Anyone ever heard of www.songplacementpros.com ? They are a division of Merf Music Group, anyone heard of them?

But the Big red flag for me is that on there website, you don't have to audition, they'll take your $40 per month no matter who you are, and that, for me, is an ethics problem. And why are they charging songwriters, anyway? I'm really sick of so-called 'publishers' that charge songwriters.

I think I submitted something to them ( off of a list of publishers I got from somewhere ) then they send me an email saying my song has potential and all that and all I have to do is pay them $40 month and they will pitch my songs, and all they want, if a deal is struck, is 10% which is generous for a publisher ( if they are publishers ) so the whole thing is suspect. I can find just one person that has gotten a cut, or a sync deal, with these people, I might give them a second look.

Also, the email they sent me didn't even mention my song's name, so it felt like a canned email. I'd love for someone to send them an utterly terrible song, and see what kind of response they get. If they are ethical, they will reject the song. Something about the outfit just doesn't seem right.

Never heard of them Pat! Seems they're more interested in the payment process than getting you placements. There are plenty of legit companies to get involved with. Stay away from them.

Best, John

Yeah, didn't feel right.

Same song plays over and over here.
If someone is in contact with you who can actually do something for your music...I doubt that the circumstance will be vague and need to be questioned.

Square One... again! Same old song and dance. Songwriters pay no matter the currency. Let's just quit! (LOL!)

Got a nice invite from ASCAP today to participate in something between Paul Williams and Adam Shiff. I told them where they could shove it. Dumb commies!

Yikes... ASCAP used to Sponsor us. Adam Shiff has what to do with music?

Adam Schiff has a background in copyright law and intellectual property rights and is a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus and founder of the International Creativity and Theft Prevention Caucus, so I would think those are the angles they would be covering.

This kind of outfit reminds me strongly of a particular type of "agent" I used to encounter when I was pitching my first novel. They would rave about how great it was and if I would just pitch in with expenses and pay a small fee they would be sure to place it for me. It's easy to prey upon the desperation of those longing to be "discovered." I vividly remember receiving a letter from an agent who started off by talking about how much he had loved the manuscript. I started to roll my eyes but then to my amazement he said he didn't think he was the right person to represent it. I was never so pleased to be rejected, just because of his honesty after so much bs. Looks like the same kind of sharks swim in the waters of the music business.

Not sure i'd go with Merf Griffin....

Although he did compose the theme song to Jeopardy.

I submitted a song for diagnostics on musicxray to see what it was all about. Got 2 fairly immediate reviews, but “opportunities” popped up and lo and behold, Merf Music Group was looking for a song. I submitted to Merf, he reviewed my song but didn’t “select” it. Then he commented that he’d like 3 more of my songs. Why not? Ray Hamilton is CEO and is legitimate. What no one knows outside of Merf, and is probably proprietary anyway, is how much of Merf’s business revenue comes from Song Placement Pros. The emails I’ve exchanged with Ray Hamilton (or a Merf rep. disguised as Ray) have been pleasant and supportive. I think you could try them out for a month or two to see what it’s all about. An Elizabeth Kurman and Karl Sky belong to Song Placement Pros, and their songs, as displayed on the Internet, are credible. So who knows?

Just submitted 5 and got 3 Opportunity matches, now they want $17 apiece to submit them. Not sure if I will. LOL!

Cross reference their opportunities with websites like Film Music Network. Or Google their opportunities to make sure they're not using sites like this to submit to. Several years back there was a company using the opportunities on the FMN. Not a bad deal for them. They pay $5 to submit your music and then charge you much more.

Best, John

DON'T pay to play... PERIOD!

Ahhhhhh...... the sharks are still in the water.

cheers, niteshift

I’m surprised there hasn’t been an explosion of scam music promotion websites since Covid popped up. The scams are increasing in every other area. But I would hesitate in any of my posts to call out a legit company, even if it does charge for services a small fee here and there. Song placement pros sounds like a songwriting class to get tips from the “pros.” Caveat emptor.