Any good success stories ($)?
- Thread starter mrx
- Start date
jonnyboy said:
I uploaded a few dance tunes to a publisher (www.raw42.com). They knew I was a multi-instrumentalist so they asked me to write a Radiohead soundalike for a brief they got from a film company so i did and the film company liked it and it was used in the film. Same with the Barclaycard advert. I've had loads that haven't ever make it though. I've been extremely lucky so far.
I'm now doing a&r in the "experimantal electronica" department for them.
They are always looking for music so have a look at what they do on their website and if you have some songs that you think would work with moving pictures then upload them. It can't hurt.
Lyric-wise they are always after uplifting yet non-descript stuff. Think - "I'm gonna fly" or "moving up" or "the sun is shining" or "Happy, happy, joy, joy" rather than "well since my baby left me..."
Protein...thanks for the success story, mate....I've checked the site out looks good....as soon as I get some of my songs into mp3 format on my computer, I'll upload...cheers for that. Do you know any other similar sites that accept songs.....I think for me, this is the way forward....being 35 and in full-time employment...in fact my only option, time being a problem...I wish I did have time to trapse around the companies...
What is the music scene like in the UK at the moment..I've been out of it for so long now, in Japan where I'm living now...basically the so called 'Jpop' scene is reminiscent of the UK scene in the early 80s....and in fact, so many stolen melodies, riffs..it's quite unbelievable...even the clothes are similar!!
anyway, any information would be great...and good luck with the next 'moneymaker'..btw...does it get easier once you've had your first success??
cheers - Jonny_boy
PS How was the Thai holiday...was over there myself last year...did you get to the islands??...I've got a Japanese friend working over there at the moment teaching...she says that the humidity is just unbearable!!....
What is the music scene like in the UK at the moment..I've been out of it for so long now, in Japan where I'm living now...basically the so called 'Jpop' scene is reminiscent of the UK scene in the early 80s....and in fact, so many stolen melodies, riffs..it's quite unbelievable...even the clothes are similar!!
anyway, any information would be great...and good luck with the next 'moneymaker'..btw...does it get easier once you've had your first success??
cheers - Jonny_boy
PS How was the Thai holiday...was over there myself last year...did you get to the islands??...I've got a Japanese friend working over there at the moment teaching...she says that the humidity is just unbearable!!....
H2oskiphil
It needs more cowbell!
mrx said:
Stay In Time!!!!! The one single off that album that got any air play....
Believe it or not, I have Off Broadway's album...in mint condition.
When I was a senior in high school, I thought they rocked.
andydeedpoll
i do love smilies...
wow... this is all pretty interesting. im only 16 years old, but im more than a bit interested in having Music as my main 'thing' through out my life, but i really dont have much of an idea in what kind of area yet.
... i was quite interested in writing more and more for my band in the hope something might come of it, and then i had a look at this thread
i suppose i didnt realise how hard it is to make it the only 'thing', because i know a number of people who only make money from playing instruments in bands and session work, but ive never really met anyone who has had to completely give up their dreams simply because they need a roof over their heads and food to eat. maybe i just havent lived long enough to see the 'otherside' *shrugs*.
its interesting to read the views of people who have been involved in music so long though.
-Andy
... i was quite interested in writing more and more for my band in the hope something might come of it, and then i had a look at this thread
i suppose i didnt realise how hard it is to make it the only 'thing', because i know a number of people who only make money from playing instruments in bands and session work, but ive never really met anyone who has had to completely give up their dreams simply because they need a roof over their heads and food to eat. maybe i just havent lived long enough to see the 'otherside' *shrugs*.
its interesting to read the views of people who have been involved in music so long though.
-Andy
To andydeedpoll,
Don't let the rantings of a few "old timers' scare you off. At 16 you can and should have dreams - and if one of those dreams is making music your "main thing" great - start thinking about ways you can make that happen.
Even if performing and/or writing may not be a consistant way to support one's self, there are many potential ways to make a living in music - teaching in a school, working in a retail music store (or one of the many "on line" stores), working at a publishing company or in one of the various jobs at a record company (A&R, markerting, tour support, etc)
I just think it makes sense to have something to fall back on, if music does not allow one to earn a decent living. Even pro sports guys go to school in the off season to get degrees, etc - so they can earn a living when that can no longer perform. Sports figures, much like pro musicians can have a short shelf life.
As someone who was a full time musician for several years (I went on the road at 15) I can testify that unless you get involved with a national/international act the road can be a hard life. When you're young, it can seem like a wonderous time, but it can take a toll.
I can also testify, that there can be much joy in being a "part time" musician. Candidly, music has always been my "main thing". I simply work a day job to pay the bills. Even in my late 40's I was gigging as much a 3-4 times per week, doing some session work, working part time in a music store and running my little project studio (this often involved more hours than my day gig took). Even now in my 50's I still gig a few times a month, still have my studio and still do occasional session work in other studios.
However, someone like Philboyd obviously proves that with the right talent, fortitude and business savvy you can earn a living on a local or regional level (Philboyd - you are one of the lucky few!!).
So. if you're young, dream - and persue your dream, but have a plan!
Don't let the rantings of a few "old timers' scare you off. At 16 you can and should have dreams - and if one of those dreams is making music your "main thing" great - start thinking about ways you can make that happen.
Even if performing and/or writing may not be a consistant way to support one's self, there are many potential ways to make a living in music - teaching in a school, working in a retail music store (or one of the many "on line" stores), working at a publishing company or in one of the various jobs at a record company (A&R, markerting, tour support, etc)
I just think it makes sense to have something to fall back on, if music does not allow one to earn a decent living. Even pro sports guys go to school in the off season to get degrees, etc - so they can earn a living when that can no longer perform. Sports figures, much like pro musicians can have a short shelf life.
As someone who was a full time musician for several years (I went on the road at 15) I can testify that unless you get involved with a national/international act the road can be a hard life. When you're young, it can seem like a wonderous time, but it can take a toll.
I can also testify, that there can be much joy in being a "part time" musician. Candidly, music has always been my "main thing". I simply work a day job to pay the bills. Even in my late 40's I was gigging as much a 3-4 times per week, doing some session work, working part time in a music store and running my little project studio (this often involved more hours than my day gig took). Even now in my 50's I still gig a few times a month, still have my studio and still do occasional session work in other studios.
However, someone like Philboyd obviously proves that with the right talent, fortitude and business savvy you can earn a living on a local or regional level (Philboyd - you are one of the lucky few!!).
So. if you're young, dream - and persue your dream, but have a plan!
andydeedpoll
i do love smilies...
i wasnt gonna
.i suppose i was being a bit OTT. its just a bit different to hear actual real life examples of how its difficult to be a Musician of any sort, rather than people who dont really have a clue what theyre talking about presuming that being a musician means you want to headline Glastonbury every year and then telling you that it doesnt happen to everyone.
¬Andy
dragonworks
Banned
Someone has just offered me a bunch of money to quit playing music, they said I really sucked. 
H2oskiphil said:
I still remember the radio ads:"Off Broadway LIVE at the Edgewater in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin!!!" Great live act, although I saw them open for UFO one time - not exactly their audience and the boos were louder than the band!
There was a stretch where Chicago album stations where playing a half dozen of their tunes - ah, the days before media consolidation...
MonkeyShock
New member
At age 16, I sold my first song to a local band for a 12 pack of beer.
They used the song on their first record and it did very well...they were all able to make investments or buy small businesses with their earnings. 30 years later, I'm attending AA and considering doing a booklet series on the Icehouses of Houston...which outnumber churches and schools by about 3 to 1. Business should be brisk as people tend to do stupid things when influenced by alcohol.
Cheers!
They used the song on their first record and it did very well...they were all able to make investments or buy small businesses with their earnings. 30 years later, I'm attending AA and considering doing a booklet series on the Icehouses of Houston...which outnumber churches and schools by about 3 to 1. Business should be brisk as people tend to do stupid things when influenced by alcohol.
Cheers!
my biggest b!tch about all this.....
I always take a bunch of sh!t over "my" music...as i am 36, from the kids this means music from the 80's and early nineties. I remember the song "boys of summer" Don Henley...you got the general gist of the song quick, yet it still had plenty of sufficiently vague "deep" lyric lines along with music that carried a TON of emotional impact.
Then i caught a video of this crap by some band called "the ataris", and their big hit was.....a cover of donhenleys boys of summer. It makes me wanna just scream. I mean, why did the record company pick THEM from a huge field of much more talented original sonqwriters or even more competent musicians and singers? Christ...some producer just KNEW he had to have something decent on the album, a well written song, and someone pays for the liscense to do that song. How does that make them any different than some high school band that is moderately talented doing covers?
people are always telling younger musicians "you gotta quit doing covers and do nothing but originals or youll go nowhere" Pah. I always suspected that acts like that come from parents/uncle/dads friend is in the industry SOMEwhere, a producer, an actor, works for a record company, etc. or had rich parents that knew someone to give them an "IN". I think that "IN" definitely has something to do with it.
one kid where i used to work was always trashing my CD's like RUSH, early Queensryche, etc. Then he bring in some crap where these kids are covering a madonna tune at three times the normal tempo, over simplified power chord melody, no pitch of vocals to it at all. He's telling me what "genius" it is. It makes me wanna throw up. I dont hate all new stuff, but barely competent covers like that being huge hits is just insane.
Then i hear really impressive originals from total unknowns, and i mean some of them sound like the guy has a serious background in classical music, really complicated chord structure/progression, seriously well performed/programmed trax, and its like its just BEGGING for a producer to get lyrics for it and have it mastered....and no one does? I just dont get it...Ive heard stuff that sounds like Pink Floyd as far as originality and it gets nowhere. Tomorrow yet another cute young girl barely outta her teens will have an antares auto-tune thrown on her voice and the producer will hire a dance instructor, a vocal coach, and pay huge $$ for a famous songwriting team to write disarmingly charming formulaic pop hits for her...it makes me wanna puke. These people just HAVE to have some kinda family pull somewhere for this to happen for them with so little talent. The elaborate concept album NEEDS to come around again...
I always take a bunch of sh!t over "my" music...as i am 36, from the kids this means music from the 80's and early nineties. I remember the song "boys of summer" Don Henley...you got the general gist of the song quick, yet it still had plenty of sufficiently vague "deep" lyric lines along with music that carried a TON of emotional impact.
Then i caught a video of this crap by some band called "the ataris", and their big hit was.....a cover of donhenleys boys of summer. It makes me wanna just scream. I mean, why did the record company pick THEM from a huge field of much more talented original sonqwriters or even more competent musicians and singers? Christ...some producer just KNEW he had to have something decent on the album, a well written song, and someone pays for the liscense to do that song. How does that make them any different than some high school band that is moderately talented doing covers?
people are always telling younger musicians "you gotta quit doing covers and do nothing but originals or youll go nowhere" Pah. I always suspected that acts like that come from parents/uncle/dads friend is in the industry SOMEwhere, a producer, an actor, works for a record company, etc. or had rich parents that knew someone to give them an "IN". I think that "IN" definitely has something to do with it.
one kid where i used to work was always trashing my CD's like RUSH, early Queensryche, etc. Then he bring in some crap where these kids are covering a madonna tune at three times the normal tempo, over simplified power chord melody, no pitch of vocals to it at all. He's telling me what "genius" it is. It makes me wanna throw up. I dont hate all new stuff, but barely competent covers like that being huge hits is just insane.
Then i hear really impressive originals from total unknowns, and i mean some of them sound like the guy has a serious background in classical music, really complicated chord structure/progression, seriously well performed/programmed trax, and its like its just BEGGING for a producer to get lyrics for it and have it mastered....and no one does? I just dont get it...Ive heard stuff that sounds like Pink Floyd as far as originality and it gets nowhere. Tomorrow yet another cute young girl barely outta her teens will have an antares auto-tune thrown on her voice and the producer will hire a dance instructor, a vocal coach, and pay huge $$ for a famous songwriting team to write disarmingly charming formulaic pop hits for her...it makes me wanna puke. These people just HAVE to have some kinda family pull somewhere for this to happen for them with so little talent. The elaborate concept album NEEDS to come around again...
futurestar
New member
jonnyboy said:
www.songcatalog.com
I friend of mine has had a few tracks placed through this service. He's made about $10K so far in the past year and a half.
Garry Sharp
Lost Cause
Sedstar - I thought that was an excellent rant. Don't agree necessarily about the great concept album, but it was a great post - I could feel the frustration.
I have briefly played bass in a signed band and worked for a small label - as far as I'm concerned now I want the words "music" and "business" to be kept as far apart as possible. Only my view. But to say the whole thing stinks is both an understatement and misses the point. Money is the only point.
I have briefly played bass in a signed band and worked for a small label - as far as I'm concerned now I want the words "music" and "business" to be kept as far apart as possible. Only my view. But to say the whole thing stinks is both an understatement and misses the point. Money is the only point.