Most artists have surface to air rockets on top of their houses now. Good luck.


Guy's, let me see if I can approach this another way. I understand that everyone here think that it is all about access. Access is a part of it. Getting songs in front of the industry is a part of the stuggle. But it is only a small part.

Everybody on these types of boards all have the same thing "if they could only hear THIS song.. My song.... etc." That is only a small part of it. You have enormous egos involved in the music industry. Everybody seems to think that artists, producers, writers, etc. all sit around waiting for that NEXT song to come to them. I can't for the life of me understand where that thinking comes from.


Think of yourselves for a minute. How did you get to where you are where you think you have music that artists, the industry, people who have done this professionally for most of their lives, HAVE to have over their own? Where do you get that idea?

Are you out there performing, pushing your CD's in every lonely roadhouse, driving thousands of miles a year, doing it night after night after night, making little of nothing, working multiple jobs BESIDES your music, approaching your music like an unpaid second job, that has people besides your friends, parents, relatives, telling you how good it is? Are they beating down your doors to have your music over anything else? Are you selling millions of downloads? If you are, why do you need these services?

Because that is what anyone in the music industry does. They generally are "big fish in little ponds' having gone as far as they can in their own areas. They usually have a completely different career music wise, either in clubs, or college or something else that gives them the drive to move to a music center in the first place. They have spent a lot of money usually on recordings while working multiple jobs, BEFORE they move somewhere else where their music can get bigger.

And granted, even the current crop of Karaoke Cowboy and Cowgirl's that make up the reality show circuit might not the most long distance experienced group on earth but they do have EGOS, and someone convinces them to go on these auditions.

So by the time anyone who gets to a town like this, they have gone through YEARS of trying to write, to sing everywhere and anywhere. Then they are put into a holding pattern here. and they do the same thing except starting over.

Think about your own music for a minute. How much have you spent on your demos? making tips? Buying home recording equipment? How many hours do you sit in front of this screen you are staring at,
late at night, early in the morning, anytime you can sneak a minute during work, to check out these posts, other threads, listening to music, visiting web sites, going to late night writer's nights, open mics, when you have to work in the morning just to play two songs or hear some singer? Making the trip for a seminar, writer's weekend, song camp, etc? How much have you spent?

Now you are going to tell me that you are going to put someone else's song that you don't know, have no connection to that is really no better than yours, OVER your own, if you have a very rare chance to play something for anyone else? You can't tell me that with a straight face. You guys are beating yourselves to death trying to find a way to get your own music out there. And everyone keep looking to all of these other services as the magic answer because there seems to be no other way.

This is what a normal modern artist is looking at:

When they are signed (which is AFTER they have something that demonstrates their own selling abilities, You Tube, fan base, impressing people INSIDE the music industry.) They are in an intern type situation for one to three years before major label product is released. And then only a single at a time. The submissions for new material look something like this:

Submissions:

Songs they have written themselves: 25-50.
Songs their co-writers try to pitch them: 300-500
Songs their publishing companies submit (Their bosses)300-500
Songs from other major companies: 300-1500
Songs from independents with repuations: 2000
Songs from outside sources they don't know 2000
Songs from TAXI, other services 3500
Random shots in the dark 3000

Not all of these songs are listened to. Most fall by the wayside. But if you work for a publishing or record company, this is what comes in once a project is announced in the trades (Row Fax, tip sheets, magazines, etc.)About 300 have serious chances at being heard, about 100 serious chances at getting enough consideration to really be in contention and about 30 have a real chance at being recorded.

That is EVERY project. And people here continue to talk about the difficulty of getting "forwards" from some company.


My contention is that there is not ONE project on established artists that anyone has a shot at. Period. That is not where you need to concentrate your efforts. Your efforts need to be on the "Next big potential things." The new artists. The people on MySpace, face book, etc. who are performing in local areas, who are building their fan base NOW so they can have something TOMORROW.

Once they are on their way, they are on their way. You don't have a chance at them.

Does that mean people don't pitch every way they can? Of course not. Even those of us with pitch services, song pluggers, publishers, etc. pitch every way we can. You never know where something is going to get lucky. Law of averages. But it has to do with diminishing returns and limited resources.

You can spend $300-$1500 with unknown faceless pitch sources, or you can make a trip to a music center, get a great sounding demo, write with other people, investigate up and coming artists, try to get into writer's circles or neighborhoods, or do things that legitimacy have some chance of return.

The choice is up to you.

All of these pitch services will tell you how they can put you into the living rooms of the artists. I am telling you that even if you were in the living rooms, getting a fair listen is probably just not going to happen. There is no real way it CAN happen because of the personalities, money, and directions the professionals who actually do this take.

I am just trying to provide the other side of this equation. Take it or leave it.

MAB