Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2012-01-24 04:23:34 by PettiJohannsen []
Your success as a singer-songwriter depends a good deal on the strategic way you position your self as a musician. The artistry of producing superb new music—your vision, your disposition, your intuitivesense of rhythm and musical figures—is a vastly different beast than the regularly daunting legal and financial landscape of music in this new era of electronic distribution. One venture is creative and intuitive; the other requires red tape, legality, logistics and factors.

Apart from the creative process, it’s crucial to consider strategy when considering where you want your sound to take you. Do you produce audio as a career? Is music your main type of earning? Do you create music to sell albums and create a fan base, or do you primarily perfect to have your music placed in film, television and video games? Perhaps you produce music for all three purposes.

Yet another crucial factor to contemplate is what distribution technique will actually make you money. Given the current landscape of diminishing download profit and the high cost of antiquated physical distribution systems it can be a daunting undertaking to discover the approach that is suitable for you. In 2012, most musicians agree that the main two strategies to earn money from music are to tour, or to license productions for film, television and video games. After considering the effort and cost involved in organizing, booking and carrying out tours licensing definitely emerges as a preferred revenue stream generated by music. If placement in films and television is your principal objective, please keep reading.

The way you control ownership of your music is an essential element for possible music licensing deals in the future. You’ll want to research what would make the most sense for your own music with a lawyer, but in general, you’ll need to bear in mind:

  1) You're going to want to retain your own publishing.
  2) It truly is easier to contemplate licensing contracts if there is one single
  songwriter credit for your productions.
  3) It is less complicated to work with licensing agents if you release your own
  songs as an independent artist. In general, the less parties there are
  in a contract, the better.
  4) It is best to evaluate licensing agencies effectively. Have a lawyer
  examine any possible contracts. Should you choose a licensing agent, they
  frequently prefer to be the exclusive agent—so choose well.

Musician Jennifer Clarke is one such . She creates her music primarily as an emotional pursuit. Her songs are deeply personal and soulful. Yet the moment the album is mastered and printed, Jennifer becomes all business. She licensed her track, “More Than I Have,” on the FX Series starring Denis Leary, Rescue Me. Her current album, Trinkets in Rubble, is scheduled for release in March 2012, when she’ll start new efforts to get the album licensed.

What can you do to pursue licensing? Get in touch with Music Nomad, ASCAP, or use your favorite search engine to seek companies that specialize in the field. Most importantly, never give up. If you knock on enough doors at some point one of them will open.