WHY YOU CAN’T GET A CUT
There are a lot of companies out there promising to "pitch songs" for writers.
A lot of people don't understand what that means.
They hear people that want to "put their poems to music".
.
They hear things like "Film and Television pitches"
They've heard music in film and television and went, "That sounds like what I have!"
They have never heard the term, "Inside Cut" in their lives.
They don't understand the "RELATIONSHIP" word.
They only understand themselves because people are DREAMERS.
Dreamers are very likely to swing at the first shiny thing that comes along.
There are over 1 BILLION SONGS A MONTH UPLOADED ON THE INTERNET. That is TWELVE BILLION SONGS A YEAR.
Every hour, YOU TUBE uploads 75 MILES of video footage. A large part of that are SONGS that people think are GREAT!
There are writers in Nashville, LA, New York, that churn out songs EVERY SINGLE DAY. Many of those writers have PREVIOUS HIT SONGS or TRACK RECORD.
They have friends within the music business.
They have people who have given them money, and vice Who versa.
They have spent years and sometimes DECADES building those relationships. They have sacrificed, money, security, family, kids, everything in pursuit of their CRAFT.
And they are VERY GOOD at what they do.
Can you say that about yourself?
Can you call up a hit artist, producer, record label, major publisher, and get a SIT DOWN meeting with them?
If you CAN'T and don’t have someone working WITH you who CAN, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET A CUT.
PERIOD, END OF STORY, LEARN IT, LOVE IT, LIVE IT.
Those are the RULES. And NO ONE is just going to come off the street and EVEN BEND THEM,MUCH LESS BREAK THEM.
The REASON:
Imagine what you do for a living. Imagine the years of grammar and high school, if you went to college, Jr. College. Technical school. Remember looking for a job. Finding many that had nothing to do with your education Fast food, car washes, being a “Gofer” (Go for this, go for that) imagine the hot, dirty times, you spent studying, or working late, or just getting so tired you couldn’t see straight. Do you remember having to miss a party, going out with friends, some really great times because you had to WORK. Particularly if you had to work doing something you HATED!
Now, think about when you started to find your way. Your career path, or if not found your way, started being a little easier. Then you started making a bit of money, could relax, take a day off, spend time with loved ones. Or possibly still working multiple jobs, but don’t hate it quite as much as you did. And imagine YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONLY ONE’S WITH YOUR JOB.
And a LOT of people are knocking on that door to get to do what you do. In this job climate, that can be a LOT of people.
Now, imagine, that you are in the middle of struggling to do your job, fill orders, keep up with demand for what you do, juggling schedules, making payroll, often finding yourself short, and trying to keep your head above water, every day you have to reinvent what you do and go for new successes. Yesterday is forgotten, what have you done TODAY?
In the middle of this, someone you don’t know, walks up while sweat is dripping off your forehead and your body is aching from strain, and says “Hey, you know, I have always wanted to do that. But really don’t know anything about it, but I don’t like what I do for a living, so you don’t mind me stepping in front of you, doing what you do, taking your contacts, your livelihood, your ability have a family, a home, security, etc. and let ME DO THAT DO YOU?”
What would you do?
Yet, that is what anyone in the music industry is asked to do all the time. Anyone in the industry has started sometimes decades before. They always worked multiple jobs, and sometimes EVEN AFTER THEY HAVE ACHIEVED SUCCESS STILL HAVE OTHER FORMS OF INCOME. They have had to travel to places they didn’t know anyone, and carve out a niche for themselves. They spent years learning their trade, AND building relationships and partnerships to get the doors open just a tiny little bit. They have slept on people’s couches, gone without food and money, worked the WORST JOBS IMAGINABLE, all to just keep going while their dreams came true. And they live it, eat it, drink it, sleep it.
They are dedicated to a point of obsession by some of their significant others. They have lost relationships, missed birthdays and anniversaries, and NEVER HAD VACATIONS. They have worked their butts off only to have the project disappear with no notice. They have been promised the moon and gotten dirt. They are rejected ALL THE TIME. They have worked and worked and seen the credit for what they do go to someone else. They have had to swallow their pride and smile and be nice to people they HATE and have mistreated them terribly. They have seen everyone around them seemingly get success and they have still gotten nothing. They have seen undeserving people shoot past them only to flame out and self-destruct. They have seen jerks get huge breaks. They have seen their entire industry suddenly be told that “most of what you do now will be FREE” and they have watched every amateur, karaoke singer, high school diva and jock, their parents, their friends, grandparents significant others, tell them HOW GREAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY NEED TO BE “OUT THERE!”
They have seen success get so close that they could taste it, was RIGHT WITHIN REACH, only to have it evaporate because some other company bought out the one they worked for and they are unemployed. They have seen people and events beyond their control destroy everything they have dreamed about for years in the blink of an eye. And they live this way
EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIVES.
So before you start getting worked up because someone tells you “that song is really interesting, fun” or “That sounds like it should be in a movie, (which really means “That song is so out there, confusing and unmarketable, boring and unmarketable, that I have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT, SO PLEASE GO TO LA OR NEW YORK AND BOTHER THEM FOR A WHILE!”) just keep in mind what the “other side of the desk” has gone through.
And that is what YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH. There are no shortcuts, no mailing it in, no cheap and easy way. Does that mean you are totally out of luck, nothing will EVER happen with you?
Of course not. There are opportunities all around you. There are singers, writers and like-minded individuals everywhere. There are local and regional organizations dedicated to songwriters. There are writers nights and open mics, everywhere. There are gatherings of people. In Nashville there are dozens of songwriters nights, clubs, NSAI, Songwriters Guild, various organizations dedicated to the creative process. There are web sites and forums where discussions going on. There are FRIENDS AND CONTACTS OUT THERE FOR YOU TO BUILD. And it CAN BE DONE. But it takes a while, and doesn’t always turn into fame or money. But that is what everyone else has to do. You have to too.
This is the real world. Got to get out of the living room and get on the field.
You up for it? Come on down. But don’t think you can do it by REMOTE CONTROL.
This is a FULL CONTACT SPORT.
MAB
There are a lot of companies out there promising to "pitch songs" for writers.
A lot of people don't understand what that means.
They hear people that want to "put their poems to music".
.
They hear things like "Film and Television pitches"
They've heard music in film and television and went, "That sounds like what I have!"
They have never heard the term, "Inside Cut" in their lives.
They don't understand the "RELATIONSHIP" word.
They only understand themselves because people are DREAMERS.
Dreamers are very likely to swing at the first shiny thing that comes along.
There are over 1 BILLION SONGS A MONTH UPLOADED ON THE INTERNET. That is TWELVE BILLION SONGS A YEAR.
Every hour, YOU TUBE uploads 75 MILES of video footage. A large part of that are SONGS that people think are GREAT!
There are writers in Nashville, LA, New York, that churn out songs EVERY SINGLE DAY. Many of those writers have PREVIOUS HIT SONGS or TRACK RECORD.
They have friends within the music business.
They have people who have given them money, and vice Who versa.
They have spent years and sometimes DECADES building those relationships. They have sacrificed, money, security, family, kids, everything in pursuit of their CRAFT.
And they are VERY GOOD at what they do.
Can you say that about yourself?
Can you call up a hit artist, producer, record label, major publisher, and get a SIT DOWN meeting with them?
If you CAN'T and don’t have someone working WITH you who CAN, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET A CUT.
PERIOD, END OF STORY, LEARN IT, LOVE IT, LIVE IT.
Those are the RULES. And NO ONE is just going to come off the street and EVEN BEND THEM,MUCH LESS BREAK THEM.
The REASON:
Imagine what you do for a living. Imagine the years of grammar and high school, if you went to college, Jr. College. Technical school. Remember looking for a job. Finding many that had nothing to do with your education Fast food, car washes, being a “Gofer” (Go for this, go for that) imagine the hot, dirty times, you spent studying, or working late, or just getting so tired you couldn’t see straight. Do you remember having to miss a party, going out with friends, some really great times because you had to WORK. Particularly if you had to work doing something you HATED!
Now, think about when you started to find your way. Your career path, or if not found your way, started being a little easier. Then you started making a bit of money, could relax, take a day off, spend time with loved ones. Or possibly still working multiple jobs, but don’t hate it quite as much as you did. And imagine YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONLY ONE’S WITH YOUR JOB.
And a LOT of people are knocking on that door to get to do what you do. In this job climate, that can be a LOT of people.
Now, imagine, that you are in the middle of struggling to do your job, fill orders, keep up with demand for what you do, juggling schedules, making payroll, often finding yourself short, and trying to keep your head above water, every day you have to reinvent what you do and go for new successes. Yesterday is forgotten, what have you done TODAY?
In the middle of this, someone you don’t know, walks up while sweat is dripping off your forehead and your body is aching from strain, and says “Hey, you know, I have always wanted to do that. But really don’t know anything about it, but I don’t like what I do for a living, so you don’t mind me stepping in front of you, doing what you do, taking your contacts, your livelihood, your ability have a family, a home, security, etc. and let ME DO THAT DO YOU?”
What would you do?
Yet, that is what anyone in the music industry is asked to do all the time. Anyone in the industry has started sometimes decades before. They always worked multiple jobs, and sometimes EVEN AFTER THEY HAVE ACHIEVED SUCCESS STILL HAVE OTHER FORMS OF INCOME. They have had to travel to places they didn’t know anyone, and carve out a niche for themselves. They spent years learning their trade, AND building relationships and partnerships to get the doors open just a tiny little bit. They have slept on people’s couches, gone without food and money, worked the WORST JOBS IMAGINABLE, all to just keep going while their dreams came true. And they live it, eat it, drink it, sleep it.
They are dedicated to a point of obsession by some of their significant others. They have lost relationships, missed birthdays and anniversaries, and NEVER HAD VACATIONS. They have worked their butts off only to have the project disappear with no notice. They have been promised the moon and gotten dirt. They are rejected ALL THE TIME. They have worked and worked and seen the credit for what they do go to someone else. They have had to swallow their pride and smile and be nice to people they HATE and have mistreated them terribly. They have seen everyone around them seemingly get success and they have still gotten nothing. They have seen undeserving people shoot past them only to flame out and self-destruct. They have seen jerks get huge breaks. They have seen their entire industry suddenly be told that “most of what you do now will be FREE” and they have watched every amateur, karaoke singer, high school diva and jock, their parents, their friends, grandparents significant others, tell them HOW GREAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY NEED TO BE “OUT THERE!”
They have seen success get so close that they could taste it, was RIGHT WITHIN REACH, only to have it evaporate because some other company bought out the one they worked for and they are unemployed. They have seen people and events beyond their control destroy everything they have dreamed about for years in the blink of an eye. And they live this way
EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIVES.
So before you start getting worked up because someone tells you “that song is really interesting, fun” or “That sounds like it should be in a movie, (which really means “That song is so out there, confusing and unmarketable, boring and unmarketable, that I have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT, SO PLEASE GO TO LA OR NEW YORK AND BOTHER THEM FOR A WHILE!”) just keep in mind what the “other side of the desk” has gone through.
And that is what YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH. There are no shortcuts, no mailing it in, no cheap and easy way. Does that mean you are totally out of luck, nothing will EVER happen with you?
Of course not. There are opportunities all around you. There are singers, writers and like-minded individuals everywhere. There are local and regional organizations dedicated to songwriters. There are writers nights and open mics, everywhere. There are gatherings of people. In Nashville there are dozens of songwriters nights, clubs, NSAI, Songwriters Guild, various organizations dedicated to the creative process. There are web sites and forums where discussions going on. There are FRIENDS AND CONTACTS OUT THERE FOR YOU TO BUILD. And it CAN BE DONE. But it takes a while, and doesn’t always turn into fame or money. But that is what everyone else has to do. You have to too.
This is the real world. Got to get out of the living room and get on the field.
You up for it? Come on down. But don’t think you can do it by REMOTE CONTROL.
This is a FULL CONTACT SPORT.
MAB