Artists – Do You Need an Art Agent?
Published January 4, 2012 | 
Most visual artists dream of having an agent that will market their work, gain collectors for them, and help them by doing all that tedious, non-artsy stuff like marketing and selling.
But the reality is that it’s extremely difficult to find a good agent, and one that you can work well with.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
The agent-artist relationship works differently in every situation. Typically, the agent will agree to represent an artist in exchange for payment, either on a percentage basis or a monthly retainer.
A % payment ranges from 30% to 50%. In this case, the agent would be paid when artworks are sold and paid for.
A monthly retainer or stipend arrangement is where the agent would be paid a specific dollar amount each month. Some agents charge $1,500 per month, others charge $2,500 per month. The downside to this arrangement is that they get paid regardless of what sells.
WHAT GOES WRONG:
The reason it’s difficult to find a good agent and then make it work is that if you paying someone on a % basis, the agent ends up putting in many unpaid hours. Over time, the agent will lose steam and you will lose faith.
Most artists cannot afford to pay an agent a monthly retainer, and so that arrangement is very rare.
THE BEST AGENTS:
The best agents are well connected, and because of that, they put in less time to connect you with buyers and deals. But, to get one of the best agents to work with you, you’ll have to be a proven seller, or the next best emerging artist in their eyes.
ALTERNATIVE TO AGENTS:
Consultants: You can hire consultants on a need basis. I’ve often hired consultants to help me to solve a problem that I have little experience with. They charge by the hour, and they are a great resource.
Represent Yourself: Representing yourself is the most common way to go. It’s preferable, in my opinion. You’ll have more control over what happens to your art, your brand and your connections. You’ll also get to keep all of your proceeds. The down side is, you’ll have to work harder. But many artists do very well representing themselves.
To do the best job of representing yourself, take time to get education on marketing, sales, promotions. Read books for artists – there are many good ones out there. Take classes, online and live. Use the expertise of consultants.
And remember, you aren’t in a race. Take your time and you’ll get to where you want to go.
Record Labels Looking for New Artists
Published January 4, 2012 |
How do you find out if a record label is seeking new talent? Most often, it will be right on the company’s website. Look for “Contact Us,” “FAQ,” or “Submissions” on the record label’s website. This is where you will find information about how to contact the record company, and often where to send your demo CD.
Here, you need to look carefully at the language that the page uses when describing submissions. Some pages will be enthusiastic in requesting materials and state that they are actively seeking new talent or artists. Others will be more coy, stating that they are “always accepting submissions” and sign new talent periodically. And some companies will simply tell you right away that they are “not accepting submissions at this time” and that they are not seeking any new talent. No matter how great the label, you don’t want to be sending your material to a person who will simply toss it in the trash!
Looking at these sections of companies’ websites can be a good help to you in determining which labels are signing artists, which will help you get a record deal. If you are strategic in sending your demos, you are more likely to get responses. Keep in mind that some labels will say that they are not accepting unsolicited submissions, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t seeking new artists. This just means that you will need a connection or contact that can get your demo into the “solicited” pile. Sometimes, a music contacts database can even help you find a more exclusive address or contact that can get your demo heard-even if a label says it does not accept unsolicited materials.
With a little digging, you can discover record labels looking for new artists. With a working knowledge of how to contact record labels, you’ll learn how to submit a demo to a record label, and once you know which labels are seeking talent, you’ll be on your way to knowing how to get signed to a major record label.
Finding a Song Title Or Artist
Published January 4, 2012 |
Have you ever heard a song on the radio, on TV, or on a movie and can’t get it out of your head? All you know is, “the words go something like this….” If you have the lyrics stuck in your head but have no idea who the band is or what the song title is, there are some great lyric search engines on the Internet that can help you.
While there are a lot of search engines to choose from, only a few have large databases. I put a few search sites to the test, and here is what I found. The following search engines found my test subject, which is a popular, fairly new song by Coldplay.
1. Endless Lyrics. This free Web site allows you to find songs using their free lyric search. You can search for thousands of songs by artist, song title, or song lyrics. Find all genres of music, from thousands of artists and albums.
2. Who Ditty. Here you can search for a tune by lyrics, tags, artist, or even where you heard it. This site is a fabulous choice if you need to find a tune you heard somewhere specific, such as a television commercial or show, a movie, and so on. Once you find the song, you can also download it from the site.
3. Get Lyrical. This site has a large database and lets you search by lyrics, artist, song, or album. Note: Get Lyrical finds an exact match for your lyrics whereas Search Lyrics searches for those words anywhere in a particular song and will return a result even if the words are all not together.
4. Search Lyrics. One of the benefits of this site is that it also has some non-English lyrics. You can translate any of the English lyrics to another language on the lyric pages. Also keep in mind the note from site number three above.
5. LyricsFly. This site also found my test song, but you have to be sure to click on “lyrics” first and then perform a search to get the best results.
The other sites I tried came up with no results, which was surprising since I was looking for a new song from a popular band. Good luck with your search!