Archive | Songmine

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-006 Document/Digital File, “Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: Songmine: Getting the Most from the Trades

by John Braheny

If you’re actively trying to get something going, either as a writer or a recording artist, one of the most important things you need to do is to know the names and meet the people in the business. If you’re on the outside looking in and you’re not hanging out at Martoni’s or other music biz watering holes, it gets very difficult to keep track of who’s who, who’s what and where these people are. It’s complicated by a musical chairs game unequaled in any other business, except maybe advertising. There have been some cases where people didn’t know they’d been fired till they read it in the trades. Cold shot! So Billboard calls their column “Executive Turntable”, where you can see where your favorite A&R person,publisher, etc. is working this month. Cashbox’s column is called “Executives On The Move” and in Record World a good column for writers is “Copy Writes”, which gives you news about writers and publishers. A&R (Artist & Repertoire) people are important to you. They work at record companies and are usually the people who listen to new acts and to material for artists already on the label. Unfortunately ly, it’s a very insecure job because, if they make too many wrong decisions, they’re on the street again. I say “unfortunately” because it has the result of making them afraid to make decisions. They keep their jobs longer if they make fewer decisions, consequently fewer mistakes. Signing an act that stiffs can cost a company over $100,000 easily. What this means to you is that, if there’s any doubt whatsoever about the commercial potential of your material or act, you’ll get a “NO” or a “PASS”, as it’s usually called. You might ask, “If these people are so terrible at their jobs, why do they keep showing up in Executive Turntable, etc. with new ones?” There are several answers. One is that losing their job doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have good “ears” or judgement. They may not fare well in the political gamesmanship that happens at that particular company. They may quit in frustration, because acts they really believe in don’t get signed or don’t get any attention once they are signed. A&R people usually are responsible for following through on a project, and may run into a situation in the company, where their jobs are jeopardized by pushing too hard for the act in the face of new and ever shifting priorities in the company….”Stop with this act.. .We’ve got 3 major artists to release and promote in the next couple of months and that’s where our biggest money is….So don’t hassle me about your new act….We’ll get to them later.” Thin Ice Time! Lots of pressure in that position. Try to explain those things to an act who’s living on peanut butter sandwiches and waiting to be famous, and YOU know they CAN be. A reason why A&R people, who DON’T have good ears or judgement, continue to get jobs, is that some executives who hire them don’t look past the resume to say, “I want to hear what acts you liked at those other companies and what happened to them.” They just say, “Hey, that’s great, you’ve worked for all those great companies and ‘worked with’ (a nebulous phrase used to avoid pinpointing actual credits) all those great artists. You’re hired!” The person may have been fired for bad judgement in all those other jobs, but it’s well known that there CAN be other reasons, and people at the previous companies may not want to give him/her a bad recommenda-tion. After all.. .she/he might be THEIR boss next month! I should also mention that another reason for job changes is that one company finds out that an A&R person or publisher is doing a GREAT job at another company, and simply offers them a lot more money, fringe benefits and decision making power. So…anyway…you may have run into an A&R person who liked your act or your songs but couldn’t get anything going for you at her/his previous label. You see in the “Executive Turntable” that they’re at a new company now so it’s worth another shot. In a new company they may have more respect, more power and a renewed motivation to prove themselves. Yours might be the act she’ll sign or your songs might be better suited to the acts on his new label. I’ve been talking about A&R but most of the same considerations also apply to publishers. It’s turning out that “using the trades” is a good springboard for ther topics so I’ll continue it next time.

Sep 21 – Oct 4

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• 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: C000000137-005 Document/Digital File, “Publishing III ” by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: PUBLISHING III 

by John Braheny

There are two areas I haven’t covered in the last two columns: the daily duties of publishers and the variety of outlets for songs. I’ve discussed broad areas, but in every active publish-ing company there are lots of daily activities. They include: 1. Screening songs; 2. Meeting with writers; 3. Critiquing and other-wise working with staff writers; 4. Negotiating contracts with writers, managers or attorneys; 5. Initiating or suggesting col-laborations between staff writers or lyricists and producer/writers or artists; 6. Reviewing songs in the catalog; 7. Calling producers and A&R reps to learn what songs they need for their artists; 8. Reading the trades and tip sheets to discover projects that may need material, including film and advertising trades; 9. Producing demo tapes; 10. Making and mailing tape copies; 11. Having lead sheets made; 12. Having casting meetings with staffers and staff writers to determine which songs are appropriate for certain pro-jects; 13. Seeing producers; 14. Maintaining files on producers, the songs they liked and why, what they didn’t like and why, who’s holding songs and for how long; 15. Making calls to radio stations, record companies and managers of acts who’ve recorded your songs to work out ideas for promotion; 16. Negotiating and granting licenses to users; 17. Filing copyright forms; 18. Filing notices with BMI, ASCAP, SESAC for songs that have been released for airplay; 19. Filing notices with the Harry Fox Agency or other agen-cies which collect mechanical royalties (for records, tape sales) or making collections from record companies yourself; 20. General ac-counting, financial planning, filing taxes, etc.; 21. Initiating and maintaining contacts with foreign sub-publishers.

I’m sure my publisher friends will let me know if I’ve left something out. There are big companies who hire people to do these tasks, and small, independents who must, to some degree, do it all. There are yet others who seem to be publishers in name only and, in effect, are holding companies, as is often the case with managers or producers who use a song once with a particular artist and have no staff to exploit the song beyond that first use.

The uses of songs are limited only by lack of imagination and perception. The bottom line for any publisher is making money by finding as many uses as possible for the song. Ob-viously the big ones are sales of records and tapes, and synchroniza-tion—the use of songs in films and video. If a song is successful there, sheet music can be a major source of revenue. The song might be suited to a choral or band arrangement for high schools and col-leges. It also might have value as a commercial. Manufacturers of autos, audio equipment and the like put together special compila-tion tapes and records to demonstrate auto sound and stereo equip-ment. There are K-TEL-styled compilation records, and airlines, restaurants, hotels, doctors’ offices, elevators and supermarkets all use collections of songs for which royalties are paid. Manufacturers of music boxes, musical toys and video games are also licensed to use appropriate songs. Greeting card manufacturers use song lyrics, and there are more uses.

It’s not always enough just to be aware of those possibilities. A creative publisher will initiate compilation albums using songs already in the company’s catalog and possibly outside songs as well. The publisher might think of a children’s album with a philosophy compatible with a new children’s book being written, have his writers or outside writers tailor songs for it, produce it and offer it as part of the book. So instead of griping about how bad the music business is doing because artists aren’t cutting their songs or they’re not getting paid enough, they could actually be creating new business. There are very few publishers like that around. At its best, publishing demands imagination, creativity, intuition, tenaci-ty and good business sense. A publisher must be willing to make mistakes and face daily rejection of songs he/she believes in. A knowledge of how the music industry operates, a familiarity with the work of a great variety of recording artists, both established and new, is also required. It’s a special combination of ingredients that makes a great publisher, and few have it all. If you are one, thank you! You’re the ones who will grow and prosper because you’ll change with the times and with the technology. You’ll take chances and lose and win and, hopefully, inspire everyone else.

SEPT. 30-OCT. 13

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• 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.

“Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it” by John Braheny

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-004 Document/Digital File, “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it” by John Braheny, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR 

by John Braheny

Despite the fact that you may be writing very personal songs and exposing delicate parts of your being, people in the business must look at your creations as a product. They, in turn, must try to sell your product to someone else on the merits of it’s commercial potential alone. It’s understandably difficult, though, for a writer to keep from feeling that it’s him or her who’s being rejected, rather than the song. Some of the most powerful songs written are very personal statements and confessional revelations that make the writer’s ego quite vulnerable to destruction when rejected. So, don’t stop writing those kinds of songs, just get a grip on your ego and leave it at the door when you shop your wares.

One of the first important things you have to do before knocking on doors is to become a good self-critic. There’s got to be a point during or after the writing of a song where you step away from the song and try to look at it as though you were another person, a J.Q. Public, a publisher, a recording artist, a radio program director. Sometimes, in order to get that perspective, writers put a song away for a few days, weeks, etc. so they can look at it fresh. Ask yourself some questions: Is this a song about an event or feeling that a lot of people can relate to? Will the people most likely to relate be in a certain age group? Will the music appeal to the same age group? Can the lyrics be understood by everyone? Is there a better, more powerful, more graphic way to say it? Is every line important? Is this a song that can compete with the best songs (not the worst) that I hear on the radio? Doing this kind of self-critique will help you in some big ways. It will help you write better songs. It will help you choose, from among your songs, those which are the most commercially viable and consequently, the least subject to rejection. It will help you develop that professional detachment that will make it easier to look at your own work as a product, like someone who makes omelettes or clothes or anything else. In accomplishing that, you’ll find it much easier to leave your ego at the door and to welcome the comments of the buyers.

You should also be sure to play your songs for friends before approaching the buyers. Even if they can’t or won’t give you honest criticism, it gives you some instant perspective. I’ve written songs that, when sung to myself, I was perfectly happy with, but when I read the words out loud or song the song for someone else, suddenly sounded really stupid. Scratch one song!

Another kind of perspective you should have is an awareness of what happens on the other side of the publisher’s or producer’s door. It does neither you nor them any good if they publish a song they’re not genuinely enthusiastic about and in which they see little commercial potential. They have to spend money to demo it, and they have to put up with your Continued questions about what they’ve done with your song. They have to keep telling you nothing’s happened or avoid your calls. So if they can’t really get excited about your song as a product, they have to reject it. No point in your ego trying to talk them into it. You shouldn’t want someone to publish your song unless they’re very enthusiastic about it. When they get rejections on your song you want them to retain enough enthusiasm for the song to continue to pitch it. Two publishers told me that they had songs in their catalogs that had been rejected over 100 times! In spite of that they continued because they totally believed in those songs. Sometimes songs or styles are ahead of their times. Three or four years ago, for instance, it was common for L.A. writers to get rejections because their ‘country’ songs were ‘too country’ for L.A. and ‘too pop’ for Nashville. Now country artists, smelling big pop money, are crying for country crossover (country/pop) material.

There are more reasons why you’re more likely to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong song than vice-versa. Probably 99% of those reasons have nothing to do with you personally, but with the marketplace, your product and the buyers ability and inclination to deal with it. It may be your sweet dream, but to them it’s just apples and oranges.

Nov 30 – Dec 13

Previously in the Songmine Collection:

• 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.

“Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it” by John Braheny

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-003 Document/Digital File, “Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it” by John Braheny_, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

“Feedback” – why some publishers won’t give it by John Braheny

Last time I was talking about getting information not only from the trade magazines and consumer ‘trades’ (Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, BAM, etc.) but from individual pro-fessionals in the business, who I’ve always found more than willing to help. It is, however, necessary to ask! I often ask writers how they’ve been received by publishers I know about. I’ve gotten some stories that were definitely on the negative side like “Your song sucks!” In all fairness to publishers in general, that’s a rarity. It’s not as rare, though, for them not to offer any feedback or constructive criticism. More often it’s a stock answer; “That’s not the type of song we’re looking for.” “I wouldn’t know who’d record a song like that.” “I don’t think the song is marketable.” All those lines, though stock, are also probably true but they don’t help you know how to write better or more marketable songs. I decided to do an informal survey of some publishers about this situation and got some fairly typical responses. One publisher said, “I won’t give writers a critique anymore unless they’re very close to writing hit songs and I know I want to get involved as their publisher. Otherwise, it’s more hassle than it’s worth. I used to do it all the time because I wanted to help but I stepped on too many egos and got into arguments. They don’t really want to be criticized. Even when they asked for it, they just argued with me.” On the other hand he said, “Bob (a writer we both knew) is the kind of writer I will work with. He’s come a long way because he listens. The first time I heard his tunes I knew he had a basic grip on how to write a good song. I told him that one of the tunes was close but I thought it would be stronger with a bridge. Next day he came back with two different versions of a bridge and we took it (published it). Now that’s professionalism! I mean he didn’t say, “What do you mean it needs a bridge! I wrote it without a bridge and it sounds okay to me!” He just gave it a shot.

So I was beginning to get an idea about how these gaps are widened and what the story was on the other end. Another publisher said, “Hey, if I wanted to spend all my time teaching people how to write songs, I wouldn’t have time to deal with the songs I’m already committed to. Besides, most writers don’t even want to hear it!”

Another, who is very good about critiquing songs and does it tactfully and well, told me a story about a writer to whom he volunteered a criticism. The writer couldn’t believe his song was being critiqued and replied incredulously, “But I wrote that song in Topanga Canyon!” To that writer, the act of writing the song was akin to receiving a sacred message from the great spirit. To suggest any change by himself or someone else was unthinkable. That attitude is, un-fortunately, common. It is also unprofessional. I’m not going to tell you that it’s wrong to have that attitude about your songs. Only that if you have any aspirations to be a professional songwriter, it’s a counterproductive attitude and it will be a near impossibility to find a publisher who will want to deal with you. There are simply too many other good writers around who are open to criticism and willing to rewrite: after all, the rewrites are still coming out of your head. There’s another angle to this that should also be brought out. Publishers are still people who, as my old football coach used to say, “Get into their jocks one leg at a time just like you.” Consequently, they aren’t infallible and you don’t need to believe their every opinion as gospel. You’ll definitely find, in going from one publisher to another, a great diversity of tastes and opinions. They may be wrong or they just might be right in a lot of different ways. Pay attention to the criticism and don’t argue. They happen to be holding the cards. 

Previously in the Sanguine Collection:

• 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.

“Feedback: Why some publishers won’t give it” by John Braheny

A John Braheny Songmine column from the archives…

Accession Number: C000000137-001, Document/Digital File, How to deal with rejection – Sanguine Column, OCR converted text under same Accession Number

(Digitally converted text. Some errors may occur)

Songmine: Dealing with Rejection by John Braheny

A substantial part of what happens in the music industry involves rejection. Rejection of songs, rejection of produced master recordings that people have sunk thousands of dollars into, rejections of record company product by radio stations and ultimately, rejection of individual records or styles by the `people’ .

All the way down the line, every day, for hundreds of different reasons, people in every different facet of the industry are hearing rejections. Despite the fact that everyone working in the music industry accepts it as an inevitability, and an everyday occurence, it is never really easy to deal with. Egos are bent, reputations are questioned, jobs are lost and friendships are damaged or ended. There are hundreds of rejection stories of major songs like You Light Up My Life and artists like Elton John who was turned down by 22 record companies, Billy Joel who was turned down by every major record company,and countless others. I would venture to say that every major artist has been rejected numerous times before attaining any success. In fact, even after an artist has attained some success and may subsequently go through an unproductive period, they may again face those rejections. There are even industry jokes about artists being fortunate to be turned down by certain record execs because they’ve rejected so many successful artists that you should worry if they like you.

For songwriters it’s particularly difficult though, because you’re usually creating in a kind of critical vacuum and it’s difficult to find good critical feedback. Often your only artistic validation comes from your friends and family who are so knocked out that you’re actually doing something they know they don’t have the talent for, that the last thing they’d think of doing would be to criticize your efforts. They’ll be supportive and keep you in that vacuum until you smash up against the ‘Real World’ of the music business. Songs that your friends liked because they saw you reflected in them and they like you, songs that audiences seemed to like (`they clapped, didn’t they?’) are meeting with ‘Sorry, not strong enough’ , ‘not appropriate’ , ‘no hook’ , don’t know what to do with a song like that’ and lots of other styles of rejection. In other articles I’ve talked about what publishers and producers look for and why, and about what makes songs communicate effectively, but now let’s not talk about why it may or may not be a good song, but about your attitude towards rejection.

`Imagined Rejection’: After asking a writer if he or she has been making the rounds of publishers, I often get a bummed out reply like, Yeah, but they passed on all of them, I didn’t have anything they wanted, they told me to come back when I had some more stuff to show but I know they were just trying to be nice.’ Wrong!! Publishers don’t say stuff like that ‘just to be nice’. They don’t have time to keep making appointments with writers they feel have no talent. Believe that if they keep the door open to you after hearing your songs it’s because they think it will pay off for them and there’s a good chance that you’ll have something later that they’ll be interested in publishing. Don’t let what you think is a rejection keep you from going back to them. Consider it a victory that they want to see you again. Take them at their word. If you call back to make another appointment and it seems like they’re shining you on, don’t let yourself believe it. Keep trying! That’s the place where it really gets tough psycho-logically. You’re sticking your neck out again and your self-confidence is in danger. It’s much easier at that point not to want to try for fear of another rejection ‘Well, maybe they don’t like them, maybe I’m not very talented . Maybe I’m stupid to call them back again.’ Those are the moments that take strength and determination, the ones that can also defeat you. The more rejections you get, the tougher it gets to put yourself back on the line. But when publishers tell you that the door is open, believe them!! It’s hard enough anyway without imagining that you’re being rejected. We’ll rap next time about what to do with your ego.

Previously in the Sanguine Collection:

• “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.