments'
with producers, A&R people, artists, etc. Most writers assume
these well known pluggers are calling in their valuable industry contacts
to arrange sit down appointments to play their songs in person. They're not. They're dropping them off
with
your name on the package...not theirs.
Our third
issue revolved around accountability. We learned that one plugger told his
client he
didn't keep records of who he pitched songs to unless the writer spent extra money for
a "documentation package"! WHAT?!. If you believe nothing else I've
written, believe this: a song plugger's lifeline is his/her documentation on pitches...it's the only way he
or she can prove they pitched a song that
gets cut...something they need to do to get paid, which isn't just chump change
on a charting single I might add. To not
offer a writer a glimpse of his/her pitch records, or to say
he doesn't keep them unless paid to do so, is simply unconscionable.
Other miscellaneous tricks and scams (with some good old fashioned name
dropping)
There are outfits in town that claim to be able to get your songs to the people that
matter if you'll let them record your demo. They'll love everything you do
and they tell you If you let them produce your song they'll get the song to the
artists that are looking...to the players...to the movers and shakers...to the
decision makers. And they drop LOTS of names in the process..telling you the
big name studios they record in, the big name stars and producers they see
regularly, etc. etc. Buyer beware. If someone promises you the world
in any arena, you can pretty much assume it won't happen. The goal is to
get your demo money. Period. And they justify charging you more than
other demo shops by making promises they cant keep and dropping
lots of
names.
Some offer to write music to your lyrics for a fee. Many outfits in
Nashville do this legitimately, but some outfits use the same
tracks over and over again, assuming nobody will ever hear them.
They just pay a singer $100 to sing your lyric over one of their stock music
tracks, finessing the lyric so it will fit their arrangement. I want to
stress that there are many write
firms that music for a fee legitimately...each song is a new song with new music. But
buyer beware. Reputation is everything. Get references and call
them for examples!
There are packages available that are designed to hook you up
with known writers (who are paid) to co-write with you. Then they make demos of
the songs you wrote and they promise to get your songs to the major players in
the industry...for a hefty fee. While some might be reputable many of these
services aren't aggressively pitching your songs as they would something in
their own catalog. They're also preying on your vanity...they know that
you'll be able to brag to your friends that you wrote a song with so and so.
They're also dropping off your songs as unsolits (unsolicited material) to
A&R desks.
File 13 is where your songs wind up. The difference is you've spent
$4000-$7000 for 3 or 4 demos instead of $1,200 that you could pitch more
effectively yourself with a decent tip sheet and some phone manners.
Some of these services also offer Web Site programming for your Artist or Writer
Website...for absolutely exorbitant amounts. You can do that yourself on
www.GoDaddy.com using a
template for under a hundred bucks. One of my clients spent $5,000 for 1 demo
and a 1 page Website that was absolutely the worst Website I've ever seen...from
an an artist development service. They made the website from a
stock website template that anyone can download for free off the Internet.
I record entire artist CDs for not much more than that, as do many other studios
in Nashville. This makes me furious when I hear stories like this.
Another one of my clients almost spent $5000 on 3 demos with the promise that
they'd get them to the people that matter. We met and with the same money
he was able to record nearly 10 full band demos as would just about any other reputable
studio in town.
Song Contests..
When an
organization in Nashville is trying to figure out a way to make money, someone
always raises their hand and suggests having a song contest. Why?
Because they're sure revenue makers. They work. Out of town writers
spend lots of money thinking that if they win a contest they're on their way to
success. There are some reputable contests out there. But the ones
conducted by most aren't designed to help you out as a writer. They're
designed to get your money. Many farm out the judging to writers around
town, paying them as little as $1.00/song to fill out a stock song evaluation form with
questions like, "did the song change energy on the chorus", and 'was the intro
too long"? My belief when I was entering contests back in the day was that,
if nothing else, a room full of industry professionals would hear my song and my name might get
noticed. Turns out some obscure writer somewhere, who was filling out a form
for a dollar, was the person
deciding if I made the grade.
Sure, If you win
you'll feel great. You'll most likely win an honorable mention to
encourage you to enter again next year (just about everyone who enters wins the
infamous honorable mention). You might even win some prizes.
But it won't do much to help
you get your songs cut. Ask anyone who's won if their song made it onto
radio. Some have made it to radio, but the statistics prove that the number of song contest winners that get
their song cut by a major is very few. Songs that win contests aren't necessarily songs that are
right for the market at that time. Save your money and get good evaluations and demos and
put your emphasis on making your songs better. Improve your chances where you can instead of
relying on the luck of the draw.
Summary:
The truth is this: getting your song in the right hands really is the easy
part. Anyone with a copy of the Music Row Magazine "In Charge" issue can get
their songs to the people that matter. If you call an A&R desk and ask
permission to drop off a song for an artist, most will grant you permission if
you are kind, courteous and extremely professional. If you take them a crappy
song that offer may not hold up next time you call. But someone will most
likely listen to your song if you go about presenting a great song in a professional manner.
Remember: These people are looking for great songs! They WANT you to
bring them a hit.
The hard part is just that; writing a song that's good enough to capture the
interest of just about anyone who hears it...writing a song that's simply
unignorable. That's what it takes these days. It has to be a song that
people just can't say no to because it's that darned good. Unfortunately, that's
exactly what some of these demo, artist development, and plugging services don't
tell you. They don't tell you when your song isn't quite ready for prime time, and they don't offer to help you
get your song in shape because they'd rather give you the
hope that you're so desperately looking for by telling you your great.
That way you'll spend money RIGHT NOW...TODAY!
After all, what would you rather hear, "Your song needs a
rewrite." or "You're there! You're great! You're awesome!
Here's a single song contract!"
Remember this and you'll be fine: Nothing worthwhile is
easy.
