Electronic Music 411 - commercial music -

I moved to L.A. to do it. It didn't work out. I'm not in L.A. anymore. The easiest way by far is to be on a record label and sell a decent amount of CDs. Your sound and music will be in people's ears then. And since you would be known it would be easier to make the contacts you need in order to break into the scoring business. In fact your manager will get you an agent who will work to get you gigs. That's what I learned when I was in L.A. Photek moved to L.A. while I was out there. So if it came down to it, and it didn't, but if it did who are they going to choose, Photek or me? Would have been nice to snag an internship at Mark Mothersbaugh's Mutato Muzika, but that didn't happen either. Beautiful in L.A. and I want to go back. Like everywhere else in the world, one needs money in L.A. Especially in L.A. Can't stress that enough. Looking the part and socializing is a part of one's job out there. Going to the movies with friends and acquaintances? Believe me, it's an opportunity to network. Didn't mean to ramble, but breaking in is really about being lucky or building up a resume and being lucky. Either way--luck is a factor.

Recent blogs: Cellular Grid Machine II, Gobbledygook..., Korg + Yellow = Kaossilator!

03/29/07 + monkvolcano

they may not be indy anymore.. but they're still SUK-E

jk jk.. they're rich now so they can't be that bad.

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03/29/07 + elronhubbard

rich enough to have a little asian boy for a butler?

Recent blogs: garage sale, luxeed keyboard led action for 200 bucks, stalking aaron funk

03/29/07 + tunalicker

so i was also wondering if anyone had seen raw42.com. seemed to be a site where you could up your short tracks and had a good section of the portfolio for pretty big commercial ad spots. now, i look tonight and their server is slower then em411's gets and times out. i believe there are a few other ones like that around where you puddle together a group of shorts and pray for rain...er.. kinda thing.
any thoughts about "services" companies and how they divide the profits with middlemen and then give you loaf of bread? or whatever? k. thanks.

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03/29/07 + GrapeApe

soundhack said: "Looking the part and socializing is a part of one's job out there. Going to the movies with friends and acquaintances? Believe me, it's an opportunity to network. "

fuuuck that shit.

mr. oizo did it right. that's about the only redeemable example that i can think of.
a cartoon theme song would be pretty cool. i would so love to be in charge of sound effects in a video game or cartoon.

Recent blogs: analog synths in music, boys don't cry, best electronic live show

03/29/07 + room

compose 40 2 minutes pieces - put them on a CD and give them to library companies

+ big advertising and radio stations

+ maybe offer to do a couple of smaller jobs free to build your CV

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03/29/07 + Fredo

yeah, what you want is to get your music licensed for use on TV. You retain ownership of the music, and depending on the contract it can be licensed again and again... If you are not well-known chances are you are going to get screwed if you sell a song to somebody.

Recent blogs: Red States EP, a bad night for Prince...., how much would you pay?

03/29/07 + bsr

the musicians that write the crap aren't actually bad musicians. my brother-in-law does this for a living, he'll write a beautiful piece - the guy he liases with at the advertising company might like it, everything is looking good, then the idiotic managers get involved and think they know better and ask for changes. and changes. this is why you end up with so much tacky awful cheese on tv adverts.

another common ballache is where they ask for you to do a track in the style of the managers favourite piece of music but just different enough so they don't get sued. so you get lots of lame ripoffs poisoning your ears.

the market for bespoke music is also in flux at the moment - it's cheaper and easier to use library music and even pretty cheap to use commercial pop music in your adverts - it's not a good business to get into unles you have your niche already.

03/29/07 + ulrike

making money making music? sigh...

Recent blogs: I have released my first CD...yay!, Broadcast Live PA @ Le Petit Dejeuner, Minisystem: Star

03/29/07 + Fredo

nothing wrong with that, ulrike. Let's face it, we need money to eat, and to keep up our creative studios. I don't think there is any shame in trying to make money doing what you love.

Recent blogs: Red States EP, a bad night for Prince...., how much would you pay?

03/29/07 + bbwax

frn, you already know tons of peeps in the video/film/tv business right? at least post-production i guess. seems like you could just offer them your music and explain you're trying to catch a break. or i'm sure you know some struggling young commercial directors. give them a couple songs. maybe say "i'll edit for you if you put my music in this spec commercial you just did". get 2-3 good spec commercials, put them in a nice funky little portfolio website and then pr the hell out of that website. i think that's what people need to see, something already done, polished and shiny.

Recent blogs: giving up?, random news and happenings, new-ish EP, virb, myspace

03/29/07 + soundhdack

Fredo said: "nothing wrong with that, ulrike. Let's face it, we need money to eat, and to keep up our creative studios. I don't think there is any shame in trying to make money doing what you love."

It's taken me a good long while to learn that lesson, Fredo. Short of hitting the lottery there is no way to avoid focusing on the aspect of money in relation to what one wants to do for a living. Everybody knows the system is sick, but many of us are in the position to make the choice between suffering and creating the illusion that one is not suffering at all. Money is good for creating a dream life during one's waking life. If you love someone or love what you do, then you are going to have to get to the point where you say, "Aw fuck! I gotta make some money." You have to get to the point where you understand what that means. It doesn't mean that you sellout, it just means that you have to make enough money in order to rid your life of most of the bullshit that this system will attempt to destroy you, who you love, and what you love with. It's sounds like Catch-22, but I have to say that if I can get to the point where I no longer have to deal with those bastards who call me on the phone and ask/demand money that I don't have, who tempt me by sending me crap in the mail to borrow money that I clearly do not already have to pay them back with at a profit, who would love to get me into a position of foreclosure or repossession or the threat thereof, who would love to buy my vote through the promise of increased minimum wage, who would offer me opportunities to work at their companies making minimum wage in order to never, ever have the chance of paying off the debt that I've legally given them permission to noose around my neck in order to hold on to someone I love and what I love, then I have to choose to make money. Money, when you have enough of it, makes all those bastards and their schemes to enslave you and make you their indentured servant irrelevant. It's better to make a contract with yourself and enslave yourself to the idea that your love for yourself, for your loved ones, for your ideas, and what you create makes enough of a difference that you would defend it at any necessary cost. You have to show the bastards that you mean business and having enough money will do the job well. Of course, some ideas are not suitable for this kind of thinking, so you're going to have to do away with the ones that threaten your peace of mind, heart, and soul. Again, it's not ideal, but most of us can make a choice of how to deal with those bastards who would love for us to not ever rise from our beds in the morning again.

That's how I see it, anyway.

Recent blogs: Cellular Grid Machine II, Gobbledygook..., Korg + Yellow = Kaossilator!

03/29/07 + bbwax

i wonder how this goes in other countries besides us and canada. is just as dog-eat-dog?

Recent blogs: giving up?, random news and happenings, new-ish EP, virb, myspace

03/29/07 + Roshi

No, it's mancat eat dog

Recent blogs: Hearing and Writing Music, Mother 3 fan translation!, Cello at 32

03/29/07 + sohcahtoa

I'd love to do something like this too frn. I've been thinking about it for a while now (my last release is evidence of this).

Good to see our cosmic connection is still in full effect.

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