New member has a question

[247spin]

Hello everyone, not sure how I found this community, but here I am! My first question is, are there any Songstuff members from the entertainment industry who are here looking for new songs? Thanks. 

[lemonstar]

I doubt it. If you are a professional songwriter and have managed to secure a music publishing contract your publishing company has a network of contacts and is the link between you, the writer, and possible artists as well as other markets for your music - film, adverts, TV etc. They will invariably guide you - give you feedback on your work, advise on what the industry does or doesn't want, suggest collaborations and handle licensing, legal issues and make sure you get paid. You can self publish - you have to claim and protect your own work - but then you have so much to do to try and get it under the nose of an artist - I guess many don't want to be hassled by wannabe songwriters and so prefer a relationship with a publishing company who understand their needs and have access to a wide range of good quality work and switched on writers.

[247spin]

Lemonstar, thank you for that advice; very thorough and informative. I'm publishing my songs through CD Baby, so I'll see if I can discover more marketing opportunities with them. Since I'm both a composer and recording artist, I'm hopeful I can create enough "buzz" with my songs on the streaming services to possibly get noticed. Since you're from the UK, you might be interested in a song I wrote, "Lois Brown", about an Englishman who heads off to WWI leaving behind his true love Lois Brown. I'd be open to any feedback you might have for me. Thanks again, and best of luck in your songwriting endeavors. 

[Michan]

Hello @247spin!

First of all: welcome to Songstuff.

I don' t know any member that is here looking for new songs. The body of the Songstuff community are artists, songwriters and lyricists making songs and looking forward taking them further.

Good luck with the music writing and distribution! Marketing is something all artists should learn how to do by themselves, if they really want to get good results. Here in Songstuff there are some users with a lot of background in marketing strategies for artists, so, I guess you'll be able to find content of interest in the site.

Looking forward checking some of your works as well! Send us some Spotify or Soundcloud links so we can check!

Best,

Michan

[247spin]

Hi Michan,

 

Thanks very much for your advice, and for making this "new guy" feel a part of this songwriting community. Thanks to you and others, I am feeling quite welcome here. 

 

Marketing is a challenge, and I think a big part of that is simply the vast amount of music that is available now in cyberspace. However at the end of the day, my sense is that to distinguish oneself as a songwriter takes a couple of key elements: talent & good luck. 

 

Over the weekend I enter the American Songwriters Magazine latest songwriting contest with my entry of "Lois Brown". It's a folk song about a man who goes of to WWI leaving behind his true love Lois Brown. I perform the song in the folk-rock style, but I believe it would be a wonderful song performed by a traditional folk artist. 

 

If you'd like to check out some of my songs, here's a link to my Spotify artist's page:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/30ji2qjyQI0w0D4LVRKjBj?si=rHVy1nPNRaiek2ftEhB-UQ

 

Thanks again for your hospitality! I hope to talk with you again, and best of luck to you Michan!

 

Cheers,

Dave