by Jim Grubbs | Dec 4, 2023 | Our Process
How does a songwriter get a song discovered?
Have you heard the story of how the song “Old Man In the Shanty” made its way into the hands of Lonesome River Band and became their first hit? It’s an interesting study in support of today’s blog!
During the late 1970s, a young Tim Austin was running the merch table for the Bluegrass Cardinals when he overheard songwriter Buck Green pitch “Old Man In the Shanty” to Cardinals founder David Parmley. David requested a copy of the song from Buck, but somehow Buck forgot to send it and a few years passed without anyone cutting the song.
When Tim Austin founded Lonesome River Band in 1982, he contacted Buck Green and requested “Old Man In the Shanty,” which made it onto one of the early LRB albums. It was also later covered by The Chapmans. It’s a great song that almost wasn’t recorded simply because the songwriter forgot to “close the deal” after a successful pitch. Had Tim Austin been busy selling merch and missed overhearing the pitch, who knows if the song would’ve ever been cut?
Have you ever thought about how statistically unlikely it is for ANY song to get into the right hands at the right time? Bluegrass artists are more accessible than most, yet this accessibility also significantly divides their attention. If a songwriter is fortunate to get their undivided attention for a song pitch, the artist may not be currently looking for material – or that particular song may not be what they’re seeking for their current project.
Here are some songwriting tips
All these factors – timing, style, accessibility, quality of the pitch – must work together perfectly to result in a songwriter’s song being accepted by an artist – and this is AFTER the writer and artist personally connect; additional obstacles arise for new songwriters contacting an artist via email or social media without an established relationship to support the contact.
Sometimes, it feels a little “miraculous” when a writer actually gets a cut!
And what about up-and-coming artists?
Until they have established some hitmaking potential and gotten significant airplay, writers may not even know to pitch to them. Both parties are operating in the dark and missing genuine opportunities.
It’s time to make this process more transparent and equitable by bringing artists to the songwriters instead of vice-versa. Established songwriters experience life this way; it’s time for talented but as-yet-unknown writers to enjoy this advantage, too.
BuyDemoTracks brings songwriters and artists together
By utilizing the services of BuyDemoTracks.com, writers can make their demos available to artists with whom they have yet to establish a personal connection. Artists seeking new songs can conduct searches with particular parameters to find those meeting their immediate needs.
Much of the “random good fortune” is removed from the process. It’s a win-win!
If this process results in a newly established personal connection between a writer and an artist, all the better, it is a mechanism to enable those connections rather than a replacement for them.
Writers should find BuyDemoTracks.com creates opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist – WITHOUT depending on a future artist working the merch table and overhearing your pitch to another artist.
Keep writing!
Jim Grubbs
by Jim Grubbs | Jun 19, 2023 | Our Process
Some songwriters seem to have all the tools needed to perform their own creations at a very high level: instrumental prowess, vocal chops, and industry connections. I’m happy for them – but I realize I will probably never be one of those blessed in ALL the ways!
I’m content, but to quote my good friend Greg Blake (one of those wonderfully blessed songwriters/artists), “There are roles that EVERYONE can fill in this industry, much like the ‘body’ analogy in Paul’s writings in Corinthians. It would behoove ALL of us to recognize and respect those roles and do our best to diligently report for duty!” So how do I get my meaningful songs out there for others to enjoy when it seems the only part I can do well enough is WRITE them?
Songwriter Singles
One new avenue I’ve begun to explore is the creation of “Songwriter Singles”. I was first made aware of this option when preparing for my weekly radio program “The Woodshed” (on www.TheBluegrassJamboree.com).
I noticed an album called “Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout,” credited to Rick Lang, but every song featured other artists singing and a stellar band performance. Rick has since become my close friend and frequent collaborator, and I’ve had the opportunity to examine this approach more closely. What I found is a fantastic opportunity for songwriters that I had never recognized before – but now I can’t wait to begin!
Self-producing and Releasing Your Songs
Did you realize you can easily produce and self-release a song utilizing 100% “hired guns” to perform without surrendering any of your ownership rights? What’s more, a pool of successful artists is already ready to step in and record your project so you can quickly release it to radio and streaming. Who knew?
And we aren’t talking about unknown artists, either; the stable of successful professionals who’ve already committed to this approach through BDT is quite impressive and still growing. These artists would make it a hit if they requested a license to cut your song for themselves. Why not have them make it YOUR hit?
This approach is unique to BDT, and it’s brilliant. Through negotiated agreements with the artists in the stable, songwriters can pay a small fee to buy the remainder of the rights to the released work and claim it as their project, collecting full songwriter royalties (and the publishing share if you’re self-published).
BDT distributes this fee among the performing artists following their specific agreements. From a radio perspective, the song becomes “Joe Songwriter, featuring Sally Artist, performing ‘Songname’” when introduced or displayed during playback. Pretty cool! The recording quality is on par with every song we play on the radio (well, better than some). If you select meaningful songs to release through this process, they will get airplay on the radio.
When you browse the stable of artists at www.buydemotracks.com, you’ll quickly realize the power of having BDT connect your song with them on your behalf. Additionally, if you have a song that sounds perfect for a specific artist who is not currently in the stable, you can request them, and BDT will make every effort to convince them to record your track with that artist. Realistically, not every household name will agree, but some might! Our stable of artists is growing daily as new agreements are reached.
Think of all the possibilities!
Use Songwriter Singles
For example, I am a songwriter who isn’t blessed with a marketable singing voice; regardless, some of my better works are written for a female lead vocalist. In the past, those songs would go unheard until I could score a cut from an artist. Using Songwriter Singles, I can get those songs professionally recorded by my selected female artist from the stable (while selecting notable musicians to play on the track as well), then release it to radio – all at a very reasonable investment.
Not only does this get the song heard, but it also builds my portfolio as a songwriter; getting my best songs heard on the radio gets my future pitches considered more seriously by touring artists. Success breeds success.
A Songwriter Single is just one more tool for breaking through the barriers – but it’s only available to subscribers at www.buydemotracks.com.
Keep writing!
Jim Grubbs
by Steve Schramm | Aug 18, 2022 | Our Process
We created BuyDemoTracks.com to be a “win-win” for everyone in the music industry.
And while that might sound like a lofty goal (and it is!), we wholeheartedly believe that it’s possible.
If you didn’t know, there are a few important ways that we serve the music community:
- We provide artists with an extensive library of original songs, complete with publishing/mechanical license information. And you can even purchase the actual soundtracks to use in your performance or project.
- We provide songwriters with an unprecedented opportunity to have their music seen by new and established artists, while at the same time receiving royalties based on downloads of their demo tracks. We even provide songwriting education to help you grow as a writer.
- We provide both artists and songwriters with a demo production studio to make sure you have the highest quality demo tracks possible. This includes special access to highly sought-after musicians, vocalists, and producers.
- We partner with recording studios to give their clients an outlet for sharing and promoting their music, and collaborate with them to assist with demo track production and recording.
- We partner with publishing companies to not only give their artists a music distribution platform like no other, but also to make it easy for folks to request mechanical license information and make sure everyone is paid accurately for their work.
Believe it or not, though, there’s another way that everyone can be involved: the BDT Affiliate Program.
What is the BDT Affiliate Program?
You can click here to learn the details of our affiliate program.
In short, BDT affiliates have the opportunity to get paid for helping others get started with BuyDemoTracks.com.
Affiliates get the chance to earn passive income and work closely alongside us to improve the music industry and provide songwriters and artists with more opportunity than ever before.
How the Program Works
The best part? It’s super easy to get started and begin earning immediately.
First, you visit our affiliate registration page to request an affiliate account. From there, you will receive an email confirming your request, and we will receive an email letting us know you would like to sign up.
As soon as your affiliate request is approved, you will be notified and directed to log in into your affiliate area.
That’s where the magic happens. In the affiliate area, you will see a special link that you can use when sending folks over to BuyDemoTracks.com. It will look something like this: BuyDemoTracks.com/?ref=123
When anyone visits BuyDemoTracks.com using your link, it automatically places a “cookie” on the user’s browser for 30 days. So, if that person makes a purchase of any kind on BuyDemoTracks.com for the next 30 days, you will receive 20% of that purchase amount.
Payouts happen every 60 days to the PayPal account you indicated during your registration.
It’s really that simple.
You may also be contacted by a BDT representative to participate in our Partner Program. In addition to your affiliate account and link, if you are invited into our Partner Program, you will receive the following:
- A custom URL for your link (for example, BuyDemoTracks.com/easter)
- A 10% discount coupon code to give out. This code would give the purchaser a 10% discount and credit you with the 20% affiliate commission.
- More perks TBD.
To put this in very simple terms, if you interact regularly with folks in the music industry who could use a service like BuyDemoTracks.com, you have the opportunity to make as much passive income as you want.
You don’t have to lift a finger. Just give out your link and/or code, and receive payouts from us every 60 days.
Can Anyone Be an Affiliate?
Currently, we do not place any limitations on who can/should sign up for an affiliate account.
We want BuyDemoTracks.com to spread far and wide, so most who apply for this program will likely be approved.
That said, though, we will individually vet each person who has requested an account to make sure they are a good fit, and we would be proud to have them affiliated with BuyDemoTracks.com.
At this time, our Partner Program is invite only and, in full-disclosure, is usually going to be offered to full-time performers, writers, studios, and industry influencers.
Specific Affiliate Examples
To remove any doubt, I thought I would share a few specific examples of how you could use the affiliate program to make passive income.
Artists
Artists and performers are constantly being presented with new materials from aspiring songwriters. It’s nothing to come home from a trip from with dozens of CD’s piled up in the front of the bus.
Of course, it would be impossible to comb through all of this music looking for a diamond in the rough.
What if, instead, you began using BuyDemoTracks.com as the place to discover new music? You could tell aspiring songwriters that uploading their songs with BDT is the very best chance they have to get their song heard and discovered.
Let us do the hard work of filtering and contextualizing their songs so that you get exactly what you need, when you need it.
Simply direct the songwriter to BuyDemoTracks.com and tell them to use your coupon code or custom URL. You will get 20% credit for the sale, the songwriter will get 10% off the purchase (if you’re in the Partner Program), and they’d now be in a library where you—and other artists—could find their music.
Like I said, “win-win” for everyone.
Songwriters
As you probably know, songwriting is a very collaborative practice. Even though songwriters are technically in competition with one another, they often come together to write some of the very best new music.
We firmly believe that every songwriter should list their music on BuyDemoTracks.com.
So as you work with other writers to create new music, why not spread the word about BDT as you do it? You will receive 20% every time someone makes a purchase using your code or link, and if you’re a Partner, your colleagues would also receive 10% off across the site.
If other writers are impressed with your demos and ask where you have them recorded, you could give them your coupon code and make a profit every time they purchase a demo.
Recording Professional
As true recording studio nerds, we are especially passionate about the opportunities for recording pros to earn money by working with BuyDemoTracks.com.
You know as well as I do that every time you record a singer-songwriter, they want to know, “What’s next?”
I know the pain of not having a great answer to that question for the artists we were working with. BDT is the answer to the question.
You can earn passive income every time your artist purchases one of our song upload packs. Simply direct them to BuyDemoTracks.com, give them your code or URL, and you’ll be credited 20% for the sale (and of course, your artist will receive 10% off if you’re a Partner).
Beyond that, your artist will now have (1) the opportunity to have their song discovered by one of the artists using our site to find new music, and (2) the opportunity to earn passive income themselves by making their demos available for sale!
And right in the center of that relationship is you, the recording professional, earning every time they purchase with your code.
Music Industry Influencer
Let’s say you are a concert promoter, the owner of a music publication, or perhaps have a TV production featuring music artists.
BuyDemoTracks.com could “sponsor” your concert, publication, or production, and you would receive 20% commission on every single sale from folks who have used your special code or URL.
As you already know, industry professionals are voracious consumers of your content, so the opportunity to create an additional revenue income stream at scale is massive.
Music Fan/Follower
You might ask, Steve, I’m not any of these! I just love music! Is there anything in this for me?
And of course, the answer is YES. As long as you are approved, you will receive an affiliate link that you can share with anyone and everyone to use BuyDemoTracks.com!
Once again, just register here, and if you’re approved, you can start earning 20% every time someone uses your link and makes a purchase on the site.
Conclusion
I hope you can see how incredible the opportunity is to work with us.
We truly believe that BuyDemoTracks.com will change the music industry forever, and we invite you to become a part of it.
