The Dreaded “No Unsolicited Material” Policy

[JimBruno]

The Dreaded “No Unsolicited Material” Policy

I teach an online and 'live' Music Publishing for Songwriters (MUS 18) at Foothill College (www.SongClasses.com) and this question often comes up, "How do I handle publishers who have an unsolicited submission policy?"

Here's my response:

You’re going to see this phrase, ‘No Unsolicited Material’, on the websites of most music publishers. If they won’t listen to new music, how do they find it? What the policy means is that they won’t listen to any songs that aren’t submitted by an entertainment attorney, a manager, an A&R Rep or some other entertainment professional. Music Publishers who don’t have this policy are often overwhelmed with the number of submissions they receive. It ends up being a full time job for someone, usually way down the corporate food chain, to listen them. In addition to the extra manpower they need to do an evaluation of all the music, they also leave themselves wide open for potential litigation. Let’s say you wrote a song about a lighthouse and coincidentally one of their writer’s was working on a similar song about a lighthouse. You can see where this can lead. Most publishers avoid the twin issues of increased manpower and exposure to potential litigation by having a “No Unsolicited Material” policy.

So is there a polite way of submitting to these music publishers? Without the endorsement of an entertainment professional, I’m afraid there isn’t. If you have some song credits or something else that may legitimize you, it would not be out of line to introduce yourself via a short email, (I emphasis the word ‘short’,) making a quick case for why they might be interested in you and your music.

Some folks have tried having friends pose as Managers to varying degrees of success. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Regards,

Jim

www.SongClasses.com