7 Steps to Finding a Music Publisher
Back by popular demand, I’m proud to present another guest post by friend and music licensing veteran Helen Austin. -Brian
I’ve had songs with several publishers, from large instrumental libraries to publishers promising me Coke ads. I now write exclusively for pigFactory and get songs regularly placed in ads and on TV and movies (click here for a list of my placements).
I get quite a few emails asking me either how to find a publisher or how to know if someone who has contacted them is legitimate, so I assembled this list of ideas to explore:
Source: passivepromotion.com
How to: Spice Up Your Arpeggio Pattern in Reason
Nowadays making an arpeggio is a great way to add interest to your track. There are many plugins out there which can arpeggiate your chord sequence in numerous ways. Lots of patterns and tweakable parameters are at your disposal in order to customize your patterns.
Arpeggio patterns are great for backing melodies in my opinion. I don’t recommend you use them as lead patterns because they limit your melody writing skill. Most arpeggio patterns are really boring because they lack modulation. Today I will show you how to make an interesting arpeggio pattern.
Source: audio.tutsplus.com
Chord Changes for Electronic Musicians: The V-I
One of the most important chord changes you will ever learn is something that is called the V-I (the five-one). Why not call it something cool like “the zinger” Why refer to it with numbers? The reason is that chord changes aren?t based on actual notes, but on the intervals between these notes. This is good news, because it means that, once you?ve learned this chord change, you can use it with any notes, in any key. Pretty neat, huh?
Source: theabletoncookbook.com
Selling Music Online
As much as the major record labels (and quite a few big indies) would love to see it happen, digital file-sharing isn’t going away any time soon. It’s the genie that Napster let out of the bottle more than a decade ago, and since then, labels and artists have been locked in a struggle-some might even call it a dance-to monetize the technology to their advantage. Meanwhile, literally hundreds of boutique start-ups have been jockeying for a piece of the pie. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, whoever controls the medium controls the message, and in the music industry, the key medium is distribution.
The good news is, with so many options now available for getting your music to the people who want it, it’s a great time to be an artist. You don’t need a label deal to be able to sell your album on iTunes, Amazon, or eMusic, or to stream it on Rhapsody, Spotify, or MOG-in fact, you don’t even need a physical album. What’s more, if you’ve already done the legwork to build a fanbase for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, YouTube, and other social media platforms, then it’s just a quick leap to selling your music through those nodes, as well as your own website.
If you’re new to the game and all this sounds like an endless slog of mind-numbing grunt work, fear not. With a little patience and a modest budget to get started, you too can end up at an online retailer, rubbing shoulders with everyone from the Beastie Boys to Flying Lotus. The first order of business: Find yourself a digital distributor.
Source: emusician.com
Electronic Music Theory: How to Quickly Write Better Chord Progressions w/ Pat Cupo
A lot of students have asked me for tips and tricks to writing better chord progressions. By that time they had already learned about building Major and Minor chords, but when it came to a chord progression – a series of chords occurring in time – they were a bit stuck. If you’re ever in the same position, then feel free to use these simple guidelines to help you quickly write chord progressions. Follow them carefully and strictly at first and over time it’ll start to come naturally to you.
Source: blog.dubspot.com
