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If you have been distributing a cover song without a compulsory
license or an agreement with the copyright owner, you are ineligible to
obtain a compulsory license for that recording (!), and you may be subject
to civil and/or criminal penalties for copyright infringement.
Be careful to follow the steps exactly as described above, in order to
be legal.
Download and print/save these files
How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Wo r k
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c i r c s / c i r c 2 2 . p d f
Compulsory License For Making and Distributing Phonorecords
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c i r c s / c i r c 7 3 . p d f
Notice of intention to obtain a compulsory license
w w w. l o c . g o v / c g i - b i n / f o r m p r o c e s s o r / c o p y r i g h t /
c f r. p l ? & u r l m i d d l e = 1 . 0 . 2 . 6 . 1 . 0 . 1 7 5 . 1 7 & p a r t = 2 0 1 & s e c t i o n = 1 8 & p r e v =
1 7 & n e x t = 1 9
Royalties and statements of account under compulsory license
w w w. l o c . g o v / c g i - b i n / f o r m p r o c e s s o r / c o p y r i g h t /
c f r. p l ? & u r l m i d d l e = 1 . 0 . 2 . 6 . 1 . 0 . 1 7 5 . 1 8 & p a r t = 2 0 1 & s e c t i o n = 1 9 & p r e v =
1 8 & n e x t = 2 0
Checklists of Required Information
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v / c a r p / m - 2 0 0 . p d f
These and more available at the U.S. Copyright Office website:
w w w. c o p y r i g h t . g o v
D e rek Sivers was the founder and president of the extremely popular online
music store, CD Baby. Derek has sold CD Baby and is now developing
new projects to help independent artists to succeed. For his free e-book on
how to be more successful promoting your music, visit www. s i v e r s . o rg
m a r k e t i n g a n d p r o m o t i o n
C R E ATING AN INDIE BUZZ
by Daylle Deanna Schwartz, author of “I Don’t Need a Record Deal!
Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution”
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
People won’t buy your music or come to shows if they don’t know about
it. By working the media, you can create a foundation for your career.
Artists ask, “Why would someone write about an unknown artist or play
their music?” Lose that mentality if you want to create a buzz around you
and your music! If you’ve got THE GOODS, the potential is there. Once
you believe your music is worthy of media exposure, you can work to
inform others.
Build your story one press clip and one radio show at a time. Ta k e
baby steps up the ladder from teeny publications and local radio stations to
l a rger ones. As your story builds, so will opportunities to increase it even
more! According to Dalis Allen, producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival,
“Having your record reviewed in [local magazines] may not propel your
career to the degree that you want it to end up. But every one of those
things adds up. If I see a review of someone’s record in Performing
Songwriter and then hear their name somewhere else and then see their
package, I’ve seen their name over and over again. It doesn’t matter if it’s
not the most important thing that you’re going to do. It’s one more step in
what you’re going to do.”
Let people know about you and your music through the media. It may
feel useless if your hard work doesn’t pay off immediately. Don’t lose
hope! Every CD that goes out is another chance for progress. Indie artist
Jennie DeVoe says, “I give CDs to radio and anyone else who should have
it. It’s like planting seeds.” Plant your own seeds once you have something
to pass out. It takes time, but if your music moves people, your career can
sprout by means of reviews, radio play and other exposure that builds your
f o u n d a t i o n .
If you plant enough, you have a better chance for a lovely blooming
garden. Indie artist Canjoe John says, “The business of music requires
public awareness and major marketing in order to sell. Major labels have
major money to market with. Independents must get publicity in order to
survive. I send well-written press releases out on a regular basis. I look for
every opportunity to get in the news, T V, radio, newspapers, magazines. If
I’m in a new town, I call newsrooms to try and get a story. I’ve been very
successful at this and consider getting major free press as much an art as
performing major stages.” Exposure builds your story!
Start by creating what’s known as a one-sheet. It should be a summary
of your story on one sheet of paper. Include whatever ammo you have – a
short bio, a track listing, tour dates and past venues, radio play, short press
quotes and any other notable info. Design the info on your one-sheet in an
o rganized way. Send your one-sheet with a CD to publications for reviews,
radio for airplay, venues, potential agents, managers, distributors and
almost anyone else you want to get interested in you and your music. Call
first to see if they want a full press kit or just a one-sheet with a link to
your website.
Check out daily and weekly papers, alternative publications, trade
magazines and even papers from schools. Be creative about where you can
fit it into publications. If you have a good story or technique relating to
your guitar playing, pitch a guitar magazine. If you’ve made savvy
business moves, pitch a business magazine or the biz section of a local
p a p e r. Do research at stores with big magazine sections. Find an angle
about you or your music and look for music and general publications that
might write about it.
Create a good electronic press kit on your website that people can go
to for more info and a selection of photos (least 300dpi in quality) that they
can download without having to deal with you. Include a private page with
full songs and send media people the URL so they can hear your music.
O rganize a street team of fans who can help you create your buzz. T h e y
can make follow-up calls to press and radio stations in their regions.
Fanpower combined with your own hard work can create a buzz that will
get you to bigger publications and radio stations, which leads to better
venues. This can lead to the day you quit your day job because you’ve
created a full time income from your music!
Daylle is the best-selling author of Start & Run Your Own Record Label
and The Real Deal: How to Get Signed to a Record Label. She also
p resents music industry seminars, does phone consulting for musicians and
re c o rd labels and publishes Daylle’s News & Resources, a free industry
n e w s l e t t e r. daylle@daylle.com www. d a y l l e . c o m
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN PUBLICIST
by Ariel Hyatt, Ariel Publicity
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
♦
For this article, I interviewed several entertainment writers from across the
c o u n t r y. Their comments and advice are included throughout. Writers who
will come up throughout are: Mike Roberts (The Denver We s t w o rd), Jae
Kim (The Chicago Sun Ti m e s), Silke Tudor (The SF We e k l y) .
MYTH: A Big Fat Press Kit Will Impress a Wr i t e r.
TRUTH: Writers will only become exasperated by a press kit that is not
succinct and to the point. A bio, a photo and 6-8 articles double-sided on
white paper is a good sized kit. If a writer wants to read more than that he
will contact you for further information. If you don’t have any articles,
d o n ’t worry, this will soon change.
The first step in your journey is to create a press kit, which consists of four
parts — the Bio, the Photo, the Articles and the CD.
Jae Kim: “The ultimate press kit is a very basic press kit which includes: a
CD, a photo with band members’ names labeled on it — not a fuzzy, arty
photo — a clear black and white, a bio, and press clips — 10 at most, one
or two at least. 40 are way too much.”
PART 1: The bio
Write a one-page band bio that is succinct and interesting to read. I
strongly advise avoiding vague clichés such as: melodic, brilliant
harmonies, masterful guitar playing, tight rhythm section, etc. These are
www.indiebible.com The Indie Bible – 10 th Edition