What If we artists would run the listings ?

[pietshaw]

I've been thinking about the possibility that it would be pretty cool if we as artists / songwriters could run a listing like f.e.x. "Funky uptempo HipHop track with already a vocal chorus to it" ( topic Club/Dancing/opposite Sex) is sample-free and available, would do great, f.ex. in an action-loaded movie in a Club/Car-Chase/Streefight-scene. Also cool for an advertising spot, adressing the young ( und not so young ) urban hipsters. (16-35)This is just a stupid example of how we( I mean WE are the ones who CREATE the music- so I fear we are the heros,- and WE are the people who write the stuff that we allow other folks to use in their formats and not the other way around...) could show the industry what we got to offer. What I want to show with this example is that I'm sick and tired of writing music to fit others' needs. I mean I got a lot of experience as a 'professional' in this industry and though I'm still young I spent some pretty long and terribly ennerving years trying to pitch some songs. I have been in institutions like Songlink, Songs Wanted, Songquarters, e.g. for years and used to write music regarding to the listing and I wish I could get that time back. You almost never hear from these people at all- no matter how good your music is and how perfectly it fits the description of the listing. They don't even send you an email. Excuse me, but where ARE we ? I don't give a f*** if these idiots are busy or what- if you don't have the time to get back to people, sending you world-class composition/productions than go to hell or employ some people that are taking care of the artists. I mean, people- wake up and let these words get into your mind again : YOU spend years and years of your lifetime- years that never come back- and you don't even get an answer from THEM Wtf ??!? How in the world can we/one justify such an absolutely inhuman system ? If we're not a whore for that system we can't.(justify it) So what are we supposed to do ? Yes. C HA N GE I T !!!Thats why I think its about time that we artists get a forum where we can run and post our listings and the industry people can pick what they like. This would be the right way around and would save us artists a lot of our dignity, time and money. Alway keep in my mind what was first : The music or the industry ?Peace out Piethttp://www.taxi.com/pietshawhttp://www.myspace ... roductions

[Casey H]

Quote:I've been thinking about the possibility that it would be pretty cool if we as artists / songwriters could run a listing like f.e.x. "Funky uptempo HipHop track with already a vocal chorus to it" ( topic Club/Dancing/opposite Sex) is sample-free and available, would do great, f.ex. in an action-loaded movie in a Club/Car-Chase/Streefight-scene. Also cool for an advertising spot, addressing the young ( and not so young ) urban hipsters. (16-35)This is just a stupid example of how we( I mean WE are the ones who CREATE the music- so I fear we are the heroes,- and WE are the people who write the stuff that we allow other folks to use in their formats and not the other way around...) could show the industry what we got to offer. What I want to show with this example is that I'm sick and tired of writing music to fit others' needs. I mean I got a lot of experience as a 'professional' in this industry and though I'm still young I spent some pretty long and terribly unnerving years trying to pitch some songs. I have been in institutions like Songlink, Songs Wanted, Songquarters, e.g. for years and used to write music regarding to the listing and I wish I could get that time back. You almost never hear from these people at all- no matter how good your music is and how perfectly it fits the description of the listing. They don't even send you an email. Excuse me, but where ARE we ? I don't give a f*** if these idiots are busy or what- if you don't have the time to get back to people, sending you world-class composition/productions than go to hell or employ some people that are taking care of the artists. I mean, people- wake up and let these words get into your mind again : YOU spend years and years of your lifetime- years that never come back- and you don't even get an answer from THEM Wtf ??!? How in the world can we/one justify such an absolutely inhuman system ? If we're not a whore for that system we can't.(justify it) So what are we supposed to do ? Yes. C HA N GE I T !!!Thats why I think its about time that we artists get a forum where we can run and post our listings and the industry people can pick what they like. This would be the right way around and would save us artists a lot of our dignity, time and money. Alway keep in my mind what was first : The music or the industry ?Peace out Piethttp://www.taxi.com/pietshawhttp://www.myspace ... nsActually this is what many (actually hundreds of) music libraries do. They take on good songs, categorize them for genre, tempo, mood, etc. and film/TV music supervisors come to them and browse through this organized catalog. Many of them have websites with separate logins for film/TV music supervisors to use the site and search for songs.I completely understand your frustration. Bear in mind that the end users do like a highly professional middleman so they don't end up in arguments with every Tom, Dick, and Harry who writes music. And remember- it is a buyer's market, not a seller's one. It's like when lots of affordable houses are on the market. Sellers have to drop their price as buyers have virtually unlimited choices. With the invention of affordable home studio equipment, there is so much good music being made, the buyers have those virtually unlimited choices. This is even causing license fees to plummet. You are right that you need to be aggressive in your marketing... Aggressive, but always professional and never obnoxious. Tip sheets are OK, some better than others. One thing I used to do with tip sheet leads is always send an email verifying they are looking before doing anything. If they didn't answer at all or confirm, I didn't bother sending anything. Many tip sheet leads are re-cycled old leads or names posted without that party actually requesting specific types of songs. FYI, a list of A&R names by itself is virtually worthless since they won't take your unsolicited submission anyway.Are you a TAXI member? The reason I ask is it is a good way to see how your work stands up in today's market. If you are getting a very low percentage of forwards, you may want to think about BOTH the music and the marketing.Best of luck! Casey

[hummingbird]

Just a note to say... if you think it is just songwriters who are ignored, you'd be wrong. I just had a publisher forward a submission to another publisher who was urgently looking for music for an indie film last week... and that other publisher hasn't bothered to get back to my publisher, who is totally polite & professional in all his dealings. I posted a couple of days ago about the value of networking, and one of the things you see at the Rally is how approachable people in the industry can be... but just watch at the end of a panel when half the audience is trying to get to that one approachable person to give them a CD. Makes you appreciate the pressure on their end.IMO, when you send an unsolicited submission, you should expect no reply. If you've emailed and received permission to submit, you should still expect no reply. If they've asked you to specifically submit something, then they should reply. However, I also have seen how angry & frustrated & rude people can be when the quality of their music is questioned... and who wants to be on the receiving end of that? So while I agree that we should get replies on well-targeted & politely made submissions... I'm not holding my breath. H

[rcase]

Greetings Piet!Wasn't mp3.com similar to what you're describing? I suppose you could say the format and/or presentation was different, but it seems to me the end result is similar. Would there be any sort of filter or quality control on the forum you suggest? If not, I think you essentially end up with an mp3.com or MySpace, or other existing sites I'm not familiar with.I think one of the reasons TAXI has worked for as long as it has, is -even though ML's idea was revolutionary at the time- it operates within a framework the industry is comfortable with. I don't think the industry folk have the time or desire to go somewhere and do the 'grunt work' of digging through a lot of material, possibly of questionable quality, hoping to find the specific thing they're looking for. And to the degree this kind of searching does take place- as Casey said, there are already many music libraries that do quite well operating in that fashion. Perhaps you will find a place for your music in one of those, even if the relationship begins with you offering one of your existing tracks to them for placement in some tv/film. Matto is probably just one of our forum regulars who can tell you that once you establish a good working relationship with a library, it is not unheard of for them to come back to you and ask you for more of 'what you do'; even resulting in you producing entire CDs for them. Matto has in fact done just that, I believe. And I will say this: I think you have to listen to your heart, corny as that sounds. If it feels like prostitution to you, then maybe it is for you. If that be the case, then don't bother writing for listings. Keep doing your own thing, and become an expert in that. You may not see as many opportunities in TAXI (or whatever other resources you're using) as the guy/gal who does 'write for the project', but when the right listing does come up..you'll be da man!Whatever road you choose, I wish you the best.Rob