PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic The Music Business Today is getting signed dead or not?

Trapper.....

I'm late to this convo.... but here's my take on things I have seen mentioned.

At 47 you can forget a major label contract since you're a good 27 years past their preferred maximum age for a new artist. All is not lost however.

I saw the posts saying you could sell locally and put a band together to do it in clubs etc.... yeah, I hear all that. That is a totally legit way to make money from music and songwriting. However, I'm not into gigging any more..... I enjoy composing and writing and being in bed at a reasonable hour. Besides, that the live music biz in NC is pretty retched these days. It was fun back in the day... been there done that, got the T-shirt and scars to prove it. I'll let someone else stare at the white lines at 2am.

I didn't see a link on your signature to any of your music. I'd like to hear the stuff you're writing and recording. Hearing what you're writing is the way to determine where you are as a writer and a home recording producer. There is such a high bar in Nashville or any other music city scene these days. Competition is the toughest it's ever been from a number of factors. Only the best of the best can hope to survive.

1. The music business is always changing and things are always getting harder for new folks to break in.
2. Artists are not releasing as many CD projects so the available spaces for material are less available.
3. Many artists are writing or co-writing all their own songs.
4. Quality of the music on songs has gone through the roof
5. Everybody and anybody can record in their basement or bedroom and produce decent sounding stuff

that said....

No one in the music business.... not one person, cares what a songwriter looks like or how old they are. So the opportunity to write songs is still open to folks of all ages. The competition, as I said, is still brutal. The best way to deal with that is through education and advancement of your skills in several areas...... writing songs, and music production, as well as networking and building a catalog of published music.

Essentially you have to write better than the folks in Nashville and LA (depending on your genre) and the music coming out of your studio has to be master quality.

I was a member of TAXI for a number of years ($200/yr) and also a member of Nashville Songwriters Assn ($150yr approx) (NSAI). I have submitted songs for listings I saw on TAXI as well as to NASI for in depth review of my songwriting skills. Both or either of these companies are great resources. NSAI has a video library available to members only which covers every aspect of the music business as told by the folks on the inside of the Nashville country music scene. They don't work magic but both TAXI & NSAI can help you with education, and TAXI does have the ability to get your music to the movers and shakers assuming you get past the TAXI screeners. The bar is high. In my time with them, I averaged about a 10% forward rate which they say is about normal.

Outside of either of those 2 companies, I have cultivated several contacts on my own, which are receptive to my music. I have had a number of songs signed by some major film & TV libraries and I just signed with another last week. I currently have a number of cues on the desk of a TV show producer with another publisher I signed with back in November. One listing with TAXI, I sent 3 songs, one was forwarded, 2 rejected.... the publisher on that listing signed all 3 songs when he heard them. So the screeners opinions didn't match what the publisher was looking for.

NASI offers very little help... as they gave one of my tunes a "thumbs up it's ready to pitch" then offered absolutely no advice on how to get it to a publisher,,,, no reference, no forwards, no nothing, you're on your own.... I even had a one on one mentoring session with the NSAI president for an hour.... I asked about that one song that was given the "ready to pitch", asking for help directly.... he was not able to give any assistance either.....very disappointing to say the least.

While with TAXI, I met and spoke with several folks who earn a 5 to 6 figure income from writing for film & TV. It's not an easy road, and success comes slowly and builds with time... but it's a possibility for those who have the writing AND recording chops.

At the first TAXI road rally, (2009) I had the opportunity to set down and speak with Jason Blume and play 2 of my songs for him to get his comments. His words to me.... Herb, you write good songs. Nothing inherently wrong with the songs.... but here's the problem... they are "good songs" not GREAT songs. In Nashville there are 20,000 "good" song writers, and to break through the crowd, you need to write GREAT SONGS... nuff said.... In another break out session, a hit song everyone would recognize was being discussed. Major artist. The demo submitted to the publisher was played. then the artist version was played..... on the "demo" , the quality, instrumentation, the instrumental licks, all sounded exactly like the artist version. The singer was amazing. and that was the "demo". Yep, the days of sending a vocal guitar demo recorded in your bedroom are gone..... everything send now days has to be master quality, even if you do send a piano/guitar vocal demo... it better sound like it was recorded in a big studio and not your bedroom.

That brings me to using Band in A Box and real band on your recordings. I use it all the time for writing. However, you can not simply throw some chords into BB and hit render to wave and call it done and send it to a publisher thinking they will sign it. That is where the real work begins, once you have the song in it's structural form. There is so much more that has to go into the final cut. All that could easily be the topic of a new thread. Having a good computer based DAW I think, is ESSENTIAL to the entire process. Being able to work on the mastering and polishing of the song is crucial.... and having a DAW that you understand and know how to use, as well as having the third party tools to do the job correctly, is indispensable.

Even writing for film & TV as I and many others are doing, requires the absolute best quality of music possible. You are sending music to people who listen to music for a living, generally all day, every day. They know what a fiddle or a steel guitar is supposed to sound like. They know what a Steinburg piano sounds like, and if they hear a muffled piano, or a midi sounding instrument or song, or artifacts from RT's conversion process, they are tossing that song into the trash. Don't even think about sending a midi sounding tune unless they are specifically asking for MIDI sounding tracks.

Look at the TAXI listings and you will see quite frequently something to the effect that "tracks must sound REAL.... no MIDI" .. they mean it.

So, while some doors in the music business have closed to both you and I due to age.... and vocal talent (on my part) issues, the doors to the songwriting end of things are still open to those who have the skills to deliver useful music. It's still a challenge to get through those doors and get to the right people, but having songs that they want and need is the first step.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. I generally am willing to share things I have learned, or heard, or was told by others who are farther along than I am in this journey. I'm always willing to listen to the advice and opinions of others. It is a journey and not a destination.


All of the above is simply my opinion. What you think or know may not be the same as this. There is no "one way" to do things in this business.

carry on....