Yes, it is a common method of UNOFFICIALLY copyrighting all kinds of
artistic work, including songs, but John did not mention that it must be
done by REGISTERED mail (not regular or certified) to yourself. And FYI: if
you've got a collection of songs, you can OFFICIALLY get them copyrighted in
bulk for the same price as copyrighting an individual song - contact the
Library of Congress in D.C. to register your work using Form PA for original
songs. It costs $20.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert in this field, and I'm not signed to
a major, but from one artist to another I'll tell you that as far as blind
submissions to record companies go, personally I really wouldn't bother.
Not only are there the legal quandaries already mentioned here dangerous to
both sides, but a contract resulting from such a thing nearly impossible,
and more importantly, you won't receive much in the way of advice or input
on your work from a record company if it's sent unsolicited. And that might
be the very thing you might need most at the stage you're at. The best bet
is having a particular contact at a particular label who might have some
familiarity with you or your work. And give an ear to advice anywhere you
can get it from people from all sides of the industry, and then decide for
yourself what the best plan of action for you might be. Maybe what you
think is commercially radio-ready might actually need more work on either
songwriting or production, or maybe your stuff is already so hot you might
want to go ahead and press it yourself! Ask around and
Good luck,
Victor E. from Inviolate
----------
From: list-relay
To: acid-jazz
Subject: RE: Record company names?
Date: Saturday, February 10, 1996 10:05AM
>Marc Wright wrote:
>
>I would appreciate any advice from anyone regarding if I'm going about this
>correctly. What is the best way to present a demo tape to record companies?
>Are there any dangers I should watch out for (eg. songs getting stolen
etc)?
I don't know whether this is a fool-proof method, but I hear that many
authors,
when sending a book or article that they've written to a publisher, make a
copy
of it and seal it in an envelope. Then when they send the original to
the company, they also send a copy back to themselves. Once you recieve
your copy back, don't open it. The theory goes that if a publisher (or
record co.) attempts to claim that they are the authors of the material, you
can go to court and show the postmark on the unopened copy you sent yourself
thus proving that you had written (or at least had possesion of it) before
the company ever released it.
Im not a lawyer, so check further before thinking this as an easy way
to copyright protection!
>At the moment my plan is to send unsolicited tapes to some of the small
>independants that specialize in the sort of music my stuff is related to,
>and just see what happens. Is this a bad idea? Am I not going to get a
>listen if I do it this way, and hence not be able to re-approach them again
>in the future?
My guess is that they hear so many demos, that if they don't like yours
on first listening, they probably won't remember who you are next time
you apporach them.
>Any advice would be muchly appreciated.
>
>Marc.
>
john
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- John McNutt -
- janka@cs.utexas.edu -
- http://net.cs.utexas.edu/users/janka -
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