Submitting music to film, adverts, competitions etc

[rocknrollstar]

I've had a search through a variety of sites - most of which want an entry free etc and/or they just don't look like legitimate sites. I've had a look at some of the "middle-men" who are meant to take your music, promote it, collect royalties etc


But all of that seems a bit far ahead. Can anyone point me to someone/something where I can enter some small, cheap competitions or pitch song ideas to TV and Film? (and I assume it would be small scale TV and Film)


I'm lost with this and there's no real clarity on the matter I can find. UK based musician if that makes a difference.

 

[Chili]

Look at Taxi. You pay upfront money, but can get it back at the end of the first year if you're not satisfied.

 

[rocknrollstar]

Look at Taxi. You pay upfront money, but can get it back at the end of the first year if you're not satisfied.

I've heard mixed reviews re: Taxi - mostly negative ones tbh. Plus that amount of money upfront and then per song isn't really suitable for me at the moment.


Anyone recommend any competitions/sites that play unsigned artists that get a decent audience? Checking our ourstage.com atm but so far everyone says "go gig" which isn't feasible for me since there is NO music scene in my area and no transport.

 

[Chili]

I've heard mixed reviews re: Taxi - mostly negative ones tbh. Plus that amount of money upfront and then per song isn't really suitable for me at the moment..

I hear ya. I haven't actually tried them myself, but do know of others who found some success with them. One lady I know got a contract for a tv show. But like it is with the rest of the industry, those stories are few and far in between...

Good luck.

 

[jokerone]

I've submitted a few entries to this one last year.

Talenthouse - Creative Collaboration - music, film, fashion, art / design, photography, and dance

Never won. But they don't promise the moon. I think the last one I entered promised something like $500 plus free entry into the exhibition that was sponsoring the event.

Careful. Each one is run independently, and I got the impression that a few were just trying to harvest songs and having the artist sign away their rights to them. I avoided those.

 

[miroslav]

..... or pitch song ideas to TV and Film? (and I assume it would be small scale TV and Film)


I'm lost with this and there's no real clarity on the matter I can find. UK based musician if that makes a difference.

Most will not accept unsolicited material....they won't even open the package....they'll either return it or justr toss it in their garbage.
Why?
Becuase they get TONS of material all the time, and they don't want to wade through it or take a chance in copyright issues...etc.
They pprefer to get it through those "middlemen"...entertainment lawyers/managers/etc or some placement service, that will charge you a fee (like Taxi)....and they do that to filter out the not-ready-for-prime-time material or simply to limit how much stuff they have to audition.

It's how it is....so if you despair easily, maybe you need consider something else.....otherwise, you just keep pounding wherever you can and try to establish some connections that will pass your stuff on.

 

[rocknrollstar]

Most will not accept unsolicited material....they won't even open the package....they'll either return it or justr toss it in their garbage.
Why?
Becuase they get TONS of material all the time, and they don't want to wade through it or take a chance in copyright issues...etc.
They pprefer to get it through those "middlemen"...entertainment lawyers/managers/etc or some placement service, that will charge you a fee (like Taxi)....and they do that to filter out the not-ready-for-prime-time material or simply to limit how much stuff they have to audition.

It's how it is....so if you despair easily, maybe you need consider something else.....otherwise, you just keep pounding wherever you can and try to establish some connections that will pass your stuff on.

Y'know, as much I'd like to say "this is bullshit etc...I appreciate where they are coming from. My "day job" involves processing and whilst it's not music, when we get sent stuff that isn't through the correct mediums it does make life more difficult, so I won't get annoyed - ultimately, even if I do it won't change anything anyway so may as well just accept it.

So in regards to these publishing companies and/or middle men etc - do you have any/know anyone who has had personal experience with them?

I've submitted a few entries to this one last year.

Talenthouse - Creative Collaboration - music, film, fashion, art / design, photography, and dance

Never won. But they don't promise the moon. I think the last one I entered promised something like $500 plus free entry into the exhibition that was sponsoring the event.

Careful. Each one is run independently, and I got the impression that a few were just trying to harvest songs and having the artist sign away their rights to them. I avoided those.

Thank you for the link man, going to have a read the now.

I hear ya. I haven't actually tried them myself, but do know of others who found some success with them. One lady I know got a contract for a tv show. But like it is with the rest of the industry, those stories are few and far in between...

Good luck.

Roll the dice I guess. Nothing is ever 100%.

 

[miroslav]

So in regards to these publishing companies and/or middle men etc - do you have any/know anyone who has had personal experience with them?

Yes...I've done the unsolicited mailings a couple of times in the past when I didn't know any better, and most of the stuff was sent back unopend or with a polite "sorry, we don't accept unsolicited material' note...or never sent back...
...and maybe a hand full of smaller companies said "no thanks, but feel free to submit more in the future".

 

[Jontom]

Hi!
I've been on True Talent Management mailing list for a while. If I remember right it's driven by a lady named Jennifer...
They offer good deals, time ago you could decide between a payment subscription - and in that case you would have earned 50% of the eventual earnings - or a free mailing list where you could simply submit a song once they asked for something.

It's certainly more targeted: they ask you what they need and then you decide.
As far as the other sites you mentioned, I had some experience with taxi but I'd say it's pretty difficult to stand out.

I would post you the link to TTM but I'm still under 10 posts (Anyway, just look for it on Google)

 

[mjbphotos]

I signed up at Taxi - just for the mailing list, didn't pay to join. A zillion 'submit to...' emails every day (each submission costs you $5). I unsubbed pretty fast. I could spend my whole day just submitting music. Never recording, never playing ...

 

[rocknrollstar]

Hi!
I've been on True Talent Management mailing list for a while. If I remember right it's driven by a lady named Jennifer...
They offer good deals, time ago you could decide between a payment subscription - and in that case you would have earned 50% of the eventual earnings - or a free mailing list where you could simply submit a song once they asked for something.

It's certainly more targeted: they ask you what they need and then you decide.
As far as the other sites you mentioned, I had some experience with taxi but I'd say it's pretty difficult to stand out.

I would post you the link to TTM but I'm still under 10 posts (Anyway, just look for it on Google)

Had a brief look and some critical reviews. I'll look further into it though, thank you for the suggestion - welcome to the boards

I signed up at Taxi - just for the mailing list, didn't pay to join. A zillion 'submit to...' emails every day (each submission costs you $5). I unsubbed pretty fast. I could spend my whole day just submitting music. Never recording, never playing ...

I got this with a similar service - Music X-Ray - and it's a similar deal - a small upfront fortune.

 

[Greg Savage]

I've had a search through a variety of sites - most of which want an entry free etc and/or they just don't look like legitimate sites. I've had a look at some of the "middle-men" who are meant to take your music, promote it, collect royalties etc


But all of that seems a bit far ahead. Can anyone point me to someone/something where I can enter some small, cheap competitions or pitch song ideas to TV and Film? (and I assume it would be small scale TV and Film)


I'm lost with this and there's no real clarity on the matter I can find. UK based musician if that makes a difference.

There are a lot of sites that offer this, the best thing to do is use google's search engine. I don't like competitions, nor do I like any site that requires you pay anything up front. Those are wheel spinners imo. I'm not saying it's impossible to land work through them, but the waiting sucks.

Someone mentioned Taxi, that's another pay to submit. I got my first tv placement through that site, but again you could be paying a lot submitting and never land anything.

Best thing to do imo is connect with ad companies and music supervisors (google search away). A lot of them are on linkedin as well.