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Daylle's News & Resources |
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Issue # 24 |
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Hello
to you all! Hope the heat of summer is also heating up your career. Live music really rocks hardest in the summer so I hope you’re taking advantage. I just got a copy of Dave Cool’s What Is INDIE? documentary film and am delighted with it. People often ask me what indie actually means and this film explores the many ways people see it today. It has interviews with indie artists and industry pros. I’m one of them! There’s great music and concrete advice on how to be a successful independent artist. In the next issue I’ll have an interview with Dave. Meanwhile, check it out at http://www.standalonerecords.com/intro.cfm Feel free to contact me about
my fees if you need CONSULTING on how to make progress in your music
career or need a shot of motivation by using my CAREER COACHING. I do it
in person and by phone. You can email me at consulting@daylle.com
for more info. I now give discounts for booking at least 3 sessions. --------- Please forward this
newsletter to your mailing list or anyone you'd like. If this was
forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, send me an email that says
"subscribe" in the subject header with your name and
city/state. If you'd like to post it on your site, please ask for
permission and I'll give it. Read past issues at http://www.daylle/monthly.html
If you prefer to be taken off my list, please say unsubscribe in the
subject header of an email. --------- My other newsletter,
Self-Empowerment Quarterly, for the body, mind and spirit is also free.
This WON’T come to you automatically. If you don’t receive it and would like to
subscribe, please send an email to subempowernews@daylle.com with
you name, city/state. Read back issues at http://www.daylle.com/daylle/newsletter-growth.html
------- Please visit my website, http://www.idontneedarecorddeal.com/
to take advantage of the many resources for developing a career in
music. I just updated it with new resources. Please come be my friend at
http://www.myspace.com/daylle . You can read my indie music blog there
or at http://www.daylle.blogspot.com. Thanks to those of you who stopped by to see me on MySpace. I’m still learning how to use it. My friend Bob Baker released a book with tons of info on how to use MySpace effectively from the best source – musicians who do it. He kindly shares some of them below. ------ In this issue, I've got an
interview with Ali Partovi, CEO of garageband.com. I also interviewed my friend Jeremy Buck, an
indie artist who I met on my Indie Music road trip. He’s found many
creative ways to promote himself and shares some below. I also two guest
writers - Bob Baker, who shares tips for
marketing on MySpace and Jason
Blume, successful songwriter and author of some of the best books on
songwriting, with info about songwriting agreements form his new book, This Business of Songwriting,. Please
feel free to write with suggestions and questions that I can include in
future issues. Revenge Productions http://www.daylle.com ---------- 1.
Making
Your Mistakes Count 2.
Interview with Ali Partovi, CEO of garageband.com 3.
Daylle’s Seminar & Books 4.
MySpace Music Marketing
Success Tips
by Bob Baker 5.
Interview with indie artist Jeremy Buck 6.
Minding Your Music Biz: Reversion
Clauses by Jason Blume 7.
Association of
Performing Arts Presenters ---------- 1.
MAKING
YOUR MISTAKES COUNT:
Brandi Chastain plays soccer. In 1999 she accidentally scored a goal in
the wrong net and the other team got the point. This wasn’t just a
local game. It was the quarterfinals for the Women’s World Cup. Did
Brandi sulk and ask to get taken out of the game? No! Did she let it
rattle her confidence? No! What she did was let it motivate her to
recover and persevere to tie the game, which the U.S. team won. Lots of people saw Brandi’s mistake. It was a big deal. She could have let embarrassment deflate her and let it play on her nerves for other games. One would think that Brandi is remembered for her blunder. But she’s not, because nine days later, while playing in the finals, score tied, the teams went into overtime. Brandi scored the goal that won the Cup. Mistakes don’t hurt you! You hurt you when you respond to them in ways that beat yourself up or negatively affect what you do later on. Brandi says, “It’s what your do after the mistakes that counts.” You can deal with the mistake and move on, or dwell in the embarrassment and let it make you feel incompetent. It’s your choice to let a goof or bad chord or getting a name wrong hurt you. Here are ways to get back on track.
* Learn to laugh at yourself. Don’t put yourself down while you joke
but just laugh when you goof up. Say oops if you forget the lyrics of
your song. Ask if anyone knows the words. Allow yourself to feel the
humor instead of gritting your teeth and feeling stupid. If you trip and
fall and know people are watching, ask how many points you get. When you
learn to find humor in mistakes, you conquer them.
* Remember that most people
are supportive. Others don’t judge us nearly as harsh as we judge
ourselves. They don’t want you to feel bad and aren’t gleeful when
you do something wrong. Your mistakes aren’t important to most people.
And those who don’t feel bad for you won’t feel good for you when
you succeed so who cares about them!
* Be open to reassurance
from others. When people try to say nice things after you goof, do you
scoff them off or minimize their kind words? Don’t! Everyone makes
mistakes and knows how lousy it feels so they want to make you feel
better. Allow them to. They don’t want you to make yourself unhappy.
* Don’t insult yourself. What would you say if a friend made a
mistake? “Losing your wallet by being careless isn’t good but
you’ll get through it. We all do silly things.” “You were late for
your gig because you didn’t leave enough time but now you know to
leave earlier.” How often do tell a friend, “You’re an idiot and
should be punished?” Yet we call ourselves names and punish ourselves.
Be kinder your view of what you did. You goofed, not screwed up.
You’re silly, not an idiot or loser. Practice being conscious of how
you perceive yourself and change it to a kinder view.
* Don’t blow what you did
out of proportion. It’s common to magnify faults and drag out the
misery of what you did by rehashing it in your mind. It’s a mistake,
not a life altering change! Don’t make more of it than it is. If
people tell you it’s no big deal, accept that it’s no big deal.
It’s done and you can’t undo it. Do what’s necessary if something
needs to be fixed without making it a catastrophe.
* Forgive yourself. You
can’t forgive yourself while you beat yourself up about your mistake.
Forgive you for being human and not being perfect. Until you forgive,
you won’t be able to let it go. Be loving to yourself!
* Let it go quickly. Every
day you hold onto the guilt or blame or horror of what you did, is
another day of punishing yourself unnecessarily. That increases the
injury to your spirit. Don’t hold yourself to a higher standard than
you hold friends. You don’t punish friends so why punish you??? Write
down all your feelings about it – anger, inconvenience, embarrassment,
etc. – read it aloud, and then burn it. That helps let it go.
* Do affirmations to
reassure yourself. ”I’m a winner.” “I’m not my mistakes and
can do things well.” Saying positive affirmations helps heal negative
feelings and helps you move on. They can also drown out negative
thoughts since it’s hard to think both at once.
* Look for lessons and be more conscious and careful in the future. What
could you have done differently? If your amp was stolen while loading
in, create a new system to keep an eye on gear. If you forget chords or
words, practice more. If you goofed because you’re exhausted, make an
effort to get more rest. And if it was just an accident that you broke
something or you fell, accept that accidents happen and you can only do
your best. Last
year when calling potential sponsors for my book tour, I spoke to the
marketing manager of big car company. He was excited to consider giving
me a car for my tour. He went on and on about how this might be a
perfect promotion for a new model coming out just before I left. He
asked me to send a proposal to him and the 2 others working on the
account. I was thrilled. But my brain glitched as I wrote the cover
email. I
worked every day from 9 AM through 9 PM (to reach west coast people) and
was fried. I was waiting for a callback from Toyota, which is my
favorite car. Thoughts of telling them that somehow got into the letter
I wrote to their competitor – the ones interested in being my sponsor.
As I hit send, I screamed, realizing that it was too late to stop the
proposal email telling them Toyota was my favorite. I cried, knowing
I’d blown the opportunity. After
indulging in some self-pity, I laughed at what I’d done – real
guffaws. Oh well. It was done. I told friends about it and they
commiserated with me and joined in my laughter at how silly I was. It
really was a big deal but I used the story to get into the door at
Toyota. I reminded myself the other company might not have given me the
car anyway and forgave me quickly. I was on overload. After that I
became more methodical about checking emails before hitting send.
Eventually National came onboard with a car, so it worked out. Don’t let mistakes take you out. Conquer them instead! Keep what you did in perspective. Ask yourself if it will matter ten years, or even one year from now. The faster you let it go, the less damage it does to your spirit. Mistakes don’t change who you are. Only your response to them does that. Never forget that everyone makes mistakes – that’s part of being human. It’s how you let them affect you – or not – that counts. Make sure that your main perception is how terrific and talented you are! ----------- 2.
INTERVIEW WITH ALI PARTOVI, CEO GARAGEBAND.COM:
GarageBand
offers a unique chance for indie artists with great music to tap into a
while variety of opportunities to get their music heard on radio and
exposed to potential fans and people who pay to use music. Industry
pros, including Sir George Martin, producer for the Beatles, lend their
support. I asked CEO Ali Partovi, who is also a musician and likes being
able to provide support for small businesses, about their unique model. What’s
so special about GarageBand.com? From a consumer standpoint, it enables
ordinary listeners to pick the hits and have a say in what will be the
next big thing. And on the flip side, the musician has an environment
where they earn an audience based on the quality of their music, not
based on where they live or who they know. How
does it work? On the
website, there is a community based, music review process. The musician
submits a song and reviews music by other musicians. You have to review
thirty songs before your song goes into the system. Then it’s randomly
assigned to listeners around the world to rate and review it. Those
ratings and reviews determine who hears your song next. Your song moves
up the charts over time based on the reviews it receives. Songs that are
rated poorly sort of fall out of the system after twenty reviews. The
songs that are rated highly will get hundreds of reviews and go to the
top of the charts and get increased exposure through the traffic to our
charts and other avenues that become available, simply because of the
credibility that our charts provide. What
do reviewers get? For the musician, the incentive is that it’s a
necessary step for submitting your own songs. We do allow musicians to
pay a fee to either skip entirely or reduce their review requirements.
Some musicians have more time, some have more money. If they’re
earning credit, they frequently recruit (other people) to do the
reviews, so it’s not just the musicians themselves. There’s a mix.
We also have a community of music lovers who enjoy sifting through music
they’ve never heard before, rating it and giving an opinion. Some tell
us it’s additive and do hundreds of song reviews a week because they
love it. Are
there other incentives? There are also opportunities to win prizes,
based on how good a music reviewer you are. Similar to Ebay, we have a
rating structure where someone rates your review and you develop a score
for how good a reviewer you are. The better your score, the higher your
chance of winning a prize. How
can a musician with great songs benefit? We’ve had a few dozen people
get signed to labels, although my belief is that getting signed is not
the be all and end all. It’s one step, potentially in your career but
not the right step for everyone. We’ve had a lot of cases where an ad
agency spends a week picking songs off of our website. We had ten
musicians selected off our website and each received ten thousand
dollars to record a song for an advertising campaign. We’ve had more
than we can count cases of musicians getting publishing deals. There is
also attention from internet radio, podcasting, college radio and even
commercial radio. We have an area on our website that’s specifically
for radio stations to find music that they like. How
does your formal relationship with Clear Channel work?
Every one of 600 music radio stations in the Clear Channel
network has a section on their website that’s set aside for unsigned
artists, powered by GarageBand. The top artists in the relevant genres
from GarageBand are selected and automatically displayed and promoted on
the respective Clear Channel website. If you’re a country musician and
reach the top of the GarageBand charts, you’ll be invited by us to
sign a waiver to let the 130 Clear Channel country stations put your
photo and music on their website for a three month period. It has done
very well so far. Being on the Clear Channel website itself is a source
of exposure. Can
this program lead to indie artists getting on air? It’s a nice
starting point that an artist can use to get actual airplay. We’ve had
cases of artists who, because of this program, were able to call the
radio station and get them to listen to their song. It’s much easier
to say you’re already on their website and they can just click there
to listen to your music, than it is to send a CD and hope somebody
listens to it. Artists have been able to get added into rotation on tons
of Clear Channel stations because of this. . . People at the radio
stations are music lovers themselves but don’t have the time or
bureaucratic sensibilities to play unsigned music. We’re trying to
create an infrastructure and an environment where it is easier for
unsigned artists to get radio play without a record label deal. Why
is your service free? Over time, we’re creating a better bridge
between the unknown artist and the mainstream. We don’t want to put a
toll on it until we feel it works really well. At some point we’ll
decide what to ask for. We want to make sure that it is something that
really works and is valuable. If it is, people will be much more
tolerant of us getting something in return. How does your podcasting platform work? It’s a separate site, called Gcast http://www.gcast.com . It offers the ability to create your own podcast, for anybody who wants to get their voice heard. It’s used by some major musicians to build a direct communication channel to their fans, via audio. You can record messages with a phone call –one of the more popular features, because you can record a podcast without touching a computer and have it automatically sent to fans from your phone. Jason Mraz, a platinum artist on Elektra, is sending out previously unreleased clips via his podcast and even writing original music just for it. GarageBand
is definitely a resource you should check out if you believe your songs
are terrific. For the price of time and writing reviews, you can avail
yourself of this opportunity to expand your audience, attract
income-earning opportunities, and get radio play. They also have a
partnership with CDbaby for CD sales. http://www.garageband.com ------ 3.
DAYLLE’S SEMINAR & BOOKS:
My next Start & Run Your Own
Record Label seminar will be in February 2007. Stay tuned for further
details. I may do a joint event in November but haven’t confirmed yet.
Will announce it in the next newsletter if I do. ---------- My
newest book, I Don't Need a Record
Deal! Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution, continues
to do really well! The focus is on making money from musical talent. It
guides you to creating as many income streams as possible and has
specifics on how to pursue the variety of opportunities, including a
whole chapter on venues that pay and interviews with dozens of music
supervisors for film, TV, advertising, music libraries, and much more.
It’s the only book I know of with so many specifics on how to tour and
license music in international markets. People are surprised to find
chapters on taking care of your physical and mental health too. "I'll
admit it, I was skeptical. Another book on how to be a musician? Come
on. They're all alike. But I Don't Need A Record Deal! was
different...it wooed me like no other music-biz book has. First off,
Schwartz assumes that you want to remain an independent artist; to that
end, she doesn't offer a glossary of royalty-speak or advice on how to
kiss industry tuckus. What she does provide is loads of creative ideas
on how to be successful as an indie...This one doesn't stand a chance of
joining the dusty tomes at my next garage sale."
American Songwriter Magazine You
can order this book from me by sending $25 ($20 + $5 priority mail
return) in check or money order (made out to Daylle Schwartz) with your
name, address, and email address. My other books, The Real Deal: How to
Get Signed to a Record Label and Start & Run Your Own Record Label
are also available from me at the same price. Please specify if you want
it autographed. Send it to: Daylle
Schwartz PO
Box 8016, FDR Station New
York, NY 10150 You can use a credit card here 4.
MYSPACE
MUSIC MARKETING SUCCESS TIPS
by Bob Baker,
TheBuzzFactor.com It's
one of the great Internet success stories of the modern era. With nearly
85 million registered users and more than two million music acts setting
up free profiles on the site, MySpace.com has become a godsend for
countless independent artists. MySpace is now one of the top five or ten
most popular web sites on the planet -- right up there with Google, Yahoo
and Ebay in total visitors and page views. This should go without saying,
but—if you aren't promoting your music on MySpace yet, you need to
start—fast! If
you already have a MySpace artist profile, you need to make the best use
of it so you get the maximum exposure possible. For the past few months
I've been researching MySpace and uncovering how the most successful acts
use it to reach thousands of fans, make connections, and advance their
music careers. What I discovered along the way is that most artists misuse
the many free features that MySpace offers and simply don't squeeze the
most potential out of them. I
searched far and wide for useful how-to information on MySpace music
marketing ... and couldn't find any. So I decided to publish something
myself. The result is a new book called "MySpace
Music Marketing: How to Promote & Sell Your Music on the World's
Biggest Networking Web Site." TOP
MYSPACE PROMOTION TIPS: Part of my research included asking the readers of
my e-zine and blog to send me their best MySpace marketing tips. Man, did
I get an avalanche of great responses from artists, managers and promoters
of all stripes. Their full-length responses make up a good chunk of the
book. But here are some highlights that offer good advice on using MySpace
to propel your indie music career: "Make
sure you post regular bulletins to your growing fan base. Don’t just
have them sign up and then ignore them. The whole point of MySpace is to
build a communication network. Anytime there’s a show or a new song or
whatever, post it to the list." -Mark Hansen "Send
messages to all of the bands in your area, acquainting yourself with them.
Eventually, they will need someone to play a show with, and you’ll be on
their list of first contacts." -Mia Kaminsky "Actively
solicit your MySpace friends for help in getting gigs and support. A great
example: my friends in Everyday
Jones do a great job of using their MySpace page to urge fans to
action." -Scott Andrew "The
first thing I did was to search for females age 18 to 35 within a 250-mile
radius of my location. This involved looking at profiles from every result
that was returned, determining their musical tastes and, if their tastes
were in line with our music, sending BOTH a friend request AND an e-mail
explaining who we are, what we do, and why I think they would like
us." -Steve Senes "I
search for bands in a state by the amount of fans they have. Say I want to
do Iowa. I will search rock bands in Iowa, by the amount of fans they
have. Then I will go to their comments and add as many of the people who
have left them comments as possible. This helps because I know that if the
fans are leaving comments, they will usually actually take a listen to the
music." -Dave Bovyn "You
have to keep up on your site by logging in to connect with other users,
check mail, etc. Like anything else in marketing, if you leave your site
on the shelf and not work the buzz, people will pass by. It’s all about
relationships -- people like to connect with others, especially if you are
sincere in what you do, people will be drawn to you simply by your
authenticity and initiative." -Branon Dempsey "We
use our profile as an EPK (electronic press kit) of sorts. It contains our
streaming music, our bio, schedule, pictures, our blog, e-mail sign up,
who we sound like/influences and *feedback from fans*. This allows fans to
see what other people think about us and gives club owners a chance to see
if our crowd is the right fit – or if we can even pull a crowd."
-Chris Holmes "Don’t
make a mess of your site. All these streaming features and extra graphics
that are linked in will take an eon to load and people may miss what
you’re trying to accomplish. Keep it clean and effective." -Michael
Ahlström "Stick
with it. Their are a lot of new people signing up every day who go there
to network. Maybe not everyone wants to network with *you* but everyone
wants to feel good and have a good time and that’s what you sell them,
if they let you." -Darrel Kathan "Encourage
your new friends on MySpace to use one of your songs as the default song
on their page. You’ll get more traffic if their friends like the
song." -Catherine Duc "In
the 'about me' section, I’ve put 'hot links' to other MySpace artists
who I’ve done session work for. Often in return, they will put a link
back to my page. It works!" -Craig Ferguson "When
I send out bulletins for shows or newsletters, I always put at the end of
my message, 'If you know of any venues, festivals, parties or bands that
you think would fit the Blue Island Tribe, let us know.' This has become a
great success for booking in markets that I have not even thought about
breaking into." -James Frey "It’s
not the quantity of friends you have, it’s the quality of friends. I
have seen plenty of bands that have 2,000 friends, but have only 250
plays. That means that yes, they are making 'friends,' but no one is
really taking the time to listen. It’s better to have a smaller number
of friends that you truly connect with and talk to." -Nick Mitchell "Don’t
spend too much time on MySpace and forget to practice!" -Chris Holmes ----------- Bob
Baker is the author of MySpace Music Marketing, Guerrilla Music Marketing
Handbook, and several other books and music resources. He also publishes
TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site, e-zine, blog and podcast that deliver
marketing tips and self-promotion ideas to music people of all kinds. Get
a no-cost subscription to Bob's e-zine by or order his books by visiting
http://TheBuzzFactor.com . ----------- 5.
INTERVIEW
WITH JEREMY BUCK: Jeremy Buck is an
independent drummer/ singer based near LA. He’s wowed me with his
creative promotion. Originally from Indiana, he had to stand out in the
music-saturated LA market. Jeremy turned a gig at the legendary Lighthouse
Cafe in Hermosa Beach, CA into a residency and has taken it very far with
his team at their own Chateau Motel Records – Darren Weiler, Chris Hanna
and Joel Geist. What
made you go to the Lighthouse? My friend booked us a show on a Saturday
afternoon. I needed to build my local following and proposed a weekly
Happy Hour show. They booked me for Tuesdays from 6 - 9pm.
After 3 months, the Lighthouse Management were excited about the
turnout and asked me to move to Fridays from 4pm-8pm. After 5 months, we
switched back to Tuesdays for the entire night as a "Tuesday Night
Buck-Off" from 9:30pm- 1:30am. The Buck-Off, is derived from my last
name, but also means that every item is a Buck Off all night. The
Lighthouse's slowest night was Tuesday. I continued building my own night
every week. How did you get people into the Lighthouse shows? I made professionally printed tickets with a very cool photo of us on the front and all the information on the back. We hired a cute outgoing girl to pass them out to people walking on the Hermosa Beach Pier. She advertised that they could use them to get in for free to the show, which was going at that moment. After an hour, she walked around the club gathering email addresses and then cycled back out to the pier to hand out more flyers. This process worked wonders for us. Because of our Tuesday Night Buck-Off" move, we have new tickets. They look like a dollar bill, except my face is on it. I designed it to communicate the "Buck-Off" special. What
other creative promotions have you done? My CD release party for "A
Secret Made of Dreams" was at the King*King in Hollywood. We booked a
party bus to take fans from the Hermosa Beach area to the show in
Hollywood. For the price of the ticket, they received a party bus badge,
beer from a keg on the bus, admission to the show, a copy of my record, a
half sandwich on the way home. In
December, my team and I put together a huge concert for the Toys for Tots
charity at the Lighthouse Café from 4pm to 2am. I booked 7 other bands.
Admission was free if you donated a toy. Toys for Tot's was founded by the
Marine Corp, so 8 Marines worked the event with us. The theme was
Christmas Carnival Concert. I rented old school carnival games such as:
The Coke bottle ring toss, miniature golf, cork gun shoot, the frog toss,
milk jug softball toss. We also sold raffle tickets. Local businesses
donated about 60 prizes. I designed tickets that looked like an old school
carnival poster and made t-Shirts out of the design to sell. All proceeds
went to Toys for Tots. About 1200 people came through the door. We
collected $9,000 worth of cash and toys for needy children on Christmas.
We will have another next December! How
did you put your holiday concert together? We contacted musicians and
bands that would be a good fit, booked them, and contacted the Marine Corp
and Toys for Tots. They took care of everything – collected the toys and
worked the carnival game booths. We got the authentication form from Toys
for Tots to show a tax I.D. number so the business sponsors could use it
for a tax donation write off. We contacted local businesses to donate
products, gift certificates, coffee, etc and a local T-shirt printer for a
discount on printing shirts. I had the carnival tickets printed and
researched carnival prizes and games. Friends we met during this process
helped us out, including taking over publicity for the event. We were in
all the local papers with interviews and huge color photos. How
have you gone after press? By creating events, the press has been much
more responsive than to just calling in and saying, “I'm playing a show
tomorrow night.” I'm always looking for something that doesn't exist,
that I can create to generate interest and take it from being just a show
at a club to an event, an experience! How
have you gone international? I went by myself on a 7-night tour in Tokyo,
Japan that was an amazing, life changing experience. A friend in Japan
assembled musicians to learn my music so I could play the drums and sing.
They were incredible and knew every change and note. It just shows that
music is the universal language! My Tokyo tour went so well that I’m
invited back in August. Jeremy
uses his degree in Visual Communication Design to design flyers, website,
T-shirts, CD covers and anything else his creative mind thinks of. I met
him during my national tour. He and the guys he at Chateau Motel Records
befriended me and made me feel like part of the family. Jeremy’s
promotion gets fans in and his exuberant energy makes them fans. http://www.jeremybuck.com
------------- 6.
MINDING
YOUR MUSIC BIZ – I’m beginning a series in this section on
contracts. It’s critical that you understand the importance of having
all your biz in writing, while also being careful about what you sign. The
following article includes an excerpt from Jason Blume’s latest book, This
Business of Songwriting (Billboard Books). Like This
Business of Music, all songwriters should have this for reference. It
details the biz stuff relating to songwriting that you need to know if you
want to make money from writing songs. Reversion
Clauses by
Jason Blume Many
single song publishing agreements include a paragraph known as a reversion clause. It states that if the song has not been recorded
and commercially released, or licensed for print (for example, sheet
music), or licensed for use in a television show or film, within a
specified number of months of the date of this contract, all rights will
revert back to the writer. However, for this to occur, the writer must
reimburse the publisher for any demo expenses and notify the publisher in
writing within ninety days following the eighteen-month deadline. If the
writer does not fulfill these two requirements, he or she relinquishes the
right to reclaim ownership of the song. This paragraph typically states
that if there is “considerable activity” (for example, the song is
placed on hold, or there is a release pending) the writer agrees to extend
this agreement for a maximum of one hundred and twenty additional days. Be
aware that the length of time specified before the rights revert back to
the writer will likely be an important negotiating point. Not all
publishers are willing to include this clause, and some of those who do
may request two, three, or as much as five years before the songs reverts.
It is in the writer’s best interest to further define the criteria the
publisher must meet. For instance, instead of stating that there must be a
commercially released recording, many attorneys include that the recording
must be released on a major label, or a label distributed by a major
label. They might also specify that if the song is licensed for print, or
for use in a film or television show, the licensing fee must meet or
exceed a specific amount (for example, $1,000).
These
additions protect the writer from being unable to reclaim the song in the
event of scenarios such as the following: the song has been released on an
artist’s own independent record label and generates only a few dollars
in royalties; the song is used in an educational film which pays a fifty
dollar licensing fee; or, a license is issued at no charge to include the
song’s lyric in a magazine. A
reversion clause is a writer’s primary protection against the many
situations that may result in a song collecting dust on a publisher’s
shelf indefinitely, for example, if the publisher is sold; if the song
plugger loses interest in the song; or, if the plugger who signed the song
leaves the company. Not
every publisher will grant a reversion clause—but it is certainly in
your best interests to request this. ---------- Jason
Blume is one of the few writers to have songs on the Country, Pop, and R
& B charts at the same time. His songs on albums and videos have sold
more than 50 million copies -- with cuts by Britney Spears, the Backstreet
Boys, Jesse McCartney, and many more. Blume wrote the best-selling, 6 Steps To Songwriting Success, Inside
Songwriting, and This Business
of Songwriting (Billboard Books). He also produced the acclaimed
instructional CD series, “Writing Hit Melodies with Jason Blume” and
“Writing Hit Lyrics with Jason Blume” and teaches workshops for BMI
and NSAI. http://www.jasonblume.com -------------------- 7.
ASSOCIATION
OF PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTERS
(Arts Presenters): I went to the Arts Presenters annual conference in
January. It was my first time and I wanted to get a feel for what they
offered. This organization considers itself the nexus for the performing
arts community and innovators in the field. They have members in all 50
states and more than 15 countries, including large performing arts
centers, outdoor festivals, artists, artist managers and more. This is by
far the largest association that represents a variety of disciplines
ranging from all forms of dance, music, theater and family programming and
much more. I was in awe at the conference! In
my book I Don’t Need a Record Deal!, I encourage musicians to seek out
venues that might work for their music that aren’t clubs that pay! Civic
and Cultural Arts Centers, festivals, small theaters and other
traditionally adult venues have been expanding the scope of music they
bring in. Most are members of Arts Presenters and attend their annual
conference. The
conference had a lot of opportunities for connecting to these venues. The
exhibit hall was a combo of booths with artists, agencies, venues and
more. Many of the venue people wander around instead of having a booth. If
you’re serious about breaking into these markets, consider doing one of
the showcases going on. Some were during the day, onsite. More were in
clubs or other places. If you do a showcase, you must promote it, just
like anywhere else. They
had lots of workshops and other sessions, some targeted specifically to
artists. I talked to artists with booths and they said it enabled them to
make lots of good contacts. But just attending and aggressively networking
can help too. Joining offers ever more possibilities for making inroads
into this lucrative music market, IF your music can fit. Check them out at
http://www.artspresenters.org ----------- An
old African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want
to go far, go together.” That applies in music too. It’s easier to
move quickly if you don’t have to ask anyone what they think. Going
alone also makes it easier to make mistakes or burn yourself out. Working
with others gives you more support. It also helps you learn about
resources. Plus, when something goes wrong or you’re feeling
discouraged, you have someone to complain to that understands. Their
encouragement is usually more nurturing than words from a friend with a
day job and no clue about the industry. Team
up with others who are doing what you do, however informally. Meet with
other artists or songwriters or managers or publishers every few weeks to
brainstorm with them. Critique each other’s songs and performances.
Share contacts. Do group shows. Expand that to group tours. They say that
two heads are better than one. Likewise four heads can be better than two
– more resources, knowledge and critiquing. I
hear concern about helping your competition. There’s room for all good
talent! If you’re worried that someone in your circle is better than
you, work on your own craft. When you’re really good, NO ONE is
competition. NO ONE! I participate in writers groups. Some are just 6
writers meeting to help each other. I’d have never been published in
Newsweek if someone in my group hadn’t suggested pitching my essay to
them. The whole group added encouragement. They all write on topics that I
do. But I believe in my own writing enough not to worry. I encourage you
to reach out and create a circle of like-minded people and help each
other. The rewards are tremendous! Until
the next issue..... Keep
your passion strong, Daylle http://www.daylle.com
http://www.idontneedarecorddeal.com/
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