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:
In response to an email alert that automatically goes out to our members seven days before a song contest deadline, I received this email this morning. It made me chuckle. Is that bad?
I am pleased to see that there are only 7 days remaining before this farce comes to a blissful end. Every day this “opportunity” has been before us it has seemed like a miserable exercise in futility. Please inform me when you have completely closed your doors to any additional submissions so I can rest in peace. It’s been a nightmare.
Most contests are a scam. But the reason musicians come to this conclusion is because they pay some big fee to enter a “contest” and they never hear anything back except an email telling them they didn’t win. Kind of like what I got from your contest. Sure it had a chart that said I got 3 stars, but why? Can’t even get a review included with my $30? Oh well, live and learn.
Hi. My name is XXXXXXX. I was wondering if we could maybe strike a deal. You see, I have no money because I am not famous yet. If you can help me become famous, then instead of giving you 30 dollars, I will give you 500 dollars!
Anyone who enters a song contest should get feedback.
As of next month, anyone who enters our song contests will.
We’re in the final stages of launching our Song Contest Score Card, which will allow the judges to rate six elements of your song or lyric from a scale of 1 to 5. The Score Card will be delivered to you via email and saved in your We Are Listening account.
Whether you’re a winner, finalist, runner-up or not selected, you can be sure that at the end of each song contest that you participate in, a Score Card will be emailed to you – free of charge.
Seth Godin, best selling author and popular blogger, writes:
If you have a book to write, write it. If you want to record an album, record it. No need to wait for someone in a cubicle halfway across the country to decide if you’re worthy.
I think Seth is suggesting that, if you’re waiting for a so-called music biz whiz to tell you that your band rocks, you’re giving too much power to someone who doesn’t care about your music nearly as much as you do.
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!
In a blog post, Spinme.com Editor, Joe Taylor writes:
“If you type the words ’songwriting contest’ into Google, you’re going to come back with close to a million entries. And that number is growing all the time. Too many scam artists are realizing that it’s far too easy to convince a songwriter to part with her money on the assumption that she’ll get ‘found’.”
In a separate post, Joe Taylor writes:
“Too many songwriting contests market themselves with the fantasy that music business veterans and chart-topping superstars will be holed up in a conference room, poring over your submission. For the most part, that simply doesn’t happen unless you make it to the final round of the most elite and well-respected songwriting contests.”
Do you think there’s any merit to Joe Taylor’s sentiments?
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