Wretch and Popmann and anyone else who lives in Nashville,

from your perspective - how does it look like the music publishers are doing in the face of all the industry shakeups with downloads, mp3s on ipods, etc.?

When I was making trips up there as a songwriter in the 80s and 90s, there were still plenty of independents around like Tree, Bluewater, Maypop and some of the old school ones like Cedarwood were still around. I get the feeling that Sony has scarfed up the publishing and that there are not as many indies left. Of the ones that I have dealt with in the past, I notice that now they have one full time staff writer instead of a handful.

I am gearing up again now that the kids are grown and gone, working on a web site to post mp3s demos, lining up some co-writing sessions locally. I need to try to reopen some of the old connections I had up there and I want to budget some trips up there. But I have no idea what it's like up there now though. I have not been up since ~ 94 or so....... Jeez, time flies when you're raisin' kids........ When I last went up there, demos were still submitted on cassettes, DAT and ADAT was the new technology and if I had a computer, it was probably a 286, still recorded my demos on a cassette Portastudio. I feel like Rip Van Winkle.

bilco

Truth is, Bilco, I'm out of the Loop. I used to know a lot of writer/musicians. I'm just a picker. Now, I have some friends that I will pass your question along to that are more connected with that part of the business. But, you have to promise to give me a shout when you get to town.

T

No idea. But, I was never "in the loop".

You can watch the tumbleweeds roll down music row, though. I think so many people picked up and moved to Berry Hill where they have their own police dept to patrol.

If I were trying to get anything cut here, I'd find out more about Big Machine records. I see it over and over. No idea who runs it or anything...

Thanks guys. That makes me sad about the exodus to Berry Hill. I always thought Music Row was a pretty cool little business community neighborhood.

bilco

When I went to Nashville in '99, the thing that was eye-opening were the locks on the doors and bars on the windows of the publishing houses...If you think you could stroll down the street and pop in to any of these places, good luck...

I subscribed to NSAI for a year, and when I was there, they had a song listening session with a rep from BMG there. There were maybe 80 people in the room with a known songwriter and the BMG chick on a small stage with a ghetto blaster. There rule was to make sure all out-of-town submissions got heard first -- so on my first shot in Nashville, I got heard...

...when they started to play my song, I got freaked because people in the room started tapping there feet and the mood perked up. The guy next to me turned to me and whispered, "That's a pretty catchy tune, eh??". He had no idea it was mine. I thought for sure that I was gonna hit on something...the response of the BMG chick was this...

"I really like that song...but it is TOO country. If it were 1992, I would jump on this song, but not now..."

She paused, almost like she wasn't sure if she was making the right decision passing on this tune....my heart sunk into my gut...

Nashville is the most brutal place...it is fucked up...add to it, 90% of the stuff coming out of there is complete shit! For some reason, Nashville is the only place where plagiarism is a way of life...just keep recycling the same shit, over and over....

Sparky, I think a lot of folks would agree about the crap spewing out of Country Radio. I would be pretty dismayed, too, after a ‘meat market” session like you were describing. The industry is full of people like that chick on stage who would probably think Bonnie Raitt is too country or that Minnie Pearl is something that comes out of a small clam. If your being published hinges on a snap decision from someone like that, then bless your heart.

The folks I know that have had “luck” here moved to town and stayed for the long haul. Many of them had some level of music career long before coming, and after 10 years of doing this and that to make ends meet, networking, playing all over town, collaborating with other writers, and making friends with folks that could help them in the industry, were suddenly overnight successes. Sometimes, I think the more integrity you have, the longer and harder the process.

Then again, I know probably just enough about it to stick my foot in my mouth.

quote:

Originally posted by Sparky:
When I went to Nashville in '99, the thing that was eye-opening were the locks on the doors and bars on the windows of the publishing houses...If you think you could stroll down the street and pop in to any of these places, good luck...

The first time I went there was in '80 I think and that was true even then. I did the whole stereotypical rube songwriter thing, rode the Greyhound up there because we were so broke and I literally walked up and down those streets with a guitar and a little briefcase full of cassettes and lyric sheets. It was really hard to get in anywhere, the doors all had buzzers on them. What a newb..... I found a few who actually took time to listen and give constructive feedback, everything got passed on and I was crushed, but they really did give good advice. There are or at least were many dedicated, good people up there and there were just a few that were complete jerks. I just thought it was going to be an overnight rags to riches story..... what an awakening...

quote:

I subscribed to NSAI for a year, and when I was there, they had a song listening session with a rep from BMG there. There were maybe 80 people in the room with a known songwriter and the BMG chick on a small stage with a ghetto blaster. There rule was to make sure all out-of-town submissions got heard first -- so on my first shot in Nashville, I got heard...

...when they started to play my song, I got freaked because people in the room started tapping there feet and the mood perked up. The guy next to me turned to me and whispered, "That's a pretty catchy tune, eh??". He had no idea it was mine. I thought for sure that I was gonna hit on something...the response of the BMG chick was this...

"I really like that song...but it is TOO country. If it were 1992, I would jump on this song, but not now..."

She paused, almost like she wasn't sure if she was making the right decision passing on this tune....my heart sunk into my gut...

Yeah, I may join a writer's group again, but I refuse to do those mass song critique sessions. They are brutal and there is ofen a mob mentality that ends up pouncing on writers who are just starting out, which is the last thing they need. Networking does make a difference though. Relationship, over the long run, with a few people you like working with as a team is what I have seen work for the writers I know who have some success up there. I have gotten the "This is good, but it is too country thing" before too...... ya gotta laugh and just keep on writing.

quote:

Nashville is the most brutal place...it is fucked up...add to it, 90% of the stuff coming out of there is complete shit! For some reason, Nashville is the only place where plagiarism is a way of life...just keep recycling the same shit, over and over....

Yeah, there are times I agree that way too many lame songs are out there on the radio, but my faith in Nashville is restored when I play my Saturday night bass gig and the singer/guitarist I work with, who has a knack for playing GREAT songs from every era pulls out songs like, "Old Coyote Town," "Good Old Boys Like Me," "Stealin' Cinderella," "Don't Blink," "Small Town Southern Man." There are still excellent songs that rise to the top in that system; I wish I had written every one of those songs I just listed. CCM has the same issue. I can hardly listen to a CCM radio station for more than 5 minutes, but then I'll hear one that is so good and so powerful, I have to pull the truck off the road.

It is a tough town. A friend of mine lived there for 10 years and had a staff writing position or two while he was there. He is absolutely one of the most talented writers I know, way better than me, and he moved away after giving it his all for 10 years. Other writers and very talented singer/writer/great lead guitarists/producers I know moved up there and just disappeared off the face of the earth. Some are driving buses for the stars, some got divorced, some I just can not get a lead on at all, they have disappeared. That town is like a black hole in some ways.

I've got to just gear up and go up there again and realize that I probably am starting from the beginning again, that it has changed and I just need to deal with it and learn.

bilco