Get your music on TV!

I've been asked by Javier Samayoa, executive producer of the shows "Berklee Studio Sessions" and "Berklee Canta en Espanol", to provide some tracks to be used as "background music" for an upcoming edition of "Berklee Studio Sessions."


There is NO RESTRICTION on genre -- death metal, indie, pop, electro, classical, instrumental, acapella -- whatever.

There is, however, a VERY HIGH BAR FOR SOUND QUALITY. If your recording is not professionally performed, produced, recorded, and mixed, DO NOT SEND.  If your recording is not radio ready, DO NOT SEND. If you recorded it in Garage Band, DO NOT SEND.

If you have a  polished, high quality recording of music that you wrote, please DO SEND ONLY ONE MP3 -- YOUR BEST -- to:
berkleesongsubmission@gmail.com

Thanks, and good luck!

Singer/SW Concert Winners Announced!

We'd like to extend congratulations to the winners of the club's Singer/Songwriter Concert!  The show will take place at 1140 Boylston Street, Room 1A (Lawrence & Alma Berk Recital Hall),  on October 18, 2010 4pm-5pm.

Danielle Deckard

Sam Shrieve

Joren van der Voort

Molly Brown

Brittany Mahrer

Joshua Penslar

Alexi von Guggenberg

Nikolas Metaxas

Expect to hearing some FANTASTIC songs -- we had over 150 songs submitted, and these are the top 8 as chosen by a panel of your peers! See you there!

Berklee Songwriter makes it big, comes home to spread the news!

Emily Shackleton Clinic

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Emily Shackleton Clinic

Thursday, October 7, 2010, 1:00 p.m.

Berk Recital Hall

1140 Boylston Street
Boston MA 02215 [Map]

A clinic on Nashville staff songwriting by Emily Shakelton. The Berklee alumna has been a signed writer at Bug Music for the past three years. She was the first prize winner in BMI's John Lennon contest and was a winner in just about every contest she entered at Berklee. Her song, "Dream Big," was sung by David Cook on American Idol. This is a great clinic in which to to learn what it takes to become a Nashville staff writer.

#1 Hit Country writer - Thursday Night @ 939!

• Marcus Hummon, tomorrow night at Cafe 939.

   

  The SongCircle

  Thursday, October 7, 2010, 8:00 p.m.

  Cafe 939

  939 Boylston Street
  Boston MA 02115 [Map]

  

  Join the SongCircle for an amazing night of original music from some of today's best songwriters featuring the talents of Lucius, Suzie Brown, Tubby Love, AJ, Left on Red, and Grammy winner Marcus Hummon.

  Join the SongCircle for an amazing night of original music from some of today's best songwriters featuring the talents of Lucius, Suzie Brown, Tubby Love, AJ, Left on Red, and Grammy winner Marcus Hummon.

  Admission: $10

  Purchase tickets online through Ticketmaster

Hit pop writer comes to Berklee! Don't Sleep!

Claude has written the #1 hits for Kelly Clarkson ("My Life Would Suck Without You") and Britney Spears ("Circus") as well as songs for Miley Cyrus, Jason Derulo, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, and many more.

 

Claude Kelly Clinic

Thursday, October 14, 2010, 1:00 p.m.

Berklee Performance Center

136 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston MA 02115 [Map]

Claude Kelly

Songwriter Claude Kelly '02 can't remember how he came to be nicknamed the "studio beast," but when you get a moniker like that, it's not something you dispute, right?
"I've been trying to figure out where that came from for years," says the wunderkind, who really hasn't had long to mull over it anyway. Check the math: in just seven years, Kelly went from college grad to writing #1 hits for Kelly Clarkson ("My Life Would Suck Without You") and Britney Spears ("Circus") and giving Chrisette Michele one of those enduring, career-defining ballads ("Blame It On Me") that helped send her album straight to the top of the charts in its first week.
So yes, "studio beast" fits. But "chameleon" might work too. Kelly does it all—from pop to r&b to rock and soul—and the versatility is no doubt the effect of growing up on Manhattan's Lower East Side. "I was hearing reggae and super-soulful stuff like Marvin Gaye and pop and rock. I think people are surprised I can do it, but I really genuinely did grow up listening to it all." By age two, he was playing the piano and by seven, the flute. His single mother, a nurse who moved to the States from Jamaica, made sure Kelly's talents didn't go to waste. "She kept me busy," he says. "There was swimming and dance—activities every single day, church on Sunday, and back at it on Monday. There was no time to linger in the streets, ever."
He can also credit his diverse ear and writing skills to his travels.  Instead of giving him new Jordan sneakers when they hit stores, his mom took him on weeklong jaunts to foreign environments, including the Caribbean, Italy, and Canada. Looking back, he says, "It was really helpful for me to see different parts of the world. You realize life goes on outside of our bubble."
Kelly's mother was serious about his education too. He attended the noted private school Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, and he performed around New York with the New York Boys Choir. Upon graduation, Kelly decided to formally study music at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music. Eager to begin his career in music, Kelly doubled up on coursework and completed his degree in three years.
Kelly landed his first song on a compilation album for the popular Japanese clothing line, A Bathing Ape.  In 2006, his song "Daddy's Little Girl" landed on Frankie J's album Priceless. It wasn't long before Akon heard about the emerging talent and in 2007, the year Kelly signed to Warner Chappell Publishing, Akon suggested that Kelly write some of his music.
Kelly handed in three songs. Leona Lewis took "Forgive Me," Whitney Houston got another, and none other than Michael Jackson claimed the song "Hold My Hand"—a major accomplishment and a testament to Kelly's ability.
Yet Kelly song placement with Jackson became bittersweet when the icon died. "Hold My Hand" has since leaked, but Kelly will of course never get to hear MJ sing the final version of his song live, or tell him how honored he was. "Michael is my all time favorite artist, so the fact that he sang one of my records is an honor within itself."
And that was just his beginning. Kelly has since been tapped to write songs for some of music's biggest names, including R. Kelly, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, and Toni Braxton, as well as buzzed-about newcomers like Melanie Fiona and popular American Idol rocker Adam Lambert. With each turn, like creating Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA," which debuted at #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and became iTunes' #1 download, Kelly displays a knack for working across genres. Many great songwriters master a particular sound, but Kelly flows from r&b to pop to rock and soul with ease.
Among the artists endorsing Kelly as a new phenom is Whitney Houston. "Claude is an accomplished writer," she says. "He's experienced. He knows production, he knows harmony. He can sing his butt off."
As he continues to shape the future of music, Kelly is giving back: he was well known for his MySpace blog posts, which dispense all kinds of advice and living tips—not just to up-and-coming musicians but people in general. They've become so popular he'll soon be moving those, as well as his v-logs, to his own website. "The blog is my way of giving back," he says.  "Charity is important to me and I want to do more."
At a time when many contemporary songwriters are "stamping" tracks with sonic insignias to advertise themselves, Kelly instead prides himself on coaching singers to do their best work, and treats each song as a journey.
"I think I have a gift, but what keeps getting me work is the attention that I give to the artists themselves. I really pay attention to what songs make the artist better. It's not about me—It's about respecting the art, and making the best songs whether it takes five minutes, five hours, or five days. Ultimately I'm there to make everyone sound better."
He's a songwriter deeply devoted to his craft, determined to put the pursuit of quality over everything else. "To me, a song is supposed to take you to a special place . . . The reason we love music is because it can take you to place where you were heartbroken, or want to dance, or were in love for the first time. As soon as the song comes on you should feel that vibe and get lost in it."

How to (not) make your first million!

Do you want to be called for gigs? Here's why saying "Yes" will get you so much more than you think:

When you say "No" to someone, you're also saying "No" to everyone they've ever worked with.   A friend of mine who is into playing bass, told me a story about his growth as a musician. At one point, when he had a lot going on in his life, he felt like he couldn't take on a few gigs that he wanted to.

"Someone I hadn't worked with before asked me to play bass on a gig that I was interested in, and I almost said No," he told me, "but then I realized that if I say no,  I'm not only saying no to him, but I'm saying no to everybody he would have recommended me to."   

As it turns out, the first gig was a blast, and more importantly, he ended up being able to say "Yes" to some really awesome gigs as a result of saying "Yes" to the first gig.  Keep in mind that, for the other gigs,  he wouldn't even have been asked to play if he had said "No" to the first one.   

Every "No" you see becomes a thousand more that you don't.

International Songwriting Competition Deadline soon!

Deadline is 10/6/2010. Lots of categories, lots of prizes ($150,000 up)  Check more info here:
http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/submit


Also don't forget about The Perfect Pitch, and our Singer/Songwriter contests.