Music Publishing Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dennis Tobenski
Nuts and bolts conversations on the business and practical aspects of being a concert musician in the 21st century
Originally aired 11/21/2017
Composer Darien Shulman returns to talk about his experience writing for a new television series: how he got the job, the process from beginning to end, and what he learned along the way about organization and workflow.
Links:
Darien Shulman
Netflix: American Vandal
Originally aired 11/6/2017
After a Summer hiatus, Dennis returns for a conversation with composers Elizabeth Alexander and J. David Moore, two of the founding members of the Independent Music Publishers Cooperative, a group of eight composer-publishers working together to market and distribute their music. The cooperative’s shared website provides a central hub where directors and performers can browse the group’s individual catalogs simultaneously, and serves as a guide to the composers’ best work.
Links:
Independent Music Publishers Cooperative
IMP on Facebook
Elizabeth Alexander
J. David Moore
Originally aired 8/15/2017
In case you haven’t yet heard the news, composer David Maslanka passed away last week on August 6 after a brief battle with cancer. David, along with his son Matthew, was a guest on the show back in January for Episode #38.
Reading other composers’ and performers’ reminiscences of him online, it’s impossible to overlook the impact he’s had in our corner of the world and beyond. From his simple exhortation for composers to Just Show Up when it comes to writing every day, to his acknowledgement about our craft that “nothing about what we do is convenient,” he has been a source of encouragement and inspiration for many composers over the decades.
So this week, in honor of his memory, I’m rebroadcasting episode 38 on Forging Your Own Path with David Maslanka.
Links:
David Maslanka
The Portfolio Composer: In Memoriam David Maslanka
Originally aired 8/7/2017
BONUS CONTENT: Dennis and the anthology curators do a live Q&A session »
Watch the video here »
Originally aired 8/7/2017
This week, Garrett Hope of The Portfolio Composer joins Dennis to make a few exciting announcements, including a new partnership with the American Composers Forum, a new distribution outlet for self-published composers, and gigantic new call for scores – all to make composers’ lives better.
BONUS CONTENT: Dennis and the anthology curators do a live Q&A session »
Watch the video here »
Links:
NewMusicShelf
NewMusicShelf Anthologies Call for Scores
American Composers Forum
The Portfolio Composer: The Vexing Problem of Unplanned Vacations
Originally aired 7/25/2017
Ed Windels returns to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of having a full-time day job in addition to your composing.
Links:
Ed Windels
Ed on Twitter
Ed on Soundcloud
Originally aired 7/18/2017
Composer Tony Manfredonia returns to talk about his bifurcated career of writing concert music and music for video games.
Links:
Tony Manfredonia
Tony on Twitter
Tony on Soundcloud
Wayward Isles teaser trailer
Originally aired 7/3/2017
Composer Griffin Candey talks about the importance of securing performances of new, large-scale works before you write them.
Links:
Griffin Candey
Griffin on Twitter
Sweets by Kate
OperaRox
Originally aired 6/13/2017
This week, I’m joined by composers Jamie Leigh Sampson and Andrew Martin Smith, the co-founders of ADJ•ective New Music, as they talk about the benefits and challenges of forming a composer collective, how they handle publishing and distribution for their composers, and the value they’ve found in running a podcast about new music.
Links:
ADJ•ective New Music
ADJ on Twitter
Lexical Tones podcast
Originally aired 6/4/2017
Mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen and composer Alex Shapiro return to MPP to talk about the ins and outs of commissioning new music from the perspective of the composer and the commissioner.
In the course of the conversation, we discussed:
- Making both sides happy
- Contracts
- Making smaller, regular payments
- Consortia
- Arrangements/Adaptations
- 802 Low Budget Agreements
- Acting as a collaborative partner
- Taxes
Links:
Alex Shapiro
Megan Ihnen
Alex Shapiro on NewMusicBox: “Let’s Make a List”
New Music USA commissioning resources
Originally aired 5/30/2017
Composer Garrett Schumann talks about building a local music scene, investing in yourself, and the nuts and bolts of economical live streaming.
Links:
Garrett Schumann
Garrett on Twitter
Æpex Contemporary Performance
Æpex on Facebook & Twitter
The Awesome Foundation
Salt Arts Documentation
Tech mentioned on the show:
Zoom H4N
Logitech C920
Open Broadcaster Software
Originally aired 5/22/2017
MPP celebrates one year of episodes with some reflection on the past year, a look ahead to the coming months, and a drink with return guest Jay Venute.
Links:
Jay on Twitter
Jay Venute: Jerk Birds
Originally aired 5/21/2017
Dennis is joined by composers Tony Manfredonia and Ed Windels to share even more reactions to the third New Music Gathering, held in Bowling Green, OH.
Links:
Tony Manfredonia
Ed Windels
REXduo
Ed Windels: 5 to 9 Composer
Originally aired May 18, 2017
Dennis is joined by soprano Elisabeth Halliday and composer Spencer Arias to talk about their reactions to the third New Music Gathering, held in Bowling Green, OH.
Links:
New Music Gathering
Elisabeth Halliday
Spencer Arias
Steven Schick: In Pursuit of an Externally Facing Artistic Practice
ÆPEX Contemporary Performance
Originally aired 5/8/2017
Entertainment lawyer Marc Ostrow returns to MPP to talk about recent legal and legislative developments in copyright and licensing, including bipartisan legislation to make the Register of Copyrights a Presidential Appointment, and the Fair Play Fair Pay Act.
Links:
Marc Ostrow
H.R.1695 – Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017
“A Declaration of Independence for the Copyright Office”
H.R.1836 – Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2017
Music Tech Policy: What’s in the New Fair Play, Fair Pay Act?
Will the Fair Play Fair Pay Act Get a Fair Hearing This Time?
Originally aired 4/27/2017
Composer/violist Martha Mooke talks about improvisation, following your passions, and finding balance.
Links:
Martha Mooke
Martha on Facebook
NewMusicBox: “Martha Mooke: Walls, Windows, and Doors”
Fuse Project: Revolution x3 (May 19, 2017)
ASCAP Thru the Walls
The Other Graduation (May 6, 2017)
Originally aired 4/17/2017
Composer & bassist Brian Coughlin has been performing, recording, and touring with the Fireworks Ensemble, which he founded in 2000. The six member ensemble plays in a wide variety of styles, emphasizing its “brazenly inclusive approach to repertoire.”
During the course of our conversation, Brian and I talked about non-linear career paths, meaningful collaborations, being open to a variety of experiences, and learning from your mistakes.
Links:
Fireworks Ensemble
Originally aired 4/11/2017
Robert Paterson is a composer whose career has many facets: he’s a percussionist, he conducts, he runs a successful new music ensemble, he runs a boutique record label, and he’s launching a new festival of new music in 2018. He joins me this week to talk about running composition competitions, believing in yourself, dealing with rejection, and having support systems in place.
Links:
Robert Paterson
American Modern Ensemble
American Modern Recordings
Mostly Modern Festival
The Portfolio Composer Ep. 2: Robert Paterson
The Portfolio Composer Ep. 108: Robert Paterson on Selling Yourself
Originally aired 4/42017
I met composer Reg Unterseher at the Chorus American conference a few years ago, and was taken with some of the things he had to say about how composers can be better-served by the community. He joins me this week to talk about the benefits of curation, the future of electronic scores, and different forms of distribution and publication.
Links:
Reg Unterseher
Reg on Facebook
Northwest Choral Publishers
Originally aired 3/2/2017
After ten months of doing this show, I finally managed to get my husband, Darien Shulman, on the podcast! Darien is a composer who started his musical career as a concert music composer, and has made the transition to writing for TV and film. He also wrote the MPP & CGDB theme music, and does the MPP voiceover.
In this week’s episode, we talk about different philosophies of music education, writing for commercials, and what it takes to kill your darlings.
Download the episode here »
Links:
Darien Shulman
Darien on Twitter
Storefront Music
Brooklyn Music Factory
Originally aired 3/21/2017
Composer Alexandra Gardner (Ep. 9) returns to talk about what should and shouldn’t go into your composer website.
Links:
Alexandra Gardner
Dale Trumbore: Seven Things to Remove from Your Website
DaleTrubmore.com
Caroline Shaw
Agata Zubel
Harold Meltzer
Originally aired 3/14/2017
Jason Heath is a bassist and fellow podcaster. His show Contrabass Conversations has been running for nearly a decade, and helps bass players with their artistry, auditioning, and careers.
During the course of our conversation, we talked about working with and getting commissions from school ensembles, and ways that composers and performers can leverage podcasting and blogging.
Download the episode here »
Links:
Contrabass Conversations
Double Bass Blog
Jason Heath
Winning the Audition
Arts Hacker
Inside the Arts
Adaptistration: The Growing World of Classical Music Podcasts
Michael Hyatt: Why You Need a Platform to Succeed
Pat Flynn, Smart Passive Income: Will It Fly?
Just Start: take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future
Launch
Crush It!
Originally aired on 3/6/2017
Kevin Clark is a philanthropy consultant, product manager, and composer working to help artists thrive. He is the brains behind the New Music USA project platform, and speaks and writes about arts economics, technology in the arts and non-profit worlds, and philanthropy.
During the course of our conversation, we talked about some of the interesting up-and-coming organizations that he consults for, making art sustainable, Baumol’s cost disease, and fundraising with Kickstarter.
Links:
Kevin Clark
CASH Music
Live Music Project
Originally aired 2/27/2017
In addition to his work as a composer, Jonathan Newman is the Director of Composition & Coordinator of New Music at the Shenandoah Conservatory; he was also a founding member of the composer consortium BCM International.
During the course of our conversation, we talked about writing for educational ensembles, the history and impact of BCM International, and being “pigeonholed”.
Download the episode here »
Links:
JonathanNewman.com
Jonathan on Facebook
Jonathan on Twitter
BCM International
BCM Forums
Originally aired 2/20/2017
Anne Lanzilotti is a violist, composer, and fierce advocate of contemporary music. She is a member of The Rhythm Method string quartet, co-founder for Kalikolehua — El Sistema Hawai‘i, and a member of the string faculty at NYU Steinhardt, and she created “Shaken Not Stuttered”, an online resource of extended techniques for strings used in Andrew Norman’s orchestral and chamber works.
During the course of our conversation, she and I talked about collaboration, the joys and challenges of commissioning, and new music advocacy.
Links:
Anne Lanzilotti
Shaken Not Stuttered
The Rhythm Method
Kalikolehua — El Sistema Hawai‘i
Originally aired 2/13/2017
For this week’s episode, I sat down to chat with David and Matthew Maslanka. David is a renowned composer, often known for his extensive catalog of works for wind ensemble; and Matthew, David’s son, is a euphonist and engraver, and handles the operations for publishing David’s music.
During the course of the conversation, we talked about the trajectory of David’s career and the important changes he made and risks he took along the way, how Matthew handles publishing David’s works, and the importance of being true to your music and yourself.
Links:
David Maslanka
Matthew Maslanka Music Preparation
Originally aired 2/6/2017
In her first appearance on the show exactly 30 episodes ago, Dale Trumbore mentioned How to Go On, her secular requiem commissioned by Choral Arts Initiative. She explained the plan to premiere and record the piece with the ensemble, and promised to be back to talk about the process.
So this week, she and CAI Artistic Director Brandon Elliott join me to talk about the process of the preparation and recording of the album: from the project’s genesis through fundraising, marketing recording, and post-production, up to the impending release this month.
Originally aired 1/30/2017
Joshua Gersen is, in addition to being a composer, the Musical Director of the New York Youth Symphony and Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. An advocate for new music, he helps to oversee the NYYS’s annual composer competition, which awards commissions to three composers under 30.
During the course of our conversation,w e talked about the role of youth orchestras, the nature of orchestral writing, and the annual NYYS composition competition.
Links:
Joshua Gersen
New York Youth Symphony
Originally aired 1/23/2017
Scott Tegge, tubist for the Gaudete Brass, knows how to hustle, and he’s genuinely an awesome guy. We met at the “composer hang” coordinated by Frank J. Oteri during the Midwest Clinic, and I knew right away that he had to be a guest on the show. In addition to all the work he does for the quintet, he also teaches an insane amount, and is in the process of creating a new non-profit to help generate more opportunities for brass players.
During the course of our conversation, a few of the things we talked about were: collaborations (both good and bad), having diversified revenue, and knowing how to fundraise effectively.
Links:
Gaudete Brass
Cedille Records: sevenfive – The John Corigliano Effect
iTunes: sevenfive – The John Corigliano Effect
Originally aired 1/16/2017
William J. Lackey is one of the many cool people I met at the Midwest Clinic. In addition to his work as a composer, Billy has been the Administrative Director at the Mizzou New Music Initiative, and served on the Boards of the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, and the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance. He’s currently a Vice President of Programs at the American Composers Forum, and he brings all of the skills he learned in these various positions to bear in his composing career.
During the course of our conversation, we chatted about transformative teachers, learning administrative skills, and a host of opportunities available for composers through the American Composers Forum.
Links:
William J. Lackey
Soundcloud
American Composers Forum
Mizzou New Music Initiative & International Composers Festival
In Part 2 of my conversation with Frank J. Oteri, we talk about reconciling different genres, thinking about audiences and their (lack of) preconceptions, and amateurism.
To say that Frank J. Oteri has a multi-faceted career in music is a gross understatement. In addition to his own work as a composer, he has been the Co-Editor for NewMusicBox since it was created in 1999, where he writes and reports on all manner of topics relating to the realm of new music, and he bears the unique title of Composer Advocate at New Music USA. He works tirelessly on behalf of composers in the US and abroad, and has a breadth and depth of knowledge of living composers and their works that is, quite simply, staggering.
I’ve been friends with Frank and his wife Trudy Chan (Ep. 25) for years, and it’s always a joy to hang out and chat with either of them. So for this week, Frank and I sat down with a bottle of wine, and talked for over two hours! Rest assured, I’ve split the conversation into two parts so that the second half will come out next week.
In Part 1 of this lengthy conversation, we talk about pushing artistic boundaries, the nature of “originality”, and what it means to be an advocate for new music.
Links:
Frank J. Oteri
Frank’s writings at NewMusicBox
Andrew Norman: On Being Named Composer of the Year by Musical America
I met Reena Esmail a few years ago when my friend Marc Peloquin (Ep. 20) featured her on the KeyedUp MusicProject. I was immediately taken with her musical style, and was thrilled to get to know her in person after the concert.
We tried for over two months to get this episode to happen, but our schedules refused to cooperate until just a few days before Christmas. Reena has some wonderful things to say on a host of topics, and I think that this is the perfect way to close out the year on a note of reflection and coming together.
During the course of our conversation, we chatted about:
- What community feels like in the world of new music
- Being inclusive, especially beyond the world of musicians
- The “underbelly” of niche marketing
- The pull of feeling like a representative for a minority
- Being a woman composer
Some composers Reena thinks you should know about:
Derrick Spiva Jr.
Valerie Coleman
Jeffrey Mumford
Juan Pablo Contreras
Gabriela Lena Frank
Links:
Reena Esmail
KUSC: Arts Alive interview with Reena
The Portfolio Composer: Ep. 58
Laura van Demoot Lipsky: Trauma Stewardship
Street Symphony
Urban Voices Project
Salastina Music Society
River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
After several weeks of emailing to set up this episode, Stacy Garrop and I met in person at The Midwest Clinic, and had a wonderful time getting to know one another between Clinic events. A few days after I returned to NYC, we sat down for this conversation. Stacy’s a great composer, and I had the pleasure of hearing her fantastic brass quintet Legends of Olympus performed by the Gaudete Brass while I was in Chicago.
During the course of our conversation, we talk about:
- The Midwest Clinic
- Planning for conferences
- Writing music for different levels of ability
- Email newsletters
- Having advocates for your music
- Consistency in sending your email newsletters
- Being shy
- Stepping into a more outgoing persona
- Reaching out to new ensembles
- Formality and proper forms of address
- Tailoring your bio to the occasion
- Sending emails at the appropriate time
- Going freelance full-time
- The potential pitfalls of being a freelancer
- Planning your freelance finances
- Assessing your tolerance for risk
Links:
Stacy Garrop
Composer Inklings
Rusch: The Freelancer’s Survival Guide
I’m joined this week by a number of friends and colleagues to break down The Midwest Clinic, which we all just attended – most of us for the first time.
Trudy Chan returns to the show, then Frank J. Oteri (Trudy’s husband, and the founder/co-editor of NewMusicBox) joins the conversation, then Sean Perrin of the Clarineat podcast and Garrett Hope (the Justin Timberlake to MPP’s SNL) have a nice chat about our first experiences at the conference.
In short: it’s HUGE, it’s overwhelming for a first-timer, and it’s an amazing opportunity for composers and for musicians of all stripes to network and to explore a wealth of music, most of it new.
Links:
The Midwest Clinic
Clarineat with Sean Perrin
After we spoke in Episode 19, Scott mentioned that we should have looked at one of my previous NMUSA Project Grant applications as an example to help other applicants, and I immediately started kicking myself for not thinking of that earlier.
So this week, that’s exactly how we start the episode – we look through two of my previous applications (screen-capped below). Then we go on to look at a few applications from the String Orchestra of Brooklyn (with the permission and at the behest of Ep. 23 guest Emily Bookwalter), as well as a broad look at some previously-awarded projects. It’s a great talk, and I absolutely learned a TON in the process.
On a personal note: great job to all of you who have been emailing Scott and his team about your applications after he was on the show earlier this Fall. That’s exactly what I was hoping for, and exactly what we all need to do to make our applications better!
Scroll down for screencaps and audio samples from the applications that Scott and I talk about.
Links:
The Portfolio Composer: Ep. 11 – Missy Mazzoli on Grant Writing and Marketing Yourself
Jay Venute is the wit and talent behind Jerk Birds and the webcomic Doodle Park. He’s also a very close friend, a regular listener to the show despite not being a musician, and a constant sounding board for my myriad harebrained ideas.
This week, we commemorate the six month anniversary of the show by talking about how it came to be, the trials and tribulations of all the behind-the-scenes machinations, and the various lessons I’ve learned along the way.
We also spend time talking about our artistic common ground, showing appreciation, support systems, and the importance of being publicly vulnerable.
Links:
Jerk Birds
Doodle Park
Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Freelancer’s Survival Guide
The Portfolio Composer
Garrett Hope
Angela Myles Beeching, author of the well-known book Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music, has created and run entrepreneurship programs in a number of major music schools throughout the country, and now is a full-time career consultant for working musicians.
This week, she joins me to talk about her work with musicians, and some tips for composers and performers.
Also, Angela has made a very generous offer to the MPP community: between now and December 14, 2016, she is offering a free 30-minute career consultation! Just email her at Angela@BeyondTalentConsulting.com, and mention that you heard her here.
During the course of our conversation, we touched on:
- The perceptions of entrepreneurship
- Using entrepreneurial skills appropriately
- Teaching the entrepreneurial “mentality” vs. concrete skills
- Listening to your critical voice
- Time management
- Setting up creative blocks
- Forming habits
- Setting a pre-creative ritual
- Minimizing distractions during creative time
- Being in a space conducive to writing
- Setting regular creative habits
- Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art
- Describing your music
- Angela’s generous offer to MPP listeners
- Going to conferences
- The Chamber Music America national conference
Links:
Angela Myles Beeching
Beyond Talent
Steven Pressfield: The War of Art
New Music Box: You Need a Better Bio
“Inside Morton’s Head”: Morton Gould on the creative process
“Success & Legacy”
“Five Productivity Hacks”
Trudy Chan has had a multifaceted career in music. The former Senior Manager of Promotion at Boosey & Hawkes, Trudy now heads her own boutique composer management company, and works as a collaborative pianist, most notably as one half of the Cheah Chan Duo, which puts on six concerts of art song and piano music each season.
Trudy and I have been friends for years, and we’ve had the pleasure of performing together several times.
During the course of our conversation, we touched on:
- Friendship as the basis for working relationships
- Working for a traditional publisher
- Approaching performers and ensembles
- Doing your research
- The Virtue of Patience
- Being judicious in mailing materials
- Preparing for conferences
- The importance of showing up
- The dance of building relationships
- Business partners
- Some advantages and disadvantages of traditional publishing
- Submission tips
- Program notes
- Follow-up emails
- Black Tea Music
- The differences between promotion and publicity
Links:
Black Tea Music
Cheah Chan Duo
My friend and fellow podcaster – and MPP Superfriend – Garrett Hope is back this week to talk with me about an idea that’s not super-well-known within the music community, but has been helping artists, professionals, and small business owners for nearly a century: Mastermind Groups.
Garrett and I are members of a small mastermind group of music podcasters and bloggers, and it’s in large part thanks to this group of wonderful musicians that I’ve continued to improve this show over the past few months.
What is a mastermind? Let Garrett explain it to you in this week’s episode, where we discuss the benefits of creating a group of peer mentors, how to gracefully accept criticism, being accountable, and building a base of support.
And head on over to Garrett’s show The Portfolio Composer, where I’m this week’s guest: Episode 99 – just before Garrett’s landmark 100th episode!
Links:
Our mastermind guidelines
Garrett Hope
The Portfolio Composer
Napoleon Hill: The Law of Success
Napoleon Hill: Think and Grow Rich
Emily Bookwalter is a violist, the Director of External Affairs for the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and the Executive Director of New Amsterdam Records. In short, Emily does all the things.
This is a fantastic conversation where we riff on marketing, storytelling, the dargers/usefulness of -isms, community, musical citizenship, and how the viola is the best instrument. Soap-boxes abound.
And then Google Hangouts lost the last six minutes of the broadcast. Seriously. Fortunately, I was talking for most of those six minutes, so very little of import was lost. 😉
Links:
Emily Bookwalter
String Orchestra of Brooklyn
New Amsterdam Records
Kathleen Supové is an excellent pianist with a flair for the theatrical and a deep love for new music. Although she studied within the classical tradition, she feels the need to forge new paths and create new traditions for new music.
We spoke a few days before The Debussy Effect, Kathleen’s latest album of works written for her, was released on New Focus Records. During our conversation, we talked about:
- Virtuosity
- Curation
- Marathon concerts: the good and the not so good
- Having long-term relationships with composers and other colleagues
- Recording projects
- The Debussy Effect
- Recreational listening
Links:
Kathleen Supové
Kathleen Supové & The Exploding Piano on Facebook
The Debussy Effect
Seth Hanes is Philadelphia-based horn player and entrepreneur, and runs the excellent website The Musician’s Guide to Hustling, where he helps musicians get more gigs and create more – and more rewarding – connections with other musicians. I met Seth when he invited me to come on his site to talk about the differences between traditional publishing and self publishing, and I was impressed with his level of knowledge on marketing and effective promotion.
Seth just released his first book, Break into the Scene: A Musician’s Guide to Making Connections, Creating Opportunities, and Launching a Career, today, and I think that it’s a great addition to the library of any musician who wants clear, actionable advice on how to improve their career.
In the course of our conversation, we covered:
- Freelancing
- Having a versatile skillset
- Scarcity vs abundance
- Reaching out
- Connecting with contractors
- Marketing fundamentals
- Considering the challenges of your prospective collaborators
- Breaking into the Scene
Links
Seth Hanes
Seth on Twitter
The Musician’s Guide to Hustling
Break Into the Scene on Amazon
BreakIntoTheScene.com
Dennis on The Musician’s Guide to Hustling
In June 2005, my composition teacher at the time told me that he was having his Pianos Variations premiered by a pianist named Marc Peloquin at the Bloomingdale School of Music, and that if I was interested, I should go. I arrived rather early, met Marc, and ended up helping him to set up chairs for the recital. The concert was wonderful, and in addition to Daron’s Variations, included some works by Virgil Thomson and David Del Tredici.
Afterward, I was invited to a post-concert dinner a few blocks away with Marc and his partner (now husband) Seth, Chester Biscardi, and David Del Tredici, and the five of us have been good friends ever since. (I like to tell the story of how I only ordered french fries, claiming that I had eaten before the concert, when in fact french fries were all I could afford at the time. The life of a young artist!)
Nine months after that concert and dinner, Marc and I performed together for the first time on the inaugural Tobenski-Algera Concert. We perform together regularly, have toured together, and formed a small record label to release our recordings of new vocal music. Marc was also the Best Man at my wedding last year.
During this week’s conversation, we talked about:
- The value of recording previously-unrecorded works
- Approaching promotion from a project-oriented standpoint
- KeyedUp MusicProject
- Curation
- Community
- The economics of recording
- Finding a label or self-releasing your recordings
- Collaboration
- Learning from experience
- How we run Perfect Enemy Records
- “Life Rolls”
- Rolling with the punches
Links:
Marc Peloquin
KeyedUp MusicProject
Perfect Enemy Records
Kristine Kathryn Rusch: One Phone Call from Our Knees
For this week’s episode, I sat down with Scott Winship, the Director of Grantmaking at New Music USA to talk about the organization’s Project Grants, and answer a few listener questions. It was a great conversation with a lot of really great tips for making your application the best it can be.
Some of the things we talked about were:
- The American Music Center & Meet the Composer merger, which created New Music USA
- How the NMUSA are a reaction to the ways that artists make their art today
- The grant application process
- The panel process
- The general breakdown of the awards
- Effective work samples
- Making use of collaborator profiles
- Narratives & project descriptions
- Giving yourself time to put together a compelling application
- Getting feedback
- Question: When is the music “not enough”?
- Your budget
- The private description
- Question: Why does it seem like the “usual suspects” seem to get awarded every round?
- Question: Is there a weight to individual, ensemble, or organization applications?
- The new grant deadline for 2016/2017
Links:
New Music USA
American Composers Forum
Recently declared by Opera News to be a “game changing” company that is redefining American opera, New York City-based Rhymes With Opera started just like most new music ensembles – as a handful of like-minded friends who just wanted to do good work – and have become a well-established, well-respected organization creating a whole new set of operatic repertoire for the 21st century.
I was thrilled to sit down with all five of the founding members to talk about the company’s successes and growing pains, and their advice for new music ensembles that are just starting out.
During the course of the conversation, we talked about:
- The history and mission of Rhymes With Opera
- Deciding your path as an organization
- Not over-extending your ensemble
- Finding organizational stability
- Rhyme With Opera’s beginning steps and missteps
- The importance of forming a solid Board of Directors
- Limiting your organizational activities to core competencies
- Surrounding yourself with talent
- Outsourcing effectively
- Taking incremental steps toward your goals
- Knowing your budget in order to fundraise effectively
- Crowdfunding
- Cultivating a donor base
- The current state of American opera and concert music in general
- The DIY mentality in concert music today
- Supporting new music as an organizational goal
Links:
Rhymes With Opera
George Lam
Ruby Fulton
Bonnie Lander
Elisabeth Halliday
Robert Maril
Opera News: Indies Ascending
Rose Marshack is a professor of Arts Technology and Music Business at Illinois State University (my alma mater), as well as the bass player for the indie rock band Poster Children. I met Rose when I spoke to her Music Business students for the first time in 2013, and immediately loved her enthusiasm for giving her students the skills they need to survive post-graduation.
During the course of our conversation, we talked about:
- Giving back
- Maintaining connections with your alma mater
- “Band Karma”
- The different approaches to teaching music business
- Different ways to make a living as a musician
- Teaching as a form of learning
- Surrounding yourself with talent
Links:
Poster Children
André Gide: The Counterfeiters
The Smarter Artist: What Do You Mean by DVD Extras?
Self-Publishing Podcast: Forging Unbreakable Bonds with Readers Who Love You
In addition to being a talented composer, Daniel Gilliam is the Director of Programming for WUOL Classical 90.5 in Louisville, KY. We got to know one another a number of years ago on Twitter, and finally met in “meatspace”, along with Dale Trumbore, over drinks at the 2012 Chorus America conference in Minneapolis, MN.
During the course of our conversation we touched on:
- The responsibilities of a classical radio Program Director
- Having a day job outside of academia
- How your paycheck doesn’t define you as an artist – your art does
- Building relationships
- Being able to talk about your music with non-musicians
- Neil deGrasse Tyson as an ambassador of science
- An overview of classical radio
- Audience, data and fulfilling mission
- Defining the audience for classical radio
- How most new music performers aren’t the target audience for classical radio
- Submitting recordings to classical stations
- The quality of your materials
- Follow-up techniques
- Doing your research
- The importance of having a broad and deep knowledge of the classical repertoire
- Playing the long game and having patience
Links:
Daniel Gilliam / Fictive Music
WUOL Classical 90.5
MusicSpoke: “Just Relax” by Daniel Gilliam
Q2 Radio
Second Inversion
Garrett Hope is a composer, entrepreneur, and business coach, as well as the podcaster behind The Portfolio Composer (originally titled Composer on Fire). Like me, he loves helping other composers to navigate their careers, and he’s currently putting together an online course, which will launch in September, to teach composers how to market their works more effectively.
During our wide-ranging conversation, we talked about:
- The Portfolio Composer (née Composer on Fire)
- “Done is better than perfect”
- Believing in yourself and having the courage to go out and pursue your dreams
- “What does it mean to market and sell yourself?”
- Thinking like a small business owner
- Some basic marketing principles and advice
- How your art becomes a product after you’ve finished creating it
- No matter what kind of music you write, there is a market for it
- Garrett’s Marketing for Composers course
- How marketing doesn’t have to lead to financial benefit – it can just help to secure more performances
- Legacy
- “Know your why”
- Surrounding yourself with talent
- A bit about podcasting
- Non-musical marketing
- Be yourself & be genuine
- The benefits of sharing your process with your audience
- Development diaries: how they help you grow as an artist, and how they can help or inspire your audience
- “DVD Extras”
- “Like, Know, and Trust”
Links:
Garrett Hope
Marketing for Composers
The Portfolio Composer
Simon Sinek: Start with Why
Misia by Robert Fitzdale and Arthur Gold
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Three months after his first appearance on the show, entertainment/copyright lawyer and MPP Superfriend Marc Ostrow is back to talk some more about Fair Use, with me supplying a few hypothetical situations. But more importantly, Marc lays out the Department of Justice’s recent and unexpected ruling that PROs must abandon 70+ years of established industry practice and adopt a 100% Licensing regime, and what that means for you.
During the conversation, we covered:
- A history of ASCAP, BMI, and their consent decrees
- Rate courts and “reasonable rates”
- How consent decrees allow new streaming services to operate without paying for a license
- The differences between the ASCAP & BMI consent decrees
- How the PROs want their consent decrees to be relaxed to allow for sync and mechanical licensing
- How the Department of Justice ruled on 100% Licensing rather than addressing long-standing industry concerns
- An explanation of 100% Licensing vs. Fractional Licensing
- Who owns what in a collaborative effort
- “Absent a written agreement”
- How 100% Licensing impacts working musicians, the heirs of musicians who have passed, and musicians working outside the US
- How the DoJ’s ruling vitiates existing contracts
- The Copyright Office’s reaction to the DoJ’s ruling
- How the DoJ’s ruling might prevent many artists from collaborating with each other
- Who benefits from 100% Licensing (hint: it’s not you)
- The PRO’s challenges to the ruling, and potential outcomes
- A recap of Fair Use principles
- Some Fair Use hypothetical situations for composers, performers, and educators
Links:
Marc Ostrow: Why DOJ’s Mandate of 100% Licensing of Works by ASCAP and BMI is 100% Lunacy
Marc Ostrow: 100% Licensing summary and reaction
Marc Ostrow: Letter to DoJ
U.S. Copyright Office’s reaction to 100% Licensing ruling
MusicTechPolicy Podcast explaining 100% Licensing
Marc Ostrow: “Do You Have The Chutzpah To Take A Gamble On Fair Use?”
Megan Ihnen is a Des Moines, IA-based mezzo-soprano and “tireless promoter of contemporary classical music for the voice.” For this week’s episode, we sat down to talk about building community, being generous, and writing for the voice.
Throughout the conversation we covered:
- Getting inspiration from other fields
- Building a career outside of NYC
- Building local music communities
- Megan’s mission statement of building relationships in concentric circles
- Entrepreneurship & generosity
- Being a part of the larger community
- Starting new music ensembles with close colleagues
- Fostering the works of living composers as a lynchpin to your career
- How singers work with text (and subtext)
- Close collaboration between composers and performers
- Getting to know your collaborator’s particular strengths
- Some pointers on writing for the voice
- Sending music to vocalists
- How Megan finds music to perform
- Finding and fostering your tribe
Links:
Megan Ihnen
Megan on Twitter
Megan on Istagram
The Sybaritic Singer
29 Days to Diva
Avaloch Farm Music Institute
Seen/Heard Trio
musochat
Thomas Deneuville is another musician whose friendship I owe to Twitter, which is only fitting considering his affinity to and facility with social media. Thomas is the founder of the online new music magazine I Care If You Listen, which he created in December 2010, and has since grown to include ICareIfYouListen.tv, a fully-fledged media platform dedicated to user-generated new music videos. A testament to his ingenuity and love of the world of new music, Thomas and I Care If You Listen won the 45th Annual ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor Media Award in 2013.
Outside of ICIYL, Thomas teaches, consults, and speaks about web design, email marketing, social media, and analyzing online metrics, as they pertain to musicians and other artists. He is also the digital content manager for Cornell University.
During the course of this week’s episode, we talked about:
- I Care If You Listen
- The quarterly ICIYL Mix Tape
- Curating a collection of other people’s recordings
- Creating an online community
- Having an effective social media presence without wasting your time
- Setting clearly defined goals for social media
- Knowing your audience on social media, and learning more about them
- Balancing your social media content (the 4:1:1 ratio)
- Curating your social media content
- Social media reach vs. number of followers
- Facebook pages vs. personal profile
- Cross-posting to multiple platforms
- Choosing the right social network for yourself
- Mirroring Facebook content
- The importance of having an email list
- The conversational nature of email cs. The public nature of social media
- Email conversion rates
- Digital sharecropping
- Autoresponders
- Enticing people onto your list (permission marketing)
- Apologizing for sending emails to your list
- Email best practices
- Open rates vs. click rates
- Click budgets and prioritized calls to action
Links:
Thomas Deneuville
I Care If You Listen
I Care If You Listen.tv
Astrid Baumgardner: SMART Goals for SMART Music Entrepreneurs
Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and Buffer
MailChimp
In November 2015, Dale Trumbore recommended that Kurt Knecht and I talk about me joining MusicSpoke, an online retailer of self-published scores run by Kurt and his wife Jennifer Rosenblatt. I’ve been a MusicSpoke composer ever since, and have a number of my scores available for sale there.
Because Kurt & Jennifer run MusicSpoke with such dedication, zeal, and transparency, I wanted to highlight their business, which does so much for the composers involved, and for the community in general, and to talk about digital distribution in general.
In the course of our conversation, we covered:
- The wall that traditional publishers represent between composers and score purchasers
- The monetary difference between traditional publishing and distribution deals
- Reading sessions at conferences
- Curating lists of works
- Making use of connections in your own state
- Using physical scores to make digital sales
- The rarely-considered middlemen in scores sales
- Piracy, digital rights management, and copy licensing agreements
- How people who have no intention of paying aren’t going to pay – either through piracy or not buying at all
- How music schools inadvertently foster a culture of piracy
- The future of score sales and digital distribution
- The hyper-scrupulous honesty of many score purchasers
- Fostering community among composers
Links:
MusicSpoke
MusicSpoke on Facebook
MusicSpoke on Twitter
Kurt Knecht
Composer & conductor Dominick DiOrio is a supremely talented musician, and we have many friends in common who have raved about him to me over the years. He’s a widely-respected choral conductor, and a huge champion of new music, so I’ve been interested in getting him on the show from the word “go”.
We have a few audio issues at the beginning of the episode, but everything smooths out nicely after a few minutes, and we have a really wonderful chat.
In the course of our conversation, we talk about:
- Wearing the dual hats of conductor and composer
- How performative pursuits can inform your writing, and vice versa
- Common score review practices for choral conductors
- Composers who have (or don’t have) a vocal sensibility
- Adjudicating competitions, and what disqualifies many entries in the first round
- Recording requirements in competitions
- The evolution of choral music in the US, and its effect on choral writing
- The affinity toward new music in the choral world
- Operatic vocal technique as the primary style taught to voice majors
- Self-conscious composition
- Giving students compositional tools without pushing them into a particular style
- Submitting works to conductors and ensembles
Links:
Dominick DiOrio
NOTUS: IU Contemporary Vocal Ensemble
Graphite Press
Alexandra Gardner is a great composer who, thanks in no small part to her time as an Associate Editor for NewMusicBox, knows a lot about the nuts and bolts workings of the concert music world. For this week, she and I sat down to talk about a wide range of practical considerations for composers.
- During our conversation, we touched on:
- Pricing your scores
- Comparing your prices to similar scores by other self-publishied composers or put out by traditional publishers
- Prices that reflect blood, sweat, and tears cs. those that reflect concrete costs of printing & binding
- Taking where you are in your career into consideration when pricing your scores
- Composer web sites
- Integrating your non-musical interests into your composer site to make it more interesting and engaging
- Making your site easy to navigate, and your materials/info easy to find
- Providing the information that performers and presenters need
- Information redundancies across your site
- Taking into account the Luddites in the concert music world when making your site
- Evaluating the use of your time honestly
- Advice and “your mileaeg may vary”
- Getting your doctorate
- Gaining skills from non-musical day jobs
- Networking and how we perceive it
- Capital “N” Networking vs. lower-case “n” networking
- Contacting new people
Links:
Alexandra Gardner
Alex for NewMusicBox
“Fair Trade for Sheet Music” by Dennis Tobenski
Alex Shapiro: Notes from the Kelp
MPP on Twitter
MPP on Facebook
After having never met Rob Deemer before in person, I had TWO conversations with him in less than a week for the podcast! Conversation No. 1 was marred by some unexpected audio issues, so we re-recorded less than a week later, and that’s what you’re getting this week.
During Convo No. 2, we talked about:
- How side projects can boost your career
- Being able to talk about your music
- Labels as specifiers & Labels as marketing
- Drawing parallels between concert music and other fields
- The ways we talk about “new music”
- Music as an Experience
- Program notes
- Social media as a serious form of professional communication
- Interacting with musicians when you (or they) live outside of a major metropolitan area
- Teaching inexperienced artists how to interact on social media
- Forming deeper relationships online
- Building community in different ways
- Relating public professional interactions to professional didactic experiences
- Operating as a professional online
- Being human and approachable online
- Teaching teachers to compose
- Teaching entrepreneurship and business skills
- The history of self publishing & the history of teaching music in universities
- Career trajectories
- Short term gains vs. long term sacrifices in publishing
- Making educated and thoughtful business decisions
- Balancing your time between admin tasks and writing
However!
Since we covered such vastly different material in each conversation (of course with not-insignificant overlap), we’ve decided to offer our first conversation as “bonus content” for this week’s episode, if you don’t mind listening to “the sexiest voice in classical music” through a slight haze of static. Download it HERE.
Links:
Rob Deemer on Twitter
Rob’s articles at NewMusicBox
Dale is a composer whose career I’ve enjoyed following over the years. I’m always intrigued by the projects that she takes on, and I love the interesting and super-savvy ways that she tackles each one.
In the course of our conversation, we talked about:
- How performance is the best rehearsal for recording
- The benefits of long-term musical relationships
- Taking advantage of your own enthusiasm
- Touring an album
- Kickstarting a project
- Using preorders to fund an album
- The potential dangers of Kickstarter rewards
- Imposing artificial deadlines on projects
- Hybrid publishing
- Using traditional publishing to boost sales of your self-published works
- The concept of the “loss leader”
- Curating a series of scores
- The gatekeepers of publishing: the good and the bad
- Taking a methodical approach to your career, and not rushing after everything at once
- Saying “no” to opportunities that are a poor fit
- Being prepared for success
- Accidentally oversaturating the scene
- Newsletters
- Being smart and engaging in your newsletter content
- Using newsletters to increase engagement with your audience
- Adding people to your list without their permission
- Putting together commissioning consortia yourself
- Writing “companion pieces”
Links:
Dale Trumbore
Snow White Turns Sixty - Gillian Hollis & Dale Trumbore
Choral Arts Initiative: “How to Go On: The Choral Works of Dale Trumbore”
Dale Warland Choral Series
MusicSpoke: Choral Arts Initiative Series
Dale on Composer on Fire with Garrett Hope
Dale on Choir Chat with John Hughes
For this week's episode, I sat down with San Jose-based composer and engraver Noah Luna to talk about the importance of having professional-quality scores and parts. He offered some great advice on some little things that composers can do to improve the look and - most importantly - the readability of their materials.
In the course of the hour, we chatted about:
- getting a professional eye on your scores/parts
- leaving time for proofreading
- the various communities that engravers/copyists serve
- how high quality scores facilitate rehearsals
- how poor engraving can be costly to ensembles
- the rise of digital devices in performance
- trusting your software too much
- listening to music librarians
- MOLA standards for margins, staff size, page size, and page turns
- getting feedback from performers
- being consistent in your score layout
- leaving your compositional process on the page, and how that can negatively impact readability
- how sometimes you just have to use Staples or FedEx
- font usage
- page layout
- the idea of taking engraving/copying lessons
- getting help and building your team
Links:
Noah Luna
BCP Music
The Highwayman (by Noah Luna)
Elaine Gould: Behind Bars
Gardner Read: Music Notation
Cheap Impostor
Erin Rogers is a super-talented composer and saxophonist who I’ve known for a couple of years. We met for the first time over lunch many years ago while I was in the early stages of writing the Composer’s Guide, where we had a wonderful conversation about publishing and composer career issues that has always stuck with me. Our paths haven’t crossed much in the intervening years, so I was glad to have a reason to reconnect with Erin by inviting her on the show. And boy was I glad I did!
This is the first show that I’ve done not just live, but in-person, as well! We attempted to broadcast as per usual, but I discovered after the fact that Google Hangouts stopped actually broadcasting after the first 20 minutes…leaving another 70 that never went out to YouTube! Fortunately, as I’ve learned about doing this whole podcasting thing, I’ve started recording the audio on my own end (and asking my guests to record theirs, as well), so the entire conversation was captured on my laptop, and wasn’t lost due to the screw-ups of our Google Overlords.
After we stopped our broadcast, Erin and I hung out for several more hours, still talking along the same lines as on the show. We poured ourselves another drink and kept talking at my apartment, then went out for dinner, and kept the conversation going there. A part of me wishes we’d “kept the cameras rolling” as it were, because we covered lots of fertile ground.
During our recorded conversation, however, we managed to talk about:
- Social media
- How a score isn’t always finished until it’s performed, or until the composer dies
- Proofreading your own scores
- The importance of a second pair of eyes on your scores
- Allowing time for proofreading and part extraction
- Having the resources of a publisher behind you vs. taking full control yourself
- Engraving/formatting standards
- Setting up your scores and front matter
- Handling perusal scores
- Licensing performances
- Being a performing composer
- Starting an ensemble for the love of the music
- Following established models, keeping low overhead, and working with the right people
- Licensing works for performances
- Some potential pitfalls of working with traditional publishers
- Some of the new models for working with publishers
Links:
Erin Rogers
thingNY
New Thread Quartet
HYPERCUBE
Copyright is the bedrock of every artist’s career – it secures rights and offers protections that allow us to build careers on solid ground without undue worry of our works being stolen or exploited without our knowledge or consent. The Founding Fathers of the United Stated thought it so important that they wrote it into Article I of the Constitution. Every artist should have a working knowledge of current copyright law – they should know the basic rights and protections that they’re afforded, and how they can remedy any infringement on their rights.
It’s with this in mind that I invited my friend Marc Ostrow, an entertainment/IP lawyer and songwriter, to be on the show.
In our conversation, we talked about:
- basic tenets of copyright
- the limits of what is copyrightable
- the Poor Man’s Copyright
- the benefits of and incentives to registering your copyrights
- fighting infringements
- folio registrations*
- working with living poets vs. dead poets’ estates
-
Performing Rights Organizations
-
selecting
- collecting performance royalties
-
what PROs don’t do
-
estate planning for artists
- international copyright issues
- why you should get permission before setting a text
- First Sale Doctrine
- licensing vs. selling
- copying licenses
-
Fair Use
-
Fair Use is not a right; it is a defense against an infringement accusation*
- the four factors of fair use
- transformative use vs. derivative works
-
the false “rules of thumb” of fair use
-
our cats
(* – these are important points!)
Marc is slated to come back in July to go into more depth with Fair Use and the seemingly endless misconceptions that people seem to have about it.
Links:
Marc Ostrow
Marc’s blog
U.S. Copyright Office
The Copyright Handbook
Donald S. Passman: All You Need to Know About the Music Business
Steve Gordon: The Future of the Music Business
Composer Chris Cresswell and I have known each other for a couple of years, and we never fail to to have long, rambling, fun conversations. Today was no different in this trans-Atlantic chat about self-doubt, finding joy in composing, and mental health for artists.
In this episode:
- Wearing many hats
- Finding joy in creating
- How practical considerations can inform your compositional practice
- Comparing yourself to other composers
- Cutting yourself some slack
- Creating a life that is healthy and sustainable, and also nourishes your art
- Success and mental health
- Feeding the whole person
- How Dennis and Chris try to cope
Links:
ChrissCresswellMusic.com
Dale Trumbore’s NewMusicBox articles
Nico Muhly: Thoughts on Being Well
Jackie Battenfield: The Artist’s Guide
Third time’s a charm! After a sudden scheduling conflict and a Google Hangouts technological nightmare, Jenn Jolley and I finally sat down to talk about her music, her blog, and the opera company that she helped to found.
In this episode, we touched on:
- Rejection
- How processing our emotions is time invested in our art
- Using rejection to springboard into new projects
- Competitions and how they’re run
- NANOWorks
- Building an organization that serves the wider community
- The difficulty of securing second and third performances
- The realities of running an ensemble or arts organization
- Taking stock of your situation and re-evaluating your goals
- When practical considerations inform your writing
- The need for more operatic roles for women
- Composer collectives
- Resource sharing
Links:
JenniferJolley.com
WhyCompose.com
NANOWorks Opera
AJD•ective New Music
[Techinical Difficulties music by Darien Shulman]
To kick off the Music Publishing Podcast, I sat down to chat with Alex Shapiro, a fantastic composer and friend who writes and speaks regularly about composers’ career issues, and is a Writer Member of the ASCAP Board of Directors.
Appropriately enough, we sat down on April 15 – usually tax day, except that we got a reprieve this year to procrastinate for a few more days.
Also listen to Alex on Garrett Hope’s great podcast Composer on Fire on the music business – two episodes, here and here!
In our wide-ranging conversation, we talked about:
- Choosing your own path
- Redefining success
- The dissolution of the old composing camps
- The Magic Bakery
- The future of copyright in the digital age
- Self-worth and Self-deprecation
- Finding a balance in the kinds of work you do
- Encouraging students to find their own stylistic path
- The importance of kindness and generosity
Links:
AlexShapiro.org
NotesFromTheKelp.com
Dean Wesley Smith: The Magic Bakery
Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Freelancer’s Survival Guide
So you’re in the concert music world, and you’re looking to improve your career.
Maybe you’re a composer who’s heard a bit about self-publishing, but you’re not totally sure what that fully means, or what you should be doing.
Maybe you’re a performer who’e pretty good at getting gigs, and you’re starting to think about making a recording, but aren’t sure of where to start.
Or maybe you’re thinking of starting your own concert series or putting together an ensemble or getting a little opera company off the ground, but feel daunted by the logistics of it.
Enter the Music Publishing Podcast.
In Ep. 0, meet composer, vocalist, and MPP host Dennis Tobenski, and learn what the show is about.