I love showcasing unsigned artists. It's definitely a lot of work both for me and for our music editor to organize and select the showcasing artists, but it's always rewarding. Our next showcase will be in NYC on October 15th at The Annex. I like The Annex a lot - they've got a great sound system and we've showcased there before. It's also nice because there's a great viewing area upstairs which is a perfect place to put the Major Label A&R rep in attendance.
This year, we have a rep from J Records coming in and giving feedback to the showcasing artists. We'll be showcasing 6 bands/artists in 20 minute sets (this apparently is an industry showcase standard), so each band will be able to approximately 4-5 songs.
We've also confirmed our venue for our Live Label Showcase Series which will take place in March in Austin, TX and will coincide with SXSW. This showcase series will feature about 30 unsigned artists/bands, and will take place over 4 days/nights. The venue is called Spill and it's right on 6th street in the midst of everything.
I'm psyched about both of these events, its always great to experience our artist members in a live environment.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Submissions In Detail
MusicGorilla. com provides free film, tv and songwriting submissions to our members. I wanted to give you some examples of the submissions that we get, so listed below, are all projects that we are currently accepting submissions for.
I know you will read this and say "Hey, I have the PERFECT song for that!" you could be submitting your songs too! For more information, please email us here.
“The Story Of Bonnie and Clyde” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for music of the specific era synonymous with the age Bonnie and Clyde lived - i.e. late 1920's to early 1930's.
“Flying Into Love” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for music that reflect the era so therefore tracks from the year 1963, then 1969. Looking for original songs of the period (hit tunes) and also willing to accommodate decent sound alikes.
“Guitar Hero On Tour DS” Video Game
SEEKING: Looking for mainstream rock like Incubus, Maroon 5, No Doubt . Also cutting edge alternative-pop crossover. Music with "head banging" vibes and beat-genres like hard and heavy rock, HM, alt-rock welcome.
“500 Days of Summer” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for singer/songwriter songs acoustic-style. Lyrics about love- love lost, love won- unrequited love. Submitters must own or control all rights to the songs. Master recordings ONLY.
No demos
“With The Angels” Web Series
SEEKING: power pop, punk, singer/songwriter - "college radio" type music rather than mainstream. We will be using music in 98 percent of our webisodes, which are approx. 5 minutes long each. Planned series of 36 episodes. Note: Please do not send music unless you have read and acknowledge that this entire project is currently unpaid. however, music is heavily featured and it can lead to some excellent promotion.
“The Brighter Side of Darkness” Indie Feature
SEEKING: Songs with party hip-hop beats; up-tempos only.
“DeGrassi: Next Generation” TV Series
SEEKING: Contemporary sounding, upbeat, rock songs, but nothing too quirky; up-tempos only please. Also seeking nice emotional female oriented tunes and coffee house music for use under montage scenes.
FAT MAN SCOOP
Style: Hip-hop beats and tracks as well as songs about love and relationships. Up-tempos only please. Producer demos welcome.
MONO BAGENDS
Style: Hip-hop and rap beats and tracks as well as rap songs that have lyrics with a message. Up-tempos only please. Producer demos welcome.
TRANCE PROJECT
Style: Trance / progressive house like Deadmau5 (Canadian house artist/DJ).
SONGS WANTED
Christian songs suitable for congregational singing for inclusion in songbook. Looking for contemporary style with inclusive language texts.
POP SONGS WANTED
Leopard Music Publishing are currently seeking commercial pop songs for 2009. We are interested in hearing mainstream pop, pop/R&B, pop/rock, soul, pop/country, dance and ballads. Must be very catchy with a current vibe.
GIRL GROUP / SOLO ARTISTS
Style: Commercial R&B/Pop, top level chart songs, eg Leona Lewis, Beyoncé, Mary J Blige, PCD etc.
BILLY CURRINGTON
Style: Very radio friendly, contemporary country hits of all tempos.
ANYTHING BUT MONDAY
Style: Hi-energy Euro/pop Party songs.
US 5
Style: Pop/R&B with harmony vocals as well as rock/pop suitable for the British market.
NEW YORK SONGS
US publisher needs to create a collage of songs about New York City. They need iconic songs that people already know, and also cool ones that might not be known but have understandable references to NYC.
ROMINA ARENA
Style: Popera is a fusion between pop anmd classical - a blend of Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, for a 5-octave vocal range. Looking for great songs and/or instrumental tracks, as Romina writes most of her songs but is looking for collaborations. We are looking for another 'You Are Loved' (Josh Groban) and 'Time To Say Goodbye' (Bocelli), or instrumental tracks ala Enigma and Sarah Brightman with more dynamics. The songs can be in any language.
Also accepting submissions for:
Jennifer Hudson
Fantasia
Maria
Paula Deanda
I know you will read this and say "Hey, I have the PERFECT song for that!" you could be submitting your songs too! For more information, please email us here.
“The Story Of Bonnie and Clyde” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for music of the specific era synonymous with the age Bonnie and Clyde lived - i.e. late 1920's to early 1930's.
“Flying Into Love” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for music that reflect the era so therefore tracks from the year 1963, then 1969. Looking for original songs of the period (hit tunes) and also willing to accommodate decent sound alikes.
“Guitar Hero On Tour DS” Video Game
SEEKING: Looking for mainstream rock like Incubus, Maroon 5, No Doubt . Also cutting edge alternative-pop crossover. Music with "head banging" vibes and beat-genres like hard and heavy rock, HM, alt-rock welcome.
“500 Days of Summer” Feature Film
SEEKING: Looking for singer/songwriter songs acoustic-style. Lyrics about love- love lost, love won- unrequited love. Submitters must own or control all rights to the songs. Master recordings ONLY.
No demos
“With The Angels” Web Series
SEEKING: power pop, punk, singer/songwriter - "college radio" type music rather than mainstream. We will be using music in 98 percent of our webisodes, which are approx. 5 minutes long each. Planned series of 36 episodes. Note: Please do not send music unless you have read and acknowledge that this entire project is currently unpaid. however, music is heavily featured and it can lead to some excellent promotion.
“The Brighter Side of Darkness” Indie Feature
SEEKING: Songs with party hip-hop beats; up-tempos only.
“DeGrassi: Next Generation” TV Series
SEEKING: Contemporary sounding, upbeat, rock songs, but nothing too quirky; up-tempos only please. Also seeking nice emotional female oriented tunes and coffee house music for use under montage scenes.
FAT MAN SCOOP
Style: Hip-hop beats and tracks as well as songs about love and relationships. Up-tempos only please. Producer demos welcome.
MONO BAGENDS
Style: Hip-hop and rap beats and tracks as well as rap songs that have lyrics with a message. Up-tempos only please. Producer demos welcome.
TRANCE PROJECT
Style: Trance / progressive house like Deadmau5 (Canadian house artist/DJ).
SONGS WANTED
Christian songs suitable for congregational singing for inclusion in songbook. Looking for contemporary style with inclusive language texts.
POP SONGS WANTED
Leopard Music Publishing are currently seeking commercial pop songs for 2009. We are interested in hearing mainstream pop, pop/R&B, pop/rock, soul, pop/country, dance and ballads. Must be very catchy with a current vibe.
GIRL GROUP / SOLO ARTISTS
Style: Commercial R&B/Pop, top level chart songs, eg Leona Lewis, Beyoncé, Mary J Blige, PCD etc.
BILLY CURRINGTON
Style: Very radio friendly, contemporary country hits of all tempos.
ANYTHING BUT MONDAY
Style: Hi-energy Euro/pop Party songs.
US 5
Style: Pop/R&B with harmony vocals as well as rock/pop suitable for the British market.
NEW YORK SONGS
US publisher needs to create a collage of songs about New York City. They need iconic songs that people already know, and also cool ones that might not be known but have understandable references to NYC.
ROMINA ARENA
Style: Popera is a fusion between pop anmd classical - a blend of Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, for a 5-octave vocal range. Looking for great songs and/or instrumental tracks, as Romina writes most of her songs but is looking for collaborations. We are looking for another 'You Are Loved' (Josh Groban) and 'Time To Say Goodbye' (Bocelli), or instrumental tracks ala Enigma and Sarah Brightman with more dynamics. The songs can be in any language.
Also accepting submissions for:
Jennifer Hudson
Fantasia
Maria
Paula Deanda
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Film, TV and Songwriting Opps
Wow, I knew it had been a little while since my last post, but I didn't realize it had been quite so long. There has been quite a lot going on. Not the least of which is the ridiculous Texas heat. I have to tell you that as a Texas transplant (from NYC) I feel there is seriously something wrong with triple digit temps since mid May!!
K, now that I've gotten that out of my system, moving on. In my last post I was talking about the importance of film, tv and songwriting placement for unsigned artists, well following are some examples of some submissions that Music Gorilla has going on right now. Sort of me putting the money where my mouth is :)
So I won't go into too much detail, but how great an opportunity for an unsigned artist is it to submit songs for Jennifer Hudson's next album? What about Fantasia's and Mario's? Or, on the movie/tv placement side of things, there are music submissions for a new Bonnie and Clyde movie, a Fox Searchlight movie called 500 Days of Summer and the new Guitar Hero video game and the hit TV show Degrassi: Next Generation.
So anyway, these are just examples of the opportunities available to unsigned artists and in my opinion, all unsigned artists should be taking advantage of opportunities like these to make money with their music.
I get that being a rock star and touring 10 months a year is the goal for some people, but making money with your music is probably the ultimate goal.
Well, stay cool for the rest of August!
K, now that I've gotten that out of my system, moving on. In my last post I was talking about the importance of film, tv and songwriting placement for unsigned artists, well following are some examples of some submissions that Music Gorilla has going on right now. Sort of me putting the money where my mouth is :)
So I won't go into too much detail, but how great an opportunity for an unsigned artist is it to submit songs for Jennifer Hudson's next album? What about Fantasia's and Mario's? Or, on the movie/tv placement side of things, there are music submissions for a new Bonnie and Clyde movie, a Fox Searchlight movie called 500 Days of Summer and the new Guitar Hero video game and the hit TV show Degrassi: Next Generation.
So anyway, these are just examples of the opportunities available to unsigned artists and in my opinion, all unsigned artists should be taking advantage of opportunities like these to make money with their music.
I get that being a rock star and touring 10 months a year is the goal for some people, but making money with your music is probably the ultimate goal.
Well, stay cool for the rest of August!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The State of the Music Union
Well, I can't say that I know all that much about politics or the current economical forecast, aside from what I see/read on CNN, but I guess this is more of a State of The Union of the Music Industry the way I see it.
Things they are achangin'. It's amazing that some of the most incredible artists from our past would not be signed much less famous if they were trying to make it today, it's sad really. The concept of Artist Development has gone out the window, and the Majors want to be absolutely sure you are a money maker before signing you and if that first album isn't a huge seller, forget about a second. They can drop you like a hot potato. That being said, it's not that they aren't signing anything, just few and far between.
So what is an unsigned/independent artist to do? Well there are many options. The most important is to get the highest quality of recording possible. Once you have that, upload your music everywhere you can. Get a MySpace page, Facebook page and any other social networking site....You should also promote yourself by blogging and collecting fan email addresses so you can put together a newsletter.
Next you might consider some paid services such as a Publicist, or services like Music Gorilla where you receive access to industry and can submit your music for film, tv, video games and songwriting projects, or maybe play for a major label a&r or get your music into MTV's catalog. Whichever way you decide to go, you want to get attention to your music. When you are touring, and getting placement on tv and films, and building your fan base a record label will sit up and take notice, they will think to themselves, huh, they're doing all this great stuff on their own, imagine if they had x dollars behind them...... Now the ball is in your court, you get to decide what's best for you and your music and isn't that a great position to be in?
Things they are achangin'. It's amazing that some of the most incredible artists from our past would not be signed much less famous if they were trying to make it today, it's sad really. The concept of Artist Development has gone out the window, and the Majors want to be absolutely sure you are a money maker before signing you and if that first album isn't a huge seller, forget about a second. They can drop you like a hot potato. That being said, it's not that they aren't signing anything, just few and far between.
So what is an unsigned/independent artist to do? Well there are many options. The most important is to get the highest quality of recording possible. Once you have that, upload your music everywhere you can. Get a MySpace page, Facebook page and any other social networking site....You should also promote yourself by blogging and collecting fan email addresses so you can put together a newsletter.
Next you might consider some paid services such as a Publicist, or services like Music Gorilla where you receive access to industry and can submit your music for film, tv, video games and songwriting projects, or maybe play for a major label a&r or get your music into MTV's catalog. Whichever way you decide to go, you want to get attention to your music. When you are touring, and getting placement on tv and films, and building your fan base a record label will sit up and take notice, they will think to themselves, huh, they're doing all this great stuff on their own, imagine if they had x dollars behind them...... Now the ball is in your court, you get to decide what's best for you and your music and isn't that a great position to be in?
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