[bradymusico]

Just followed everybody in this thread (looking forward to going back and listening more to everyone’s music!). I’ve only put a handful of things up on Spotify the last few years but it has been on my list to get more active on there. Actually have been more motivated to do that after AS started circulating some random (old!) tracks of mine on there.

At any rate, here’s me: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5TXlmphHFrOeHKSUjrmqqU?si=kJ2_H7HhQUqNq6xb6inteQ

Agreed that it would be cool to put together some playlists. Art, maybe this should be something with an MLR logo? Curating the playlists is easy enough once you have a collection of artist profiles/tracks to choose from. One way to do it on the forum might be to start a thread, for example, MLR <catchy title> latin music (Spotify Playlist Submission). Folks could drop in the tracks they would like to add and the curator could add them. Of course, at some point you would have to get into quality control…anyway, just my 2 cents!

[bradymusico]

You beat me to it MichaelL! I just posted a link to this article. Totally agree — who knows how long it will take.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/big-shake-up-music-licensing-770512?mobile_redirect=false

Feel free to delete the other thread Art!

[bradymusico]

Hey Chuck —

I’ve used a bunch of their funk/indie drums. Top notch stuff as far as loops go. I keep an eye on the 50%+ off deals and grab things here and there.
Great to have in the arsenal when you need it!

[bradymusico]

In my opinion, television composers are going to experience the same kind of royalty devaluation that songwriters have with with the transition from radio to services like spotify and pandora.

Totally agree. Though, so many have us have already experienced this huge slump — is there no bottom!?

I’d really like to see a new kind of PRO evolve with REAL transparency and run by efficient, state of the art, tech. If the PROs are going to sustain any of us long term, there is no excuse for them not being at the forefront of the industry, shifting with new trends as they arise, similar to how tech companies compete everyday. Without that type of swift adaptation, eventually, each org will just be left scraping for pennies. It’s all so frustrating.

Ok — back to writing. Take it out on your cues! Looks like today will be a dark, moody, apocalyptic day 🙂 – B

[bradymusico]

Unfortunately Kubed, it’s not speculation on my part. This is what I was told directly by BMI’s Director of Distribution in Nashville.
Linking royalties levels to a shows Nielson ratings is their new procedure, going forward.

Ugh — this is terrible MichaelL. I had a similar drop with ASCAP last year with a syndicated show, which is what led me to start my SESAC transition. Sure, things may change at SESAC as well but at least with a smaller pool of writers, I am hoping they do more to take care of their own. Could be a total crapshoot but feels like the right move (for me) now.

With broadcast TV on it’s way out the door, this is a scary time for writers. The PROS really need to get of their asses and start figuring out what the future is going to look like for all of us. I know they were pushing Congress last year but this is really something that needs to be attacked on multiple fronts. A petition might be a good way to start, Art!

[bradymusico]

Happy Holidays All!! 🙂

[bradymusico]

Tendered my termination to ASCAP and will hopefully move to SESAC or BMI, if that does not work out. Leaving old catalog at ASCAP. Thanks MLR, for the help and info. Looking forward to better days.

Good luck MM!! 🙂

[bradymusico]

Just a heads-up.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6281846/sesac-settles-television-class-action-for-58-million

Thanks MichaelL. I read that over the weekend! Any thoughts on what you think this could mean for SESAC moving forward…? I still feel like they have a leg up but this case has me questioning how that will translate down the road.

[bradymusico]

What would you do with music that you own but has been re-titled? Come up with new names and register them with the new PRO, to potentially give them to new non-exclusive libraries / projects? Is this ok?

That’s an interesting question, Mark. Early on I chose to go the exclusive route, so I haven’t dealt with a ton of NE retitled cues. I guess, right out of the gate, I would think that if ASCAP is representing a “work” even though the title can change, this would mean that “work,” in whatever form it exists, is subject to ASCAP’s agreement and can’t be rep’d by another PRO. I’m no expert on that, though…just my initial thoughts.

I agree with MichaelL that the fingerprinting would also present a major headache if they did allow that.

[bradymusico]

Hey Bradymusico. Best of luck with your move, is there a reason why you have left your current catalog with ASCAP ? Thanks
I’m sure Bradymusico will fill you in on his experience, but here’s a recap of what I advised him, to which he refers to above.

MichaelL said it all (thank you, sir!). 🙂 Even though my catalog is smaller compared to others here (500+ titles), it was enough of a hassle given the WFH and other pubs I’ve worked with. Though I am a bit bummed to leave some of the good money cues at ASCAP where I just “hope for the best” on the surveys, I guess that’s incentive to write better cues and have them at SESAC! – B

[bradymusico]

Hi Folks-

Just figured I would update this thread, in the event that there are others attempting to make the switch at some point. I did give my notice of resignation to ASCAP this week and, after discussing some of the complexities of migrating works (much of what MichaelL outlined above), have elected to leave my current catalog at ASCAP and start fresh with SESAC in April 2015.

More to come…

Happy Muziking! 🙂 – B

[bradymusico]

This looks to be a very promising thing for all of the DIY’ers. They do have a scale of service starting at amateur (free) and ending at a business level ($29 a month). They are adding new things to their service, their latest being able to track and manage the tracks you have mastered with them.

I tested LANDR a couple of weeks ago, to see what all the hype was about. For certain types of tracks, MAYBE it’s worth it, if you know nothing about audio production and never intend on learning about the mastering process. IMO, if you really care about your music and devloping your production chops, there will never be a substitute for real ears and subtle attention to detail at the final stage of any mix. With the money you will spend on the pro/business service level, you could just as easily invest that into solid mastering plugins and tutorials. Not a solution I would recommend to other composers, personally.

[bradymusico]

1st act – mysterious, brooding, occasional hits ok
SUDDEN BREAK or RAMP UP
2nd act – energy, using same ideas from opening if possible, building bigger and bigger with every repeat of the 8 bar phrase
SUDDEN BREAK, HUGE RISE
3rd act – massive energy leading to a finale
Finale – ridiculous ending, over-the-top repetition of hits etc – realm of the ridiculous
SHORT BREAK FOR REVERB TAIL
Outro, for ‘coming soon’ – a long fading held note or a gradually fading soft recap of the beginning

Straight from an EXPERT. Thanks for chiming in on this Mark. We can all learn something from your approach! 🙂 – B

[bradymusico]

I used Spitfire’s Albion, and while those strings are incredibly lush and beautiful, sparkly they most certainly aren’t. In the past I’ve always brought in too much of the noise floor inherent to the samples when I’ve tried to add brightness to them via EQ, but maybe brightening up the whole mix would work better? Maybe I need different strings for trailer use…

I would start by playing with the full mix…could give some bite to some of the other things you have going on. I have a bunch of Spitfire’s stuff and LOVE them for certain projects but yeah, you may consider getting something with more of an edge, particularly if you are really going to get into that genre. I have mixed LASS and Albion with some pretty decent results. I should mention that there are plenty of others around here more qualified to speak on behalf of the trailer market (Mark Petrie!). Didn’t mean to come off like I knew all of “the ropes” by any means but I did hear room to improve on the things I mentioned mix wise. Good luck!! – B

[bradymusico]

You have some great melodic ideas and I think the form is there, for sure.

I think the mix is what needs attention. It sounds like you need to spend time really tightening up the low end so that you have more headroom for the rest of the mix to pop out (especially in the 3rd “act). Try some parallel comp. on those perc tracks (if you haven’t already) and ALSO side chain compression is super important for that low end so that those booms and braams can share the same space. You might also consider using a mid/side EQ to cut the side freq below 115-130 Hz to try to bring more clarity to the low end. Also, I think that you are missing a lot of the sparkle/magic high end of the strings and mix in general. Don’t be too heavy handed on the compression and automate where you need to so that it’s not applied across the board. Hope that helps.

Spot on ideas overall IMO! Great work!! 🙂

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