Originally Posted By: Music-AMG
Hi All!

Surprised this has never been brought up here before.

I am looking for any tips on getting my music published. I am speaking as an experienced musician, but, no clue on the road to getting my work published. I know that that there are thousands of you out there in this same situation. So, I create this thread..

Ok, I have music, now what?

Areas of interests:

What can I publish?
Who and what is there to publish with? Where do I start?
I have cover songs I want to release... what and who, how much will that cost? who do I contact to find out if I can release that?
Friends collaborated, but, now I can't find them..
I have my own songs, how do I copyright that?

I am looking for all the questions that would happen to throw a wrench on someones quest into making music professionally.


thanks!
Cheers Gene..


OK... start at the beginning. Yeah, this has been discussed here before but it's always good to review and discuss again. Published... the strict definition means releasing your music for others to hear. However, I assume you are not talking about that and mean how to get it into the hands of artists and others for commercial use where you get paid.

First...ask yourself.... SPECIFICALLY.... what area in the publishing realm are you seeking to get into? Pitching to artists? Getting music into films and TV shows? Or, something else? You have to have a target in order to hit something and you simply can not "shotgun it" and hope to have success. Even shotgunners miss. Just ask them.

SO... you say you have music. OK... have you posted your BEST examples of the music HERE so you can get feedback on it? This is an excellent sounding board. People here will tell you if the song is ready for primetime or if it needs more work. (But you probably need to ask specifically for feedback along that line) I'd love to hear some of your work.

Pick an area and concentrate on that. If it's artists, be sure your music is of the caliber needed for an artist. And be specific as to the artist when you are pitching a song. Don't pitch a sappy love song to someone like Luke Bryant and don't pitch a hard drinking song to someone like Carrie Underwood. It probably won't be taken well. Cracking the major artist circuit with your songs is one hard hill to climb. They have access to the best of the best writers because there's lots of money involved. There's a few others here who have written and worked to try to get into that arena and ...well.... it's hard, even for the very talented. It helps if you can move to the big city and hand out on the bars with the up and coming artists and writers.

Occasionally, someone gets a hit through a back door but that's extremely rare. In fact, many of the Nashville publishing houses that work with the big and medium artists won't even talk to you if you're not hanging out in their town. The bar for song and demo quality is extremely high. If you're not writing better songs and demos than what is playing on the radio now, you can't expect much major publisher action. I know that sounds discouraging, and it is, but it's also pretty much the way it is in country music in Nashville these days.

Film & TV. I've had some success in this arena. I've landed placements in some made for TV documentary films and also a few reality TV shows that are on the air now. This area is probably the easiest to get into but still not really easy or else everyone would be doing it. Again, song and demo quality matter a lot. No bedroom sounding stuff. In this area, you find music libraries (aka publishers) who cater to the film and TV industry. Find and get into a good one or several. Many of the better ones audition your music and give a thumbs up or down. If up, you're able to submit music and if thumbs down, many have a 90 day minimum wait before you can try again.

You can publish anything. It can literally be a 5 second cue to a full 4 minute song. Anything goes.

Once you determine the music exceeds the bar in your area of interest, you need to get out and look for the people and publishers who are interested in your music. You do this by door knocking in the literal and digital world to find those folks. Google..... Bing.... etc.

Cover songs..... contact The Harry Fox Agency for license info and pricing.

Copyright.... wow... let me keep this as short as I can. My views are not the views of many people. I have my own way of working.

You can copyright with the Library of Congress. Go to their website. All the info and applications are there. Personally, I don't copyright. Yep, you heard that correct. As hard as it is to get anyone to listen to my songs, I know no one is out there trying to steal them. Besides.... if and when you get a good publisher and sign your songs to them.... they will get the copyright for you and pay for it too. Music for libraries for film & TV are similar. I work with all of the libraries I am with (over 12) and none of the songs are copyrighted. None of the cues are copyrighted. Even though millions of people hear my music.... who's going to steal 12 seconds of music in a TV scene? Nope that's something I just don't worry about. If I was writing songs for artists and getting cuts, I would probably be using the copyright office for my music. But that's not the area I'm working in and the music I write falls into the "disposable commodity" side of the business. All the things are in place for me to get paid every time they play that TV show on the air or cable and that's all that matters. AND.... the TV show itself, in it's entirety is copyright protected.

Wrenches in the machinery. You will undoubtedly find them as you go along on any path towards success. When you encounter them, you simply evaluate the best course of action and take it. Don't set and fret about what might happen. If you do, you'll never leave square one. Formulate a plan of action, then put that plan into action and see where it takes you.

Always remember this.... it all begins with a song. So you need to be honing your writing skills and also your music production and recording skills because once you send out that first MP3 demo to a publisher, you are playing with the big boys and girls. Your writing and recording skills have to stand up to the level of professionalism that is exhibited in the industry as a whole. You need the product first.

So... I have given some advice.... let's hear one or two of what you think are the best songs in your catalog right now.

Oh...and good luck. It's a fun process.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.