A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-013 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 6: Attorneys by John Braheny”, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know: Part 6: Attorneys
by John Braheny

In my assumed role as the record company, I will frequently be approached by attornies with pro-duct. This is happening more and more these days. Since attornies are negotiating many contracts with record companies, they have made good contacts at the labels and find themselves in a position to know if and when a company is looking for a certain type of act. Since they have an inside track, it’s easier for them to shop the product than, for exam-ple, an out manager or a new one who doesn’t know his/her way around yet,

From the record company’s point of view, I’d rather deal with an entertainment attorney,, in par-ticular a record business attorney. When he/she comes to me or my company to negotiate a deal, they MUST speak the language and have up to date knowledge of current record industry practices. If not, we will wind up engaged in hours of fruitless negotiations and will end up having to educate your attorney (at your expense). As an example, you’re presented with a production or record contract and you call your uncle, whose specialty is suing auto manufacturers, Right off the bat, he should refer you to an entertain-ment specialist but suppose„husi-ness is slow this month. He knows there are a lot of bucks in the music industry; he has visions of his nephew being a big rock star; he thinks it would be great to get involved in a more glamourous business and figures, “What the hell, how hard could it be to negotiate a record contract?”. He gets the contract and the first thing he objects to is the fact that this big record company wants all recording costs recouped off the top of your royalties. He thinks it’s a terrible idea and, not knowing that it’s a firmly established practice in the industry, decides he should try to negotiate that point, exposing his ignorance. The record company attornies will either refuse to nego-tiate with him at all or will eat him alive for breakfast.

Needless to say, none of this helps you at all, Entertainment law is very complex and just knowing the academics is not enough to make one a good attorney in that field, Personal experience, good contacts (politics) and a current knowledge of industry practices as well as a knowledge of the policies and contracts of specific record companies is equally important. As a record company, I want to deal with an attorney whose philosophy is that the best deal is the one that comes closest to being fair for both parties. Obviously, I’ll negotiate for my own advantage, but if that means that it’s unfair to you, I know I’m going to have problems with you later and that you won’t be happy with the deal.

Getting away from my record company role for a moment, let’s just talk about some situations that can arise in attorney/artist rela-tionships. Attornies in this field are expensive and fees range from $50 (not many) to $150 plus per hour. They’ll log all the time spent on your behalf on the telephone, in meetings with you, with the record company, or whatever, and bill you for just that time. There are attornies who, in lieu of an hourly rate, will offer to shop your tapes and negotiate your deal for, say, 10% of your income from that contract for the life of the deal. This may, on the surface, seem like a good deal, particularly if you’re broke. You should consider, how-ever, that maybe in a couple of months you’ll become, for whatever reasons, disenchanted with your relationship and want to get another attorney. That will mean you’ll then be paying two attornies, and that’s 10% of your income that you might have a better use for, partic-ularly if you acquire a manager who may take another 25%. I’m not saying that under no circumstances should you take a deal like that, only that it’s risky.

Attornies sometimes work on spec, or deferment, which means that they’ll defer payment until they’ve made a deal for you and collect’ their fees from the front money. They’re most likely to do this if a producer or record company has shown enough interest in you to present you with a contract, or if they have good ears and feel you’ve really got a good shot at a deal.

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 5: The Professional Team by John Braheny
• Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 4: What Makes This Act Marketable? by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know : Part 3
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 1 by John Braheny
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 4 
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 3 by John Braheny
• Getting the Most from the Trades
• Songmine: Publishing III 
• Songmine: Leave Your Ego at the Door
• Songmine: “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it”
• Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny
• “Music in Print” – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981

About Songmine and Music Connection Magazine:

John Braheny met Eric Bettelli and Michael Dolan right before they were going to publish Music Connection magazine. Eric and Michael wanted to get their publication out to as many songwriters as they could. They had already heard of the LA Songwriters Showcase, and of John and his partner, Len Chandler. John’s goal was to advertise the schedule of guest speakers and performers at the weekly Showcase… so they made a deal. 

They published John’s Songmine column (he had never before written a magazine article!) in their very first edition, in November 1977. Trading out the column for advertising, this arrangement continued for many years. Plus, Eric and Michael came to the Showcase each week and distributed free copies to the songwriters!

Those articles became so popular that (book agent and editor) Ronny Schiff offered John’s articles to F&W Media, where they became the backbone of John’s textbook, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. As a follow-up, Dan Kimpel (author, songwriter, teacher), who had also worked at LASS, took on the Songwriting column at Music Connection magazine which continues to this day! You can subscribe to get either hard copies or online.

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-013 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 5: The Professional Team by John Braheny”, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 5: The Professional Team by John Braheny

So far, we’ve explored: 1) the value of the artist/writer package, 2) what’s on the tape, 3) your live performance, and 4) your marketa-bility and P.R. potential. Now we get to a subject which, in my assumed role as a record company executive, is very important for me to consider: the people on your team.

I’m likely to be impressed if you have a team of professional people who believe in you, particu-larly if they are people whose work I respect. If you come to my atten-tion through the efforts of your manager, producer and attorney, who have been generating energy and momentum on your behalf, it will tell me two important things: 1) That if I sign you, my company will have lots of competent aid from your team, helping to insure your success, and 2) that if I don’t sign you, someone else prob-ably will. First of all, let’s assume that all my questions ’til now have been answered to my satisfaction and I’m very excited about you as a writer and an artist. Another thing that will impress me and tip the scales in your favor is knowing that you have a com-petent manager and producer. Let’s talk about the best situation for me as the record company, and consequently, what’s best for you. The Manager – A manager, among other things, should be able to initiate and negotiate publishing, record company and production deals, know what clubs or concerts you should play and what radio and TV shows you should do and when. He’s the buffer between you and the business; your advisor and alter ego. Ideally, your man-ager is also excited about you and your talent and is dedicated to making You a successful artist. I’d be more impressed if he/she is a manager with a record of success, one who has managed other successful acts, one who knows the record business and understands the functions of all the component parts of the talent machine and the need for coordin-ation and teamwork between every-one involved. I’ll want you to know that you manager knows you, your strengths and limitations, and has a plan for the development of you.r career. So, what if your manager does not have a heavy track record and is not know-ledgeable about the record bus-iness? Unless he/she is willing to learn and take direction, I know I’m going to have lots of problems. There are enough points of argu-ment between record companies andmanagers who know the busi-ness, but it’s particularly crazy to try to deal with someone who has no way of knowing when I’m making important concessions to him/her or suggesting a course of action that, from our experience is advisable, but the manager does not understand. Inexperienced managers may also assume ad-versary roles to cover their ignor-ance rather than finding ways to work with the company. I would rather you had a manager with whom I already have a good wor-king relationship because, hope-fully, our problems have already been worked out, or at least we’ve learned how to argue with each other. So, if you have an in-experienced manager, I’d try to hook him/her up in a co-manage-ment situation with a successful manager so that he/she could learn and you wouldn’t have to suffer from his/her inexperience. (hope-fully). Otherwise, I’d rather you didn’t have one, so I could help you find a good one.

The Producer – If the tape I first listened to was a finished master recording, ready for the radio and was produced by a pro-ducer with a successful track record it gives me another way to hype you to radio, press, etc., as well as insuring that the rest of the product will be competently pro-duced. With a successful producer as part of the package, it isn’t even necessary to bring me fin-ished masters, just demos of ex-ceptional songs and performances. If you bring demos produced by yourself or an unproven producer I have no way of knowing that I’ll get a well-produced finished product. In that case, I’ll want to hear a finished master before I decide or I’ll want you to find a producer who I know can deliver it. If you’re already signed to a producer I believe to be in-competent, then I know I’ll have a sticky legal problem to deal with. Your producer should know your strengths and weaknesses and have a plan for how he/she will produce you to make you as commercially viable as possible. It’s interesting to note that more than 90% of the deals made are producer/artist packages known as all-in deals.

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 4: What Makes This Act Marketable? by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know : Part 3
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 1 by John Braheny
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 4 
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 3 by John Braheny
• Getting the Most from the Trades
• Songmine: Publishing III 
• Songmine: Leave Your Ego at the Door
• Songmine: “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it”
• Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny
• “Music in Print” – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981

About Songmine and Music Connection Magazine:

John Braheny met Eric Bettelli and Michael Dolan right before they were going to publish Music Connection magazine. Eric and Michael wanted to get their publication out to as many songwriters as they could. They had already heard of the LA Songwriters Showcase, and of John and his partner, Len Chandler. John’s goal was to advertise the schedule of guest speakers and performers at the weekly Showcase… so they made a deal. 

They published John’s Songmine column (he had never before written a magazine article!) in their very first edition, in November 1977. Trading out the column for advertising, this arrangement continued for many years. Plus, Eric and Michael came to the Showcase each week and distributed free copies to the songwriters!

Those articles became so popular that (book agent and editor) Ronny Schiff offered John’s articles to F&W Media, where they became the backbone of John’s textbook, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. As a follow-up, Dan Kimpel (author, songwriter, teacher), who had also worked at LASS, took on the Songwriting column at Music Connection magazine which continues to this day! You can subscribe to get either hard copies or online.

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-012 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 3 by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 4: What Makes This Act Marketable? by John Braheny

Music Connection
February 1 – 14, 1979

Songmine by John Braheny
What a Record Company Needs to Know – Part 4: What Makes This Act Marketable?

So far, as a record company executive, I’ve talked about the value of a writer/artist package, what I want to hear musically and what I’d like to see. Now I have to assess how, if I sign you, I’m going to make people aware of you. It’s easier for me if you’re the brother or sister of somebody famous, though after the curious-ity of the first album wears off, you’d better be able to deliver something substantial and very much your own. It’s also great if you know Linda Ronstadt or any-one else who’s famous and likes to help their friends. That in itself doesn’t get you signed, but it does give me something to talk about.

That’s what I need: P.R. potential! “He/She ‘has been in the background as a musician (Clapton, Hendrix, Glen Camp-bell), a singer (Rita Coolidge, Cher, Nicolette Larson) or a writer (there are legion) and is now coming up front to make his/her own music.” That’s a good hook for us because there may be a bunch of people out there who actually remember you when you were doing whatever you were doing in the background or on stage with the more notorious folks. If not, then maybe we can arouse their curiousity by associa-tion. “Oh yeah, if he played with him, who I really dig, it must be something like it, only different. I’d probably get off on it.”

Beyond all those old, familiar P.R. approaches, which I guess, at least in the beginning, are probably as good as any, I want to look for things about you personally that enhance the mystique; they reveal you as a human being of substance, morbid interest, virtue or character, or ideally, all of the above. Eddie Money was a cop. You have to say, “Hey, what kind of a great rock ‘n’ roll singer was a cop?” or vice-versa. It’s a great interview opener.

Beyond all those old, familiar P.R. approaches, which I guess, at least in the beginning, are probably as good as any, I want to look for things about you personally that enhance the mystique; they reveal you as a human being of substance, morbid interest, virtue or character, or ideally, all of the above.

Can you speak well and confidently and do you have something interesting or funny to say. If not, I’ll make sure Johnny Carson doesn’t invite you to talk to him after you sing and that you don’t do interviews. If you have a strong or well-articulated opinion, on the other hand, I might want you to be interviewed, unless I thought that your views were directly opposite those of your audience. For example, how would Joni Mitchell have fared if she had thought it was wonderful for us to be in Viet Nam and took every opportunity to say so?

Do you have an unusual or interesting bachground that will inrigue people? Jail and the funny farm have always been interesting, unless you were in jail for mugging old ladies or moles-ting children instead of something heroic, like smuggling 20 tons of Columbian into the country.

Have you had some kind of previous success that we could use for P.R.? Were you part of a successful group? The writer of a well-known hit? Do you have an interesting and flamboyant per-sonality or hang out in social circles that automatically attract attention from the press?

Those things are important in that they give us “hooks” that we can use to let people know about you, and the press needs that knid of stuff to work with. More important though, is the market-ability of the music itself. It’s important that the music have a unity of style such that, when we do find the audience, you’re the same artist from album to album.

Writer/artists frequently ask if record companies like to hear stylistic variety. “I can write country, R&B, pop, anything! Why don’t I give them a little of each and see what they pick up on?” That’s commendable if you want to be a staff songwriter, but a record company will have to say, “Rut really, who are you?” If country music is what you write and perform best and enjoy most, what’s the point in trying to market you as an R&B artist and release an R&B single on you? If it takes off, are you going to be trying to sell half an album of country tunes to a rock or R&B audience, or vice versa? So, as you can see, it becomes a market-ing problem. Of course, we don’t want all your music to sound the same and we do want you to grow, we just need for you to have developed your style to the point where you’re the same, identi-fiable artist from one album to the next.

Next time – Attorneys, managers and agents: Your Team.

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know : Part 3
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 1 by John Braheny
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 4 
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 3 by John Braheny
• Getting the Most from the Trades
• Songmine: Publishing III 
• Songmine: Leave Your Ego at the Door
• Songmine: “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it”
• Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny
• “Music in Print” – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981

About Songmine and Music Connection Magazine:

John Braheny met Eric Bettelli and Michael Dolan right before they were going to publish Music Connection magazine. Eric and Michael wanted to get their publication out to as many songwriters as they could. They had already heard of the LA Songwriters Showcase, and of John and his partner, Len Chandler. John’s goal was to advertise the schedule of guest speakers and performers at the weekly Showcase… so they made a deal. 

They published John’s Songmine column (he had never before written a magazine article!) in their very first edition, in November 1977. Trading out the column for advertising, this arrangement continued for many years. Plus, Eric and Michael came to the Showcase each week and distributed free copies to the songwriters!

Those articles became so popular that (book agent and editor) Ronny Schiff offered John’s articles to F&W Media, where they became the backbone of John’s textbook, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. As a follow-up, Dan Kimpel (author, songwriter, teacher), who had also worked at LASS, took on the Songwriting column at Music Connection magazine which continues to this day! You can subscribe to get either hard copies or online.

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-011 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 3 by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 3 by John Braheny

Music Connection

January 18-31, 1979

What a Record Company Needs to Know Part 3
John Braheny

I’m pretending to be a record company again this time, asking the questions I’ll need answered to my satisfaction before signing you, a writer/artist, to my label. Many of the same questions relate to you as a non-writing artist, too. My information comes from my experiences as a student of the industry. I’ve been a recording artist, I’ve attended and taped hundreds of seminars, read the trade magazines, and with my partner, Len Chandler, conducted over 300 interviews with music industry professionals at the Alternative Chorus Songwriter’s Showcase. Among those pros have been many of the record company executives who make the decisions about signing new talent.

Last time, I talked about where I was coming from as a record company executive. My bottom line question has to be, “Can my company make money on this act?” Other re-lated questions are, “Will this act enhance the prestige, and contribute to the image, of the company?” and, “Will I be a hero or lose my gig on the success or failure of this act?” For all those reasons, I need to ask the right questions and get the right answers. I was talking about what I knew I needed to hear on the tape I received, so now let’s assume that I liked what I heard. I thought the songs had commercial potential and the performance was excellent. Those are really the basics. Now I also have to ask another series of questions, not necessarily in order of importance, but all, nonetheless, very significant. –

1) How is your live performance? It would impress me to know that you had spent a few years as a live performer. I’d like to see some great reviews of your performances, preferably by recognized critics (your high school or college paper won’t quite do). But most of all, I want you to do it to a tough audience. Not one where all your friends are stacking the house.

2) I’ll want you to be visually interesting (if you’re good looking it helps, but isn’t necessary), move and speak confidently (remember that we process and retain more information with our eyes that our ears, which is one reason we can sell a lot of records to people who attend your concerts), and have a good sense of you personal identity. I want, as the audience, to go away from your performance with a feeling that I know who you are and I like you, or that you’ve given me enough pieces of yourself in your musical and visual presentation, to create an intriguing mystery that makes me want to know who you are. Sometimes the mystery is more delicious, but you do have to make me care.

3) If I’m watching a group I want to see you involved and interacting with each other, not all standing there like robots, each in your own little world.

4) I want to know you’re giving me something and enjoying it. Live performance bears a lot of similarity to making love; you have to have a sense of drama and dynamics in your movement, choreographed or not. Your choice of songs and their placement in the set, your arrangements and the way you dress (uniform or not) should all be appealing.

5) I’ll want to see that the things I liked on tape can be reproduced live. I don’t expect to see an orchestra, but the basics have to be there. For example, if a significant degree of your appeal to me is based on your group vocal sound, I’d better hear it in your live performance.

6) I want to know that, ideally, I’m dealing with an experienced professional performer who knows and under-stands (and accepts) the hardships of the road and loves to perform. I know that in spite of TV exposure and hit records, there’s no substitute, in the eyes of fans (and potential fans), for the magic of a great live performance. Live performance sells a lot of records and is a great marketing tool for us. It gives us reviews we can use and something for local DJs and fans to talk about. It gives you the contact with your audience so you’ll know what they like about you. It gives you a kind of high that can’t be duplicated and, even if it sometimes takes a couple of years, it provides a major source of income, particularly for non-writing group members.

To be continued next time…

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny
• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 1 by John Braheny
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 4 
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 3 by John Braheny
• Getting the Most from the Trades
• Songmine: Publishing III 
• Songmine: Leave Your Ego at the Door
• Songmine: “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it”
• Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny
• “Music in Print” – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981

About Songmine and Music Connection Magazine:

John Braheny met Eric Bettelli and Michael Dolan right before they were going to publish Music Connection magazine. Eric and Michael wanted to get their publication out to as many songwriters as they could. They had already heard of the LA Songwriters Showcase, and of John and his partner, Len Chandler. John’s goal was to advertise the schedule of guest speakers and performers at the weekly Showcase… so they made a deal. 

They published John’s Songmine column (he had never before written a magazine article!) in their very first edition, in November 1977. Trading out the column for advertising, this arrangement continued for many years. Plus, Eric and Michael came to the Showcase each week and distributed free copies to the songwriters!

Those articles became so popular that (book agent and editor) Ronny Schiff offered John’s articles to F&W Media, where they became the backbone of John’s textbook, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. As a follow-up, Dan Kimpel (author, songwriter, teacher), who had also worked at LASS, took on the Songwriting column at Music Connection magazine which continues to this day! You can subscribe to get either hard copies or online.

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-010 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 2 by John Braheny

I’m going to pretend to be a record company this time, except for a few impartial asides, to explain what’s happening or why.

I’m assuming that you’re looking for your first record deal. I’m asking about things I need to know to make a decision about signing you to my label. I know I’ll need to spend anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 on the recording alone. Then, maybe another $100,000 on promotion to make enough people aware of you that, if they like you enough, they’ll buy your record. If they don’t, I’ll have to eat it. It might take that much again next year, but I’ll spend it if I’m still as excited about the music as I was when I signed you.

Also, I want to see that you’re not sitting on your ass expecting me to make you a star. I want to know that you’re writing and I want to hear new songs. Are you working on your act? The visuals? Arrange-ments? Concepts? I want to know that you’re working to improve your vocal and instrumental chops. I want to know that when I do spend more bucks, both you and your manager know what to do to maximize its effect and return and you’re ready to get out on the road and get those people excited enough to buy that record. We’ll get reviewers out to see you and my ulcer dictates that I be confident that you have your trip together. I can inspire everyone in my company to do their best for you if we know that you’re into it 100% yourself.

Let’s say typically that I received your tape through your attorney, manager, someone in my company, your producer or someone else who’s taste I respect. This is because I’m usually too busy to be out on the street dropping into clubs on the remote chance that I’ll hear something I like. Before I listen to that tape I know what I want to hear: 1) Songs that I think are hits or that will appeal to a large number of people because of your point of view, style, etc (Randy Newman, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell are good examples of writer/artists who don’t write hits but have a large following. They’re known as album artists, and it takes more time and money to market them successfully because hit singles are proven to be the fastest and most cost-effective way to promote an artist.) 2) I’m looking for craftsmanship that tells me that those songs I liked were not just an accident, and that you know exactly what you’re doing and can do it again. 3) I’m looking for identity. After hearing the record once or twice, I want that audience forever after to be able to recognize you. If your voice sounds like a lot of other people, what you do with it stylistically should be unique. If that isn’t happening, I should be hearing an instrumental sound and production concept that’s unique. I should know that you and/or your producer can continue to recreate that sound once the public has grown to love it (Gerry Rafferty and Al Stewart have strong production identities). 4) I want to hear something that has an emotional impact on me. I want to be moved by the way you sing your song. I want to know that you are totally involved with what you’re saying in your song. If you don’t believe it, why should I? If it’s not the kind of music that’s lyrically oriented, I want it to move my body. If you’ve been playing your songs at your lounge gig every night for the last three years, there’s a danger that they’ll sound tired and unenthusiastic. I want to know that you can get into that song every time that you sing it. 5) I expect and assume that what I’m about to hear on this tape is the very best that you can do. It doesn’t have to be a finished product. It could be a piano/vocal, but I have no evidence to believe you’ll ever perform it any better than on the tape, so don’t tell me “That was a bad day for me”, or “It’s just a demo, I’ll do it better on the master.” When I’m spending this companies money, I’m not taking your word for it; I need to know. I can have some influence and control over the technical quality, so I’m not worried about ‘just a demo in a funky studio’ if the performance is there.

Next time–more record company considerations.

1-4- 1-17-79

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• Songmine: What A Record Company Needs to Know: Part 1 by John Braheny
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 4 
• Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades Part 3 by John Braheny
• Getting the Most from the Trades
• Songmine: Publishing III 
• Songmine: Leave Your Ego at the Door
• Songmine: “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it”
• Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny
• “Music in Print” – A Songmine Column from Music Connection Magazine March 19-April 1, 1981

About Songmine and Music Connection Magazine:

John Braheny met Eric Bettelli and Michael Dolan right before they were going to publish Music Connection magazine. Eric and Michael wanted to get their publication out to as many songwriters as they could. They had already heard of the LA Songwriters Showcase, and of John and his partner, Len Chandler. John’s goal was to advertise the schedule of guest speakers and performers at the weekly Showcase… so they made a deal. 

They published John’s Songmine column (he had never before written a magazine article!) in their very first edition, in November 1977. Trading out the column for advertising, this arrangement continued for many years. Plus, Eric and Michael came to the Showcase each week and distributed free copies to the songwriters!

Those articles became so popular that (book agent and editor) Ronny Schiff offered John’s articles to F&W Media, where they became the backbone of John’s textbook, The Craft and Business of Songwriting. As a follow-up, Dan Kimpel (author, songwriter, teacher), who had also worked at LASS, took on the Songwriting column at Music Connection magazine which continues to this day! You can subscribe to get either hard copies or online.