Gregory Becker is coming to Berklee to lecture and host a song critique session and YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT. A little about Gregory:
Gregory Becker is primarily known as a lyricist and top-line melody writer. He grew up in Boston, MA and began his musical career playing piano at the age of 5 and later playing drums and guitar in bands around Boston. He then focused his talents on writing and studied lyric development and commercial arrangement at the Berklee School of Music. Gregory moved to Nashville in 1995 and worked as a song plugger on Nashville’s legendary music row for several years while continuing to write. After having several major label cuts on songs he wrote and pitched by himself, Gregory left song plugging to begin his first publishing deal with Warner Chapell Music. Gregory is currently signed with BMG Rights and his songs have sold more than 20 million units worldwide and have been recorded by such acts as Meatloaf, Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, and Rascal Flatts. He works with producers, artists and writers of various genres in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles while residing in Nashville, TN.
This is a great opportunity to hear critiques from someone who knows the business first-hand!
Lecture:
When: Thursday, July 14th @ 11 am
Where: 150 Mass. Ave room 122
Songwriting Master Class:
When: Thursday, July 14th 7-9 pm
Where: 921 Boylston St room 511
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The Britney Story...
How to write a hit record without really writing a hit record.
Jeff Fenster looked at myself and Jack Perricone and said "Gentlemen, the floor is yours."
This is easily the second best thing to hear from the head of A&R at Jive Records. The first best, of course, being "This is AMAZING. Can we use it as the single on Britney's new record?
This is easily the second best thing to hear from the head of A&R at Jive Records. The first best, of course, being "This is AMAZING. Can we use it as the single on Britney's new record?
""Well," I said, "Theresa has put one of my songs on hold for the Britney album. It's been a few weeks and I just wanted to know where it's at?
""Of course. I'll grab the latest status update." Jeff calmly flips through a few papers, and offhandedly asks me the name of the track.
"Oh, our tune is called Criminal," I reply.
Jeff stops looking for papers, and turns at me with a knowing smile on his face and says "Well, I can already tell you the title is going to be a problem."
In the .5 seconds of silence before he spoke again, my mind raced to fill in every possible reason why the goddamned TITLE of our song could cause a problem. Is britney going for a "goodie-two shoes" image? Is it a concept album where all of the songs start with the letter "B"? Just as quickly as I thought of reasons, I started formulating counter-defenses.
Jeff opened his mouth again, stopping both my heartbeat, and my thought process: "Well, you see, there's another song that is going to be on the album titled 'In Love with a Criminal' and of course--."
Really? REALLY, Jeff Fenster? We're going to lose out on a Britney cut because someone else used a similar title?
My brain started to think that maybe, just maybe, there was a little itsy bitsy chance that "In Love With a Criminal" was JUST far enough away from "Criminal" that we could still have the cut.
"Well," I ask, "While you're still looking for the list. Would you mind at least taking a listen to the tune?"
We pop in the CD, he blares it louder than I do in my studio, is bobbing his head the entire time through and looks at me at the end of the cd and says "Yeah. It's a great tune for Britney! Oh and Here's that status sheet." Jeff looked over the latest status sheet for Britney's album and chuckled, "Ah, and look what they changed the title to!"
He slid the sheet towards me and, for a split second every cell in my body filled with the hope that the title was changed to something banal like "In Love" or "Loving a Convict" or some other horrible title in which I would find my ticket to the cut I've always wanted, or maybe the other tune would be low enough on the list that OUR criminal still had a chance.
I looked at the list and froze.
In order of preference. Jive Records' #1 PICK, by none other than Max Martin himself, who by the way started writing over 2 months AFTER we submitted our tune, has been retitled:
"Criminal"
Oh, hi there Dues. I must have forgotten to pay you.
On the bright side, it is an honor to be written off a Britney Spears record by Max Martin.
Max, as a massive fan of your work: I hope to be able to repay the favor some day.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Re-Post: Writing Country? Only hits, please...
REPOST FROM:
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/genre/country/nashville-publishers-say-a-hit-is-still-1005220782.story
Nashville songwriters may be fewer in numbers than in years past, but they can rest well knowing that hits still pay well.
"The good news is a country hit is still worth as much as it's ever been," said Jody Williams, VP, Writer/Publisher Relations, BMI Nashville, at the second annual Billboard Country Music Summit in Nashville.
And there are many opportunities for publishers to get a song into the market, added John Barker, Founder and President, ClearBox Rights, such as synchronization uses and video games. "I'm optimistic about the future because now we so many more outlets for songs to be available."
But publishers don't have it easy, either. "We've all lost a lot of income to the decline of mechanicals," said Pat Higden, president, Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. As album sales have declined over the years, the amount of mechanical royalties publishers earn from those sales has fallen (the full mechanical rate paid to publishers is 9.1 cents per track). In fact, Higdon claimed that three years ago Universal Music Publishing lost 45% of mechanical revenue that has yet to return to the company's books.
Fewer mechanical royalties from album sales means an album cut might not recoup a publisher's investment. The result is a market that is almost completely hit-driven, said Chris Dubois, partner at Sea Gayle Music. "If you're a publisher and you're not getting singles, you're not surviving." And while Dubois agreed that digital has breathed life into mechanicals, he cautioned that mainly singles were the beneficiaries.
BMI and ASCAP are currently renegotiating their deals with radio stations, noted Williams, and the interim agreement has reduced BMI's collections of radio performance royalties by about $4 million.
Perhaps the biggest change in Nashville is the rise of the artist-songwriter. As labels seek out artists who can both perform and write songs, publishers are finding the best way to get their songs onto albums is for their songwriters to co-write with recording artists.
But it's a controversial aspect of today's artist development in Nashville. "There is a misconception with artists over the last few years that just because you have a record deal you are all of a sudden a songwriter," said Higdon. "Every artist is not a songwriter. There have always been those great artists that didn't write that just interpreted songs, and we still need those in the format."
It's just a fact of doing business in Nashville today if you want to get a song recorded, said Dubois. "The reality of it is if you're not getting cuts you're not making money then you're not going to be doing it for long. I think a big part of publishing has shifted from song-plugging to politically positioning your writers to have the best opportunity of getting cuts. That means trying to infiltrate the little camps that exist around town, around artists."
Carla Wallace, co-owner and VP Creative of Big Yellow Dog Music, takes a balanced approach to working with artists. "If it makes sense for Josh Kear to write with Lady Antebellum because musically it's a good match, then that's great."
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/genre/country/nashville-publishers-say-a-hit-is-still-1005220782.story
Nashville songwriters may be fewer in numbers than in years past, but they can rest well knowing that hits still pay well.
"The good news is a country hit is still worth as much as it's ever been," said Jody Williams, VP, Writer/Publisher Relations, BMI Nashville, at the second annual Billboard Country Music Summit in Nashville.
And there are many opportunities for publishers to get a song into the market, added John Barker, Founder and President, ClearBox Rights, such as synchronization uses and video games. "I'm optimistic about the future because now we so many more outlets for songs to be available."
But publishers don't have it easy, either. "We've all lost a lot of income to the decline of mechanicals," said Pat Higden, president, Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. As album sales have declined over the years, the amount of mechanical royalties publishers earn from those sales has fallen (the full mechanical rate paid to publishers is 9.1 cents per track). In fact, Higdon claimed that three years ago Universal Music Publishing lost 45% of mechanical revenue that has yet to return to the company's books.
Fewer mechanical royalties from album sales means an album cut might not recoup a publisher's investment. The result is a market that is almost completely hit-driven, said Chris Dubois, partner at Sea Gayle Music. "If you're a publisher and you're not getting singles, you're not surviving." And while Dubois agreed that digital has breathed life into mechanicals, he cautioned that mainly singles were the beneficiaries.
BMI and ASCAP are currently renegotiating their deals with radio stations, noted Williams, and the interim agreement has reduced BMI's collections of radio performance royalties by about $4 million.
Perhaps the biggest change in Nashville is the rise of the artist-songwriter. As labels seek out artists who can both perform and write songs, publishers are finding the best way to get their songs onto albums is for their songwriters to co-write with recording artists.
But it's a controversial aspect of today's artist development in Nashville. "There is a misconception with artists over the last few years that just because you have a record deal you are all of a sudden a songwriter," said Higdon. "Every artist is not a songwriter. There have always been those great artists that didn't write that just interpreted songs, and we still need those in the format."
It's just a fact of doing business in Nashville today if you want to get a song recorded, said Dubois. "The reality of it is if you're not getting cuts you're not making money then you're not going to be doing it for long. I think a big part of publishing has shifted from song-plugging to politically positioning your writers to have the best opportunity of getting cuts. That means trying to infiltrate the little camps that exist around town, around artists."
Carla Wallace, co-owner and VP Creative of Big Yellow Dog Music, takes a balanced approach to working with artists. "If it makes sense for Josh Kear to write with Lady Antebellum because musically it's a good match, then that's great."
Monday, June 6, 2011
CALL FOR SONGS: Singer/Songwriter Showcase!
For the first time over the summer, Songwriters Club is putting together a Singer/Songwriter Showcase! A panel of judges will choose the BEST from the TOP song submissions from the songwriters at Berklee to perform at the end of the summer. Don't miss this opportunity!
If you would like to perform, please submit ONE ORIGINAL song in mp3 format to berkleesongsubmission@gmail.com!
Deadline is July 8th
The concert will be held in The Loft in 939 on July 26th!
If you would like to perform, please submit ONE ORIGINAL song in mp3 format to berkleesongsubmission@gmail.com!
Deadline is July 8th
The concert will be held in The Loft in 939 on July 26th!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Write Jingles and MAKE MONEY
Recent Berklee grad, Tom Harrison, has developed a BRILLIANT way for jingle writers and companies to reach each other. As it says on the website:
"All businesses would benefit from having their own Advertising Jingle to use wherever they want. . .Until now this has been a prohibitively expensive process and the business owner would have to put his faith in just one composer. Equally young upcoming composers face an uphill struggle to get their work noticed by companies large and small and spend too much of their time chasing difficult to achieve business."
The Jingle Works connects businesses and composers to make the process quicker and simpler! Go check it out and sign up, this really is a great opportunity!
"All businesses would benefit from having their own Advertising Jingle to use wherever they want. . .Until now this has been a prohibitively expensive process and the business owner would have to put his faith in just one composer. Equally young upcoming composers face an uphill struggle to get their work noticed by companies large and small and spend too much of their time chasing difficult to achieve business."
The Jingle Works connects businesses and composers to make the process quicker and simpler! Go check it out and sign up, this really is a great opportunity!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Re-Blog: How much money can I make with Songs?
Original at http://blog.startmysong.com/2010/01/02/songwriting-how-much-money-can-i-make/
Songwriting: How Much Money Can I Make?
JANUARY 2, 2010According to Dan Kimpel’s article in Music Connection Magazine, “Songwriting, Where Did All The Money Go?”, the following amounts are the average payments songwriters are receiving for song use:$45,500 : One song on a million-selling CD. This is based on the 9.1 cents per album sold mechanical license rate with a publisher taking 50%. If the songwriter self-published their music, then they would get the full $91,000 per million albums sold. This rate can further be reduced if the label or artist has negotiated a reduced mechanical rate. Standard reduced rate is 3/4 or 6.8 cents per album sold.$15,000 – $60,000 : Feature film, one song, writers and publishers share sync fee’s. (Synchronization License - syncing music to moving images). This can vary greatly depending on the use of the song in the film. A song used for the end-credits or trailer would demand much higher fees than a song used in the background. This is all negotiated between the music supervisor and publisher (or songwriter if he/she has been able to make the film aware of his/her music). Well known songs can demand more where unknown songs will garner much less from a sync license. The exposer may be worth the low sync license though as people who see the movie hear the song. If a soundtrack is released, this will lead to mechanical rates generated from soundtrack album sales (see above).$20,000 – $100,000 : Non-hit song, national commercial. Advertising agencies and music supervisors are looking for new music to use with commercials and sometimes prefer unknown songs and independent artists as they are less expensive.$75,000 – $1,000,000 : Hit song, national commercial.$60,000 – $70,000 : Unknown song, major film trailer.$12,000 – $100,000 : Known song, major film trailer. ”Negotiations will take into consideration whether or not the song that accompanies the visuals is a theatrical trailer for in theater use only, or a television or internet commercial.”$300,000 + : Hit song, major film trailer.$2,500 – $20,000 : Song used in video game.$1,000 – $3,000 : Indie artist, network television show all-in (master + sync) fee. All-in meaning the TV show gets all options for use of the song without further payments. So if the show was later released in a different medium such as an internet channel, home video, or on-demand, the show would not have to pay more monies to the songwriters.$800,000 : U.S. radio and television performance royalties, hit single. There are three performing rights societies that make sure the copyright owners of songs are paid performance royalties when those songs are performed in public. This includes radio, television, restaurants, nightclubs, dance halls, websites, and other venues and broadcasters. The three societies are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC and they receive payments from the music venues stated above for the right to perform the songs in their respective catalogs. The performance rights agencies use their specific systems to determine the amount of times songs are played throughout the different venues and send publishers / songwriters royalties checks based on amount of play. Published songwriters must choose which agency to register with based on the different pros and cons of each organization.0.66 cents : iTunes takes .34 cents per download from the standard .99 cent fee charged (although the rate now varies between .66 / .99 / 1.29 cents per song due to new negotiations between Apple and the labels). If a song is attached to a label, the label will take .46 cents giving the songwriter .10 cents and the artist .10 cents per download. If two songwriters co-wrote the song then this is now .5 cents per download. It is also .5 cents per download if a publisher has 50% rights to the song. Of course, you don’t need a publisher to get your songs onto iTunes or in other music stores, you can pay TuneCore a small fee and then keep the .66 cents per download. Tunecore special offer below:(Note: You can also place your songs for sale right on Start My Song and keep 100% of your revenues from downloads using the Bandbox music widget.)Again, the above numbers are just an idea of potential income that a great song can make when used through different venues. Amounts will definitely vary depending on the negotiating power between those looking for music and those providing music.Disclaimer: This article was not written by a lawyer and the information is the opinion of the author only. This article is not intended as legal advice or counsel. The author does not make warranty or representation as to the accuracy of contained statements.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Want the best secret to getting your videos to go viral?
Want to get your video to go viral? Here's a quick tip: Have John Mayer blog about it!
Read on, and please re-tweet, re-blog, or re-post this to help Ken get his video going viral!
John came to Berklee to do a songwriting clinic for a few selected students, one of whom is a friend of the club, Ken Yates. Since then, John has been radio silent on his blog (for over a month), but as of Thursday morning at 1AM, John Mayer posted the following entry, titled:
"Want to hear a great song? (I mean a REALLY great song?)"
Read on, and please re-tweet, re-blog, or re-post this to help Ken get his video going viral!
John came to Berklee to do a songwriting clinic for a few selected students, one of whom is a friend of the club, Ken Yates. Since then, John has been radio silent on his blog (for over a month), but as of Thursday morning at 1AM, John Mayer posted the following entry, titled:
"Want to hear a great song? (I mean a REALLY great song?)"
Want to hear a great song? (I mean a REALLY great song?)
I taught a songwriting class at Berklee College of Music in Boston in March where I heard so many talented songwriters play some really great songs. Very few of the students have yet to record the songs they played for me, but Ken Yateswrote a tune called “I Don’t Wanna Fall in Love” and posted a live video of it on YouTube. This song moved me when I first heard it in the room and it still does today.
I love teaching at Berklee because I get to meet the artists that are going to keep the music world going strong
before the rest of the world does.
before the rest of the world does.
Enjoy, two years early.
(lots of love to everyone else that day who fearlessly played their songs for myself and the rest of the room.)
-JM
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