[Neil C]

Hi,
Well i've booked onto the event that sing4me posted http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/the-bar/forthcoming-seminar/. I've not tried to connect with the 'industry' to promote my tunes and not sure what to expect..

So I'm thinking about how to make the most of the networking opportunity. Apart from shaking as many hands as I can and asking them who, why etc my thoughts are to say I'm looking for publishing contacts, TV and Film placements etc, do they have any contacts they could introduce me to etc.

I intend to collate my best demos and a short note on a memory stick to give out. Forum advice appears to be best quality demo's in decent quality MP3 format. How many tracks should i put up, especially as i cover a wide set of styles from pop, rock, country and blues?

So has anyone got any thoughts, do's and don't etc please shout?
How many tracks should i put up, especially as i cover a wide set of styles from pop, rock, country and blues?

Thanks in anticipation and I'll share whatever lessons come from this..
 
Neil

[S.T.C]

From what i've read Neil....i would try and find any songwriters to hook up with firstly....i think publishers that may attend should be dealt with delicately, i'm sure they will be polite ..3 songs on a stick should be enough....who you know is almost as important as what you know   ...thats what i've learnt.

Also stick to one style if poss maybe 2...they don't want jack of all trades, country/pop is prob the best ..

[Boydie]

I would suggest playing the "long game" and try not to do the typical "I need to get success today" approach, which could come across "needy" and unprofessional

I would absolutely have some CDs, memory sticks, cards etc. on you in case "that" opportunity comes up

BUT

I would suggest making your first goal trying to "open the door"

I would suggest just trying to get a few decent contact details and asking if you can send them some songs

This will then enable you to send "solicited" emails that can start with "Hi, we met at the seminar in Westminster last week and I said I would send you a few songs that I think are suitable for that exciting project you were talking about" etc. etc.

Remember, when pitching if the first 30seconds of a song gets listened to you will be doing well so pay attention to your starts and avoid long intros 

I really liked the feature on AudioRokit where it had a "chorus blast" feature where the person listening could just listen to a pre-defined section (ie the chorus/hook)

I think SoundCloud allows you to send links starting at a specific section/time so it may be worth sending this - I haven't explored this option myself yet but is definitely something I would consider when sending pitches via email


If there are still spaces I am toying with coming along, it would be great to meet up

[Sing4me88]

Hey Neil, great to hear you're heading to the event. Its a cracking event and I wish I could head to it. Really glad I was able to post it so folks like yourself that can attend will be able to benefit.

I really don't know too much about the event tbh but from what I gather there will be approx 40 industry experts congregating under the one roof so it is an invaluable opportunity. We often hypothesize and try to second guess what the 'industry' heads think, want, are looking for etc and spend time looking up YouTube clips and reading articles etc so the event is a great first hand insight.

From what I remember Jimmy Napes co-writer of Clean Bandits massive hit 'Rather be' is attending as is Ed Sheerans and 1D's producer and Elizo Doolittle too, so my advice would be follow what STC has suggested and stick to 1 genre to showcase yourself as a viable writer. IMHO Pop would probably be best as thats the genre most of the experts seemed geared towards from what I gather though Pop/Rock, Country/Pop is a good shout too.I'd also add that I think you should take your most 'complete' pieces and also your most commercial sounding pieces. Don't take songs you've an emotional attachment to because you think they are 'nice' - take the ones you think will sell or will show your ability to write music that sells!

Also I'd add my weight to Boydies advice re networking. One contact I'm collabing with atm is a fucking artisan at networking- he doesn't say 'let's pitch to labels' he says 'I think we should pitch this to X at Y publisher' or 'X is currently managing an up and coming act I think might suit this'. No guarantees anything comes of it but it is a pinky toe in the door!

Boydie- I can't advise strongly enough that you pop along (pardon the awful pun!) if free. I know you have ambitions of writing commercially and have honed your production skills etc to that end. This event is being run to help producers like yourself meet and greet with top producers who have cracked the 'industry'.

Can't advocate strongly enough for those in the area and with a desire or ambition to write commercially to register and attend. I only wish I had a little more notice and I could have arranged to come along too