In general, nothing you do in life is easy. For the aspiring composer this is just as true as it would be for any other occupation. The actual writing is usually not time-consuming, in fact it might take only half an hour. The real time-consuming effort comes later when the composer tries to find a way to promote his song. Luckily, nowadays there are many different ways of music promotion.
Any occupation, however, must lead to an income. After all, man cannot live by bread alone. So the product of the composer's labor, be it a symphony, a piano duet, or a popular song, must be marketed to people who are willing to pay to play or hear it. This is not an easy task for the unknown composer, especially when there is plenty of free music available on the internet.
At one time, before the advent of the information technology age, it was a matter of submitting your material to a publisher, and hoping he would accept it and promote it for you. You might send your song to a hundred different publishers with none of them showing any interest. Publishers receive dozens of submissions every day so it would take a long time for your work to be listened to.
This is where contacts come in. If you know someone in the business who can put in a good word for you, then this will help getting your foot in the door. If you know no one, have no contacts, then progress is likely to be very, very slow. However, the important thing for any would-be professional composer or songwriter is to keep writing. Most of them will have at least a dozen songs making the rounds of the publishers at any one time.
Some publishers may like your song, but tell you they cannot use it. These are not actual publishers, but rather song- matchers, people who are looking for a certain piece of music or a certain song to fill an enquiry they have from television and movie producers. Others are people who promote song catalogs. Your song will go into the catalog, and hopefully, some producer will select it.
Much of what we can find free on the internet is put there by singers, bands, songwriters, and so on, because they cannot find anyone anywhere else to use their material. By allowing it to be heard free, they hope that some publisher, some singer, some music organization will take notice of it and make them some kind of offer for it.
In this modern age, however, it's not really necessary to use publishers or other middlemen at all. A singer can promote and sell his own songs on the internet without having to surrender any of his income to anybody. Or he can give his songs to various radio networks, who will pay him a small fee every time his song is played.
All of them though, are hoping one day to have what is called a top hit, or even better, a song or tune which becomes an evergreen. Of course, a top hit will bring in big amounts of money for everybody, but only for a short period. On the other hand an evergreen will provide a steady income for a lifetime. If your song is good, if it fits in with fashions, and what is wanted, there is a good chance that it will meet with success. The truth is however, is that music promotion is both slow and hard.
Any occupation, however, must lead to an income. After all, man cannot live by bread alone. So the product of the composer's labor, be it a symphony, a piano duet, or a popular song, must be marketed to people who are willing to pay to play or hear it. This is not an easy task for the unknown composer, especially when there is plenty of free music available on the internet.
At one time, before the advent of the information technology age, it was a matter of submitting your material to a publisher, and hoping he would accept it and promote it for you. You might send your song to a hundred different publishers with none of them showing any interest. Publishers receive dozens of submissions every day so it would take a long time for your work to be listened to.
This is where contacts come in. If you know someone in the business who can put in a good word for you, then this will help getting your foot in the door. If you know no one, have no contacts, then progress is likely to be very, very slow. However, the important thing for any would-be professional composer or songwriter is to keep writing. Most of them will have at least a dozen songs making the rounds of the publishers at any one time.
Some publishers may like your song, but tell you they cannot use it. These are not actual publishers, but rather song- matchers, people who are looking for a certain piece of music or a certain song to fill an enquiry they have from television and movie producers. Others are people who promote song catalogs. Your song will go into the catalog, and hopefully, some producer will select it.
Much of what we can find free on the internet is put there by singers, bands, songwriters, and so on, because they cannot find anyone anywhere else to use their material. By allowing it to be heard free, they hope that some publisher, some singer, some music organization will take notice of it and make them some kind of offer for it.
In this modern age, however, it's not really necessary to use publishers or other middlemen at all. A singer can promote and sell his own songs on the internet without having to surrender any of his income to anybody. Or he can give his songs to various radio networks, who will pay him a small fee every time his song is played.
All of them though, are hoping one day to have what is called a top hit, or even better, a song or tune which becomes an evergreen. Of course, a top hit will bring in big amounts of money for everybody, but only for a short period. On the other hand an evergreen will provide a steady income for a lifetime. If your song is good, if it fits in with fashions, and what is wanted, there is a good chance that it will meet with success. The truth is however, is that music promotion is both slow and hard.
About the Author:
There are many ways to promote your music online. Using music distribution companies can help get your music on iTunes or many other music broadcasters.
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