Quick advice on A&R rep correspondence!

[ragani]

Congratulations on getting a prized follow up from the Rally, AudioRayne! Great tracks DO get noticed by the folks at the Rally. Way to go!Quote:That's like asking a girl who kisses you on the first date, "now why did you do THAT??" Lol! Matto, If you start a dating advice thread, we're all going to read it!

[audiorayne]

Me again. Thanks so much for all your replies everyone.Just to let you know - the A&R person wanted a CD. Good thing I asked here first, otherwise I probably would have just emailed some web links. Here's to this forum! *clink* Had a hard time choosing which other three songs to add though. These were the two songs with lyrics that were on my Rally demo CD:-“Hermione” (yeah, it’s based on Harry Potter.. what can I say – I’m a fan )http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... ream=true- “First Dream” (I played this at the Saturday open mic at the Rally. I was the second last performer so not many people were left at that point!)http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... Cheers,-AR

[ciskokidd]

Hey AR,Congrats and I can see why they asked for more. You have a very contemporary sound. Daughtry and Nickelback came to mind as soon as I heard these. OF course, minus the heavy rock guitars.Very good songwriting! Best of luck!!Cisco

[audiorayne]

Quote:Hey AR,Congrats and I can see why they asked for more. You have a very contemporary sound. Daughtry and Nickelback came to mind as soon as I heard these. OF course, minus the heavy rock guitars.Very good songwriting! Best of luck!!CiscoThanks a lot Cisco - I really appreciate your feedback!-ARP.S. My next post in this thread is going to start with the word "Help!". Check it out if you have a chance...

[audiorayne]

Help!I’ve just had a very thorough second-guessing. Maybe you guys can set me straight and help me come up with a solution, if there is one. Worst case, maybe others can benefit from reading this, or if not, yawn because they’ve heard it too many times before. Let’s recap this thread thus far: The production music library A&R person wants a CD. Exciting! I told them I could have one in the mail within a day or so, and it would have five songs including the ones I’d already put on my Rally demo. I’d already picked what I thought were the three best out of my remaining singer/songwriter material. I’m ready to go.Or am I?This is where the second guessing starts. Most of the “remaining material” I have was written five years ago and recorded on equipment far inferior to what I have available now. Like many of us, through our experience with services like Taxi, I believe that I have learned a lot over the last few months, such that the songs that I’m turning out now are progressively better and better. After those songs were written five years ago, very little came out of me as a singer/songwriter for another few years. Now, I’m back at it, and I’m in the process of writing songs which I believe will be better than most of the stuff that would appear on this five-song demo I said I would send. Unfortunately, I can’t see any of that new stuff being complete and recorded within the next week or two.Does any of this sound familiar? So, now I’m wondering – since I really need to put my absolute best foot forward here, but realizing that it’s probably not a great idea to keep this A&R individual waiting, should I go ahead and send the demo? Or, should I try to hold off until I can include some better material? Notwithstanding the fact that I already said I could mail a CD, do A&R folks in general frown on individuals asking them to wait because they want to make sure they submit their very best “extra stuff” (i.e. material not included on the “main” demo – in my case the Rally demo)?If I were to put myself in an A&R person’s shoes, I would expect a “professional” to have their current best work ready to present at a moment’s notice. But, does that include the “extra stuff” as well? That’s where I’m unsure. Obviously I’d like to come across as professional in all respects, but giving the A&R person something they (might) want to toss out the window won’t help me do that. So, while one half of me kicks myself for not finishing more/better S/S material faster, the other half rushes to get something into their hands as quickly as possible.This brings up another nagging question. If I send songs right now and the A&R person decides they’d prefer to throw them out the window, have I blown my shot? Is that door now forever closed? Or, can I try sending them some new material a few months down the road, tell them I think it’s far better than the stuff they rejected from me before, and see if they’ll give me another shot? Yesterday, this was great news. Now, I can’t figure out if I’m in a pickle or not. Any thoughts?Just want to mention as an aside: I’m not assuming this represents any kind of success for me (otherwise I would have posted in the Success section). Like I said, this was a total surprise, especially after hearing the astounding quality of the material you guys are making, and I have no way of knowing at this point the reason I was contacted or what the music library’s intentions are. I didn’t ask the girl *why* she kissed me on the first date; I’m just going with it... -AR

[aubreyz]

Quote:Help!I’ve just had a very thorough second-guessing.........or what the music library’s intentions are.-ARKnowing that this is a production music library should help define that intention, however even if this was a record label looking for artists, hardly anybody does development anymore. They want finished product they can make money on. If they were just looking for songs to pitch to artists, then final quality might not be as big of an issue.IMHO, if you are having second thoughts about sending it, then it's probably not ready yet. Has any of it been forwarded before? Returned? Post some of them up and get some feedback. Don't waste the guy/gals time sending something you don't believe in.Either way, don't consider yourself in a pickle. Just don't be in such a hurry. To borrow Matto aka Solomon's analogy. You just kissed her. Worst case scenario here you're just going to postpone the date for the next kiss just so you can make sure your breath doesn't stink. If the extra stuff you are sending is worthy of a kiss... send it. If it ain't, don't. She'll appreciate the mouthwash, even if it's later.Things in this business move glacially. IMHO, unless there is a specific request for a specific deadline, a few days-- a few weeks.. all the same thing.Matto may have some better advice, but a while back I had a small label contact me to send the whole album. There were only two minor things to do to the last two tracks, and I thought I would have it finished in a couple of days, so I fired back I would send it right out. Well... things didn't turn out as planned. Many bumps along the way. We added band members, etc. etc... I didn't send him updates along the way, but just sent the package as requested, when it was right, with a nice cover letter, etc...I sincerely doubt he has been scratching his head wondering where my CD is---He's listening to how many CDs a day??? In fact, he probably won't be thinking about me again until that fedex package reaches his desk. I sure didn't want his next thought of me being my reply with a bunch of excuses. Now, were we farther along in the relationship -- I might have been more liberal with my correspondence. But for now I'm erring on all correspondence being something that he can use, and not a waste of his time.Aub

[ciskokidd]

Okay AB,Here goes:1. You have made a professional committment. You need to deliver or risk damaging your credibility. DO NOT ask them to wait for you. They don't have the time and it makes you look unprofessional and not ready.2. You should do a quick post of the songs that you are going to send so that we can give you ah honest opinion as it is easy to second guess yourself and maybe you are okay.3. If the material you are working on is better, I would enclose a BRIEF letter with your package stating that you will have some excellent new material in a few weeks. But make sure that if you do you can deliver.4. In general unless the songs are completely inferior to the songs they have already heard, you are not going to damage a possible relationship. When I say inferior I am not really speaking of production as much as the writing itself. 5. In the end you really need to send the best of what you currently have and see where the chips fall. You need to have a little faith buddy.Best regards,Cisco

[audiorayne]

Aub and Cisco,My internet was down last night, hence the lack of postings from me…You guys given me some real good info and a lot to think about. I’ve decided that I’m not going to explicitly ask them to wait, but what I’ll do is spend a couple extra days to post things here on the forum, and make some tweaks if possible. I said I could have a CD in the mail in a day or so, but I think Aub’s right – whether they get the CD next Monday or next Friday, not such a big deal (I hope). However, as Cisco mentioned, since I already committed to a “few days” as opposed to a “few weeks” it is probably best to follow through with that commitment. First though I will take both your advice and post some things here for review. I'm sure I'll find out quickly enough if I'd be making a collossal mistake by sending these! I’ll post them here, and also in the Peer to Peer section. I’ve submitted these songs to Taxi at one time or another (or both) but none of them for Film & TV listings. They were returned each time, mostly because a fuller production was desired (both of these are just guitar and vocals). “Leave Alone” http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... =true“Joke” http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... am=trueThe third one I’m going to make a couple obvious tweaks to before I post it up for dissection. Cheers,-AR

[tedsingingfox]

Quote:Aub and Cisco,My internet was down last night, hence the lack of postings from me…You guys given me some real good info and a lot to think about. I’ve decided that I’m not going to explicitly ask them to wait, but what I’ll do is spend a couple extra days to post things here on the forum, and make some tweaks if possible. I said I could have a CD in the mail in a day or so, but I think Aub’s right – whether they get the CD next Monday or next Friday, not such a big deal (I hope). However, as Cisco mentioned, since I already committed to a “few days” as opposed to a “few weeks” it is probably best to follow through with that commitment. First though I will take both your advice and post some things here for review. I'm sure I'll find out quickly enough if I'd be making a collossal mistake by sending these! I’ll post them here, and also in the Peer to Peer section. I’ve submitted these songs to Taxi at one time or another (or both) but none of them for Film & TV listings. They were returned each time, mostly because a fuller production was desired (both of these are just guitar and vocals). “Leave Alone” http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... =true“Joke” http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... am=trueThe third one I’m going to make a couple obvious tweaks to before I post it up for dissection. Cheers,-ARGood Call, ARYou got some great...and I mean GREAT... advice here from smart, successful folks. By your open-minded response, I include you in that "smart, successful" grouping. Don't have my ear buds with me, but am eager to hear the causes of your quandry. Promise to include my 2-cents-worth, even though their adjusted-for-inflation value is probably a lot less than that. Ted

[ciskokidd]

Hey AR,I think you are okay sending in "Joke". Good tune with a pretty emotional vocal. "Leave Alone" poses a couple of problems. The first is the subject matter - while I liked the initial "until I kicked you out" line, the song continued to sort of bash this person and generally sounds angry. Publishers usually have nowhere to go with these. They are okay with rage against the system-government-authority, but can't place a song like this one.The other problem is that the vocal is a little pitchy on this one.Regardless of what some people still say. A guitar/vocal track is hard to place. So I'm at odds with what to recommend here. A guitar/ vocal track needs to kill them with either amazing guitar sounds and playing or with a vocal that is undeniable. These both sound a bit demo-like to me. So to finish off these thoughts: Your other songs that you posted are so much better than these in both emotional impact and production that I'm tending to agree with Aub and maybe you should get those new songs done and send those instead.____________________________________________Arggh-I would usually not give this as advice, but how long would it take you to get the new tunes done?The other tact which is kind of a tricky thing to do is to contact the A&R person again and give them an honest and quick apology. Something along the lines of: "I listened to the songs I was going to send you and realized they are not up to par with what you've heard from me and I don't want to waste your time. However, I am in the process of FINISHING some much better material an can have a CD to you in "XX" weeks."The reason I don't really like the above statement is that it puts you in a weaker position. Remember that they heard something in your tunes that they liked. So you had something that could be of value to them. When you start backtracking it sort of puts you back on your heals.Still go ahead and post the third tune.Best,Cisco