JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum AI Rejected Songs Charity Compilation

Hello all. Below is a c-n-p of the project Luanne Hunt is heading. I hope I placed this in the right forum. If not, I apologize. On behalf of Luanne and I, thanks again, and I'm sure the charity chosen will be very appreciative.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR SONGWRITERS REJECTED BY
AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!

WAS YOUR SONG REJECTED BY AMERICAN IDOL? DO YOU THINK
IT HAS "HIT" POTENTIAL? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IT TO BE HEARD?

SEND YOUR REJECTED TUNE(MP3'S)TO MUSIC PRODUCERS
LUANNE HUNT AND SEAN GASAWAY. LUANNE AND SEAN ARE
LOOKING FOR 10-25 OF THE BEST SONGS THAT AI REJECTED
TO PRODUCE A CD FOR CHARITY. SONGS THAT ARE NOT FULLY
PRODUCED ARE WELCOMED. SONGWRITERS OF THESE TUNES
WILL BE OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THEIR SONG
PRODUCED FOR A VERY REASONABLE RATE.

THERE IS NO FEE TO THE SONGWRITERS TO BE A PART OF THE
PROJECT AND THEY WILL RETAIN ALL RIGHTS TO THEIR
MATERIAL. PROCEEDS FROM THE CD WILL GO TO A
CHARITABLE CAUSE, STILL TO BE DETERMINED.

THIS CD WILL BE PROMOTED TO NUMEROUS MEDIA OUTLETS,
INCLUDING RADIO, TELEVISION AND PRINT. THERE WILL
ALSO BE ADDITIONAL EXPOSURE ON THE INTERNET.

LUANNE HUNT IS A SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT SINGER,
SONGWRITER AND MUSIC PRODUCER. ALONG WITH RECORDING
FIVE CDS, SHE HAS TRAVELLED ALL OVER THE UNITED
STATES, PERFORMING AT FESTIVALS, COFFEE HOUSES,
WOMEN’S CONFERENCES, RETREATS AND OTHER VENUES. HER
SONGS CAN BE HEARD ON RADIO STATIONS IN THE UNITED
STATES AND CANADA.

ADDITIONALLY, LUANNE IS A MUSIC JOURNALIST AND
REVIEWER FOR THE SECOND LARGEST NEWSPAPER GROUP IN LOS
ANGELES AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES. DURING THE PAST TEN
YEARS, SHE HAS INTERVIEWED ARTISTS AND BANDS SUCH AS
JON BON JOVI, JEWEL, WYNONNA JUDD, N’ SYNC, RANDY
TRAVIS, TOBY KEITH AND RAY CHARLES, TO NAME A FEW.

SONGWRITER/PRODUCER SEAN GASAWAY IS THE OWNER OF
GASAWAY MUSIC, BASED OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.
HIS COMPANY PRODUCES CDS FOR NEW ARTISTS AND HELPS PROMOTE
THEM TO MAJOR RECORD LABELS.

SEAN AIMS TO SET NEW STANDARDS IN THE RECORDING
INDUSTRY BY UTILIZING HIS TALENT FOR PRODUCING
EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC WITH UNIVERSAL APPEAL.

SEND MP3'S TO:
LUANNEHUNT@YAHOO.COM
SEAN@GASAWAYMUSIC.COM

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music

Quick question. What kind of deadline? And if you do want to "studiofy" what I send you, what would it cost? (I might use local resources to do it, if I have the time.)

Joe

There is no set deadline, but we have already chosen 8 songs, and we're closing in on the 20-25 we need, but it makes sense to have the CD ready to distribute soon, because AI doesnt have much longer to air this season, and riding the AI wave will help it become more successful for the charity, I would hope..

As far as production costs to the writer if their song is chosen, it's going to cost up to approx $700/song if the song needs full production, including mastering(it all depends on the amount of fills/musicians wanted by the songwriter in the production, and if they need a vocalist, extra studio time for extra fills,ect..). If an entry is chosen that has already been recorded with a full production, then we're going to just master it. No cost.. If you want to hear what a song sounds like that I've produced, feel free to listen to any of the songs at www.GasawayMusic.com or www.myspace.com/GasawayMusic . All were recorded at Arctic Sound Studios in Columbia, TN. We use great Nashville studio musicians to cut tracks and it will be polished.

Hope I've answered your questions, and please feel free to contact me at sean@gasawaymusic.com or Luanne at luannehunt@yahoo.com

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music

Real nice songs at the site there. Sounds like a good thing!

Tammy

www.tammyedwards.com
www.myspace.com/tammyedwards1

Sean, I'll send you the *.mp3 of my entry, "Rotten Candy." If you can use it, great. If not, I don't think I'll be ordering a demo from you guys--I can get the work done way cheaper here (plus I can supervise it). It doesn't sound, however, like you'd have time for me to do that.

So if you can use what I've got, great. If not, sorry. It sounds like you've got plenty of good material to choose from.

Joe

Joe, I'll be glad to give it a listen!

PLEASE REMEMBER ALL: WE ARE ONLY ACCEPTING SONGS THAT WERE SUBMITTED TO THE AMERICAN IDOL SONGWRITING COMPETITION. IT IS A COMPILATION CD OF SONGS THAT WERE REJECTED BY AMERICAN IDOL THAT WE THINK SHOULD HAVE MADE THE TOP 20. ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO CHARITY.

Thanks,
Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music

Done, Sean.

Joe

Sounds like a great project! Good luck with it, and let us know how it goes!

Why are you only accepting songs rejected by AI.Some of us didn't bother entering AI but might like to enter for your comp?

Oh SURE!!! I mention doing something like this and I hear crickets...

http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=498121&page=7#Post498121

LOL!!

I think this is a wonderful idea. A charity CD. And for you guys to handle the mastering at no charge is a very gracious offer indeed. I think my song deserves to be on the CD , but honestly I haven't the funds or the resources to provide a studio quality recording. (I'm kinda new to this whole songwriting thing)

You can hear the original recording of my song "We Are The One" here:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/4/16/989269/We_Are_The_One_Rev.mp3

Do you think AI will want to use the proceeds for "Idol Gives Back" for using their name? Which charity will benefit from this?

This is really nice of you to do. Thanks for offering.

Have a great day!

Everett,
This project isn't the only CD comp Luanne has or is working on for different charities, but it is the only one I am currently working with her on, and we're trying to put together a compilation of the best songs that didn't get chosen for the AI Songwriter contest. We're also trying to show that their TOP 20 can be matched by the Top songs we've found from the same batch of songs they accepted.

You could email Luanne and ask her if she is open for submissions to other projects she's doing though.

Dave,
My browser is having trouble downloading your mp3 at from that site, could you email me the MP3?

To answer your other question, Luanne has not determined which charity will benefit, but we have already discussed the AI Charity, and I think it would be a great idea as well. As soon as we narrow down the top songs for the album, then she'll announce which charity will receive the proceeds along with all of the other details still T.B.A.

Thank you all for your interest!

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music
www.GasawayMusic.com

Hey Sean,

Couple of questions, being the old cynic that I am ! ...

Do you have the express permission of AI in your project ? Being a registered trademark, any inference to it may breach its trademark standing.

It would be a good idea to state the charity. YTBT is not really a very good endorsement, in fact it doesn't endorse anything. If the songwriter were to sign up for "Worthy Good Cause No 54" with an express endorsement from the charity, then that would help things along.

$700 is not so bad for a studio produced recording, but could not these production costs be paid for by the studio, put down as overheads, recouped first, then the remaining "profit" be donated to the said charity ? Some folks may not have $700 to donate to your studio.

From a songwriters point of view, compilation recordings are not a sensible business practice, as the individual song gets lost mixed in with the others. If doing a compilation for charity, why not get a few well known artists, team them up with suitable songs, and add to the marketing by promoting it as a team effort ? Would established artists be a part of the project ?

I think it's a little vague at the moment, and the $700 "fee" may distract from what you are trying to achieve. Maybe a rethink ?

cheers, niteshift

Niteshift, good points. Only reason I haven't asked myself what "Worthy Cause No. 54" is is I'm pretty sure they're not going to want my song for the "rejects" record, either. I do get the impression they're about full up with really good stuff.

An idea I've promoted elsewhere--and hope that someday, somebody'll take me up on--is assembling a group of writer-musicians and having them perform collectively, either as a group or in small groups, each other's material. Share production costs, and everybody'd get a share of the resulting CDs to sell or otherwise distribute any way they wanted to. Everybody on the CD would theoretically be interested in pushing the record as far as they could, because *they're* on it--but in the process, they'd be promoting everybody else, too.

Nope, haven't tried it yet. I might be able to do it with our Friday Night Group (2 dozen musicians, roughly)--we've talked about putting out a CD as a benefit for the local high school's music program, and we do have some money saved up, and there is a local studio dude who'd do the work cheap. I think the idea would work long distance, too, with musicians in various quarters of the globe e-mailing their parts to a mixer-person who'd put it all together.

Sorry--didn't mean to hijack this thread. I'll give it back now.

Joe

Hey Joe,

You're OK mate, I like your ideas, and you're right, each only brings a little, but collectively it adds up to a whole lot more.

Now, back to our regular programming.........

cheers, niteshift

Niteshift, thanks for the questions.

First, I will tell you that there are meetings in the works with people getting AI on board to allow Luanne to use American Idol on the compilation CD.

Secondly, most of the songs we've selected so far are already produced, and we're going to have the album mastered at no charge. At first, Luanne only wanted produced, radio ready songs submitted, but there are a few songs that are great that are piano or guitar vocals, and for a few hundred bucks they'll be radio ready. When it comes to a commercial ready CD, those songs need to be produced. Now, I was asked how much does can a demo cost and I gave a price that Arctic Sound Studios and I usually work with. I am not making a dime from this, I am just offering my help because I was asked to help with the song selection and production of the album. Reality is that studio time and musician fees are a part of having a song produced, and it's not a donation to a studio.

If someone doesn't want to submit a song because they think they might have to get it produced, I'm cool with that. But, if someone doesnt want to submit a song because they think my intentions are shady, then I apologize for that. The only reason I mentioned the cost of a demo is because a poster in this thread asked me what one could cost, and I wasn't going to hide from his question, then that would have been shady.

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music

Joe,
Here in Nashville, there is such a group like you're talking about. They're called the Music City CO-OP. I do know they have a myspace site.. I'm wanting to say it's http://www.myspace.com/musiccitycoop and it's a great idea.

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music

Sean,

I sent the MP3 to your inbox along with the lyrics. Thank you again for this opportunity.

Dave

Hey Sean,

That's cool, I guess my only comment would be to set up the business proposal first, before asking for submissions which invite questions.

If the deal's not done first, with concrete sponsors and a legitimate business plan, then it makes it very difficult to attract those who will give the boost to the project.

Personally, I would have done this first, then you're not dealing with "what if's "

good luck with it anyway, hope it will give some legitimate industry exposure to those that deserve it.

cheers, niteshift

Dave,
I have received it and we'll be reviewing it. Thanks for the interest in this project.

Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music
www.GasawayMusic.com

Hello all,
We are still accepting mp3's for this project. So if you submitted a song to the American Idol songwriting competition and it wasn't in the top 20 picked, you are eligible for this charity compilation.

For question reguarding this project, please email luannehunt@yahoo.com.

Once we have selected all of the songs for the project, we will contact the writers. No one has been notified yet, so please be patient, I'm going through a lot of songs!

Thanks,
Sean Gasaway
Gasaway Music
www.GasawayMusic.com

If you guys still need a song, check out my song "Destiny" at:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=697678

It was totally rejected by AI. Who knows if it was even listened to. It didn't fit the mold exactly, but it was loosely about finding your destiny so I entered it.

Carl Turner

Thanks to all who have submitted songs to us. We have chosen 12 songs so far, and the writers have already been contacted. We are still searching for a couple of more songs, and it's not too late to send us your song if you haven't yet(ONLY SONGS THAT WERE SUBMITTED TO THE AMERICAN IDOL SONGWRITERS CONTEST WILL BE CONSIDERED, AND IT NEEDS TO BE RADIO READY/FULL PRODUCTION).

The charity has been chosen and ALL PROCEEDS WILL GOTO THE OAKLAND, CA. SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS. This is a wonderful charity for children, and we are proud that they are on board with us and the children will benefit greatly! If you have any questions, please email Luanne Hunt at luannehunt@yahoo.com You can send your song to Luanne as well, or to me at sean@gasawaymusic.com .

Thanks,
Sean Gasaway