Showing posts with label audiosparx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audiosparx. Show all posts
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Opportunity
With Red River's brand of music, we thought the most appropriate use of it would be in the area of music licensing; you know, TV, movies, commercials.
Face it, we're not in the mainstream of popular music (by "popular", I mean commercial radio).
What really got us started in this endeavor was a personal phone call from a guy with, I guess, a start-up licensing company, because I don't know why in the world else he would call us, unless he was trying to build a catalog.
That was probably five years ago. He told me that our music would work well in TV shows such as "Big Love", and others that I don't remember. So, we signed up. Haven't had one lick of luck with that company. Oh well. It didn't cost us anything. (Every now and then, I get emails from them, looking for something obscure, such as "authentic Russian folk songs". Really??)
With that bit of experience, I began to explore other licensing companies. Tried a few; got rejected by some. That's neither here nor there. Rejection doesn't even faze me anymore.
We have had one hit with Audiosparx. By "hit", I mean, we actually got a taker. It was for a student film. I was thrilled! Hell, to hear your song playing over the closing credits of a film ~ it's heady stuff!
And frankly, Audiosparx is one of the nicest, most personable companies to deal with. For their personal attention alone, I recommend them.
About a year ago, I started getting a bunch of emails from Hello Music. These places always LOVE you when they want you to sign up. Once you do, they kind of just shun you. They'll send you the occasional email that says (subliminally), "No way in hell are you going to qualify for these, but here are our latest opportunities. Good luck, loser."
Again, I'm not bothered by that. As long as someone doesn't spam me every day, I'm good.
Good old Reverb (I like to use the familial term for ReverbNation) asked us, and about five million other artists to submit our music for potential licensing opportunities. I got about 20 separate rejection emails out of that experience. No offense, but don't ask if you think our music sucks. Do a bit of homework first. Separate the chaff from the wheat.
There's this place called Music Dealers. I think I learned about them on one of those songwriter message boards. They have opportunities, such as "fun - upbeat". What does that mean? That's kind of generic. Or they want covers of famous songs. We don't do covers. What's the point, really? And we're not necessarily known for our "fun, upbeat" songs.
Our latest is Music Xray. I like their business model, although some of their opportunities, that cost $4.00 to submit to, are kind of lame. No offense. "Pay $4.00 to possibly get played on an internet radio station". Do you or anyone you know listen to internet radio stations? And frankly, I could do the research and submit to numerous internet radio stations for free, if I really wanted to invest the time. But what's the point, really? Bragging rights? That's kind of a pitiful thing to brag about.
And while we're on the whole subject of licensing, I don't know about you, but I see a lot of commercials that use stripped-down acoustic-based songs. I think, hey, we do that! Or can. I think those artists must be paying somebody to push their stuff, or else they're signed to major labels, and I just haven't ever heard of them. We're just as good, but maybe not "quirky" enough. Gotta work on that quirkiness.
So, in summation, by all means, give music licensing a try. But be forewarned. Your production had better be on par with what the big boys do, or it's a no-go; sorry.
But you never know; you might one day catch lightening in a bottle. It could happen.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Red River Music Featured On A YouTube Video!
I received an email from Audiosparx the other day, mentioning that they have a video up on YouTube, explaining what they're all about.
So, having a bit of free time, I thought I would check it out.
The video contains samples of all the different genres of music they offer, and guess what?
For country music, they used Red River!
I was absolutely expecting a more "polished" sort of track to advertise the country music genre, but they used us!
Now, that's cool.
Here it is:
So, having a bit of free time, I thought I would check it out.
The video contains samples of all the different genres of music they offer, and guess what?
For country music, they used Red River!
I was absolutely expecting a more "polished" sort of track to advertise the country music genre, but they used us!
Now, that's cool.
Here it is:
Saturday, December 8, 2007
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.
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.
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