Pitching Songs

[cameron]

I don't feel I'm doing enough to pitch my songs just sitting around waiting for a Taxi forward. To me Taxi is just one tool and I need to find other avenues as well. Just wondering if anyone has had any success getting people to hear your tunes through other methods?Cameronp.s. I'm mostly chasing the country market at this point.

[milfus]

might see if theres any good pluggers available to you, they are basicly people who know people and pitch songs for ya, be real careful about who though, cause some of them will stooge ya pretty hard.

[jchitty]

I can't say who, but a small publisher, who I became friends with, represented three of my songs. They managed to gain some interest from a manager of an artist with a major studio. (I can PM you the studio name, but I won't name the person who was the publisher) In the end, it didn't pan out because the artist went in another direction, but I was just excited that I got interest from someone who was major. That told me I had some pretty good songs....to even garner some interest from them. One of the songs was "New Girl In New York City" which is on my TAXI page, and it's gotten a foward from TAXI.By all means, try another avenues. Of course, I know you will keep your TAXI membership. As you say, it's another tool. Since you write country, you can search online for Nashville publishers. Some will take unsolicited pitches, some will not. My TAXI membership provides me with a valuable tool for those who won't take unsolicited pitches. I pitch outside TAXI when I see an opportunity. You can also go the songplugging route too. I had a Nashville songplugger accept three of my songs, (legit plugger, I promise) but the backend bonus feature proved to be too high, so I didn't go that route.I look at TAXI as one leg of the stool, a good one to have, but we also have to use as many options as we can find.

[claire]

Pluggers can be a very iffy proposition when you live out of town. I've worked with four pluggers over the years - two when I lived in Florida and two since I've been here. I've learned that if your plugger is married to/living with/related to a songwriter, that's not so good as far as who's going to get first crack at the pitches. The plugger I'm with right now is not involved in any way with a husband who's a writer, a boyfriend who's a writer, a cousin who's a writer, etc. She does live with her elderly mother, but luckily her mother is not a songwriter...RowFax is a good pitch sheet - at least it has been for me. There are always smaller labels and indie artists looking for songs, not just the heavy hitters.Organizations like the Songwriters Guild (SGA) and NSAI and TSAI are good local groups to join. TSAI accepts songs from out of town writers and if the songs meet their pitch standards, they will play them at publisher pitch nights. For NSAI you have to be present to have your song played but TSAI does work through the mail.SongU is a really interesting online site because it offers pitch opportunities and song evaluations as well as all kinds of music and business courses.Waiting on Taxi to get you a forward is not going to move your songs along to where they need to go. It's not that Taxi doesn't want to - it's just that Taxi doesn't seem to get that many country requests and the ones they do get seem to come primarily from the A list artists.All the online services and sites are good tools but the bottom line is that the best tool is for people to get to know you in person. Come to Nashville a couple of times a year and stay for a week or two. Go to your PRO and meet with a writer rep. Go to some writers nights and get to know people. I'm assuming that you're not doing the in-person thing yet, and if you are, I apologize for the assumption. This is such a relationship-based town, though, that unless people start seeing your face and hearing your songs, they can more easily relate to (and work with) the guy who stops by for lunch or whose kids go to the same school as theirs or who comes to listen to them play out at writer nights. Keep working it, watch out for pluggers, come to town, be patient and approachable and it'll come together.Claire

[Casey H]

Absolutely you should seek out every avenue to promote your music. Use taxi as one tool in the arsenal. Find publishers that will take you submissions. At the minimum, you get more of a sense as to how people react to your music- rejection or no reply from lots of publishers tells you something and, of course, a positive response tells you a great deal too.It's your career. Why wouldn't you be as aggressive as possible in pursuing success?I wouldn't trust many song pluggers. You pay them monthly and they can tell you anything as to where they are pitching your songs. I'm sure there are some honest ones out there, but they are in a sea of crooks. Casey

[suzdoyle]

Good points here. And I would add that it's important to put your music out there in new ways.E.g. I make slide show videos for You Tube of art or photos by friends of mine, and underscore it with my music. Then I include web links to their site and to mine.College professors and workshop presenters often needs music to underscore their videos and presentations -- another fun way to let others use your music and experience new kinds of underscoring.Etc. etc.!!Suz

[putter232000]

Hey Cameron,I have to echo Claire. It is tough being out of Nashville and expecting things to move for you. I would also encourage you to take advantage of the NSAI events in Nashville. Two hardest things about being an out of town writer are: You do not want to be known as some "gherm" from out of town, pushing your CD's at other writers hoping for a co-writer, and 2. You have to be "shark-proof" as much as possible to avoid being taken advantage of.I was approached by a plugger, and I called someone I trust in town (oh yea..CLAIRE!) and found out it was the same plugger. When I met with that person, I was certainly more comfortable about the situation as it turns out the plugger represents several people I know and trust in their judgement.THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS! Just stay focused on writing great material, and network, network, network!All the best,Andy

[cameron]

Thanks to everyone, who responded. Nashville is a hard enough nut to crack, and without living there it'll be especially difficult. I think Claire had some good thoughts there and will take a look at Rowfax and NSAI as starting points.Thanks again...Cam

[deantaylor]

Hey Cam,You can contact publishers and mail out demo CDs. The old fashioned way. I do some of that. I use the SONGWRITER'S MARKET to get the contact information, etc. There are plenty of country publishers listed in there.Dean

[davewalton]

Oct 10, 2008, 3:58am, deantaylor wrote:Hey Cam,You can contact publishers and mail out demo CDs. The old fashioned way. I do some of that. I use the SONGWRITER'S MARKET to get the contact information, etc. There are plenty of country publishers listed in there.DeanI would echo the suggestion for "Songwriter's Market". It's published each year and for someone who is asking "How can I?" and "What's the best way?" type questions, it really does a great job of revealing all the different ways that publishers, labels, can or prefer to be approached. Kind of a guide of "How To Be A Professional" or "How To Market Myself Professionally".If you're going to the Rally, there's usually some good classes on this kind of thing and a lot of mentors that can help to answer those questions.Getting a good balance between Taxi and my own efforts makes for a long-term, successful musician I'm finding out.