Direct to company song forwarded for artist. What next?

[chumbox]

Hey All

Long time lurker, first time poster. It's been a pleasure reading all the advice.

Wrote a song for an artist/record company listing which was direct to head of company. Song was forwarded and just totally thankful to TAXI for that, completely unbelievable. The listing was referencing a new album for the band which from a bit of google work comes out by the end of the year.

If your track gets picked up when and how do you find out? Do they always contact you before using/demo'ing with the band. I've been in the music scene a while but the whole business side of songwriting is new to me so any advice appreciated.

I understand not to contact them, got that. I also understand write, send, forget. Got that. But I feel there is a solid chance I've made this cut and was wondering how long I run up and down the halls with excitement before I get any official word.

Don't worry, I'm still writing and loving it.

Thanks in advance.

[simonparker]

Chumbox...

First, congratulations on the opportunity, well exciting!

With regard to your questions/comments. You must first realize that despite record labels best efforts, release dates get changed quite a bit, so unless the artist is far in the recording process, release dates tend to get pushed back (or moved up during holdiay season). If this is a end-of-year release, depending on the artist and its sell power, it could be released before x-mas or it could be pushed off until March to allow for the labels 'heavy hitters' to be fully marketed. Also, depending on budget and the tracks, an artist release can be postponed or scrapped (i.e. shelved).

Having said that, it sounds as if this Taxi opportunity is for an A&R working on the artist project, or the head of the company as you say, looking for additional songs for the artist to consider. What happens to the song that was sent depends on a number of factors such as who the head of the company is, how good your song is, how many other songs are being sent to this person, what the artist thinks of the song, etc. It is not uncommon for a popular artist (i.e. Kelly Clarkson) to receive over 1,000 songs from TRUSTED sources (i.e. well connected producers, songwriters with hits, major publishers, etc.) in competition for perhaps 3 slots that are not taken by the producers working on the project. A major artist might record 25 or so songs out of the hundreds it receives, and then weed it down to 10-12 for a release. It's been my experience (and belief) that most artists record songs that they helped contribute to with regard to songwriting. Even younger artists with weaker chart success, such as Demi Lovato have several songs which they have a co-write to (in Lovato's latest release, she co-wrote on 5 of the 14 tracks, rendering only 9 to outside writers). The other issue is the labels now have 360 deals in place which will make them more biased towards having the artists write their own tracks and have them released for additional revenue ( or if they suck at writing, have them work with a ringer like Dr. Luke). So even if your song is great and a contender, it is at a disadvantage, all things equal.

Now, should you be in the position that your song beats out all the other great songs submitted, and the head of the company and the artist love the song they want to record it, a couple things will happen. First, in order to release your song as part of the artist release, you need to issue the record label a mechanical license. The royalty rate on the license is 9.1 cents per unit. However, if this is a major artist and they truly are interested in releasing your song, do not be surprised if they have their own mechanical license paperwork handy and don't be surprised if your royalty rate is quite a bit lower than 9.1 cents per unit. Songwriters looking for that ellusive first cut can find that they are not in much of a bargining position. Likewise, you might also find yourself having the aritst like your song, but wanting to change up the lyrics or have the producer change a section, etc. At the end of the day, you could be looking at a lower mechanical rate, a shared co-write, and other dilutive effects of being a first-time songwriter. It goes with the territory. But in answer to your question - if an artist wants to record your song, they will contact you.

[chumbox]

Thanks so much for the very helpful and informative reply. Makes great sense.