May 2003
Guild Tidings
The official Publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 8, No. 5
NEXT MEETING
5:00 PM
Sunday, May 4th, 2003
The International Songwriter's Guild meets the first
Sunday of every month at the Central Florida
Musician's Union building at 3020 East Robinson (at
the extreme east end of Robinson less than a block
from Herndon Airport).
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do.
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Membership Coordinator
Susan Foster-Trewick (407) 760-2153
Web Consultant
Asli Walker (407) 359-0506
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Next Sunday will be a very important meeting, and you really need to be there. The most
important songwriter�s contest ever will be discussed. Those great tapes you�ve been holding on to might be winners. USA Songwriters Competition has contacted me. You have no time to lose, since the contest ends May 30th.
I�d especially like for those of you that have songs that have placed in our monthly Top Five to bring those in. They have already been critiqued and scored, and those are the songs I�d like to see entered. New tapes, of course, will be critiqued as usual. Who knows, one of your new songs could be a winner. Due to a busy meeting expected, I�d like everyone to come early so we can start right at 5 PM.
The USA Songwriters Competition has great sponsors, and you can enter in 15 different categories including: pop, rock, religious, country, and so on. Recording and publishing contracts go to winners (there are also substantial merchandise prizes). Judges are from Warners, Reprise Records, and Sony.
I will read to you what they�ve written me at the meeting. Again, the contest ends May 30th. I�ll give you the website and toll-free number on Sunday.
Looking forward to seeing
all of you,
Best ever,
Russ Robinson
THE REALITIES OF RADIOPLAY: Corporate Radio by Mary Dawson
If you've ever seen the movie, Coal Miner's Daughter, you've probably been inspired by the story of the undiscovered young Country singer, Loretta Lynn, and her #1 fan and husband, Mooney. After Loretta's first single, I'm a Honky Tonk Girl, was recorded in 1960, the couple literally drove from radio station to radio station all across the country -- meeting DJ's and convincing them to play the song. Their tenacity paid off and the song started climbing the charts -- eventually reaching #14 and taking Loretta Lynn from obscurity to instant fame.
But that was then�..and this is now! Many things have changed in music since the days of Loretta and Mooney "on the road again," but one unchanging fact is that radioplay is an essential ingredient for any singer or songwriter who hopes to become a household name.
Up to this point in our series on the Realities of Radioplay, we have been concentrating on the importance of the simple, hooky radio-friendly song. Until you have written a song like that� until you can evaluate your song objectively and still know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is a hit, you really can't go any further. But when you've written that song, and you know that it's a winner -- then what? Well, before you quit your day job and start trucking around the country like Mooney and Loretta, you need to be aware of the way radio works today.
The 1996 Telecommunications Act literally revolutionized the laws of competition and regulation throughout the communications industry. In radio, the law allowed for large corporations to purchase up to eight radio stations per market. Today, almost 66% of the 12,000 radio stations in the country are owned by radio groups. Programming is done by consultants and group programmers who distribute syndicated playlists to the individual stations, thereby controlling which songs are played nationwide.
For you as a songwriter this means that even if a local DJ loves your song and wants to play it, the chances are that he/she can't make that decision alone. Everything that is played on the station must pass through the investor-controlled programmers who may or may not have any knowledge of music at all! This doesn't mean that the DJ has NO decision-making power; it simply means that he/she REALLY has to love your song in order to usher it through all the layers of three-piece suits and bean-counters that stand between your song and the all-powerful playlist!
Another reality is that in recent years most radio "strategists" have targeted the youth market as the most lucrative. Hence, younger and younger artists are emerging with songs written to appeal to the high school and college set. If your songs appeal to an older age group -- even the 25-35 set -- the chances diminish considerably that they will be able to penetrate the controlled playlists of radio networks.
Are you depressed yet? If so, please don't be -- just keep reading!! What all this information on "corporate radio" simply means for the independent artist/songwriter
is that we have to become as creative in promoting our songs as we are in writing them.
In my opinion, the path to success is marked with two fail-proof directional markers. The first road sign reads: AIM FOR EXCELLENCE. Many aspiring songwriters and artists indulge themselves by entertaining what I call the Destiny Fantasy. In other words, they equate success in music with some mystical stroke of luck. The Destiny Fantasy has two sides. On the upside of the fantasy is the belief that if I just happen to be in the right place at the right time�..Destiny will somehow intervene. My talent will be discovered and I will become an instant star. Stories of �overnight successes� fuel this fantasy and cause many aspiring musicians to live in a state of unrealistic expectations. If their dreams do not come true � if they are not suddenly and magically successful, the downside of the Destiny Fantasy kicks in, which says that some people are just unlucky and I happen to be one of them � it is simply not my Destiny to �make it� in music.
Living in the Destiny Fantasy is about as effective as dreaming of winning the lottery. You can squander a lot of emotional and psychological energy dreaming -- when you could be investing that energy in becoming The Best in your craft. Most Destiny Dreamers dabble at their music rather than disciplining themselves to really work at it. Don�t make that mistake! If you are serious about getting your songs played on the radio, I would suggest that you spend at least fourteen hours a week polishing and honing your craft. Read books on songwriting�..then write some songs��go to workshops..�then write more songs�join your local songwriters� association�..then write still more songs.
Just like an Olympic athlete in training, keep stretching and pushing yourself. Compare your songs � not just to the many mediocre songs that you may hear on the radio, but to the Very Best � the Cole Porters, Billy Joels and Elton Johns of the songwriting world. Remember, mediocre songs were probably written by people who have an �inside advantage� in the music industry � relatives and friends of record executives or songwriters who may have a staff positions that insure the placement of their songs on commercial recordings. As an independent and an outsider, your songs have to be far more remarkable and faultlessly crafted in order to compete and be recognized. As A&R Specialist, Tom Vickers says: �Songs that make it have to be bulletproof!�
Like cream that always rises to the top of the milk, excellence will eventually become evident to everyone who encounters it. Excellence transcends fads and trends in music and, sooner or later, excellence inevitably attracts listeners. And -- remember -- those listeners are the ones the stations are trying to attract. If the people begin to demand your music, the stations will accommodate them!
The second guidepost says BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED. Start where you are with what you have. "Growing into business is always more successful than going into business." Learn your local music scene and learn it well! You have far more access to the
music community in your own city or town � and far more opportunities for exposure and success -- than you would have LA, New York or Nashville.
Become familiar with smaller local stations. (It is often much easier to get airplay on those.) Your local DJ's are still your first point of contact with the world of radio. Learn to know them -- check out the radio station's website and learn as much as you can about each personality. Use all that creativity you use in your songwriting to �make opportunities� for yourself and your music.
Kevin James, a Country artist on my record label, is a master at promoting himself. (He used to sell vacuum cleaners � is there a connection there?) At any rate, he never lets a Holiday slip by without using the occasion to send greetings to the local radio personalities. At Valentine�s Day the lady DJ�s receive chocolate covered strawberries. At Christmas, he sends cute promotional gifts along with his photo, a Christmas card � and always a friendly personal note. And he never just mails his CD�s to radio! The CD is always packaged in a gift basket stuffed with creative �goodies� and yummy things to eat. Believe me � DJ�s (just like anyone else) love to receive surprises and they will remember the person who sends them! Kevin�s efforts have paid him handsomely and he is receiving opportunities for airplay that are considered �unheard of� for most local artists.
As you learn to know your local radio personalities, you will also learn about the centralized programming systems that serve the various stations. Several years ago during the Gulf War, a co-writer and I wrote a song called Long Distance Christmas. We dedicated it to the thousands of families who were separated by the Mid-East Conflict during that Holiday Season. Through contact with one radio disc jockey, we discovered that Christmas is a time when radio syndicators are desperately seeking new material to send to all the local stations in their networks. We took our song to a local satellite broadcasting syndicator who � in turn � included it on their Christmas compilation CD that went out to over 1400 stations nationwide. In the space of just a few weeks our song was being played all over the country and was even being broadcast into the Middle East.
Whatever you do, gently but consistently promote yourself! Be professional and considerate -- yet tenacious and persistent -- in your approach. Use email. Send press releases and updates on your activities. Send complimentary tickets to your gigs. Volunteer to help with radio station community activities and charities. Put on your creative "hat" and find unique ways to woo and win local radio. Once your foot is in the door, you are half way home!
Where there is a will -- there will always be a way!!
� 2002 CQK Music. All rights reserved, used by permission.
Getting Copyright Forms
You can order registration forms from the Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20559, or call them at (202) 707-9100 and leave your name, address, and how many forms you want on the answering machine, and they will be mailed to you. You can also request an "original music complete information packet" KIT #105, which tells you about the Performing Arts (PA) form and includes a blank form for you to fill out. The forms are free for the asking; however, there is a copyright registration fee of $30.00.
You can also download the PA form from the Library of Congress web site on the internet. The site contains all instructions for downloading the form, as well as a source for free software that will allow you to view and print the form and instructions for filling it out and filing it. Remember, the form must be printed on both sides of a single piece of paper. They will not accept multiple pages.
The web address is: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/forms
Reprinted with permission of AFM Local 47, Hollywood, CA.
ISG Bulletin Board
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best (griffinmc@netzero.net).
Printing services for Guild Tidings are graciously provided by
Printing USA, 4732 South Orange Blossom Trail (just south of
Holden), Orlando. Phone: (407) 857-7468.
Custom CD Cover Art � Full color paintings, black & white illustrations to computer-edited photos with half-tone for photocopying. Prices start at $25. Call John Martello at (407) 293-1739 or email: omegaltd158@juno.com.
Omega Ltd. Productions
3415 Silverwood Drive
Pine Hills, FL 32808-2847
SusieCool will be performing with the "Coolottes" at Yalaha Bakery from 10:00 am to 12 noon. She will then be hosting an invitational open mic at the same venue, 12:30 to 4 PM. Food, drinks, beer, and coffee will be available. The event is free and outdoors. Yalaha Bakery, 8210 County Road 48, Yalaha, FL 34797, (352) 324-3366. See the website http://susiecoolsongs.com for details.
SusieCool will be performing at a house concert/party being hosted by Sharon Conway in Winter Park on Saturday May 31st. If you wish to have details of the time and venue, please e-mail susie at susiecool2001@yahoo.com, or call her at 407-760-2153. Please bring a covered dish to share, and bring your guitars/instruments for the post-concert jam.
We're always looking for material for the newsletter.
If you have any information that you would like to see
added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at
the meetings, or you can email him at
griffinmc@netzero.net.
Please keep your articles brief and to the point.
Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks
prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to
members in good standing in the ISG. For more
information on display advertising and/or
classified advertising for non-members, please call
Russ or Matt or email: griffinmc@netzero.net
We're always looking for new faces and new music. Come to a meeting and check us out!
April TOP FIVE
Winners of last month�s evaluation session
(members only)
(1) Christmas is Over Barbara Ross
(2) Guitar Man�s Dream Bob Barker
� 2003 ISG