TuneCorner

The Do It Yourself Record Company by Donald S. Passman

(And if you act right now, we'll throw in a knife that slices tomatoes paper thin).

By Donald S. Passman, author of All You Need To Know About The Music Business

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     Historically, record companies held the keys to the kingdom. It took a large organization to manufacture and ship records to stores, meaning things like manufacturing plants, warehouses, sales forces, shipping people, financial controls, etc. Also, in order to really sell records, you had to get your music on the radio and MTV, which took a promotion staff and a lot of money.

    In those days, the record retailers were so big that they wouldn’t bother with small players. That meant it was hard to get your product on their shelves if you didn’t come through a record company. Also, frankly, the big record companies paid retailers a lot of money to position their product prominently in the stores. So even if an artist managed to get their records into the retail bins, they’d likely get buried in the back. If, somehow, the records started selling anyway, the retailers would pay the artist late (if at all), since one little player didn’t matter to them. On top of all this, as we’ll discuss when we get to pressing and distribution deals (on page xxx), the artist had to put up the money to manufacture the records. If the stores didn’t sell them, they’d be returned to the artist, who’d lose the manufacturing costs, plus the freight costs in both directions. So it took a big player to absorb those kinds of risks.
Today, things have really changed:
1.    While it’s still difficult to get your product into stores (now it’s because they carry so few titles), physical retailers are becoming less significant as CD sales decline.  Conversely, digital is on the rise, and anyone can get their music distributed digitally.
2.    Radio is still very important for mainstream artists, but it’s become a very narrow channel, meaning it plays only a limited range of music genres, and not a lot of different titles.  Because of this, alternative ways for people to discover music are becoming more important, and the Internet (which anyone can access) is one of the keys.
3.    A direct relationship with fans is the next generation of marketing, and young artists are proving more savvy in this area than a lot of established companies. 

On top of all that, when you make a deal with a record company, you give up control of your recordings (as well as other aspects of your life, such as the ability to do music for films, commercials, concert videos, etc.), and you also give up a chunk of your income from both record and non-record areas (as we’ll discuss in a bit).
So, why would you want a record company?  Well, if you’re a niche artist (for example, a jam band, backpacker, or indie rock band), and you’re happy staying in your niche and selling to a small group of fans, you may not need or want a record deal. It’s possible (through outfits like Tunecore) to get your music to iTunes, Amazon, and other digital retailers, and you can make a living doing gigs, promoting yourself directly to your fans, and selling your tracks. Because your genre limits your potential audience, you’ll often make more money by doing it yourself than you will with a record company. For a record deal to make sense, the company has to generate more money for you (after they take their piece) than you would get by selling less product on your own. With niche artists, that’s often questionable.
If you’re more mainstream, such as pop, rock, or country, this is a much tougher question. You can of course set up a killer MySpace page, build a fanbase, and sell directly to them. Since your music has a wide appeal, if you break through, you’ll make far more money by keeping the record company’s share of the pie, not to mention keeping all of your non-record income. But here’s the problem: The same way that it’s easy for you to set all this up, it’s easy for everybody to set this up. There are over four million bands on MySpace, and that number is growing.  How’s anyone going to find your music?
There are some “virtual” record companies who can help. These companies, who were started by talented people who lost record company jobs when the industry melted down, will do everything from sales, marketing, promotion, etc., yet let you keep control of your destiny.  However, they charge pretty heavily for these services, which most new artists can’t afford.  Thus, they’ve mostly been successful with artists who’ve already released a few albums (and therefore have a fan base), but are out of their record deals.  For this reason, a lot (maybe even most) mainstream artists are still looking for record deals. 
Having said all that, young artists today are working the Internet and new media far better than the established record industry. The future of music marketing is to know who your fans are and to contact them directly.  In the past, no one had any idea who went into record stores and bought the multi-million sellers, or who was listening to the radio when they were played millions of times. Today, between the Internet and cell phones, it’s possible to know exactly who likes your music.
    Young artists have gotten very sophisticated about building a database of their fans. For example, at their shows, many artists give away something (pins, stickers, hundred dollar bills, etc) to everyone who signs their mailing list. The artists then promote their shows, recordings, and merchandise through email and mobile phone text messaging. Some artists even do lifecasting, where they’re communicating with fans a number of times each day. For example, they might iChat on the way to a gig; blast out backstage updates through Twitter or Kyte; send pictures of themselves on stage; forward videos of themselves in the bathtub with rubber duckies; etc. Even if they only build their fan list with a few more people at each gig, if they keep at it, they can get enough to generate a buzz on MySpace and similar sites. 
So these days, more than ever before, it’s possible to build a career on your own.  Or if not a career, at least a solid base from which to launch yourself and get the attention of a record company, if you decide to go with a record company. 
    Now get out there and do it!

Music Licensing for Indie Films by Thea Maichle

Thea Maichle is a freelance Producer living in Venice, CA.  In her recent role as line producer for the film "Rock Prophecies," she oversaw the music licensing of songs from artists such as jimi Hendrix, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, as well as various independent artists.  Check out the trailer!

Thea may be contacted at rockprophecies@gmail.com

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As the line producer for Rock Prophecies, I spent much of my time on the phone working with our music supervisor to get last-minute music licenses approved for use in the film.  Finding the right music while staying within budget for an independent film is challenging.  If early on, someone had clued me in that I would spend hours upon hours negotiating with artists and labels and reading through endless music contracts, I would have chosen another career.  I KID!  For me, it has been exciting, rewarding and quite necessary in order to make our projects really stand out.  Hopefully I can shed some light on how music is chosen and what to expect for payment for music used in an independent film.

How music is chosen

Independent filmmakers are always on the lookout for independent artists who want exposure. There are a couple of different ways a song can find its way into the edit bay and therefore into the final timeline of a film.  Typically, the editor does a rough string out of the story and begins to seek out music that will fit with the feel and timing of the scene.  For example, for an opening montage where buses are driving by, people are dancing, and quick cuts are happening, the editor may look for a bluesy song with a harmonica that is high energy and moves quickly.  The director has some input and may have a certain musician or song in mind.  However, it usually ends up that the director and editor will go to the producer like myself and say, “Find us this type of song.”  At that point, I either go to sites such as MySpace, Facebook, or my friends’ music libraries to search for similar music.

Another option is to reach out to a music supervisor (a person that quickly becomes a producer’s best friend).  You will notice that in the credits of most films and TV shows there is a music supervisor listed.  I encourage musicians to get their music in front of music supervisors.  I work with a fantastic music supervisor, Bruce Rabinowitz of Feedback!, who is constantly listening to new music, searching for a gem that will fit for a film.  Use the Internet and some detective work to find the addresses of the companies where music supervisors work and send them a demo with a note describing what type of music you produce.  It’s worth a shot.
Also, if you know any editors, directors, or producers, make sure they have your latest CD on hand and check in every once in awhile to make sure that your music is fresh on their minds.   

How much $$ to expect

None. I’m kind of joking, but not really – just being realistic. Many times low-budget, independent films have no money for music licensing.  In this case, you have to weigh whether or not the exposure that you may receive is worth taking the time to work through contract details.  I say “may” because the plain fact is that most independent films never see the big screen.

If an independent film is able to include music licensing as a line item in their budget, it’s usually not much.  Songs get paid out per side, meaning you get paid an amount for the publishing rights (one side) and paid an amount for the master recording rights (the other side). When your music is used in an indie film you can probably expect anywhere from $100 - $500 per side for a buyout of broad rights, meaning in all media, in perpetuity (forever), worldwide.  A “buyout” is not an exclusive deal – it simply gives the film company the right to use your music in association with the film in its entirety. You still retain the right to license your music for as many other films and uses as you choose. The right to use your music for a trailer or commercial should be additional, separate licenses.
 
With that said, I believe that it is 100% worth the time it takes to review a contract and give it a go. I understand the amount of work that goes into writing and producing a song, so don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that artists should always give away their music for free.  In fact, I would love it if all the projects I worked on had fat budgets for music clearance.  However, many times it’s hard enough just getting the money together to make the film, so the music clearance budget suffers.   This is when you need to take a step back and ask yourself, “Is the potential exposure worth me licensing my music for use in a film?”  As long as you do not sign away exclusive rights for the use of your song in a film, then it doesn’t really hurt.  In the end, any exposure is good exposure.

Promoting Your Music With the Holidays by Jake Smith

First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate a handful of TuneCore users who have recently been featured in the iTunes Halloween Music section along with some very notable acts like Alice Cooper, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and John Carpenter (if you personally had an iTunes spotlight and I didn’t catch it I’m very sorry!)

Artist: Ultimate Horror Sounds

Album: Halloween Horror – Scary Sounds and Music

Artist: Ultimate Horror Sounds

Album: Halloween Chopped Up – Scary Horror Sound Effects

Artist: Monster’s Halloween Party

Album: The Ultimate Scary Sounds and Music for Your Halloween Bash

Artist: Sounds For Life

Album: Halloween Scary Party Sounds

I felt it was important to mention these albums for a few reasons.  For one, I just thought it was cool to see albums I recognized from TuneCore on the storefront of the largest digital music retailer in the world.  Second, this directly relates to an article I wrote a few months back about taking advantage of the fact that sales of Holiday music spike drastically on and leading up to the date of said Holiday.  Third and most important, these albums serve as a reminder of the very real power that new artists and small labels most definitely did not have even just a few years ago.

With so many free and cheap promotional tools available to all artists, it’s understandable to feel like your music will just get lost in the endlessly cluttered World Wide Web.  The sad truth is that it can.  I love music, and I love discovering new music, but at the end of the day there is only so much audio I am physically capable of hearing.  Will everyone reap a huge reward for the content they put out in the world?  That would be awesome, but no.  However, with a quality product, a long-term plan and a willingness to put in the hard work needed to reach a target market, many people who once couldn’t now can (and do).

That being said, I do not want to understate the extremely helpful boost that can come from creating music or covering a popular song specific to a holiday season.  If releasing Halloween music doesn't work well with your overall artistic vision, don't sweat it!  This is all just food for thought.  Some random examples I can think of:  I do not run a record label, but if I did maybe I would make a compilation album where every artist from my label performed an original Halloween song.  Maybe I would spend some time searching iTunes and the other stores for Halloween terms that haven't already been used to death (for example, a search for "Kids Halloween" brings up 50 song results, while a search for "Silly Halloween" brings up 44 and "Teen Halloween" only brings up 19).  Maybe I want to think ahead to all the other holidays coming up to see how I can prepare for them.  A search for "Kids Thanksgiving" for example only yields 19 song results.

Anyway, I could ramble on like this for a while (I often do), but I would really love to hear more about some of the unique ideas you guys have tried or are considering trying.  Do any of you think you've created a truly unique market position for yourselves?  Do any of you use Holiday music as a way to lead listeners to other music you've created?  Share it all here on the TuneCore blog!

The Keys to a Great Mix, Part II: Dynamic Processing by Jake Hartsfield

In Part 1 of “Keys To A Great Mix” I talked about various EQ techniques to use when mixing.  Now I’m going to follow up with tips on dynamic processing (compression and expansion) and time-based effects (delay, reverb, etc.).  I’m going to give very specific settings & examples, but just remember that these are my personal preference and are not “correct” or “standard” by any means.

Why use Compression?

A lot of times, you want to control the dynamic range of an instrument (such as a lead vocal) so that it doesn’t disappear during softer phrases and blow out your ears on louder belted phrases.  Also, compressing something like a vocal helps you place it in the mix and lift it up without overpowering everything else.  For drums, compression helps you achieve a consistent sound/level for each hit (especially important with kick and snare).

Clean up your drums with Expansion

With drums, expansion helps to attenuate (get rid of) the unwanted noise from the rest of the kit when a particular piece (the snare, for example) is not being struck.  With expansion, you’re basically singling out your hits so they sound almost like samples.  This can help in mixing to clean up some of the extra noise and allow you to adjust the level of the kick, snare, or toms, without affecting the rest of the drum mix too much.  You don’t always need to use expansion…it’s more of a problem solver (very useful in live situations) than a necessary key to mixing.  You generally would only want to try using expansion on the kick, snare, and your toms.  If it sounds good, use it.  If not, don’t!

The expander will be “closed” until a sound hits the input high enough to cross a threshold (dB level) you set.  For a snare, you want to set the threshold just above the noise level, so that only the hit from the snare is triggering it to open.  To use an expander on a snare that’s consistently striking around -3dB, while the other noise from the kit is coming through at -15dB, you might want to try setting the threshold to -10dB.  Set the attack time as fast as possible; the attack controls how quickly the expander opens up, and you want all of the attack from the snare.  Listen closely to the snare and adjust the “hold” (how long the expander stays completely open) and “release” (how long it takes to close back up) so that you hear the full snare sound, and it closes smoothly and almost unnoticeably.  I tend to keep my hold and release time longer than most to allow the snare to settle before attenuating it too much.

Compression Settings for Drums

Some of these settings may seem a bit extreme, and that’s because I’m using examples that would fit a pop rock sound with a drummer that hits fairly hard…  In the end, the settings do not matter at all – it’s how it sounds.  If it sounds great, go with it.  Learning how to achieve certain sounds will help you know when and how to break the rules…and we like breaking rules in music

Kick – For a “tight” and “punchy” kick sound, try setting the attack at 30 ms (just enough to let the slap/attack through), the release at 60 ms, the ratio at 5:1, and the knee at 20 dB.  Start the threshold at 0 dB (so that the compressor is inactive) and lower it until you’re consistently getting about -3 to -6 dB of gain reduction (GR).  The threshold completely depends on your input level.  Adjust the makeup gain when you have a nice sound to reach a useable mixing level.

For a “thumpier” kick sound, try adjusting the attack to .5 ms (you’re not letting the attack through with a fast attack), the release to 30 ms, & the knee to 10 dB.

Snare – I like to use moderate compression on my original snare track (to hear the attack/crack), then double it (send it by itself to an aux track at full volume) and compress the heck out of it to get that sweet pop…I like to think it sounds like a tennis ball being served.

For the original snare, try using an attack of 15 ms, a release of 45 ms, a knee of 20 ms, and a ratio of 6:1.  You should adjust the threshold to see between -3 and -12 dB of gain reduction.  These settings also work well for your bottom snare mic.

For the super-compressed snare, try keeping the settings the same, but bringing the threshold down -20 db from where you had it.  You should see a nasty amount of gain reduction (12 to 30 dB)

Toms – Try using an attack of 30 ms, a release of 10 ms, a ratio of 4.5:1, a soft knee at 30 dB, and adjusting the threshold to see about -6 dB of gain reduction.  You want to let the attack/slap of the top come through and compress the rest of the tone so that it sounds smooth and full.

High-Hat – Use similar settings to the ones I described for the toms (attack: 30 ms, release: 10 ms, ratio of 4.5:1, soft knee of 30 ms).  These compression settings work well for most drums & cymbals (overheads)

Overheads - Use the same settings as the high-hat & toms.  You can also experiment and try increasing the ratio to as much as 15:1 or 20:1 and see what happens.  Since your snare drum is usually the loudest piece of the kit, you might see it peaking 3 – 10 db above everything else in your overhead mics.  You usually want a nice smooth cymbal sound with your overheads, and you might want to try to compress them enough so that the snare is attenuated to be almost the same level as the cymbals. This gets a nice poppy sound from the snare and also makes your overheads easier to work with; you can bring your overheads up in your mix without bringing up your snare volume as a side effect.

Bass Guitar – You want to smooth out your bass guitar as much as possible to have a solid low end.  Bass can easily get out of hand if not compressed enough.  For bass, compression settings can vary widely based on the player/musician.  You might need to compress slap bass more than someone using a pick, more than someone thumping softly with their fingers.  Try using an attack of 8 ms, a release of 600 ms, a knee of 20 ms, and a ratio of 4:1.  You almost always want to see at least 3 to 6 dB of gain reduction, and up to 20 dB of gain reduction.  Don’t be afraid to crush it.  Again, this all depends on the style – you may not need to compress the bass much at all if you want an open, airy sound.

Electric Guitar – I don’t usually compress my electrics (until I compress the stereo guitar buss with a strong limiter) because the amp is already compressing the signal so much.  This also opens up the field of sound a little so that there’s more room for the guitars to bounce around enough room for a little magic to happen...  I can always count on the limiter on my stereo guitar bus to keep them from peaking.

Vocals – I tend to crush vocals (mostly in pop rock) because I like to hear the lead vocal up close and personal (similar to most vocals on Top 40 radio).  A popular vocal compressor that can achieve this is the Universal Audio 1176.  The Pro Tools plug-in called Bomb Factory is modeled after this compressor.  Here’s what one of my Bomb Factory plug-ins looks like on a rock vocal.



You want to use a fast attack (1 ms) and a fast release (200 ms) on a vocal.  You want to hear the “punch” of the vocal, but set the attack quick enough to clamp down and smooth it out.  You don’t want to hear a “pumping” sound while you’re adjusting the attack and release.

The compression ratio can range from 2:1 to 20:1…until it becomes limiting.  I like to use a ratio of 20:1, push all the buttons in on Bomb Factory (and the 1176) and listen to the magic happen…  Pushing all the buttons in technically still has a 20:1 ratio, but lets the compressor start to act a little funny.  Just shift-click two of the ratio selector buttons to try it and you’ll see.

Subtle Reverb and Delay Tricks

When you’re sending your instruments to your reverbs, try creating a dedicated Verb for your drums and instruments, and a separate one for your vocals.  You can use more than one reverb and mix them together if you want.

Try soloing the lead vocal and just the reverb aux track, starting with the reverb fader all the way down.  Slowly bring the fader up until you can faintly hear the verb.  Try to hear it creating a nice bed for the vocal without it sticking out.  Focus on the lead vocal and see if it still sounds clear and out front.  If the reverb is distracting or too noticeable, turn it down a little.  If you keep your effects subtle enough so they sound good when they’re soloed, they’ll sound great in the whole mix.

Try sending your lead vocal to 4 separate stereo delay aux tracks.  Create a mono slap delay with the first (150 ms to 230 ms).  Use the same method of soloing the vocal and the delay track and slowly brining up the fader until you barely notice it.  It should be enough to add body and depth to the vocal – and even a little bounce – without sticking out enough for your audience to notice its there.

Use the second delay track and set it at the quarter note length based on the song tempo (you might have to tap it out or actually listen for it), the third delay track at the half note, and the fourth delay track at the whole note.  By doing this, you’re creating your own manual “echo” or “multi-delay” effect… You may want to use one of those automatic effects, but this is my favorite way of adding delays to the vocal.  Add in these long delays ever so subtly based on your taste… You may want to automate them to be lower in the verses and more prominent in the choruses.

Now when you add everything else back into your mix, your audience shouldn’t even notice that you have reverb and delays on your vocal – unless you intend for them to – and your vocal will have more body and blend with your mix much smoother.

If you want to hear the song I referred to for most of my settings, you can go to http://www.jakehartsfield.com, click on the DP logo, and listen to the first track by Kristen Jaudon.

I know that was a long read, but I hope it was helpful.  It should have at least inspired you to think “oh yeah, I can mix better than this pretentious fool!” ;)

Best of luck with your mixing! 

Questions, comments?  Share them here on the TuneCore Blog!

The Lyric Holy Trinity: Writing a Breakthrough Lyric by Wayne Cohen

Wayne Cohen is a veteran multi-platinum selling ASCAP hit songwriter, producer, educator, and owner of publishing/production company Stand Up Songs. He also teaches individual and group songwriting tutoring sessions at his NYC Stand Up Studio and via Skype.

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Obviously, a hooky melody is what draws people to a song, but an emotionally riveting lyric is what keeps them coming back time after time.  In addition to a compelling story (which I’ll talk about later) there is a holy trinity of three elements which – to me – are absolutely paramount; this holy trinity is needed for a lyric to be engaging and interesting enough so people don’t turn you OFF.  So after you go back to work on your current song, ask yourself, is your lyric:
 
1) Universal  (Does the story express a universal emotional truth?)
2) Real  (Is it a simple, fresh, street expression of that truth?)
3) Urgent (Does the song takes place in a single emotional moment, and does the protagonist own that emotion? Does every line of the lyric come from the same emotional place?)
 
So, how did you do on the holy trinity checklist?  Unfortunately 1 or 2 out of 3 ain’t good enough if you want to have a breakthrough song.  But do not despair – you can make 3 out of 3 every time if you follow a few simple steps.
 
How to express a universal emotional truth

Some examples of universal emotional truths include heartbreak, restlessness, attraction, etc… But it’s all in how you say it.  Look at your lyric; is it in the passive or active voice?  If it’s passive, take the same song idea and flip it from passive to active. For example, you could say ‘why don’t you come back,’ but I would rather say ‘I want you to come back’ because it’s not passive and blaming.  And let’s say you want to express that ‘life is falling apart’ or you’re ‘falling off the edge of a cliff’ and ‘never going to recover from this heartbreak.’  Whatever it is, really go for it and don’t just say ‘I can’t stand this’.
 
It doesn’t have to be in first person but it’s definitely more dramatic and compelling to say things like that in the first person rather than ‘when are you going to come back,’ ‘why didn’t you come back,’ ‘it could have been so much better if you had blah blah blah…’ There can be a passive part of the song, could be the bridge, however people aren’t generally drawn to songs that are passive.  There are so many different forms of entertainment competing for your audience’s attention.  Changing from the passive voice to the active voice can make your lyric much more immediate and appealing.  A listener will be engaged way more if the protagonist of the song is passionate about what they are expressing as opposed to blaming the other who the protagonist is singing to.
 
So, ask yourself: Is your song’s emotional story universal? Is the theme of the lyric consistent?