MUSIC INDUSTRY BLOG

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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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.

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“Quit your day job.  Start a label.” has to be the stupidest blog post I ever published.  And yet, it’s the second most visited post on this blog.

(For your information, “Katy Perry” is the most popular post on this blog but that’s just because Google picked up on the image tag so when Katy Perry fans (of which there are many) search for Kary Perry images, my blog shows up.  There’s no value in it for me whatsoever.  I’m confident that zero Katy Perry fans care about this blog.)

But with “Quit your day job.  Start a label.“, there’s no fabricated traffic.  It’s all real visitors searching for authoritative content which, to my disgrace, leads them to the worst post on this site.

How do you explain it?

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Alexandria Maillot came in first place in Round 3 of The 2010 Singer/Songwriter Awards for her song, “All We Need”.

Constructive criticism welcome by leaving a public comment here.

I received this email yesterday:

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.

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I received this email this morning:

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!

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Prince, in a world exclusive interview published by British tabloid, Daily Mirror, said:

“The internet’s completely over.  I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else.  They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.”

“The internet’s like MTV.  At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.  Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good… They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.”

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I received this email this morning:

…I was gonna submit a song but then I realised you want $30 to review it.  Well?  I want $30 to send it.  Please send a check or money order to:

XXXX XXXXXX
40 XXXXXXXX Avenue
XXXX Cottage
XXXXXburg, XX
077XX

When I receive payment I will send you the song.

Thanks!

-M

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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.

This is an example:

“With 300 million people in America, you can fail to impress 299 million of them and still go platinum.”