I recently read a very long
LinkedIn group thread about the pros and cons of music submission sites. Most of the posts were against the
sites. Some posters cited glowing
testimonials, to be forcefully rebutted by someone with a completely different
experience. So, should musicians use
these sites, or avoid them like the plague?
I think that answer is
different for each artist, songwriter and musician. Additionally, many of these music submission
sites have valuable access to placement opportunities, so to determine if it is
the right choice for you, I’d recommend that you ask a few questions and base
your decision on how the answer affects you and your objectives.
Do they charge a membership
fee?
Do they charge a submission
fee?
Do they allow you to submit
your songs in answer to an existing opportunity, or require that you submit
blindly and promise to find an opportunity?
Are they specific about
music needed, or simply ask that you submit?
Do they promise to critique
the submitted music?
Do they give you a time
frame to receive a response?
Do you know anyone who has
used the service?
Were they satisfied with the
experience?
I have a personal aversion
to paying for opportunities, so that would be a major factor in my choice of
which submission site to use. I don’t
mind sharing a percentage of earnings from an actual placement, so a service
that utilized this type of collection arrangement would get a second look from
me. I have subscribed to lead sheets,
and a site that charges a fee for access to those leads is similar. However, it feels like double-dipping to me,
if after paying a membership fee, I still have to pay a submission fee to send
music to one of those leads I have already paid for!
As someone who has received
an unending parade of submissions, when I sat on that side of the desk, I know
what happens to blind submissions – nothing.
A song has a much better chance of being used if it is received in
response to a request. So I would rather
submit a song for a specific use, than submit blindly and hope. So this would
be another factor that would determine which site I would work with.
Many of these services
promise to critique the music. Critique services are valuable because music
supervisors don’t want to sift through a sea of low quality submissions to find
something usable, so a site may critique submissions to assure that what is
actually passed forward is usable. There
are sites that no longer exist because supervisors and producers could no
longer rely on the quality of the submissions. I look at critiquing as a completely separate
service, and one that is valuable to someone new to submitting for television
and film. There are standards, which may
be quite different from those required by radio or A&R departments. But professional songwriters and musicians,
just looking to expand their opportunities may not need a critiquing service,
so why pay for one? Just something else
to consider when choosing a submission site.
What's “the buzz” on the
service? If the bulk of comments about a
site are negative, there may be a good reason for the “bad buzz.” I’d stay away.
Let’s look at a few:
Music
Submits promises to promote to radio stations, blogs, podcasts, music webzines,
social media and other outlets. They
charge monthly for their submission services, starting at $9.95 each
month. I do have a problem with the promo pictured below, telling site visitors to create a free account. You can register for free, but have to be a
paid member to utilize any of the site's benefits. That feels like bait and switch to me.
 |
| photo: https://www.musicsubmit.com/genres.cfm |
Music X-ray works like an
aggregator, a middleman for companies offering various opportunities and
setting their own prices for submissions.
I know a number of the “industry professionals” who use the site to
enlist talent. There are many really
cool opportunities to be found on this site, but the professionals are not
vetted, so do your homework before spending your money on an opportunity here –
know who you’re dealing with!
Crucial Music is a placement
service. I read their “deal” and it is
very similar to the agreement that I have with my artists. They do not charge for services and take a
percentage of the earnings from music placed.
I’m not very familiar with
Magnatune, but their tagline is “We are Not Evil” and their submissions page
states that ‘we don't do business with labels and we will not send money to a
lawyer or manager.’
Is this a red flag?
 |
| Photo: http://magnatune.com |
They charge $15 per month
for their services.
Film Music Network probably
has the best film and television leads, but the site charges $11.95 a month to
join and 1.99 for each submission. Non-members
pay 5.99 to submit a track. (I have not used the site – you know how I feel about
double dippers!)
Taxi is the most expensive
and unfortunately, the service that has garnered the most complaints. I have not used them, but they are double
dippers in a big way, $300 to join and $5.00 for each submission.
 |
| photo: http://www.musicdealers.com/ |
I know I shouldn’t play
favorites, but I do have a favorite music submission site.
Music Dealers meets all of
my criteria. The site is free to use,
they allow you to submit for specific opportunities and they take a percentage
of actual placements. They are easy to
deal with, communicate with artists on a regular basis and let you know when
there is an opportunity that may work for your music.
So that’s my two cents.
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