48 minute read
Career Connection: Audio Forensics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Rob Putnam
from September 2021
DROPS
Heavy metal music comedy flm Electric Jesus, starring Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club) and Brian Baumgartner (The Office), will be released Nov. 2. Written and directed by Chris White from an original score by Daniel Smith, the flm chronicles the story of the fctional Christian hair metal band 316, whose members spend the summer of 1986 playing rock music meant to “make Jesus famous” and opening for Stryper. In 2020, the flm took Best Narrative Feature at the Fayetteville Film Festival and Rome International Film Festival, as well as Best Picture and Best Director at the Orlando Film Festival. Music from the flm is out now. For more information, contact Monica Hopman at monica@sideways-media.com.
Renowned DJ and seven-time Grammy winning artist and producer Mark Ronson has released an accompanying soundtrack to his Apple Original docuseries Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson on Apple+. The six-part docuseries explores sound creation and groundbreaking technology in music through intimate conversations with Paul McCartney, Questlove, King Princess, Dave Grohl, Ad-Rock and Mike D from the Beastie Boys, Charli XCX and more. At the end of each episode, Ronson debuts a piece of original music using the technology and techniques discussed in the series. The series is produced by Oscar-winning producer Morgan Neville. Contact Alaina Yorey at alaina.yorey@ ledecompany.com for further details.
The critically acclaimed live music series Front and Center returned Aug. 1 for its 10th season, featuring an all-star lineup that includes Dustin
Lynch, Brantley Gilbert, Old Dominion,
Lady A, Maddie & Tae, John Hiatt with Jerry Douglas and special guest Tommy Emmanuel, and Sangeeta Kaur with special guests Jon Anderson and Jake Shimabukuro. The series features a genre-spanning variety of emerging and seasoned artists showcasing their work in between candid conversations about their craft,
BILLIE EILISH
touring and infuences. This season launched with an archival concert by the late Glen Campbell from a 2008 performance at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. For further details, contact Ebie McFarland at ebie@ebmediapr.com.
Dilated Peoples, Hieroglyphics, The Beat
Junkies, Planet Asia and Defari. Contact Shannon Meehan at smeehan@shoutfactory. com for details.
The original motion picture soundtrack for the animated musical feature Vivo dropped Aug. 6, featuring original songs written and performed by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Directed by Kirk DeMicco, Vivo is about a musically gifted kinkajou, voiced by Miranda, on a quest through the Florida Everglades to deliver a song to his beloved owner’s long-lost sweetheart. Watch the flm on Netfix and contact fairley. mccaskill@atlanticrecords. com for more information.
Shout! Studios’ Where
We’re From: Rise of LA
Underground Hip-Hop, a new documentary about the Los Angeles hip-hop culture at the turn of the 21st century, premiered in theaters, on demand and on digital on Aug. 24. Directed and produced by DJ Bonds and DJ Breeze, two founders and producers of Club Elements, the flm is an exploration of the city’s underground hip-hop culture spanning the late 1990s through the early 2000s as told by the scene’s creators. The flm includes archival performance footage from Club Elements as well as interviews with the likes of Jurassic 5, Grammy-winning and chart-topping artist Billie Eilish made her Disney+ debut with Happier than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, a cinematic concert experience, which premiered globally on Sept. 3. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Oscar-winner Patrick Osborne, the Disney+ original features Eilish giving an intimate performance of her latest album, Happier than Ever, in its entirety from the stage of the Hollywood Bowl. The special also includes animated elements as the viewer is taken on a tour of Eilish’s L.A. hometown, and features Finneas, the
Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, the Los Angeles
Philharmonic conducted by Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, and Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, with orchestra arrangements by David Campbell. Contact Alexandra Baker at alexandra@ highrisepr.com.
New documentary Mr. SOUL! premiered Aug. 1 on HBO Max, which tells the story of the public television variety show Mr. SOUL! and its host Ellis Haizlip through interviews and archival clips. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the show
brought music, politics, dance, Black literature and poetry to viewers, and was the frst national variety show to spotlight the Black Arts Movement. Produced and directed by Melissa Haizlip, the flm won Best First Documentary Feature at the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and Outstanding Writing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture) at the 52nd NAACP Image Awards. It was also shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best Original Song, for “Show Me Your Soul” by Grammy-winning composer Robert Glasper and Grammywinning singer Lalah Hathaway. Contact David Magdael at dmagdael@ tcdm-associates.com for more details.
OPPS
The Guild of Music Supervisors & Mondo.
NYC will host the 4th Annual NYC Guild of Music Supervisors Education Event & Film Festival on Oct. 14. The live virtual symposium will allow participants to meet and network with top music supervisors and executives in flm, TV, video games, trailers and advertising. Panelists include supervisors, composers and sync and licensing executives. To register, visit mondo.nyc/guild-ofmusic-supervisors-1.
To submit a music video to the 2022 SXSW Film Festival, the frst deadline is coming up Sept. 14. Videos must be under 10 minutes in length. For submission guidelines and FAQs, visit cart.sxsw. com/products/musicvideoapp.
NewScape Studios, Inc., which creates content based on video games such as Fortnite and
The World Soundtrack
Awards has announced the frst nominations for the 2021 event, which will take place at the Film Fest Ghent in Belgium on Oct. 23. Nominations include Nainita Desai,
James Newton Howard, Emile Mosseri, Daniel
Pemberton and Trent
Reznor, Atticus Ross
and Jon Batiste for Film Composer of the Year. TV Composer of the Year nominees include
Christopher Beck, Nicholas Britell, Ludwig
Göransson, Natalie Holt and Carlos Rafael Rivera. For a complete list of composers and original songs nominated for this year’s event, and to vote for your favorite flm score for the Public Choice Award, visit worldsoundtrack awards.com.
With 3.5 billion combined plays for all tracks on the album, the soundtrack to A Star is Born is the most popular movie soundtrack on Spotify, surpassing soundtrack streams for Black Panther, Dazed and Confused and Saturday Night
Minecraft and animated content, is seeking a contracted musician to join their team. The ideal candidate will be able to produce one original song per week. For details about the position and to apply, visit newscapestudios.applytojob. com/apply.
PROPS
Rick Astley’s iconic video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” has reached one billion views on YouTube, and a new mini-documentary about it is forthcoming. Astley frst released the song as a debut single in 1987, which reached No. 1 in 25 countries, spent fve weeks at the top of the U.K. Singles Chart and achieved Gold status in weeks. But the video experienced a resurgence in recent years and inspired the “Rickrolling” meme, which catapulted it into the very exclusive club of pre-YouTube music videos that have reached one billion views, including Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Astley celebrated this achievement with a signed, vinyl limited edition of the single and a forthcoming mini documentary with interviews with Astley and those involved with the video’s production. For your fx of ‘80s nostalgia, watch “Never Gonna Give You Up” on YouTube and contact Kerri Brusca at kbrusca@shorefre.com for more information.
Fever. The critically acclaimed 2018 flm starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper earned a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2020, with hits including “Shallow,” which has been streamed 1.5 billion times on Spotify. Black Panther’s soundtrack is the second-most popular with a recorded 2.8 billion Spotify plays. For details, contact Janine Pacis at janine@rebootonline.com.
JESSICA PACE is a music journalist-turned-newsreporter based in Durango, CO. She is from Nashville, where she started a writing career by freelancing for publications including American Songwriter and Music Connection. Contact her at j.marie.pace@gmail.com.
Out Take
Jimmy Hunter
Producer/Drummer/Songwriter
Web: jimmyhunter.com Contact: jimmy@jimmyhunter.com
Drummer, producer, songwriter and owner of Cazador Recording, Jimmy Hunter is likely best known for his session work and the early days of his career drumming with keyboardist Ray Manzarek in Nite City and with the Village People, but his most recent claim to fame is connected to a few obscure but serendipitous recording sessions with Cher 40 years ago. “I was drumming with the Village People and we got a chance to go to New York with [producer] Jacques Morali, who wanted to produce Cher,” Hunter says. “Everyone brought their songs in, and I had one I wrote for my girlfriend called ‘Rootie Toot.’ They said, ‘That’s good, let’s just dress up the chorus.’”
Now the song “Rudy,” which initially appeared on Cher’s 1982 album I Paralyze, has gone double platinum on 2013’s The Very Best of Cher and is on the verge of triple platinum at the time of this writing. “I never thought that experience would lead to this,” Hunter says of his recent accolade.
Since the 1980s, Hunter has now produced some 5,000 songs across the genres and worked with countless artists, which has taught him a lot of lessons in production over the years. “I’m not big on the ‘less is more’ philosophy with production; I like a lot of stuff going on, but I’m very careful to not walk on the vocal,” he says. “My biggest advice to anyone in the studio: stay off the vocal. That’s paramount. The things I try to teach to my understudies or assistants is to look for timing, pitch, interpretation, conviction and vibe. I want ‘10s’ in all those categories. If you can get that, then you’ve loved the listener.” Now, Hunter’s new goal is to land songs from his own vast catalog in flms and television, which has required him to navigate more of the business side of the music industry. “I don’t enjoy the business aspect of music; I’d rather be at the creative desk 24/7,” he says. “But the best advice I’ve received from mentors is to get all your metadata in order for all your mp3s, and get your copyrights in order. If you don’t have all that together, you’ll get left by the wayside.”
Lzzy Hale: Gibson Ambassador
Gibson has announced that Lzzy Hale, frontwoman of the Grammy Award-winning hard rock band Halestorm, has joined Gibson as the first female Brand Ambassador, representing acoustic and electric guitars across Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer. The company has released signature Gibson Lzzy Hale Explorer and the Epiphone Lzzy Hale Explorer. Hale will also help drive the culture of giving back as part of the Gibson Gives Artist Advisory Council.
Swizz Beatz Receives Icon Award
Culture Creators hosted its 5th annual “Innovators & Leaders” Awards Brunch at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, celebrating leaders throughout the creative community and upholding a commitment to diversity. This year, musician, super-producer, art collector, philanthropist, and co-founder of Verzuz, Swizz Beatz accepted the Icon Award from his son and actor, Nasir Dean, aka Note Marcato. Swizz Beatz is pictured with fellow honorees and performers: Mya and H.E.R.
Kali Uchis Nueva Generación–Femenina
Grammy-winning artist Kali Uchis wins her first Univision Premios Juventud award for Nueva Generación–Femenina (New Female Artist). Additionally, she performed her hit track “telepatía” alongside a full orchestra at the award ceremony. Uchis’ “telepatía,” taken from her Spanish language album, Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), has surpassed one billion global streams. The track also remains at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs Chart, making her the first female in nearly a decade to top the chart without a featured act. “telepatía” is the longest running Spanish-language song by a solo act.
Japanese Breakfast at Electric Lady
Spotify and Electric Lady Studios have launched a new series of live EPs, titled Live at Electric Lady. With the first Live at Electric Lady release having dropped on July 29 with Academy Award Winner Jon Batiste, the upcoming slate of live EPs will include: Patti Smith, Japanese Breakfast (pictured), Dominic Fike, Faye Webster, Bleachers, Remi Wolf, and Natalie Bergman, with more surprises to come. Made famous by Jimi Hendrix and classic sessions with Stevie Wonder, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and many others, the legendary Electric Lady Studios has inspired the world's greatest artists for five decades running.
uitarist/singer-songwriter/
Gproducer Danny Kortchmar, drummer-producer Russ Kunkel, guitarist/singer-songwriter/ producer Steve Postell, bassist Leland Sklar and guitarist/singer-songwriter/producer
Waddy Wachtel comprise the legendary quintet. Since the early ‘70s, they’ve been on the ground foor of more hits than anyone can imagine. But turn on classic rock and pop radio and you’re sure to hear gems like
Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” (co-written by Wachtel), Jackson Browne’s
“Somebody’s Baby” (co-written by Kortchmar) or Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry” (also co-written by Kortchmar). Now these industry vets have decided to step out in the spotlight under their own banner. The eponymously titled full-length release The Immediate Family (Quarto Valley Records) features a dozen original tracks of rich and well-defned rock, blues, pop and Americana-favored fare that will surely connect with those who seek, or have missed, this collective’s unique brand of classic lyricism and quality songs.
Music Connection: You have obviously all known each other and worked together for many years. Why was now the right time to form The Immediate Family?
Danny Kortchmar: It just happened to be that way. I got a record deal from a label in Japan to make a solo album. I, amazingly, realized Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar were in town, which is rare because they’re two of the most in-demand musicians ever. So, I started with them. Waddy came in later because he was on the road. But it just all came together. And I realized it would be way more fun to be part of a band than just a solo project. And everyone, amazingly, wanted to do the same thing. Why it happened now? It was just the time for it to happen.
Waddy Wachtel: Danny did the record and then got offered a tour of Japan. And he said he couldn’t do it without you guys. How about we make a band? And we all went “What a natural perfect idea.”
MC: How did you go about making selections for what songs would be on your debut album?
WW: You know, the cream rises to the top. There were songs we were dying to do. There were obvious choices, really. The (Warren) Zevon composition “Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead” that I co-wrote was a surprise to me. We love doing it and it turned out to be a perfect choice for the record. The other tunes we had been working on and writing together, specifcally aiming at this project. So it wasn’t without some concentrated focus that the songs wound up on the album.
DK: Once we got going and had a band Waddy and I realized we had an outlet for our stuff. In other words, we realized if we write good songs they could be recorded right away by this unbelievable great band that we’re now in. That really turned me on and gave me great impetus to continue writing. And once we got some songs going we’d play them for the rest of the fellas. Everyone lit up and said, “Let’s go!”
MC: You released two EPs in 2020, Slippin’ and Slidin’ and Can’t Stop Progress. Was that in response to the downtime during the emergence of the pandemic?
DK: Yeah. We couldn’t put an album out. We had to cancel our tour that was booked. And the whole thing was put off and moved back, like what happened to everybody.
MC: How have you guys fared through this downtime period? Was there more time for writing?
DK: Well, we’re always writing anyways. But we also collaborated via Zoom. We each made videos individually at home. We sent them to this wonderful editor who put them all together. There was a period where we didn’t see each other for six months.
WW: The video that we did for “New York Minute” was done separately and then we put the video together the same way. All the other songs that you hear were done collectively.
MC: How did your deal with Quarto Valley Records come about?
WW: We got told that this gentleman named Bruce Quarto was very interested in us. And the next thing we knew he offered us a record deal. And it was a substantial situation, unlike the minimal things we’ve been teased with. He meant every word he said and is completely behind us and has been supporting us all the way. He’s been behind every creative decision we’ve made so far and it’s just a fantastic relationship. Prior to hearing his name we didn’t know who he was. But all of a sudden he became a very important player in our life.
DK: I remember we were playing at the Iridium club in New York. And this photographer Artie Goodman represented Quarto Valley Records and was taking pictures of us. He went back and told the label’s A&R guy Mike Carden you’ve gotta sign these guys.
MC: You used to be the band that was called “The Section” back in the day. And I remember seeing you in the late ‘70s at Pine Knob (now DTE Energy Theater) opening and playing with James Taylor. I was a big jazz-rock fan and that band really made an impression on me. Can you talk about touring as The Section and how it developed into what you’re doing now?
DK: The Section got together because we were on the road backing up James Taylor. On tour, James would do a 20 minute sound check and then he would leave. And the rest of us would stay on stage and jam. We had nothing else to do. The front of house guy had recorded our jam from the board. Peter Asher said we should listen to the playbacks. He said you guys sound good and should consider making this into a band. And it evolved from there. Nobody sang, we just played and it evolved into this rock fusion thing. So, we used to do 30-40 minutes as a warm up before James came out. We did the same thing with Jackson Browne. WW: I don’t own any pedals except for a volume pedal. But I have a Gibson Les Paul which I’ve been saddled with since the early ‘60s. I have a lot of standard Fenders and Gibsons. My acoustics are J-200s. We have a couple acoustic guitars that were made for us in Japan that are gorgeous. The amp I use is a Magnatone ’59.
DK: Waddy’s not mentioning that Gibson absolutely duplicated his Les Paul guitar. And that’s the degree to which Waddy is connected to that guitar.
MC: You both, musically, do so many things. How would you describe your guitar sound working as session and sidemen?
DK: I don’t think we do so many different things. Waddy and I have very distinct styles. And when we’re called to do dates, a tour or whatever it’s to be ourselves. In other words, if they call us they want us. They don’t want us to sound like someone else. My style is based on soul music, rock, blues and reggae.
WW: Mine is more of a dirtier sound. We both came up with the same roots in music, but I’ve got more of a dirtier rock & roll rhythm sound. But I can take that flthy sound and play some pretty melodic things, as well. But Danny’s right, we get called to show up and do what we do. I don’t show up and someone asks me to play like Kootch, [They’ll say] “I need more of a clean sound outta you.” [I’ll say] “No, you don’t. You’ve got Danny’s phone number, call him.” The reason we were able to come up through these sessions all these years is we’d bring what we bring to these records, and people would hear it, respond to it and pass us on to the next person. It simplifed the process for people, where they’d hire us for what we do and didn’t have to write stuff out for us. We’d give them our version of what we were hearing.
DK: On most record dates the guitar part isn’t written out. Most people don’t know how to write for guitars. As a matter of fact I don’t think anyone really knows how to write for electric guitar. We’re given chord charts, lead sheets, maybe a couple rhythm stabs and then we’re supposed to come up with something right now to help the song and the singer. And we got really good at coming up with parts for songs. MC: Do you write much in the studio with an artist or do you do a lot of preparation beforehand?
DK: Well, I’ve been working on nothing but The Immediate Family the last four years. And, frankly, I’m glad I’m not doing sessions. I never was that thrilled doing sessions. The secret to doing sessions is that 85-90% of them are terrible. The music stinks, the producer doesn’t know what he’s doing and the only reason to do it is to get paid. There is a heavy burnout factor too. The thing is, you are what you eat. So if you’re playing crappy songs all day long you start not to care. On the other hand, if you’re like Waddy and me, you get the chance to play with these genius-level singers and songwriters all the time. You learn these brilliant songs and you become, well, snobs.
WW: We’ve worked with some of the best artists in the country. In those days, when you’d walk into a session, you’re not walking in prepared, you’re walking in ready to give what you have because you don’t know the songs. When Danny was producing Don Henley it was a different situation. He’s walking in with the material. We did a Jackson Browne date a million years ago called “Lawyers in Love.” We worked on a song called “Lawless Avenue.” It was a great song and we didn’t know a note of it. But I usually know what kind of sound Danny’s gonna produce and he knows what I’m gonna do. And we know what area of the neck not to be because the other guy will be there. It’s just this natural relationship we found out about each other for 50 years now. So, as Danny says, you come in cold and have to come up with the goods right there.
MC: What techniques do you use to keep your writing and playing fresh?
DK: Is it fresh? I don’t know (laughs). I just follow my nose and my instincts. And we just try to use everything we’ve learned and our imagination to help come up with things. But, like I told you, I’m basically rooted in soul, rock & roll and I always go back to that. I don’t know how fresh it is, but it’s fresh to me.
WW: It’s always fresh when it’s real rock & roll. We’re so lucky to be at this age and this point in our lives and able to still be doing what we’re doing. I don’t sit here practicing scales, but let me tell you, after six months of not seeing my brothers I was practicing scales (laughs)!
MC: So, you get re-energized?
WW: You can’t generate what happens live. You can’t sit in your house and think, because you’re playing every day you’re gonna be ready to get on stage and blow. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve gotta be in rehearsals, you’ve gotta be with people and really shove it out there so you can be at your peak on stage. You can’t just rudimentarily be working on it thinking you’ve got this nailed. You don’t!
MC: What’s on your agenda with an album and tour?
DK: We start a tour in November, with some dates on the east and west coast. It’s been a year and a half, so we’re pretty excited about it.
MC: Have you done any private events or anything like that?
WW: No. At one point, when six months went by, we’d have a weekly Zoom meeting with our manager. And somebody mentioned something about “the band.” I fnally stopped them and said we’re not a band right now. We’re a bunch of great dear friends, but we haven’t played together in six months. We’re not a band per se. We need to get in a rehearsal room for two weeks, which is what we did. But day one was like I forgot how physically demanding this job is! It’s a challenge. You don’t just sit down and casually go through this stuff. It’s real, and thank God for that!
MC: Well that really says something in regards to your humility and level of preparedness and professionalism.
DK: Thanks! The more you listen to great music and musicians the more humble you become. You realize how great guys are. You never sit around and pat yourself on the back. Not if you’re paying attention.
MC: Of course there have been many, but what are some pivotal and signifcant gigs and sessions you both have been involved with?
WW: For me, in 1991, I was recording with Keith (Richards) and the (X-Pensive) Winos and we cut the song “How I Wish.” We also cut “Take it So Hard” that same night. And I played the solo on “Take it So Hard” live. We all went back to the room and couldn’t believe we cut two great tracks that night. But Keith wanted to re-cut the song at frst because he didn’t think it felt right. But we talked about it and he realized that was the right take to go with. It was a remarkable night.
DK: I would say making “Tapestry” with Carole King was a highlight. The whole album took three weeks, including mixing. And you had to be on your toes. We cut “It’s Too Late,” which was one of three tunes we cut that day. Waddy and I both played with Carole. And it was like going to college with her. She’s so darn smart; a brilliant arranger, producer and, obviously, songwriter. She knows what she wants and working with her is always a learning experience. But we’ve had so many incredible moments. We’re so lucky to have the moments we’ve had.
MC: What makes each person in The Immediate Family so special on a musical and personality level?
DK: Have you met Lee Sklar? I would say that Lee Sklar has a personality. He’s the only one that has one. But these guys are such great people. These guys are my brothers and we’ve known each other so damn long. I don’t know what else to say but there is so much love between all of us.
WW: These guys were playing about fve years before I met them. And we’ve been together 50 years. It’s unbelievable! And (Steve) Postell is the new kid on the block. And we’ve known him about 15 years.
MC: What can you tell us about Steve Postell?
DK: When I was making that solo album I mentioned, before everybody got together, I worked with Steve on pre-production. He made the sessions go smooth and really quick. He can do things Waddy and I don’t do. He’s a brilliant fnger-picker. He came up studying classical guitar so he’s got those kind of chops. We don’t use effects much at all, but Steve has a pedal board and comes up with a lot of textures.
WW: His role is a very defned situation because he bridges the gap between what Danny and I are doing. He also has a very good voice. And when you’ve got Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar as your rhythm section you’re ready to work anywhere.
MC: Any fnal thoughts?
DK: When we started out, more than half our repertoire were covers we wrote, played on and produced. And we still do our hits, shall I say. This album is all original material. And none of it has come out in previous forms, except for “Denver.” It’s very much an original sound, our music and our songs. And we’re very proud of that. We’re not interested in being a jam band. We’re interested in writing the best songs humanly possible and creating a big ensemble sound. We make a hell of a racket!
1: Make Sure Your Music is Really Ready to Pitch
Before sending out your music to all those amazing places, it’s crucial that you make sure your songs are truly ready to impress—this is the frst step in pitching like a pro.
There’s more than one way to write a great song, as you already know, but you should at least consider the following:
• Structure: Are your songs’ intros short? Do you get to the chorus quickly? And is there distinction between all of the parts of your songs? • Lyrics: Are your lyrics clear, vivid, and unique?
Do they speak to your target audience? And are they broad enough so that you are not painting yourself into a corner? (Remember that specifcity is good for some things, but not good for flm/TV/game placements since it limits the ways a song can be used.) And fnally… • Melody: Can your songs be easily hummed back after hearing them just once?
While it is understandable for artists to think that everything they write is the most amazing thing on earth, just be sure to get feedback from consultants, writing teachers, and even your target audience before starting to pitch them to various music users and industry people.
Overall, by making sure your songs are in tip-top shape, you will make the entire pitching process so much easier for everyone involved. You’ll be putting your best foot frst.
After making sure you really have great material, the second step in pitching like a pro involves making sure that your recordings are broadcast quality. Consider the following few points:
• Sound: Do the instruments sound current?
Did you use the best microphones when recording? And are there any unnecessary hums from electronic gear such as amps? • Performance: Do the vocals capture the true emotion of the lyric? Is the drummer in time throughout the entire song? And do all the instruments and vocals stay in tune? And fnally… • Pro Quality: Do your recordings sound great when referenced against professionally recorded tracks? Could you imagine your record playing seamlessly between two songs on a major commercial radio station?
Or would you be embarrassed hearing your recording on a popular playlist on Spotify?
Forget about the old saying, “You can hear a hit through the shit.” These days, with all of the home recording gear that exists, crappy recordings only point to your laziness. So make every effort to get this part of the pitching process right. You’ll be glad you did.
3: Prepare Different Types of Mixes
Now that you’re sure your recordings are broadcast quality, the third step in pitching like a pro deals with preparing different mixes of your song. Remember, the more mixes, the more opportunities. • Regular Vocal Mix: This is your typical mix that includes all of the instruments and the vocalist for release on radio, playlists, and more. • Instrumental Mix: This is where you leave the vocals out so that flm and TV editors can more easily cut around dialogue in a flm. • TV Mix: This is where the main vocal track is muted but the background vocals (i.e. oohs, aahs, heys, etc.) are left in for potential performances you might do on television. • Clean Mix: This is where profanities are bleeped out to adhere to TV networks’
“standards and practices” and to adhere to certain broadcast rules for radio and TV. • Vocal Down Mix: This is where the vocal track is lowered so that it does not compete with the dialogue in a flm or TV show. And fnally… • Recorded Stems: This is where you keep individual audio tracks (WAV or AIF fles) that comprise your recording available so movie trailer editors can do their own mixes to ft their needs.
As you can see, the more mixes you have, the more situations you can accommodate. And the more situations you can accommodate, the easier the pitching process will be.
4: Make Sure You’ve Cleared Any Samples/Interpolations
Moving on to the fourth tip in pitching like a pro, it’s time to discuss samples and interpolations.
As you already know, sampling is when you use a piece from another artist’s sound recording. Interpolating is when you rerecord a small part of a song.
In either case, assuming you are not using a service like Splice or Apple Loops that have taken care of all the legalities for you, remember that both samples (the song and the master) and interpolations (the song) must be “cleared” (i.e., you must get permission from the copyright owner or his/her representatives) and pay either a negotiated fee and/or give up a percentage of ownership in your new work.
While clearing samples and interpolations could be a whole chapter in and of itself, it generally can be done by reaching out directly to the publisher(s) or master owner(s) of the song you’re sampling/interpolating, or by hiring an actual “clearing house” to do this for you. Failure to get clearance will make it hard to pitch and license your song and it could even lead to copyright infringement.
If you can avoid using samples or interpolations, we recommend it. The more samples and interpolations you use, the harder it is to license your music. So focus on creating your beats and tracks and be a far better pitcher.
Afterthought: 7K for just 1/4 of the song:
I (this is Bobby speaking) knew one independent artist who was asked to pay $7,500 to Universal Music Publishing Group for the use of just one sample from a song, and note that Universal was just a 1/4 owner in the song, which meant that he would have ended up paying $30K total. That’s far too much for a DIY artist to pay.
5: Have Your Split Sheets Together
pitching like a pro, also be sure to get all of your co-writer splits agreed upon (assuming that you have any co-writers). This is very important!
Just remember that anyone wanting to license your music will want reassurance that there will be no disagreements in the future between the writers.
As discussed previously, the form typically used to record splits between writers is called a “split sheet.” We offer a sample in Chapter One of our book, but just in case, a proper split sheet includes the following:
• Date: The date on which the song was completed. • Names: Full names of all writers as they are used legally. • PRO Affiliation: All writers’ PRO affiliations and IPI numbers (the unique number that is assigned to you when you join any PRO). • Publishing Company Name: All writers’ publishing company names. • Song Percentages: The writer and publisher splits. • Master Percentages: The master owner(s) and splits. And fnally… • Signatures: The signatures of each writer acknowledging the splits.
While U.S. copyright law assumes that collaborators split songs (and masters) equally based on the number of creators involved, collaborators often have different ideas about how they want to split up the rights. So make no mistake, a split sheet is essential in preparing to pitch like a pro and assuring music users that you have taken care of your business.
6: List The Proper MetaData
Now that you have all of your co-writers splits decided on, the sixth step in pitching like a pro involves making sure that your songs are tagged with the proper metadata (i.e., information about writers, release dates, and more).
Metadata is not only helpful in ensuring that your music will be properly stored, sorted and identifed everywhere that it is distributed, it will ensure that your music is identifable when it comes time to receiving royalties too.
The most basic metadata required by digital distributors of music includes:
• Song title • Artist name • Label name • Songwriters • Timing of the song • Release date of the song • Genre, and… • Industry Standard Recording Code (ISRC), which is like your song’s social security number you get from your distributor or by contacting usisrc.org
Other metadata required by people to whom you will be pitching your music includes:
• Contact information • Subject matter of the song • Mood of the song • Instrumentation of the song • Like-artists (artists you sound like) • BPM (beats per minute), and… • Full lyrics (which is helpful for keyword searches)
Don’t underestimate the importance of metadata, folks. As said by the staff at Landr (a digital
mastering company), failure to add the proper metadata is like sending your music to the airport with no passport, no boarding pass, no money and no neck pillow. It’s not going to reach its destination without a lot of confusion and stress. And it will be harder to get you paid, as well.
Getting your metadata right is a crucial step in the pitching process, so just do it! And do it right away when fnishing your track. It’s hard to go back and do it later. Okay? Good! 7: Get Ready to “Show That You Know” Your Music Well
Moving on to the seventh tip of our 14 tips in pitching like a pro (yes, we’re halfway home), it’s time to talk about showing that you understand the special characteristics of your music.
This will help you to better respond to requests from music users and will help you to make wiser suggestions to various song pluggers about how you see your music serving them.
Here are a few things you should always know:
• Genre: The genre (and even sub-genre) of your song • Like Artists: The artists you sound most like • Subject Matter: Your song’s subject matter • Mood: The mood of your music (happy, sad, chill, etc.), and… • Use: Specifc scenes and plot lines in which your song could be used
Take it from us—the more you know, the faster your business will grow. After all, if you don’t know what your music is and how it benefts music users, don’t expect others to fgure it out for you. If you want to pitch like a pro, you have to be in the know. So do your homework today.
8: Know the People You Are Pitching
Tip number eight on pitching like a pro involves knowing the persons that you are pitching to.
If you are fortunate enough to get the opportunity to pitch a music supervisor you admire, be sure to know what he/she is currently working on, what songs he/she has used in the past on a particular project, and how your music can serve his/her current projects.
To conduct your research, use resources like IMDB, Tunefnd, What-Song.com, and the “Film & Television Music Monthly,” offered by the folks at the Music Business Registry (more on them in a minute).
Look gang, whether it is a music supervisor, an A&R rep, or a song plugger, the more knowledgeable you appear about the person you are pitching to, the more impressed the person will be with you, and thus the more effective you will be in the pitching process. Enough said!
9: Know the Best Way to Make Contact
Dovetailing nicely from knowing the people you are pitching, our eighth tip in pitching like a pro deals with knowing the best way to make contact with these people.
Two resources (“Film and TV Music Guide,” and “Music Publishers Guide”) offered by The Music Business Registry at musicregistry. com, provide the phone numbers, emails, and addresses of nearly every music licensing professional. [Music Connection, as well, publishes an annual Directory of Music Supervisors, free on its website.]
But before fring off emails to literally every industry professional on the face of the earth, fnd out how people prefer to be contacted (check the guides or the websites of the companies you want to contact).
If no contact preference is listed, use email as the default. Email tends to be the most effective way to initially reach out to someone you haven’t already met as it allows them to respond when their schedule permits. Though phone calls can be effective, if you happen to get someone on the phone while they are busy or distracted it can be an awkward frst way of communicating with someone.
So for the absolute sake of clarity, we will repeat: get the preferred method of contact for industry persons you are trying to pitch and resort to email as the default mode. Okay? Good!
10: Communicate Like a True Professional
Now that you’ve got the preferred method of contact for industry persons in hand, you still need to know how to communicate with him/her like a pitching pro. Welcome to tip number ten.
Communicating like a true professional generally can be summed up as follows: be succinct, be clear about your intent, and be respectful of your contact’s time.
To illustrate, an email might say:
“Hi Mr. X, I’m John Doe from a local electronic pop group named Flex. I see that you’re supervising my favorite new TV show and that you’ve used two bands that actually sound quite similar to us. Please fnd a link to our latest EP where you can stream and download four songs that I feel would work perfectly for the show. I have included all the relevant metadata in the fles together with my contact. It would be a great honor to work with you. Thank you.”
That’s all you need gang! Notice that in these fve short sentences John Doe has: • Introduced his band and his band’s genre • Indicated he has done his research and knows what the supervisor is working on • Showed that his music is a good ft with the type/style of music they already use • Indicated he knows how to prepare fles with metadata and can easily be contacted • Provided a link to his music, and… • Showed respect by being both humble and grateful.
Follow these tips and you will fnd yourself pitching like a pro. It is that simple you guys. The idea is to keep your communications as effortless and pleasant as possible. Okay? Good!
Afterthought: Befriend the Gatekeeper
If you end up calling someone instead of emailing them and you get an assistant to the person you are trying to reach, be concise, personable and extremely polite. Assistants can end up being huge allies for you. Not only that, today’s assistants might be tomorrow’s executives.
11: Know How to Send Your Music
Keeping with our scenario between Mr. X and John Doe above, our 11th tip in pitching like a pro emphasizes the importance of knowing how to send your music to industry persons.
Did you notice how John Doe (above) included a link to his music, rather than attaching an MP3? This is because MP3s take up space in a person’s email inbox and on their hard drives.
Doe’s music actually linked to a great service called Disco (disco.ac) where his music can be streamed and downloaded. There are other great services you can use too including:
• SourceAudio (sourceaudio.com) • Soundcloud (soundcloud.com) • Box (box.com) • Dropbox (dropbox.com) • SynchTank (synchtank.com), and… • Songspace (songspace.com)
These sites all provide both streaming and downloading, and even provide analytics about who listened to your songs, how long they listened, and what tracks they downloaded.
Tools like these take time to set up and refne (and they also cost money), but they can eventually make the pitching process effortless. Be sure to check out these tools today.
12: Be Prepared to Follow Up
Moving on to tip number 12 of pitching like a pro, you should know about a great saying that can’t be more relevant to our discussion: “Follow up or fail.” Bottom line, just sending an email or leaving a phone message for a business industry professional and praying for a response will get you nowhere. You have to at least be able to do the seven tips below if you want to be successful:
• Make your frst communication utilizing the skills you learned above. • Make a second communication one week later reminding the person who you are. • Make a third communication two weeks after the second communication. • Make one fnal communication two weeks after the third communication. • Always remain extremely polite and show that you are respectful of their time. • Never show any signs of getting frustrated, annoyed, hopeless, or depressed. (Remember that no one owes you anything, no matter how good you are.) And… • Don’t worry if you never receive a response.
You can try again in the future when you have more to offer and are more successful.
Remember, pitching is an art. You have to learn how to play the game and you have to learn to play the game well. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.
As we are approaching the end of our 14 tips on pitching like a pro, let us remind you about some of the more legal stuff that we’ve been talking about in earlier chapters of this book.
Should you be successful enough that people are interested in discussing placement
opportunities or deals with you, you have to show that you’re competent in the following areas:
• Song copyrights • Sound recording copyrights • Synch negotiations (context, timing, territory, media, duration, and price) • Recording contracts • Publishing contracts, and… • Standard music industry policies and practices
It is crucial that you understand what is fair and ordinary while also understanding what your own worth is too. This comes with experience, but it also comes with checking out additional resources like Music, Money, and Success by Jeff and Todd Brabec, and it sometimes comes from entering into several deals early on where you get no upfront pay at all (particularly in music licensing situations like small flms and TV placements).
On the latter note, be sure to check out the boxed text below before moving on to our fnal tip on attorneys.
14: Have an Attorney Available Who Can Help
And fnally, for our 14th and last tip on pitching like a pro, it is important that you fnd an experienced entertainment attorney who understands music publishing. As they say, a man who is his own attorney just may have a fool for a client.
The best way to fnd an attorney is through referrals from people you trust. But just remember that attorneys are not cheap (reviewing a simple synch deal could cost $300 per hour).
Sometimes a music business consultant who truly understands the business could be a more affordable substitute for an attorney—especially in cases when there is not a lot of money being offered for your songs and/or when the risk of loss is extremely low (like when the deal is a non-exclusive deal, there is no ownership transfer involved, or the deal is for a short term).
Free services may also be available to you. For instance, The University of California Los Angeles has the Music Industry Clinic where they provide free help to rising musicians and bands. There is also the Indie Artist Resource, which provides free templates.
But whomever you get to assist you, just be sure you get someone who is highly recommended. And don’t be a cheap-ass either. If you are making $2,500 on a synch deal, you can afford to hire someone. You get what you pay for.
Okay! So now that you know how to pitch like a pro, you should really be ready to start sending out your music to all of those wonderful places discussed in previous chapters. Are you excited?! We hope so. On that note, happy pitching! You can now start hitting the send button. •
What If No Fee Is Offered Upfront to Use My Song?
If a licensing opportunity involves no up front fee, here are two things to explore:
• Credit or Promotion: Explore the possibility of getting credit in the end titles of the project, having them put a link to your song on their website, and/or giving you permission to use portions of the flm (if it’s an indie flm project, for instance) in your upcoming music video.
• Step Deals: Explore the possibility of getting paid in “steps” (particularly when working on a low-budget indie flm). Step one might involve giving the rights to your music for free while the director is showing the flm at festivals.
Step two might involve getting a fee when the director is signing a distribution deal. And step three might involve getting additional payments as the director is experiencing sales at theater box offices.
So as you can see, even when licensing your music for free, you still have to know the business and know your place in it too. After all, you are a pro and not just a hobbyist. Bobby Borg, MCM is a former recording/touring artist, the founder of Bobby Borg Consulting, and the author of Music Marketing For The DIY Musician and Business Basics For Musicians. He is also an adjunct professor of Music Industry studies at USC’s Thornton School of Music.
Michael Eames is a trained composer, songwriter and pianist with experience in flm scoring, the President and co-Founder of PEN Music Group, Inc., and an advisor to the Independent Publisher Advisory Council (IPAC) of the National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA).
Audio Forensics
The Sounds of Crime-ence
Often it can seem that there are more audio engineers than jobs. If that feeling ever weighs too heavy, remind yourself that there are sources of work other than making records. An intriguing and complex side channel is audio forensics (AF): the field of analyzing or cleaning audio for use in civil and criminal proceedings. Some of these cases include the compilation of proof––or, indeed, trial testimony––that a certain portion of audio has been sampled and civil damages are warranted. Then, of course, there are opportunities to enhance and otherwise prepare audio evidence for criminal trials.
Nashville engineer Mark Rubel has worked in audio since 1980 when he launched his own studio––aided and abetted by legendary audio pioneer Bill Putnam––in Champaign, IL. He now works and teaches at the famed Blackbird Studios, a space he likes to call “The Abbey Road of the U.S.” In addition to his audio contributions, he also teaches a six-month engineering and record production course at The Blackbird Academy. For the past 10 years he’s also walked in the world of AF and has done a range of work for Parliament and Funkadelic. In fact, when he first started with Parliament, there were 450 lawsuits surrounding the sample of just one of the band’s songs.
“A friend had been in a band and his son heard an R&B hit on the radio,” Rubel recalls of his expansion into AF. “Unmistakably, in the background was a sample of his dad’s band. My friend had me listen to it and asked if I also heard it. I did and said ‘Not only do I think it’s your song, but I can prove it.’ I was able to isolate the sample, compare it to the original and show irrefutably that it was the same, mainly by waveform comparison. I wrote a report, which he took to his attorney. They were impressed enough that they hired me to do other cases.”
Rubel has since testified as an expert witness in more than a dozen federal cases, since copyright infringement issues are federal matters.
“I determine whether there’s an infringement or if I can show that there’s been one,” he says of his process. “When I’m asked for my preliminary opinion, basically I do all of the work. I prove to myself either that the segment in question is a sample or if it isn’t. Typically, I do my initial report and include some impressive-looking diagrams. In some cases, they simply use that to convince people to settle out of court, which most of the time they do. When they do go to trial, there are three expert witnesses: me (the technical expert), a musicologist and an economic witness. Also, when infringement is willful––and when isn’t it?––penalties can include $150,000, jail time and punitive damages.
“Depositions and trials can take hours of being grilled mercilessly,” he continues. “The defense attorneys try to get me to contradict myself, to poke holes in my testimony or to
But copyright infringement evidence is only part of what Rubel delivers. Another segment of his work is criminal in nature. “I do a fair amount of stuff for government and law enforcement,” he explains. “Back in Champaign, the FBI office was a block from my studio. They’d bring me a recording of a guy in a jail cell made by someone sitting across the room wearing a microphone under their shirt and there was a TV playing. So the job was to get the TV down, lower the ambiance and make what they were saying intelligible. I also once was given a tape of a 911 call for which I needed to turn down the screaming and figure out, forensically, how many shotgun blasts there were and how many revolver shots.” But of course AF is a job that’s performed in the real world with real limitations. In short, some things are possible while others are not. “I had a case recently where there was a recording of people talking at a show and there was a big PA nearby,” Rubel recollects. “I was asked to bring the [noise of the] show down. There are instances where you simply can’t.” Another challenge is that, often times, samples used in video games aren’t from the official mixed recordings, but the actual individual tracks that have been leaked online. Guitar tracks, for example. As in most things, the way that AF is portrayed in film and on TV often differs radically from the way it actually operates. “It takes more work and you have to interpret things,” Rubel observes. “We hope for
“The defense attorneys try to get me to audio that is definitive, but sometimes things have been contradict myself, to poke holes in my changed enough in the process of sampling that we can’t prove testimony or to discredit me as a witness.” something one hundred percent. Complete technical proof is the Holy Grail. But when things – Mark Rubel, Audio Engineer become subjective, that’s more difficult although one of my arguments as a forensic expert discredit me as a witness. That requires some is that when something sounds like it’s been extreme intellectual agility. But I have an sampled, it’s one of the better tests and it amazing technique in all of this. I tell the truth. worries defense attorneys. My biggest music In other words, I don’t take cases where I can’t. computer is between my ears.” A lot of expert witnesses will say whatever the Currently Rubel is writing a book on the attorneys want them to say because they’re history of American recording studios from the highly paid. It’s a lucrative gig but it’s also 1960s and ‘70s entitled The Great American highly stressful. You have to be able to write Recording Studios. He aims to publish it with well and express things in your report such that Rowman & Littlefield sometime in 2022, likely a judge or jury can understand and also so that around Christmas. it’s difficult to contradict. Part of the job is to not say things that aren’t true, that you’ll regret or For more information, see will trip you up.” theblackbirdacademy.com/mark-rubel
