If you’re a musician and you’re reading this because the title of this post caught your attention I imagine you’re already red in the face and can’t wait to let me have it. So first, let me make very clear that I’m on your side. I want you to succeed. So, hear me out. Then you can sock it to me if you think I still deserve it.
Point 1: The nature of unsolicited material
Many top labels, management firms and publishing companies do not accept unsolicited material at all. Someone reminded me just last week that only two tenths of one percent of unsolicited material is usable. Everyone in the industry knows this, so imagine how much you would have to listen to in order to find something you can use. It’s too much, especially when you have multiple projects to fill. And that fraction is only getting smaller with the increased number of artists creating music.
Point 2: The nature of the bottleneck
As I’ve covered before here recently, there are far more artists and songs than there are revenue generating opportunities for music. Each revenue generating opportunity that involves that a decision be made regarding which music or act to use has a person (or worse, a committee) making the decision. Let’s call them opportunity gatekeepers. No wait, let’s call them music industry professionals (MIPs).
MIPs are people with jobs, bosses, pressures of modern life and they have to produce results. They only have so many hours per day or week that they can devote to listening to new music. Most of them do not have to go out and hunt for music. It comes to them in a constant, unstoppable flow. If they wanted to, they could spend every waking hour listening to new music and still barely put a dent in the amount that they’re asked to listen to.
Point 3: Legal concerns and other hassles of unsolicited material
The nature of the business requires MIPs to view songs and sometime acts themselves as mere products. MIPs want to be efficient. If they express interest or disinterest in a song or an act they want to be able to dispatch with the business of it either way. They want smooth sailing on the business side if a deal is to go forward and they don’t want to be endlessly hounded by the artists and their managers if they don’t have interest, use or ability to move forward. From the MIP’s perspective it’s so much easier to deal with a professional they know and have dealt with in the past than it is to deal with hundreds or even thousands of emerging artists who more often than not do not know or understand the music business.
Additionally, there have been times when an artist has sent in a song. Maybe it got listened to, maybe it didn’t but the artist never heard back. Then, the label released another band’s album and lo and behold, a song very similar to the one that was submitted ends up on the album and a lawsuit ensues. The companies that employ MIPs have opted to avoid this problem by simply not accepting and not listening to unsolicited material. It goes straight into the trash.
All in all, that’s a shame. And yes, it is true that there is a lot of awful music out there that is hard to filter through. But there are also increasing amounts of great songs which deserve to be heard and acts who deserve a shot. In fact, even music and acts that are not great deserve a shot and deserve professional feedback that will help them improve but I’ll cover that in another post.
My Conclusion: Solve a problem for MIPs and you solve a problem for musicians
At Music Xray we knew we couldn’t get the artists heard unless we first solved a problem for the MIPs.
So, first we built a really cool submission receiving platform that even without many bells and whistles it makes receiving, managing, evaluating and providing feedback on song submissions a lot easier than dealing with a stack of CDs (and keeping each artist’s contact information with the right CD) and having to manage an email inbox full of MP3s. Then we added some features that help them quickly see everything in one place – lyrics, videos, artist bios, songwriter notes, license information, artist traction stats from MySpace, Last.fm, Twitter, blogs, etc…
Doing that alone was enough to convince some industry professionals to accept song submissions for free – no catches, no strings attached. There’s a list of them here: http://www.musicxray.com/artist/categories/15
Other industry professionals said, “That’s great, but even so, we can’t just open it up to receive submissions willy nilly because we’ll still be overwhelmed.” In those cases, we (Music Xray) put up a small transaction fee which isn’t so much to make it cost prohibitive but it’s enough so that artists only submit their best material and it keeps things manageable.
Lastly, there are industry professionals who are happy to take song submissions via Music Xray but they prefer to charge what is usually a very reasonable submission fee. The fee covers some of the cost of screening or simply makes it worthwhile to spend time taking submissions via Music Xray vs another source. Sometimes it pays for some infrastructure like podcast distribution or music hosting. The reasons vary. Typically, the fee is much less than it would cost both in terms of time and money for an artist to reach these people who we make available at the click of a mouse. It’s fair because the professionals in question guarantee they listen, the user gets confirmation once the professional has listened and many of them guarantee feedback. That’s so much better than having a submission disappear into a black hole and never knowing if it was even heard.
So, do I think paying to submit is ideal? No. It shouldn’t work that way. Artists and industry professionals should go forth in the market together and win or lose together. But that’s not how it’s working out. If you don’t have the right relationships to get your music into the hands of the decision makers and are unwilling to pay to submit, you will be shut out by those who will.
What I hope is clear is that by having some of the problems related to accepting unsolicited material solved, MIPs can now offer you access to opportunities they could not in the past.
Next week I’ll tell you how to increase your chances of getting deals when you submit music.
Posted in Entertainment Industry, Music Industry, Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
While it may seem like just another avenue for a company to stream in money from “musicians,” this actually makes sense. I have been sitting in an A&R guy’s office filled with boxes of demos and made the mistake of asking, “Need me to sift through and listen to some of these?” As mentioned here by Mr. McCready, there is not enough time in the day to get through all of these.
My main concern with everyone trying to be a “musician” is that it makes it so much harder for those who are truly passionate about the power of music to be heard. I’m all for any programs that can separate those who are and those who aren’t. I just hate having to pour more and more money into more sites and empty promises. Not a day goes by that I my inbox doesn’t have a message from someone telling me they can take my career to “the next level.” I used to respond but more and more, after asking a few questions, I realize they don’t have any more contacts than I do…but ye t they want me to pay them to do something I’m already doing myself.
In the end, I’d love to be with a label/management team that can handle the burdens of the “biz” so that I can focus more on the art. Until then, here I am responding to blogs and learning everything I can!
My best,
Dave Owens
myspace.com/daveowens
youtube.com/daveowens
I think this is being presented in a misleading way. Part of the problem is the definition of “unsolicited material.” For a moment, let’s separate the piles of CDs that just stream into someone’s office versus advertised specific musical opportunities.
I totally understand the grueling task it is to go through hundreds of demos. Been there and done it. For every one that is decent there are 10 that are just dreadful. Almost as bad as an elementary school band the day they first got their instruments.
But then, take a site like Broadjam, they send out several “opportunities” every day. They are mostly pretty generic with hardly any kind of a brief on what is really wanted. How many hundreds of desparate composers and songwriters submit to each of these? Sites like this are making a shitload of money off of a lot of false hope. Being rather cynical at my age, I wonder if these are even legitamate opportunities? And if the composer’s submission is rejected, they don’t even get a critique. I think this is parasitical; leaches sucking every last cent out of gullible composers.
Have I ever paid to submit my music? Unfortunately, yes. Will I ever do it again? Absolutely not! Not even if Hell freezes over . . .
I agree with you Leon and am pretty proud to say that I’ve never had to pay money to submit any of my art. Broadjam is horrible about this and you’re right…I bet they do make a ton of cash off unknowing musicians.
What I’ve found is that when you put the heart, soul, and time into what you’re doing (regardless of what it is in life), you’re going to get noticed for it. I’ve been blessed with the opportunities that have come my way…
As I mentioned before, I’d be more than happy to shift over a percentage to a solid label/management team but until I find the right one, I need all the cash I can to keep pushing myself!
Hi Leon & Dave,
I don’t mean to mislead with my post but I do hear what you’re saying about the difference in the type of material. Although the latter is kind of a solicitation for material if the opportunities are real. I obviously can’t speak for Broadjam but I do know Roy Elkins, the CEO and he’s always seemed like a straight shooter to me.
At Music Xray, we’re not doing any pre-screening. You’re submitting right to the people on the site. If we see that they are taking way too long to get to the submissions (45 days is when we get fussy) we take them off the site. Most MIPs get to the submissions way before 45 days. Some the same day, others it can take a week. However, our commitment to artists is on our site and reads:
In building Music Xray our intention has been, and it always will be, to solve marketplace problems for artists.
No dream vultures. We will not permit users of our Interaction Engine to peddle false hopes to artists.
We are incorporating numerous mechanisms to ensure transparency and to encourage artist feedback.
We believe we are democratizing the ability to reach the people that can either teach you something, and/or potentially help you gain access to mass-exposure opportunities.
If you find otherwise, contact us and we will fix the problem.
….
Most submission fees are around the cost of postage to send your physical demo and you’re getting a guarantee the submissions will be listened to. Not a bad deal.
Dave, you might even find a manager here: http://www.musicxray.com/artist/categories/23
I own a small retail business (6 employees) and am trying to develop my songwriting skills as a personal endeavour. I see this whole thing as a small business venture, wether individuals or bands are trying to become successful songwriters, artists; whatever. It doesn’t just take some measure of talent, you need to financially invest in your business, and you need to reinvest in an ongoing basis. Not every investment succeeds, in fact many don’t; in fact many will outright fail. Not every pitch to a MIP will result in the right material getting into the right persons hands.
But getting the right feedback, from the right people, that has a lot of value… even if you do feel like you were ripped a time or two. That’s business!
I have made a few submissions through Music XRay, some were free, some I paid a fee. On those I paid a fee, most I felt I got good value, one I didn’t. I don’t think it’s fair name the one I didn’t because it may be just my perception and it would take a few more submissions to the same MIP to confirm that, but I would rather take my dollars and move on to someone I feel may be more promising.
But also realize that the MIP’s are business people, and some are genuinely looking for good material they can turn itno profits for themselves and ultimately us. Also realize that there may be a few bottom feeders there that just want to snap up your submission fees. Be cautious, be conscious of where you are putting your dollars, but don’t be afraid to make an investment in your business.
I have complained to Broadjam about the vagueness of many of their posted opportunities. They have replied that they don’t manage the content of the postings. However, if I were running the business, I would establish submission requirements so that a request such as “love songs” would have to be expanded. I only submit songs to postings which are specific.
Great article Mike.
Great article Mike,
This reminds me of a conversation I had with several artist managers and one manager in particular that I spoke with a few weeks ago. She said, “We (my client and I) discussed it and we decided your fee isn’t a problem. It’s not an exorbitant amount of money. Besides, all musicians pay in some way or another whether it comes directly from their pocket, through CD mass mailing to dozens of writers and radio stations, and gas for traveling to radio stations and meetings with concert venues, etc.”
From time to time, I’ll come across someone that will disagree with charging a submission fee, but the truth is, the artist will pay in some form or another to get on the air, sometimes 20 times more than what I charge with no guarantee it will even get on the air. Although my fee is relatively small, there are some that still disagree no matter how low it is. I of course respect their position and in many instances, we just part ways. I am in no way in a desperate need to beg or plead for an artist to reconsider.
In some cases like this, I do offer a “pro-bono” episode (once per month), which is reserved for artists that either have a dispute with my service fee or they just can’t afford the $8 airtime fee + $3 administrative fee. It also depends on the artist music. If they are good enough, I want them on because they will be good for increasing my listening demographic.
The fee isn’t designed for me to make rich. I pay a lot from my own money to advertise each and every episode, pay for internet storage space, and pay for web hosting myself. It’s not free to keep music on the air or to keep it streaming 24/7 on the web.
I’ve invested an entire year of building record label and management firm contacts and by creating strategies in order to make my show successful. I know my podcast isn’t in the same caliber as a terrestrial radio station like KIIS FM or KROQ, nor do I have 3 million hits on YouTube. What I do offer is longevity from my listeners. Who in this business can say they have over 70,000 iTunes subscribers? Who can say they created this kind of podcast following inside of 12 months? Who can say they market themselves across 106 different websites and can actually prove it? If you Google, “The Great Unknowns Presents”. There are pages upon pages of my show everywhere on the internet.
Is my service worth the minimal $8 fee? Damn right it is and it’s a steal for anyone who is serious about making it in this industry.
Thanks for the thorough response Mr. McCready, I appreciate it! I understand what you’re getting at and will definitely swing over to your site and check it out. Mr. Alexander is correct as well – this is a business and we sometimes forget that as artists. I hate that I have to spend so much time on the business side of things! My hands should be on my guitar and not this keyboard all day…
The digital age has changed everything so dramatically…and I feel that it helps just as much as it hinders us at times. Now you have everyone who owns a halfway decent computer, mic, and recording program putting music out there.
I luckily got out of a deal a few years ago were a major label was planning on “shelving” me. I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t scare the hell out of me every time someone contacts me now…
Hey Michael J,
Great to see you here. What can I say? Wow! 70,000 subscribers. That’s incredible. Congratulations. I think that puts you in a very exclusive league. You know what you might consider? Uploading a few previous episodes as Xray song presentation packs and Music Xray could do a little promo push every once in a while. It would be aligned interest because we’d be showing off the presentation packs at the same time we’d be exposing your podcast to some new people and vice versa. Just a thought but let me know what you think.
Dave – please stay in touch and let me know how it goes for you on Music Xray – and you should submit some music to The Great Unknowns Presents podcast. It’s in the podcast category on Music Xray. You could potentially reach 70,000 new fans.
Cheers!
Hey Mike,
I’m always interested in ways to get my music heard by the gatekeepers. Frankly, I believe in it and love the chance to have someone weed out the sub-par stuff that’s out there.
I’m generally against pay-to-play situations which your service does not seem to be. I think paying a small submission fee to guarantee review isn’t too big a deal…I’d be paying postage to guarantee that it gets in the building, anyway. I haven’t checked out your site, so I don’t know what the fees are yet, but I was wondering how you plan to prevent this from becoming the veritable money-pit that is Sonicbids. There biggest problems seem to be too many shady listings with fees that are too high.
Thanks for the article,
Patrick Dunn
A presentation pack? I didn’t know you could do that. Yeah, I am down to anything to promote my work. Email me and let me know what I need to do and I’ll upload some of my work.
Thanks for the idea!
Hi Patrick.
We are trying to use the community and a transparent platform to prevent bogus opportunities. Anyone can leave a comment on an MIPs profile page telling others of their experiences with that MIP and they can rate them. We have some other controls as well but mostly MIPs have to stand on their reputation on the site. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see an example here: http://www.musicxray.com/profiles/626
i loved the article and agree with some of the merits of creating a revenue to offset the time and energy someone takes to listen to all of the submissions. having friends in the music business i get asked to hear stuff all the time and i have to power to get them anything and most times they are horrible. can you really imagine what it must be for a major labels guy who has to sift through the abyss that we call submissions, as a business owner and consultant i would have suggested the same thing but to actually hired someone or an intern to do the first wave.
their should be conditions that go with the payment along with considerations since the artist had shown a high level of commitment. most industries now charge those seeking their services just to apply and have been doing so for many years. it is a hazard of capitalism. would i pay, it all depends on how much i can make in getting the service.
To Leon, Dave, and those with similar opinions. If you are trying to sell your music… or earn a profit with it…. then it’s no longer just “art”… but now its also…. a “product”… a “comodity”…. something you produced (like a stapler, keyboard, hard drive, or some other item) that you now want to put in the hands of the consumer market.
If you want (for example) a company to look at your written program for a new video game…. that may cost you money to submit. You make think your program is “art” … your baby that you wrote with your own time and talent…. but… in reality… if you wish to have it become part of the consumer market…. it’s not considered “art” anymore…. as much as it’s considered….. a “product”.
That’s just my 2 cents.
….. Alan.
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[...] http://www.mikemccready.com/2010/04/25/should-musicians-and-songwriters-pay-to-submit-music/If they wanted to, they could spend every waking hour listening to new music and still barely put a dent in the amount that they’re asked to listen to. Point 3: Legal concerns and other hassles of unsolicited material … [...]
@Michael J – just submitted my song, Song in B, for consideration on your Podcast…I also subscribed to it last night on Itunes!
(and I had no problem paying for the submission…)
My best,
Dave Owens
http://www.myspace.com/daveowens
http://www.youtube.com/daveowens
http://www.reverbnation.com/daveowens (this one’s new!)
I understand the desire to sort through the “good, bad and ugly” on submissions but, as a former artist turned studio owner, I have much more sympathy for the artists. I understand having to invest in your craft as an artist but, for the consumers (private and corporate ones) when you seek music for your pleasure or business, you are shopping and that process includes a purchase or investment of some kind.
It is my position that the MIPs should hire, pay or contract someone or a company to sort through these submissions. That company would be free to accept submission for “free”, that being said there is still a need for a “floodgate” of some kind such as basic, enhanced and VIP tiers perhaps to allow that company to manage and be responsive on throughput(charging incrementally on last two levels for “head of line” privilege).
That being said money does not always promise quality of submission. Sad but true, I have friends with far more money than myself and no musical talent, just the desire. Some of the best music I’ve heard comes from people with very little or no cash to support their musical pursuits. MIPs may need to find their way into small venues and untapped local cliques of artists to earn their meal. Artists looking to move up in the world will often pay any price they can by any means.
The artists and fans pay the biggest cash premiums to connect, the biggest reward they get is a good feeling and the monetary rewards favor everyone else but them.
I’ve been reading the thread on Linkedin based upon this article and decided to come in and see what the commotion was about, lol.
Historically, there has always been this stigma attached to paying for opportunities in the music business. And the keyword is “historically.” People want to keep holding on to those old traditions or business practices and that is just not practical. Industries evolve, and the music business is no different. Attaching yourself to dogmatic ideology is a career killer.
Marketing wizard Sergio Zyman (former Marketing VP of Coke) once said that “most people are afraid of ‘breaking rules’ so you must encourage people to challenge the very things that made them successful in the first place. If you don’t do this, you can bet that somebody else will swoop in and gladly make whatever it was that you should’ve made obsolete, obsolete. With this one act, they will be capturing the future, and moving ahead of you.”
Taxi has been using the pay to submit model for years. I can remember interviewing Michael Laskow in the middle 90′s for an article I was writing about them. This is not a new concept. You take risks to get ahead – that is just the nature of the business. Using this model to get your songs in front of people who can make a difference can be advantageous, provided the service has credibility. Music Xray seems on the up and up. Even if nothing pans out, you still are getting your music to people who have some influence and that may create future opportunities. Never say never. Some would argue that this is actually working smarter. Don’t use it as your only strategy, but just one of many.
Hugh
http://www.makingitinmusic.net
Public Sector Tenders…
So nice so read a well written article…
Hi,
This article is untrue. I was an independent artist until now.
I experienced first hand without any money down a free ride with a record label in Mustang, Oklahoma. Publisher found me on myspace and contacted me by email and asked if I would submitt my DPK to their company. After they listened to my music, the next day I recieved a warm welcome asking me to come on board if I was interested.
A week later the contract was sent to me for viewing. After signing with them, I recorded an 11 track album and am now receiving nationwide publicity including CD Release Party, Newspapers, Radio & Television interviews, Christian Industry, Advertising, Trade shows, Internet advertising, catalogs, Speaking Engagements, Radio Airplay/Inteviews and more….
For all those independent artists out there – “We can do this on our own” Check out my new debut album in store at http://www.tatepublishing .com – Terri G
Hi Terri,
I think your case is an anomaly. For most people it does not happen that way. Read here: http://www.mikemccready.com/2010/05/11/what-does-it-take-to-break-an-artist-a-solid-team-cold-hard-cash/ and I think you’ll agree.
-Mike
[...] Mike McCready » Blog Archive » Whу ShουƖԁ Songwriters & Acts P… [...]
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