Month: February 2021

https://youcanmakealivinginthemusicindustry.podbean.com/

This week I am talking with my friend Kristina Benson of the sync licensing agency Sweet On Top who I have the privilege of writing for. We are talking about what she does as a sync agent, what it takes to start your own sync agency and making sure you understand how the business works before you reach out to get an agent.

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions – We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com.

In this episode we talk about:

*The Four word secret to the music industry.
*Right place, right time.
*Recommending not going into music journalism.  Go into PR and do similar work.
*How and why she started her own company.
*Seeking out and negotiating opportunities for artists to license their music for placement in audio/visual media and the details of doing that.
*Keeping in contact with your agent every 3-4 months to see how things are going and ask if there is anything they need specifically.
*DO NOT ask your agent if there is any feedback from music supervisors. They don’t give it.
*How pay rates work on Netflix and Facebook shows.
*Sweet On Top is looking for any music that is produced well and easily cleared.
*Sweet On Top needs happy songs about “home” or “time passing.”
*What you need to know to start your own sync licensing agency.
*Signing with an agent as an artist and making sure you educate yourself about sync music and how the business works.
*www.sweetontop.com

BIO:
Sweet on Top was founded by Kristina Benson, a lifelong music professional who began her career with a degree in opera from UCI and piano lessons in her spare time under Miles Davis sideman Kei Akagi. After stints as a promoter and DJ, she segued into a role as a branding specialist for DoStuffMedia, where she spearheaded engagement initiatives for brands such as Goose Island, Grey Goose and Pabst Blue Ribbon, working closely with local influencers produce interactive brand experiences. She went from there to acting as Music Director for Lip Sync, where she managed all day to day operations, including creative pitches, clearance, and custom music, working closely with top flight talent such as the Violent Femmes, Charles Bradley, Lindsey Stirling, Hanni el Khatib, and Steve Aoki.
Custom music she has produced (and written!) in her role as Director were successfully integrated in national campaigns for brands including Coach and Bridgestone Tires, and placed on primetime shows such as Pitch, Orphan Black, and Bones.  She also was directly involved in placing music in national campaigns with brands like Bulova, Michael Kors, Acura, and on shows that include  Vampire Diaries, Sneaky Pete, the Blacklist, Riverdale, Cameron Crowe’s Roadies, and more. After many successful placements and two wonderful years at Lip Sync, she decided the time had come to start her own agency, and she uses her years of experience in the industry to find the perfect song for any project.

https://youcanmakealivinginthemusicindustry.podbean.com/

This week I’m talking with banjo picker extraordinare Matt Menefee who has worked with Ricky Skaggs, Mumford and Sons and Bruce Hornsby as well as other artists from all genres of music.  We discuss the importance of being around the people you want to work with and making your presence known. Plus, how the internet can be your best tool as an indie artist or musician.

Show Notes:

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions – We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com. 

In this episode we talk about:

*Working with Ricky Skaggs, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Meatloaf, Big and Rich,  Bruce Hornsby, Mumford and Sons, Steven Curtis Chapman and more.
*Go to industry parties, etc. and meet people that are plugged in. That is how you get work.
*You have to be in the scene to be seen.
*The internet is your biggest and best tool. 
*Procure as much of as a presence as you can.  
*If you’re going to live somewhere else you need to focus on content for the internet.
*Attending jam sessions and writer’s rounds, etc is the best way to plugged in.
*Learn to record music and get around in a DAW if you want to keep up with everyone else.
*Be present in the moment.
* Contact Matt at https://www.facebook.com/matt.menefee.79

BIO:
Matt is one of the freshest and most interesting voices on any instrument I’ve heard in a long time. What a blast listening to him and playing music together. – Warren Haynes, The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule Matt,

TheBanjoPlayer’s name might be simple but the music of the man that wears the moniker is anything but. Rare is the musician that possesses such a strange ability to blend and intersect the complicated nuances of the head with the passionate sways of the heart. And somehow incorporate them with subtlety and power. Transforming an age old instrument into something more like a five string version of Doc Brown’s time-traveling Delorean. Seamlessly dancing back and forth between traditional sounds and future-seeking modern motifs. Lauded by Grammy award-winning banjo player Winston Marshall of Mumford and Sons as his ‘‘biggest inspiration on the banjo’“, MATT’s other-worldly banjo playing has received praise from all corners of the musical universe. 

His unique approach to the 5-string has led him to record and perform with such luminaries as Béla Fleck, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, and Mumford And Sons; just to name a few.  

First introduced to the banjo through his grandpas love for bluegrass music, Matt connected quickly with the instrument. And at 17 his coming out party included winning the prestigious Winfield National Banjo Championship. From there he co-founded two  critically acclaimed bluegrass-acoustic super groups Cadillac Sky and Chess Boxer and circled the planet with his banjo in hand.  Around the same time that Matt was studying the works of Earl Scruggs and Béla Fleck, Matt was also falling in love with the music in video games. Before long Shuckin’ the Corn was cross breeding with Sonic the Hedgehog and in 2018 he decided to combine his most powerful musical influences – video game music and bluegrass – and recorded a record under the name The Hit Points of which Higher Plain Music called The Hit Points debut the ‘Biggest surprise of 2018 to date’ and Gamasutra recognized that The Hit Points gave listeners ‘the album they never knew they needed’.  As FiveSpeedbanjo.com put it, ‘Clark Kent climbs into a phone booth and transforms into The Man of Steel, Matt Menefee climbs into a banjo case and becomes MATT, TheBanjoPlayer.’  Whether it’s carving out sonic spaces within genres as diverse as hip hop, rock, EDM, Jazz, or classical music, or colluding with former C-Sky bandmate Bryan Simpson to create the Alt-bluegrass sounds of The Golden Age or continuing to integrate the compositions of video games with the sounds of bluegrass, MATT, TheBanjoPlayer is just beginning to come into his own. Whether it’s as MATT, TheBanjoPlayer or MATT, TheBanjoPlayer Plays Video Games he is changing the colors and sounds that have for so long ear-marked the banjo. Be on the lookout for MATT, TheBanjoPlayer.

Matt is technically one of the best musicians I have ever worked with. Yes, he is very gifted, but also he works non-stop at his craft. – John Cowan, founding member of New Grass Revival

https://youcanmakealivinginthemusicindustry.podbean.com/

This week I’m talking with Scott Dudley of the sync music house Push.Audio. We are discussing developing your sound and being yourself when creating music for sync. Plus, the importance of creating songs with a similar “vibe” as the reference track, but not “sound a likes” when it comes to sync music as well as being able to write and be creative under a deadline.

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions – We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com.

In this episode we talk about:

*His sync music house Push.Audio.
*Connecting with music supervisors.
*Working with Hip Hop music for sync.
*Music being a commodity.
*Taking feedback with a grain of salt.
*Developing your sound.
*Being yourself.
*Creating songs with a similar “vibe” as the reference track, not a “sound a like.”
*Push.Audio is a creative house, one stop shop.
*Creating music for ads, tv and trailers.
*Having a 24-48 hour turnaround to turn sync music in.
*Be able to write and be creative under a deadline.
*This is a numbers game.
*No song is wasted.
*Exclusive vs. non-exclusive agencies.
*Push.Audio looking for outside artists to work with.
*submissions@push.audio
*www.push.audio
*Having metadata correct.
*Making sure your song is mastered.
*Have session files available.
*Networking.
*Keeping it professional.

BIO:
Scott Dudley is the Creative Director @ PUSH.audio. PUSH.audio is a full Post Audio Agency with offices in Los Angeles, California and Roanoke, Virginia. Notable clients include Apple, Nike, Universal Pictures, etc. Scott Dudley is also a writer/producer who adapts the artist-driven company mindset to all creative operations @ PUSH.audio.

https://youcanmakealivinginthemusicindustry.podbean.com/

This week I am talking with my friend James Shotwell. James works with the company Haulix where he focuses on digital music distribution and their music industry job board which is an ever-growing list of music industry job openings all over the country.  If you are looking for a job in the music industry, this is a great place to start! 

Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions – We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com.

This week we talk about:

*Working for the company Haulix doing digital music distribution.
*Writing for music publications, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, etc.
*Radio promotions.
*Working with major labels and artists as well as indie artist.
*Haulix can be used as press kit to connect with labels and managers.
*Come across like you know what you’re doing.
*Finding music jobs for free on The Music Industry Job Board. http://www.haulixdaily.com.
*Doing concert promotions as a teenager in the local town and how you can do that.
*How to get money from your local town to promote concerts.
*Creating and selling your own blog/website.
*Building relationships with publicists for artists to write for publications.
*Side hustles.
*How you can work VIP packages at concerts.
*www.cidentertainment.com or http://www.vipnation.com
*Look for ways to solve problems for people.
*Create solutions for people.
*Only chase the things you are passionate about.
*Contact James on twitter at @jamesdshotwell, You tube at music biz,  podcast – Inside Music, podcast – High Notes, http://www.haulix.com

BIO:

There are a million stories about people from the Midwest rising above their humble beginnings to leave a mark on the world, but this one is mine. A childhood spent in a Southwest Michigan farming town under the guidance of parents who loved the arts as much as one another led me to appreciate all forms of creative expression from an early age.
The only thing I ever wanted to do was connect people with great entertainment, but it took a while to find my calling. I successfully petitioned my hometown for funding to open a music venue at fifteen, and by seventeen I was traveling the countryside performing songs I wrote. College brought an opportunity to study the entertainment while moonlighting as a radio DJ and blossoming critic. It was during that time that I created a music blog known as Under The Gun Review, which I later sold to a media company shortly after graduation.  
The choice to build a career on the merit of my skills led to industry recognition and bylines at some of the biggest publications on the planet, including Rolling Stone and Alternative Press. It also led to marketing work at a music startup, tour management with artists on Van’s Warped Tour, the launch of a record label, and my current role as Director Of Customer Engagement at Haulix. 
Throughout my journey, the power that entertainment possesses has been a focus of my work. The right words, images, and music can transform someone’s life and make them see things from a fresh perspective. My goal is to help creative people reach new fans and better engage with their audience. The world needs great art now more than ever, and together, we can help people find the next thing that changes their life.