Possible to sell songs and not just beats?
- Thread starter adge2013
- Start date
rhythmgj
Character in Spades...
Those you would submit to a publisher. Or, if the demos are high enough (master) quality, you could try licensing (like everyone else is nowadays).
There used to be an annual guidebook published called the "Songwriter's Market." I'm not sure of the status of that in the Internet Age. Do you have a PRO? If so, your rep is supposed to help guide you in these affairs...
There used to be an annual guidebook published called the "Songwriter's Market." I'm not sure of the status of that in the Internet Age. Do you have a PRO? If so, your rep is supposed to help guide you in these affairs...
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Yes, you need to network with songwriting circles. You also need to walk in with fully produced demos. Meaning, completely finished, mixed and mastered, no scratch pad work.
Before approaching a publisher, you're going to need a really good and big body of work, not 1-5 songs.
Actively? No, that's not their job.
rhythmgj
Character in Spades...
No, but if you are near one of the major centers (NY, LA, Nashville; maybe Chicago/Detroit), they have meetings, song-writer events, and you can actually talk to a rep that can give you a clue or two. I am in Buffalo, NY, and my closest rep's office is in NYC. That hasn't been very helpful for me in collecting airplay royalties for album cuts and commercials, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as they say. I had better luck dealing with folks in Canada (who technically don't represent US folks at all, but if your PRO has a reciprocal agreement, that might be a better bet).
rhythmgj
Character in Spades...
Problem was (last time I looked at them, admittedly _years_ ago), they have a fee to sign-up, and then there is a fee for almost every submission. Gets pricey. And then even if you're not passed up the line, you're supposed to get "detailed feedback." The people that I know that signed-up for Taxi were not happy with their success rate, not happy with their feedback, and definitely did not suck.
BTW, it's just a thing to be aware of... A point of terminology. It's said so often, regardless of how many times it's corrected, that sometimes we just let it slide by. BUT-- NEVER "sell" your songs. You are effectively leasing them, or leasing rights to exploit them, to a publisher. Do not sell your songs outright; it is an easy way to get ripped-off and lose all future earning potential for that material. No reputable publisher would offer a deal like that (outright sale). It's not how the business works. But just to be aware, you don't want to sell all rights to your songs, nor do you generally want to sign anything that has the phrase "work for hire," which effectively means the same thing. I don't really deal primarily in rap beats, but I've never understood the whole lease/buy/non-exclusive/exclusive thing in the hip-hop industry; it is so opposite to how the rest of the music publishing business works. And it has caused a few people problems (if you read some of the threads regarding "exclusive/non-exclusive"/beat-jacking issues here at FP).
In any event, don't "sell" your songs. That's how they got Charlie Parker back in the day, for like $5 worth of drug money...
BTW, it's just a thing to be aware of... A point of terminology. It's said so often, regardless of how many times it's corrected, that sometimes we just let it slide by. BUT-- NEVER "sell" your songs. You are effectively leasing them, or leasing rights to exploit them, to a publisher. Do not sell your songs outright; it is an easy way to get ripped-off and lose all future earning potential for that material. No reputable publisher would offer a deal like that (outright sale). It's not how the business works. But just to be aware, you don't want to sell all rights to your songs, nor do you generally want to sign anything that has the phrase "work for hire," which effectively means the same thing. I don't really deal primarily in rap beats, but I've never understood the whole lease/buy/non-exclusive/exclusive thing in the hip-hop industry; it is so opposite to how the rest of the music publishing business works. And it has caused a few people problems (if you read some of the threads regarding "exclusive/non-exclusive"/beat-jacking issues here at FP).
In any event, don't "sell" your songs. That's how they got Charlie Parker back in the day, for like $5 worth of drug money...
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SFTRAXX
West Coast Rap Producer
This was my understanding as well. I recently looked into them and i get the impression that their pool has gotten a lot bigger and is probably the reason for the generic responses and low success rate.
I've been considering moving over to the tv / film / commercial publishing side of things but it seems like the music supervisors' inboxes get flooded with emails.