Goodnight Kiss Music Goodnight Kiss Music
Hello everyone. It is July1.
Today's Topic concerns is a type of Question Collage. I collected
some questions that have come in through the Newsletter and my
email, and placed a random sample below. Read on down the page.
New readers interested in pitching songs:
Sign up for our Newsletter,
the first place we announce whatever new projects are under way.
Please never send anything without first reviewing our "How
To Submit Material" page and here, at Daily Updates,
just to insure that we are accepting. I invite you to surf
through the Past
Posted Pages for articles that apply to anyone seeking
information about the Music Business from a Publisher/Writer/Artist's
point of view. "Today's Topic", a little lower on this
page carries some valuable hints, too. And just for fun, come on
and enter our FREE Song Title Contest. Nothin' to it!
Q. Hello, as a songwriter I have composed a music library
of sequences of various lengths of under 30 seconds that will be
especially suited for action, drama, science fiction, horror,
suspense & ominous, ironic situations for background for
film, television, commercials etc. I am looking for a publisher,
can I send you a demo?
Patrick
A. Hi Patrick. To be quite frank about it, there is a
market for EXACTLY what you just described, 10/20/30 second cues
that actually are "bought" as opposed to "signed."
These are the little jingle-like things you hear under the "movie
of the week" ads, etc on the various networks. The networks
themselves buy them "out right", i.e., no royalties are
paid on uses. You should be able to get 100-200 for each, though,
so not a bad return. The best way to do this, is call the
networks (or your local stations) themselves, and talk to their
music department to find out their policies. As far as samples to
represent film scoring, I would suggest sending a sample reel to
the Music Supervisors at the Film Companies themselves. (The
smaller ones are usually more receptive, but I'd start at the top
and work my way down, if it was me!) As a Publisher, I,
personally, only work with single songs, and 99.9% of those
include vocals. Since the Film Companies take the Publishing for
scoring (unless you are a legend and have a few MegaHit Scores
under your belt), and the Writer keeps his/her writing royalties,
there is no financial incentive to represent Composers in our
company. There are a few Composer agents, but they mostly sign
those with track records (to my limited experience in that field.)
****
Q. Someone wants to Publish a song I co-wrote. Any advice
on licensing fee negotiation? Contracts are in the mail.
David
A. Hello, David. If it's for a Major Production, I'd grab
an attorney to represent me. If it's for a smaller production,
I'd probably test the waters myself. If it's for a publishing
contract without specific immediate use, I'd be sure to have a
reversion clause after a reasonable period of time, as well as a
few other conditions (see the SGA list of ten things that every
contract should have, probably at their site, or call their
office and request one.) Not knowing the specifics, it's hard to
say exactly what I might do... and please note that this is not
advice, just what I myself might choose. It's usually better to
have the help of an attorney when the situation warrants it.
****
Q. If you received an unsolicited demo with a copyright
date of 1995, would that make any difference in your evaluation
of the music? Your response would be greatly appreciated.
A. It would make no difference to me when it was written.
But there are all types of publishers, so I can speak only for
myself. Some are looking for that "cutting edge" sound
that has never been heard before, so an older copyright might
influence someone like that... but if your song is not of that
nature, the date shouldn't matter. Or, at least, that's what I
think!
****
Q. If I am going to put a demo together to demo the songs
I have written, what is expected to be on the demo. As far as
vocal quality and is it just listened to for the lyrical content?
Thanks Again,
TBS
A. Hello, TBS. Remember this... your competition sends
their songs on top quality tape or CD, performed by the best
session singers and players in the world. Chances are they have
already written hits for someone, and know people in the Industry.
I'd like to say a song can stand on its own, no matter what, but
let's be realistic. It should be the best it can possibly be on
ALL counts. .
* * *
Q. I feel I need to thank you for your web site, the
things you tell us are so encouraging and positive. Songwriting
is a tough business when you have not been recognized yet, ( even
though I have songs under contract nothing has been recorded yet)
but your articles lift me when I feel down and impatient waiting
for some news on demos that I have sent out. Just one question on
your demos, when you say mastered does that mean through a studio
with a professional vocalist and mixed and mastered properly? I
have a few songs recorded through a studio, but I have most of my
songs with my husband playing keyboards and putting it through a
Singing Machine. The studio was just too costly so I have been
going this route. Thanking you again.
J.R.
A. Hi, J.R., thanks for appreciating the site! I know how
hard it is to "wait" for your first cut....and the
second.... and the tenth..... and so on. We always are impatient
for the "next one." Since I still write songs, as well
as publish music, I empathize. This question is similar to the
letter above. When I say that my company needs Master-quality
material, it is because I find that to be the ONLY thing accepted
in Film and Television (which is where most of my success lies.)
Even if the song is supposed to be "bad" for a specific
scene, it is almost always recorded well. Another point is, that
in my 20 years experience in pitching artists and acts, the best
"demos" are reacted to favorably by the greatest number
of people. No matter what anyone SAYS, it is more work to listen
for the song THROUGH a bad demo than it is to have the song SHINE
because of a wonderful demo. The problem is that most prolific
songwriters can't afford to demo a song a week. That's why a
support system (a songwriter organization, teacher, Industry pro
friend, etc.) makes a good reflecting board to help get a sense
of the song, as well as an opportunity to make repairs before you
make a more professional demo. J.R., you are fortunate to have
the luxury of having keyboards, and some means to record a demo
to play for reference, and do some experimenting. Was the
contract offered to you on a pro demo or home one? Is your
response rate better to one than another? As you climb higher
within the Industry, the demands will be greater, the competition
more fierce, and the level more expensive to maintain. Best
wishes, if you want to do it bad enough, long enough, you will.
* * * * *
Q. Hi my question is this when submitting a song do you
require a finished master or just a good recording ? Why I ask is
that some companies have sent songs back asking me to re submit
them after re recording to master standard now. i never send a
song off that hasn't been professionally recorded to a good demo
standard usually using session musicians etc, but it seems for
some companies that is no longer good enough. Now you hear about
the old days when people just used to demo the song on a piano or
strum it out on acoustic guitar as these guys say if its a good
song then you can tell it from the most simple of arrangements. I
do realise those days are long gone but what is your companies
view on this? I like to know now as much as possible what the
companies are looking for before i send anything saves wasting
each others time so to speak. Not blowing my own trumpet but i
have some songs commercially available although no big sellers as
of yet this is one of the reasons i like to find out as much as
possible before i send material nowadays.
thanks from N. S.
A. Hello, N.S. As the competition gets fiercer (the closer
to getting real cuts you are), and since most record labels
provide Film and TV with free CDs of their new acts to help break
them out to the public, and since most Major Labels are now run
by Corporate Execs, rather than guys who started in a band way
back when, the need for more perfect demos becomes more
aggressive in order to just compete as "an unknown."
Because I shop a lot of songs to Film and TV, and many times they
want to cut it into the film "yesterday", I need ready-to-go
Master versions of what I sign. Of course each publisher's needs
are different.
*****
Q. I would like information on how to sell lyrics. Does it
need to be musically produced, or is there a market just for the
written word? Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks :-)
RV
A. Let's first talk "sell" lyrics. I am against
"selling" almost any intelluctual property outright.
It's too hard to create quality product, and too hard to place it.
Unless it's ALOT of money, or some special usage, I doubt I would
ever SELL my rights to anything, lyric or not. However, if you
are serious about the Music Industry, then you might want to
research some composers (songwriters) who are seeking lyricists,
put something viably commercial to tape, and shop it for
publishing or straight to the appropriate acts for cutting. In
that instance, you'd get an advance (size depends on who's
cutting your song on what label) and all the writer's royalties
for the next 75 years. Even if you need to go through a publisher
to get a cut, you still should retain your writer's royalties.
You are the writer, right?
****
Q. How does one go about becoming a company staff writer ?"what
is the plus and minus factors of being a being a staff writer"?
A. I think there are good and bad reasons about both. Your
publisher suddenly becomes your personal postal person for taking
care of presenting your songs to the appropriate targets. The
songs they want demo'd, they demo. There are suddenly two of you
equally concerned with your interests. A good publisher will
review and help edit your work without going after any writer's
credit. You get a paycheck (however small at first) for writing
songs. And the latest thing that publishers are trying to do is
hook their writers up with other good co-writers. The bad parts
are that the publisher keeps all your publishing, whether it's
cut or not for 40-50 years (and that's a GOOD contract!), and you
normally have to pay back all those salary checks they paid you
out of your royalties when they start coming in. Of course,
there's usually a cut or two that you are the force in creating,
and most writers feel " the publisher didn't get this, I did!",
disregarding the time, encouragement, phone calls, pitches,
copies, favors, co-writing without credit, on and on, that the
publisher puts in on the songs. I find that if you work together,
and remember you are a team, everyone wins. And, if you don't
write something that makes money, your staff deal may not last
too long. And, just like any other, you get some experience, call
the company you want to write for, and make an appointment for an
interview... just go well-armed with charted hits.
***
Q.... why don't you send me a copy of the tune which I
will pay you for.
Dave
A. Hi, again, Dave,
(This was a request for us to send a copy of the song that was
selected for the Christmas project.) Just like our other "sampler
CDs", the reason we can't sell them, is, they are not
RECORDS, but rather a presentation of the songs to professional
parties who might cut them. If we sold them, we'd owe royalties
to the writers, the players, the singers, and who knows who all
else. So, the best I can do is promise you that as soon as there
is Goodnight Kiss Product, we will have a link here. Thanks for
offering, though.
***
janet@goodnightkiss.com
(C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Janet Fisher Goodnight Kiss Music (BMI) Scene Stealer Music (ASCAP)