Exploring The Avenues

Have you heard? The music business is dying. Yes, it's true. I read it in Entertainment Weekly. A bunch of labels have laid off a bunch of people, because nobody, apparently, is buying music anymore.

It's a sad state of affairs. These rocket scientists who are illegally downloading music haven't quite grasped yet that before long, there won't be any more music to illegally download. Because artists aren't going to make any new music if they're not making any money from it.

Oh, I'm not blaming it all on the illegal downloading brigade. The corporate dunderheads in charge of the music labels haven't exactly been doing a stellar job in releasing good music - the kind that people would actually pay money for. Take Nashville, for instance.

Say you have one male vocalist with a thin, reedy voice, who happens to catch on somehow with the public - maybe because he wears a black cowboy hat or something. Well, the Nashville scions say, hey! We gotta find us another lanky dude with a black cowboy hat and a thin, reedy voice! Voila! We'll be millionaires!

And then we'll find a bunch of songs about fishin' and people dyin' and pickup trucks and......hey! How about this? Combine all those things into one song? A guy goes fishin' with his buddy, and then his buddy dies, and then the guy who's still alive loads the dead guy onto the back of his pickup truck and as he drives on down to the funeral parlor, he ruminates about all the fun him and his friend had through the years. It'd be a real sad song, and it would sell MILLIONS.

Well, you get the picture.

So, since the music business is dying, what's an independent artist to do?

I've been exploring the option of licensing music for TV and movies.

There's a bunch of websites out there that will accept your music (if it's professionally done) and will stick your music on their site and wait to see if anybody in TV or the movies is interested.

It's a win-win.

Of course, nobody is creating any new TV or movies right now, due to the writer's strike. Just my luck. Bad timing, as usual.

But, be that as it may, I have found a few sites that have some potential. And dang, I'd be thrilled to hear one of our songs on a TV show, or better yet, in a movie. Who wouldn't?

Even if it didn't earn us more than $20.00, it would still be well worth it, just for the thrill alone.

So, if you're making music and don't have anywhere to go with it, do a Google search for music licensing. There's a bunch of sites out there; some better than others. Read their terms of service and make a decision for yourself if their site is the place for you. You never know!

P.S. Of all the sites I've found, one that offers SUPERIOR service, in my estimation, is Audiosparx. Great, great personalized service. I highly recommend it.