OT; What are the first steps in going pro?

[curve666]

Happy New Year Everyone!
For you pro songwriters out there--
We have completed our first commissioned CD for a specialized retail market and are ready to take the next step. We write music that could be used as soundscapes for film, pop songs for the open market and film placement. We have an in-house production line (literally in-the-house) for doing short run demos with good graphics and duplication. We are not a band looking for a label. We consider ourselves a song writing team, not quite yet equipped to do full film work, but with a sizeable portfolio that we need to "show to someone".
You pros out there--what were the first steps you took in getting your work heard by people that make the decisions to put your work in front of artists, film makers and supervisors, gaming companies et al? Do we join TAXI? Get an attorney/agent (we have an attorney)? We wanna start the new year pointed in the right direction. Please lend us your experiences of getting going.
Thanx,
dna/Dan/kana-&-saca
CMOS Song LLC
Beaverton, Oregon USA

[LeGato]

If you are looking to place songs in movies or tv then I would suggest finding a publisher or getting a company like Bug Music to administer your music. Usually or traditionally Publishers will ask for 50% of your publishers share and will give you an advance from which they recoup from the total (100%) of your publishers share. Once recouped then you'll receive your share of publishing. In the meantime you'll still get your songwriters share which is one half of the total pie. Hard to explain without a chart. First thing you should do is join a Performance Rights agency like BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC. Start your own publishing company and register yourselves as writers and clear your songs. If you guys are splitting everything 50/50 then start a company together as partners. If one song is yours and one is his/hers and the splits are different on each song then start your own companies individually and register each song accordingly. After that pursue a publishing deal, send out your demos to them. If you are looking for an admin deal then your looking at the company taking anywhere from 15-30% usually and they just shop your stuff with no advance to recoup from...pretty good option especially since most of these companies don't have monies to sign new acts or writers, it would be in the best interest of both parties. Find a Recording Industry Sourcebook, available at any public library and make xerox copies or hand write copies (I don't endorse the act of copyright infringement!) of the publishers section and make contact and send your demos (also a good source for record companies except the A&R folk are always getting laid off or fired so keeping that info updated yearly is nearly impossible).

Good Luck and Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year,

RS

[curve666]

Thanx LeGato--exactly the stuff I need to hear. Never heard of Bug Music so I need to check that out. We have or are in the midst of some things you mentioned like choosing a performance rights org and getting the business in order (we needed to make some money first according to our CPA).

Does anyone have an opinion on TAXI or the like--they keep sending us stuff regularly.
And does anyone have a very recent opinion on choosing BMI over SESAC over ASCAP for our purposes since we are not a band, as such? We figure we may elect to try some Indie Label projects and performances in the Northwest but frankly, we're in it for for money (oh yeah, and the art and technology, of course).
Thanx,
dna
CMOS Song