Notes from the SPONYonline Premiere
Wow! What a night. The first webcast of a SPONY EDU-Pitch event! It was on the subject of song placement in film and TV and we had a stellar panel – a well-known music supervisor from Clearsongs, the president of WAC Music and a music integration executive from VH1. We were webcasting from SESAC’s beautiful NY offices and had a welcome message from Linda Lorence Critelli, the VP of Writer/Publisher Relations there. Linda has been a friend and supporter to me and SPONY since Day 1, and our live events are currently being sponsored by her and SESAC.
The tech team was stellar. Erick Fix and Diana Ecker (streaming, video and audio) and Diana Akin (our webmaster who also works for SESAC) had a lot of elements to control – we had the interview with the panel, a pitch portion of over 40 songs, an ongoing and extremely lively Chat Room, and a Q&A mailbox to manage and they did it without a single hitch. We did go down briefly twice, but that had to do with the live-stream and not us. A thousand kudos to the team!!
The panelists were simply awesome. They were informative and down to earth. I’ve actually been blessed when it comes to my panelists. In the almost-three years I’ve been doing this, I’ve had almost 75 industry executives join us. And, with the exception of only one who blew us off and didn’t show, and one who treated the event as a game, they have been extraordinary – consummate professionals who gave of their time and expertise. And the fact that so many of the songwriters who attend have success stories to tell truly makes it a win/win situation for everyone.
We covered a lot of ground with regard to the subject at hand. We discussed what these people actually do for a living, how they find music, what elements the songs or tracks need to have for the best chance of a placement, the best way to break into the industry, and even some of the kinds of deals an unsigned songwriter can expect.
Then we got to hear over 40 songs, 16 of which were taken as Keepers by one or more of the panelists. For anyone who doesn’t know, a Keeper means that the panelist wants to take a copy with them for another listen. Hopefully there’s a placement or deal which springs from that, but the truth is that the majority don’t go any further. But as they say, you gotta be in it to win it! The other thing about Keepers is that one month all three panelists will want a copy of the song, and the next month none. It’s always about who is on the panel and what their current needs are.
Anyway, I’m totally looking forward to both my next live event on the 25th and the next online one on March 9th. The next online webcast is another EDU-Pitch, “Today’s World of A&R.” I can’t announce the panel since it’s not quite totally confirmed, but we’ll have A&R executives from both label and publishing talking about what they do, what they look for, what grabs their attention, and how A&R has changed along with the industry in general. Should be great!
Anyone who hasn’t been to the live event and is thinking about joining us, please read the “How it Works” page on this site. This event is a straight pitch, no information, Pass/Keeper format, and definitely not for the faint of heart. Your songs need to be presentation-ready in both construction and production (this from a performance stand-point).
Hope to see you soon – either in-person or online!
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