SONG CONTEST BLOG

from: Evan Field
to: Lior Shamir
date: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 1:12 AM
subject: THANK YOU from Honor By August!

Lior,

On behalf of the band I just wanted to thank you again — and emphatically — for everything that We Are Listening and Tinderbox have done for us.

As I mentioned to Jon, the band has been extremely excited about all of the success at radio and the licensing potential from the 10 show agreements Jon was able to secure for us.

We can’t thank everyone at Tinderbox enough for all of the great work and results they’ve achieved for Honor By August and, as Jon has been quick to point out, we have you to thank for making it all possible.

We hope to be able to maintain a relationship with you both moving forward and hope to be able to share success stories that we can attribute to your work and investment in the band.

As I said to Jon, if there’s anything we can do, like provide a quote or blurb from the band, please let us know and we’d of course be happy to provide anything that might be helpful. We’ve already raved about this experience to many of the bands we cross paths with on the road and will certainly continue to do so.

Cheers and thanks again,

Evan,
Honor By August

Thanks to Jon Delange, our TV licensing mojo maker, 2006 song contest winner, Laurell, landed a HUGE placement in the season finale of The Real World: New Orleans.  The show aired on the 15th September with Laurell’s “In The Air”, vocals up, with ID.  Success!

Give it up for Laurell…

In 2007, Detroit-based rock act, Schaeffer, were selected as the winners of Breaking the Band 1, our international band competition.  As part of their prize package, they embraced the opportunity to work with We Are Listening’s TV and radio guru, Jon Delange.

Jon, who continues to mentor the band to this day, helped them achieve national awareness, first at radio and then with television networks by scoring placements in their original programming.  Annually, they have preformed during Austin’s SXSW event.

Eventually, the group emerged as America’s favorite in the FreeCreditScore.com band search which began with a shortlist of more than 100 hopefuls showcasing nationwide.

Now, The Victorious Secrets, the band’s new alias, are engaged in a $30 million advertising campaign.

As the new face of FreeCreditScore.com, they will be featured in a series of television commercials slated to debut during the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards next month.  They will also receive a $10,000 check, a Gibson Guitar prize package and Pearl drum kits, and a studio session with the music industry’s best of breed.  They will also walk the red carpet at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and have the opportunity to perform on the 2010 VMA Tour.

Here are The Victorious Secrets, in all their glory:

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from: Mark Towne
to: Lior Shamir
date: Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 5:50 AM
subject: We Are Listening / Tinderbox Updates

Lior,

I just wanted to drop you a quick line to let you know how much the Breaking the Band contest has helped us out.

Tinderbox has been very very helpful and has exposed our music to a much larger audience than we could have hoped for.  Our disc has been getting airplay at CMJ charted stations across the country since April.  We even charted in the top 10 slots at several stations! Our web traffic and album sales have definitely increased since we started working with Tinderbox and we’ve connected with many people we wouldn’t have reached if not for Breaking the Band and Tinderbox Music.

Jon has found 8 shows on networks like MTV, E! and even Oxygen that are interested in using our work in their series.  That’s still a work in progress but chances are pretty good we’ll land some television placements, reach more potential fans and maybe even make some dough for our next album.

I’ve been very impressed with the staff at Tinderbox and their results.  I can’t thank We Are Listening enough for providing us the opportunity!

I hope all is well and you are enjoying the summer thus far!

Best wishes,

Mark Towne
Booking / Drums
Vices I Admire

Not every songwriter and recording artist out there succeeds in licensing his songs for film and television.

And I’d be lying if I told you every music licensing opportunity pays big bucks.

But I can tell you that the music licensing business is the most lucrative and accessible business for independent artists.  Songwriters and performing artists make more money by licensing their songs than performing live, signing a record deal and getting commercial radio airplay combined.

Music Supervisors spend all of their time searching for great music to place in film, television shows and advertisements.  They have big budgets, and are always willing to open their wallets for fresh material.

These are the people you want to get your music to, hard and fast.

Best of all, unlike record labels and publishers, Music Supervisors love to receive unsolicited submissions from artists.  They even advertise for it.

But you need to know where to look.

Fortunately, a bright young mind (and good friend of mine) decided to create a marketplace for Music Supervisors.  It’s a single hot spot where industry leaders come together to advertise their projects and access independent music from artists just like you.

That place is called YouLicense.