JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum ??? How to pitch a song

Hi,

What is the correct and most professional way to pitch a song?

Thanks,
Jackie

Ask the company if they accept unsolicited material.

Find local up and comings that need material.

Do your homework about the pitch target. You don't want to pitch Carrie Underwood with a song about 20 year anniversaries and 4 kids. Nor do you want to pitch Toby Keith a song about high school longing....or for that matter, Rascal Flatts a song about teenage problems.

Over the years I have developed a system for pitching songs.
First of all you will need songs, words and music in a pitchable form.

I dub the songs I am going to pitch onto a CD using a CD Recorder. I use a stand alone recorder but you may be able to dub songs in a computer if your computer can make discs. First of all you will need to put the songs in a file and then dub them. I have all my song lyrics on a disc and print them when I need them.

I have a basic cover letter that I can print when sending songs. I also have an envelope that I address saved in a program I can print out.

Publishers want songs on CD if not sent by E-Mail. Something I don't do. Be sure to label everything you send. All of my contact info is already on the lyric sheets and cover letter.

As noted, be sure a contact is accepting songs.

Hi Jackie-

I had great success with

http://www.writersdigestshop.com/Songwriters-Market

Got my first publishing contract 1st time out...through SM..
a rock song with record company publisher Ralph Johnson Big Wedge Records in Nashville TN titled:
WALKING WITH A NEW GIRL NOW.

Yes...good recording, cover letter, lyric sheet, as Ray mentioned;
and send out a postcards alerting the publishing company/record companies you are pitching to,
a few days before you send. Include an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) if you want a response/critique, or your Lyric, CD or tape back if not accepted.

In the Songwiter's Market, they will have lists of publishers, record companies, producers & more to pitch to.
The listings include company name, address, phone number, how long in th biz, the genre, type of format accepted,
and if they accept unsolicited material. The track records of artists and songs they had success with, and how long it takes to get a response from them.
There are also articles on publishing, tips on how to submit your songs.

Also try;

www.SongU.com

Basically SongU is a songwriting course, but can answer any questions about publishing and other biz topics. You can get a free 10 day trial.
The best in the music biz at SongU Nashville TN.

Good Luck

~C~

Hi, Jackie.
It would also be helpful to a have a link where whoever you're pitching to would stream and listen, even before you send them a CD.

Hi Raymond,
I am working on that.

Thanks,
Jackie

Thanks Cal,

I will check it out.

Right now I am in FAL (Funds are low) so money is extremely limited.

But I will check it out,

Thanks so much,
Jackie

Hi Jackie,

Don't overlook music libraries(for film & TV) if you have some broadcast ready tracks (definition varies). Here's a good source: http://www.musiclibraryreport.com/

The "Songwriters Market" was a good source for pitching songs many years ago, but it's loaded with scams and wanabe big shots today. Most of the legit companies have dropped out, or listed as "doesn't accept unsolicited material". A waste of money and time.

TAXI has some good pitching opportunities. They may be out of your price range at this time though.

Good luck, John

Hi Jackie-

I see you are low on funds....
I haven't used the Songwriter's Market recently and can't guarantee that the SM will get you a cut; same goes with any other companies mentioned here, or elsewhere. But, you can find the SM or maybe other publications that have listings in a major bookstore, or local libray. Try thumbing through a couple. Copy down some names & numbers...that won't cost you any money.

If you find any publishers give then a call and research them. It's free and can be a good start. Many of the publishers give critiques on your songs, which can be very helpful to improve your songwriting. Remember, the SM has many useful articles which can be invaluable in songwriting and the music biz. There are other ways also to find listings and publish your song without paying a fee. Try that library, a bookstore, or do a search and see if any work for you.
At least you'd be doing something other than nothing.

~C~

When you contact a publisher, or label or artist, whoever you are 'pitching' to, you are asking permission to submit. If they grant permission that is 'soliciting' your pitch. 'Unsolicited' is the practice of us amateurs who think if we just send product out in the world certainly any recipient can see we're the next big thing.

That doesn't work, usually. Those consumers of product are inundated with solicited product and don't have time for it all. Listening to 'unsolicited' product puts them at risk of allegations of plagiarism if anything they ever publish bears any resemblance to the product you submitted without permission.

So that boils it down to contacting them, asking permission, and following their instructions. The most simple instruction is, "No. Thank you." The more complex instruction will specify how many songs to send, how, and when.

Be ready. If they solicit a submission don't start to get your product ready at that time. Be prepared to submit with well-written, well-presented songs. If they want a CD be prepared to supply it. If they want an mp3 submitted electronically, be prepared to supply it. If they want a wav file, etc. Be prepared. Success is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.

Thanks Gary, for you reply good advice!! : )

~Jackie

Jackie every day I get junk mail from people I have never heard of trying to sell me stuff I do not want......all of it goes in the trash. So do not be surprised if unsolicited pitches are also put in the trash. Do your homework and make sure you know who to send stuff to and that they know you and have asked you to submit......that said the vast majority of songs even from established writers are rejected for whatever reason.

Write incredible songs.
Have amazing radio ready demos.

The best way to pitch a song is to cowrite many incredible songs with artists & producers, especially if the artist is about to cut. You will always have better access to up and coming artists. Often cowrite with up and coming artists. Don't pass judgement. Discover talent and help them develop.

Walt Wilkins tells a story of how his publisher asked him to cowrite with a 14 year old female aspiring singer songwriter. he said I thought it was a waste of time and my cowriter Liz Rose accepted the appointment and went on to cowrite many songs with the young artist. Taylor Swift.

Realize if the artist is really talented you might only have a very short small window to to write songs before they get too busy or move on to bigger and better.

Be a producer or part of a production team.
In the pop world, the writers are the producers,
read the credits on CDs.
This is what Greg Watton has done.

Create accomplishments and credits.
The more success you earn, the more accomplished writers, artist and producers will be willing to work with you.

SongU offers pitch opportunities.
http://songu.com/ifs

sign up for pitch services like
http://RowFax.com
http://songlink.com
http://taxi.com
http://broadjam.com

Just read the pitch opp & submit a few suitable songs.

Write a short note, but don't sell your songs in the letter,
let your songs speak for themselves.

pitch the way the pitch opp tells you to:
some allow email submissions, some say attach MP3s,
some say only send links, some allow both.

Pitch so often that you don't care if a particular one pans out or not.

always put your contact information on your letter, your note, your lyric sheets and your CDs

If it's a big artist you're competing with the best.

Go to the city where your kind of music happens.
Attend conferences and auditions
go to gigs.
Go to auditions

Network network network, be friendly, be helpful.
Get to know people.

Help an artist do a song search
be the key contact person for all submissions.
That will show you what it's like.

If an artist wants to record your song, move quickly to get them the required paperwork. you can lose a cut by not responding fast enough.

Hope this helps,

Ande

Thanks Ande,

You gave some great suggestions. I am going to save this : )

~Jackie

Ande,

Lots of great advice and thanks for the plug. :-)

The reality is, the entertainment business is a relationships driven business, which is why I don't put much stock in signing up to pitching services.

I'm not saying they're not useful, but ten to one, songs being picked for major artist cuts from those services have got to be better than the catalog of songs already at the disposal by the artists and their teams.

Most of the time, there are in house writing/production teams who are pumping songs out WITH the artist and those are the songs that typically get picked up for the project.

If you're lucky to impress someone in the camp you're trying to break into and they give you a shot, don't blow it. They might wanna sign you and bring you into the team. At which point, you suddenly become part of the in house.

OR build your own team, make your own friends, call your own shots. IF you're good enough, and you better damn well be good enough, you'll get people knocking on your door asking to work with you.

At which point, you've built a good enough reputation where your name becomes your calling card.

This is how it is in pretty much most of the music spectrum, INCLUDING the Nashville scene.

That's my experience.

It's a small circle and you've got to pass the initiation. If you don't, then keep trying until you do.

Oh and it doesn't hurt to make business cards and go to after parties, red carpet events, and other events/parties high profile people attend.

funny

13 years ago ? , you better have heavy connections to pitch songs , your wasting your time with internet pitches

"??? How to pitch a song"

1- Write your song on paper
2- Wrap your song around a potato
3- Shove potato up the tailpipe of any turbo diesel
4- Start engine