Recently I had the thrill of going to Nashville, Tennessee “Music City” to see all the things I had always heard about as an A&R scout years back and from working with musicians one-on-one. It was a quick one; the first day was spent in learning the business of being a songwriter with Broadcast Music, Inc. and the last part, going to and seeing for myself all the great music places in history and respecting every part of that.
Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid. I was born into a musical family with it around me all the time. I loved it and thought everyone’s home was just like our’s. I can remember going to the local City music theater at an early age of 5 and watching my Dad performing in the “Music Man”. I danced around the place as if I were in it, too. A seed planted in my heart back then that has never left.
I have been an A&R scout for Arista and J Records/MLS from 2005-2010, a marketing representative intern for Atlantic and now with BMI as a marketing representative. In my spare time, that is me, music. That is the way #Payitforward2015 started in January of this year and has grown. I have seen the many hours songwriters put into their day, their goals, their dreams. And I have also seen that the music industry is probably one of the most competitive industries there are around. It is difficult to get into and get the royalties for their hard work and many keep a “day job” for sometimes years, before they get that much awaited chance to get “in the door” and start working with professionals that help hone their creative gift of talent.
Music touches us all. It reaches out in times of celebration and times of hardship and no matter what age, gender or genre…it gives us Hope. I know we listen to a song on the radio or through our tech gadgets now and we never really think about the business side of the music.
The business side of the music is a foremost first for any musician that wants to share their talent with many others. Especially in our economic times when music is ever-changing any way and many start up a new music platform or business group or label only to have it fall through in sales months later. Business planning, even if you are an indie singer-songwriter with no manager, no label and love playing concerts at local venues, all need to know the legalities of copyrights on up to publishing to collaborations to booking gigs at venues, play time on radio, live streaming and music downloads.
Every time, a songwriter needs to keep track (if they are on their own) of how many times and where their songs are played. This way they can get paid for their songs they write and are copyrighted.
There are many questions and many answers to specifics and I will use BMI’s information for all to follow from “Why License?” to publishing and co-publishing to royalties.
Start here: Why License?
And to BMI’s Live. Which is a really beneficial way for touring musicians to get paid their share of royalties and it can even be done with Mobile Apps.
There are many music platforms out there today, new and some that have been around for years. BMI has been around since 1939 as a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) and you don’t need a publishing company to get paid your royalties.
In addition: In my own opinion, after watching artists, bands grow or unfortunately fail to reach their goal is because of the important connection between artist and fans. THANK YOUR FANS! Even if it means setting up a system that works for you and your music schedule to where you let them know that they are very appreciated. It means the world to them, it really does. I can (almost) guarantee that an artists’ fan base will grow much quicker by contacting them on a steady basis, whether it’s a newsletter, a blog subscription and/or special little perks that make their day.
If you show them your appreciation (they helped you get to where you are), they will be a fan for life and word of mouth is the best marketing out there from one fan to many others.
Next up:
1) More Featured Artists and Bands
2) Live reviews with video and pictures of some of the concerts I have personally been to this far including Tori Kelly, Denver Day of Rock, half of Rob Thomas’ and more from last summer here in Denver including Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana.
2015payitforward 