Tag Archive for ASCAP

The other week I attended the New Found Glory/Saves The Day concert at the House of Blues in Boston, MA. Being a fan of both artists since their inception, I’ve collected the entirety of their respective discographies. New Found Glory put out an EP in 2000 called From the Screen to Your Stereo which consisted of 7 cover tracks of national artists used in motion pictures (in 2007 they released the follow-up album From the Screen to Your Stereo II … clever huh?). In the history of music, many bands have recorded and released covers of their favorite artists, or of songs that they believed the public would enjoy (something played on Top 40 to gain more recognition in most cases). So, in this week’s “Generation DIY,” I’d like to talk about the process of covering a song and the legality behind doing so.
Continue reading ‘Generation DIY: Cover Songs 101′

Feel creatively blocked? Career counselor and consultant JoAnn Braheny (pronounced bra-HAY-nee) to the rescue. Based in Los Angeles, JoAnn is practically the guru of developing and maintaining artistic creativity. Her husband, John Braheny wrote what is considered the songwriter’s bible, The Craft and Business of Songwriting, now in its third edition, and between them the pair teach both the nuts and bolts and the more ethereal sides of songwriting through her workshop and Web site, Goosing Your Muse.

Since we are at the beginning of a new year and many artists have made New Year’s resolutions that involve their music, I thought it would be a good time to check in with JoAnn for some creative advice on staying inspired throughout 2010.

CD: Can you explain what you mean by “Goosing Your Muse”?

JAB: I actually searched Google for “What is a muse?” and here’s the response: Many artists, writers, poets and musicians have said that their creative work has been inspired by an individual whom they refer to as their muse. A muse is someone who has such an influence on another that he or she becomes the focus and inspiration for that person’s creative work. The term has historically been used by men to describe the women that they have been in love with and made the subject of their work.

Basically, the idea of goosing your muse is to stimulate people’s creative process, to provide some way of helping them think “out of the box,” be even more creative and to discover ways in their own experiences/adventures that delight themselves and others.

CD: How did you start helping artists to goose their muses?

JAB: This question has three answers. First of all, my older brother is now an opera singer. But when we were kids, our parents worked. When he had to babysit me, he dragged me around our hometown, Chattanooga, Tennessee, to his interminably long voice lessons, auditions, rehearsals and performances. I got to see, first hand, just what it really takes to work full-time in the music business. I also got to play backstage with makeup and costumes and props, but I was perfectly happy not being in the spotlight. (He, however, won voice scholarships to both Julliard in New York City and Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He still sings bass-baritone, lives in Germany and performs all over Europe, Russia, Israel, USA, etc.) I learned from him and his colleagues how valuable a support person is for artists. I liken artists to champion race-horses or Olympic runners. It’s not just about having a good idea, or talent; it’s about being productive life-long.

The second beginning was when I worked, several years ago, in a music publishing company at a small indie label (now defunct), called GRC Records, in Atlanta. Songwriters/performers would stop by my office where I was learning about copyrights and licensing songs for international markets and they would play me a demo or two. They seemed to want someone to bounce song ideas off of. As I am not a songwriter or singer/musician, but a major fan of all kinds of music, I was glad to take the time to listen. (They knew I had “ears” because I’d already been Atlanta’s first full-time female DJ at a popular rock station.) Those songwriters let me into their world of trial-and-error and allowed me to voice my opinions because they knew I was objective and not brutal.

The third beginning of how I got my own muse goosed was when I worked in Talent Development at Walt Disney Imagineering (Glendale, California) with graphic artists, painters, designers, animators, architects, etc., and helped to develop workshops for them such as, “Managing My Inner Critic,” “Interdisciplinary Dynamics,” “Collaboration Skills” and so forth. What I realized at Disney is that it doesn’t matter if you’re a songwriter, musician, singer, painter, sculptor. At any level of expertise in any artistic endeavor, you will still find yourself working through a lot of the same mazes of trial and error and to make a product that others will want to own.

Continue reading ‘Fine Tunings: JoAnn Braheny, Muse Gooser’

Writing and performing music is rewarding enough without ever making a dime. . . right?
Eff, no! If you’re like most serious musicians, you want to be able to support yourself solely on your music. Sure, chances are you’re not going to be on a yacht popping bottles of Cristal anytime soon, but you can at least start making some decent money (and get great exposure) by copywriting and licensing your music.

If that sounds like a lot of paperwork, rest assured it’s not. There are several huge organizations who will handle the whole business end of tracking your music and making sure you get paid anytime one of your songs is played in a public medium. All you have to do is register with one of the three performing rights organizations in the U.S. —ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. All are similar in that they work as middlemen between you (the artist) and the organization interested in licensing your music (television and radio stations and networks, websites, ringtones and ringbacks, satellite audio services like XM and Sirius, nightclubs, discos, hotels, bars, restaurants and other venues, digital jukeboxes and live concerts).

Getting yourself in a position to make money off your music is easy. Here are the steps:

• Register with ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. You can do this online for a $50 fee typically. All three disburse royalties quarterly.

• Register with Nielson Soundscan. It’s free, and allows you to track the sales of your hard-copy products (provided you put the Soundscan bar code on your packaging.) Each time your CD, DVD, etc., is scanned, the sale is logged by both Nielson and ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, so you’re sure to get paid.

Seems simple, right? Well, it is. And you can keep track of all your royalties online so you know what to expect when paytime comes around. Even if you’re not making enough to buy a house in the Hollywood Hills, you might be able to at least pay your electric bill. And that’s a start.

From the MMF Web site: “The Miami Music Festival is the nation’s newest showcase and conference for emerging musical acts. Independent artists, and those invited by record labels and showcase sponsors will perform on more than 25 stages in clubs, restaurants, tents and hotels in the Brickell area of downtown Miami on December 10 – 12, 2009. Although The Miami Music Festival will present artists performing all genres of music including Alternative and Pop, the festival will feature Latin, Urban, Caribbean and Jazz.”

The festival will take place all over the Brickell area of Miami

Through October 15th, emerging bands and musicians have the opportunity to apply for a performance spot at the festival by visiting this page.

Applicants who are not chosen to perform still luck out: they’ll receive a credit toward the purchase of wristbands to attend the festival. Wristbands can be purchased for one day or all three.

The festival is sponsored by plenty of big names including ASCAP, BMI and YAMAHA. Don’t miss your chance to be heard! Miami is a major hub for the styles of music being showcased, and a particularly attractive destination during the winter months to visitors trying to avoid the snow up north.

This is the first installment of this exciting new festival. We hope that many more are to come!

Five time ASCAPlus Award winner and self-appointed Pop Superhero, Cookie Cutter Girl is alerting all her fellow independent songwriters to join ASCAP and apply for the monetary award that is given to songwriters whose airplay and performances “fall through the cracks” of ASCAP’s royalty payment reporting system. If you’re a qualifying artist, you must act quickly as the award application deadline is this Monday, June 1st!

Lynn Julian, aka Cookie Cutter Girl, is the antithesis of her stage name and encourages women everywhere to break free from their cookie cutter molds and join the girl power revolution. Her girl power pop songs have received airplay on 500+ TV & radio stations and 30+ CDs Internationally. CCG’s latest quest is documented in the new comic book written by Lynn with the help of the “queen of licensed children’s books”, Justine Fontes. The comic book story follows a young woman’s superhero alter ego, Cookie Cutter Girl, who gathers the strength within every woman she helps in the form of pink energy rays and shoots them at her enemies to fight the injustices of the world. Check out Cookie Cutter Girl’s profile on OurStage to get the full story.

Cookie Cutter Girl has been selected for the ASCAPlus award every year since she joined the organization and is now on a mission to save the day for all independent songwriters. Join this Pop Superhero on her mission to support independent musicians and maybe win a little cash while you’re at it!