HAVING YOUR SONGS PLACED IN

MOVIES AND ON TV

This is a Discmakersmusic clip.

See clip

It is presented by Taxi, a Los Angeles publisher. Advice highlights are as follows ....

TV producers use just a few seconds of your song on a TV show. Broadcast TV is different to cable. (How the latter differ is not explained in the clip, however).

Production music libraries are "little publishers".

You can do a two track record on a four track.

Rights: Big film-makers may want to own your publishing, but usually in TV and with indie films you keep your publishing.

He says a useful feature of Taxi membership is "Taxi Dispatch": it is the quick turnaround they have. It works like this: film music supervisors call Taxi wanting a "type and feel" of song. Taxi email their"Dispatch members" (it is an add- on membership), who then send in songs online. Taxi listen and choose say four for the film people to hear.

TV and film people will take reasonably well done eight track recordings.

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MARKET YOURSELF?

Do you know how to market yourself? When representing yourself to a business person (eg: a publisher like Taxi) say only positive things about yourself.

To a business person, it is all about how you act in approaching them. Behave professionally. Send succinct emails. Never be desperate. Be very narrow in your focus. They want to know what you do specifically. (This advice was presented by Nancy Moran of NancyMoran.com and azaleamusic.com).

This is the business side: seeing it from their point of view. They just want to know what you can do for them. That is business.

HOW DO YOU "GET AIRPLAY"?

To "get airplay", the advice is to have a website. Then the world will see and buy you.

To increase your site's traffic: put your url on every item you have (eg: cards, T-shirts and so on), link to other artists or sites (eg: a group or type of group/genre), and put you url on search engines: you use keywords, eg: genre, get more links to other sites, and mot inportantly look at Google: most web searchers go to Google so read Google's "about Google" page: see the section "for site owners", which will show you how.

On your site you should put your bio, photos, streamed tracks, and gig or touring schedule.

I like to ask: What would the Beatles have done?!! Do that. And link to other things eg: social causes.

WHAT IS MASTERING?

Mastering (if necessary) is carried out before replication, so that the level and balance of the CDs is good. It can give a boost. It is NOT mixing: a masterer works with the WHOLE track, that is by for example altering EQ, to turn down the bass or brighten the sound, etc. They also listen to each song on a CD relative to the others, to give a whole CD a smooth flow!! That is, the masterer makes the EQs on each song smooth, relative to eachother.

Masterers can also reduce noise: that is, distortion, etc. They will fine comb it. They may take out hiss from an amp or a processor. Masterers will hear it.

They also check the CD codes, and prep the CD so the pressing plant doesn't find errors on the disc.

See