Empathy

[Casey H]

Hi Some of you may know that have I also have a music placement/publishing business. Being on this side of the fence gives me a lot of empathy for A&R folks, screeners, etc.I just sent out a request per my email list for songs for a 17 year old female pop/rock singer a la Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, etc. I explained that I needed a master quality backing track and only wanted killer hooks/hit material. (This was for submission by email mp3 files)I did get a few really good ones. But I also got a number of songs that were not even close to the female pop/rock genre, some even sung by a male artist (See tips below).So, if you don't already know this, some tips for submitting to folks in this industry such as publishers, labels, libraries, etc:Do not submit things that are off-target. It only wastes time and makes that party take you less seriously next time you send them something. If you are not familiar with the "a la" artists, go to a site like amazon.com and sample some tracks. If the song is for a female artist, only send songs performed by a female artist (unless otherwise told). Sorry, people in this industry WILL NOT use their imagination... e.g. It either sounds like a female pop/rock hit or not.Follow submission guidelines to a "T". If the listing says to send mp3 files up to 5MB in size, don't send an 8MB mp3 at 192 Kbps. If it says to send lyrics for each as a word document, send that along with the song! If a master quality track is called for, send the song at 128 Kbps minimum, as long as the file size does not get too large. No one can determine anything about sound quality at 80 Kbps. Do not send an mp3 file named "track1.mp3" !!! Use [title-artist].mp3 or similar. Try to use tags in your file whenever possible so the song title appears in most player windows.Although the interpretation of phrases "killer hooks" or "hits only" can be subjective, if you song doesn't get to a catchy chorus within about a minute, don't submit.NOTE: I AM NOT SOLICITING SUBMISSIONS HERE ON THIS BOARD. IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY ON MY MAILING LIST, PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT ME ABOUT SUBMITTING FOR THIS OPP. CheersCasey

[Casey H]

Hi all Since I mentioned some do's and don't for mp3/email submissions, I thought I'd post again this article about CD submissions...Get Your Submissions Heard / Make the Publisher’s Job Easierby Charles P. Hurowitz, H... D... Music (ASCAP)© 2004 Charles P. HurowitzI am a songwriter, recently turned publisher/music placement agent. It is so interesting to see the world from the other side. When making a submission to a publisher, a label, or anyone in the industry think about making their life easier so they’ll be more likely to listen and respond to you. Here is my view of how to make a good submission package:1. Start with a neatly typed one page professional cover letter including: a. All contact information. An e-mail address is a must in today’s world.b. Very brief bio/background, reason for submitting, where you got the publisher’s name.c. Track listing for the CD including track numbers, titles, all writer’s and performer’s names, PRO affiliations, and song genres. Tempo and male/female useful too. (*)d. Information about the current publishing status of the songs. Also, do you own the rights to the master recordings, free and clear? (a must for Film/TV placement!) (*) Use common sense... If you are submitting 3 songs, this should fit on the page. If the other party agreed to listen to 20, then attach a separate page.2. Include a set of lyric sheets for the songs submitted. This should not take the place of the track listing on the CD case and track numbers should be with song titles. Proper copyright notices should be on each lyric sheet along with contact information repeated. The lyrics for each song should be on a separate page and the pages stapled in the order of the tracks on the CD. Keep lyric sheets to one page each. “Repeat Chorus” is preferred to tiny font or multiple pages. Use the largest reasonable font that fits (Arial 12 point is a good example).3. Send a CD with 3-4 songs unless permission was given to send in more. If you need to send a CD with many more songs, indicate on both the letter and the CD case the best 3-4 for the submission. Put all contact information and a copyright notice on the CD using a typed label or a printer that prints directly on the CD. Handwritten information on a CD looks amateurish and if the writing is hard to read it’s a deal killer right away. Putting the track listing on the CD is OK (it can’t hurt), but think about this: Once someone plugs the CD in to the CD player in their car (where much listening is done), they can’t see that anyway…. That brings me to #4….4. Send the CD in a full-size jewel case with the contact information and track listings/genres there too. Your letter may not always make it to the car, but the CD and case generally will. It’s good to be able to glance at the song titles while listening. Full-size jewel cases make it possible to file the CD on a bookshelf and be able to access it later. Make sure that the spine of the jewel case is labeled with something that will make it identifiable when filed on a bookshelf… i.e. your name, genre, etc. Many publishers, music supervisors, etc. hate the slim cases. 5. DO NOT send cassettes. It’s a CD world now! If you need to send a cassette, first ask permission but remember it gives the impression that your recordings will not be the highest quality audio. 6. DO NOT send home-made sounding rough demo recordings if the listing uses terms such as “master quality” or “radio ready”.Remember, everything gets separated: letters, lyric sheets cases, discs, etc… That is why repeating information everywhere is so critical. Just imagine the volume that a publisher or label receives. Things are NOT all handled in a neat and organized manner all the time.This is all about making the publisher’s life easier which makes them more likely to play your CD. If two CD’s show up, one with three songs and one with twenty, which do think might get the first listen? Think about the person on the other side of your submission. If they get three songs on three separate CDs, do they really want to spend their time swapping discs at 65 mph? And if they love your song and have an opportunity for it, think about how much easier it is if they already know if publishing is available and have the lyrics right in front of them. Also, is the e-mail address you provided one that you check frequently? If not, is there a cell phone number? It’s frustrating when a publisher gets a great CD and can’t get in touch with the sender. Sometimes opportunities are very time limited.True stories: I made two placements in TV for other artists. One CD originally came (from France to the USA) with handwritten scribble on the CD and I couldn’t make out the artist’s email address. I am an exception and decided to listen anyway. The material was great. I had to track down the artist through directory assistance in France! He was lucky. Most folks would have thrown the CD in the trash and this placement on a TV show would never have happenedIn the other situation, I got a call from a music supervisor that he wanted to use this artist’s song on an HBO show. I was furiously emailing him for days and getting no reply. He was on tour and not checking email. I had to Google him on the web and find others to track him down. We almost missed our window of opportunity.Looking at life from the other side has taught me a lot about my own songwriter submissions and mistakes I may have made in the past. Happy pitching! Musical dreams can come true.CPHHD Music

[spariam]

Good info and good timing...I've got two music libraries that have asked for demo CDs. Need to pick up CD label printing software (if there isn't some freeware out there). Thanks!

[Casey H]

Quote:Good info and good timing...I've got two music libraries that have asked for demo CDs. Need to pick up CD label printing software (if there isn't some freeware out there). Thanks!I use Neato's Mediaface software and I am happy with it. Just looked and the design software might be usable for free right off the site, www.mediaface.com !! That's cool. You can order the actual sheets with labels and case inserts on www.neato.com ... (Get on their e-mailing list for discounts!) I use the 3 CD labels per sheet page for CD labels...BTW, Keep your labeling simple!!! Dark text (even black is OK) on a white background is fine!! Busy labeling with fancy graphics, photos, and images is not recommended. Make sure your contact and (c) notice is on all labeling. cAsEy

[Casey H]

More regarding empathy for TAXI and others on that side of the fence...I forged a very good business relationship with a successful publisher with a track record of placements, especially in film/TV. My company did some projects with that party whereby I reviewed songs sent to me for possible forward to them. These involved looking for tracks to meet the criteria for very specific Hollywood film scenes such as (an example only!) "must be very sad, quiet, thought provoking, and deep" or must be "sad/bluesy with a country feel."I listened to many excellent songs submitted but most could not be forwarded on because the simply were not close enough to the description. I spent hours giving a reason for my yes/no on every submission.Here is the empathy part... If I had forwarded songs that were off-target, what would happen to my working relationship with that other party? How seriously would that party take my future submissions? The same goes for when I finally build a relationship with a music supervisor so that they know who I am and will quickly respond to my emails and phone calls. And I am human the same way... When submissions come to me from folks who always submit poor quality material and/or off-target tracks, do you think they are the first ones I want to listen to?This morning I got an email after rejecting a submission which was very far off-target:Charles:I feel compelled to think again about [song title] and your thoughts that it was too [some quality]... I must disagree with your judgment...on that song... I am listen to the closing credits of the HBO movie [movie title] and quite frankly the music was and is extremely [quality] throughout... In fact it is an actor's movie staring [Actor Name] and needed the [quality] of the music which [Writer] wrote and preformed... I must take umbrage with your call and feel that song could easily have been submitted[Person's Name]This makes you wonder sometimes if it is even worth it, being nice enough to tell people "why". There is always the "no news is the bad news" approach that most folks in the industry take.And I only make money if there is a placement, so what would be my motivation for NOT sending in a song?BTW, if the person had really read what I was looking for, they would have read that it had nothing to do with the music throughout or the closing credits of a movie... It was for a song to fit 1-2 minutes of a scene.All this being said, I think for TAXI and all others on the receiving side of the fence, it's the borderline ones that are the most painful for the ones submitting. I can't say I know whether anyone can ever draw the line in the right place.Peace & Happy Holidays to all! Casey