Chriscotts Music Site

Portland, OR (PRWEB) January 19, 2012

Over the past decade, independent artists have earned significant income from traditional licensing opportunities in TV and film, but with YouTube quickly becoming the most popular online music-discovery platform, there are countless opportunities to license music on a much smaller scale.

“Sure, you can make a bundle by getting placement in a feature film,? said CD Baby president Brian Felsen, ?but you also can make money by getting your song in 500 home movies of cats doing cartwheels. We are giving independent artists the opportunity to do both. The equivalent of 9 years of video is uploaded to YouTube everyday. That’s a lot of video, and most of it could benefit from including some great independent music.”

CD Baby Sync Licensing, which launches today, is powered by Portland-based Rumblefish, a leader in the music licensing industry. The program is free to all CD Baby members. Artists can choose to opt in (or opt out) at anytime.

“CD Baby has always been a leader in independent music, and we’re humbled to plug their amazing catalog into the worlds of social media and traditional sync licensing,” said Rumblefish Founder and CEO Paul Anthony. “The opportunities in sync licensing have never been bigger.?

In addition to being marketed for use in TV, movies and games, CD Baby artists? music will be included in a database of songs that YouTube allows video-makers to choose from in their YouTube accounts.

“So if you or I upload a video of our birthday party or camping trip,? said Felsen, ?YouTube will allow us to throw some music in the background with just a few clicks. You don’t even have to edit the video – it’s built into YouTube. When a CD Baby artist’s music is used, then that artist gets paid. If the video goes viral, the artist gets paid a lot.?

YouTube also will analyze and identify videos that contain CD Baby music prior to upload and pay royalties on those tracks as well. Artists will even get paid for the videos they upload themselves.

?We’re really excited about this new sync licensing partnership,? said Felsen, ?as it opens up new revenue streams for independent artists. Millions of people are watching music videos – and videos that feature music – on YouTube every day. Now artists will get paid for it.?

Artists can sign up for CD Baby Distribution and Sync Licensing here

(http://members.cdbaby.com)

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Nashville, TN (PRWEB) November 16, 2011

The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), one of the world’s largest songwriting competitions, has launched?Unsigned Only,?a new, unique international music competition. Designed for solo artists, bands, and singers who are not signed to a major?record?label, Unsigned Only’s goal is to find an outstanding, talented performing artist: a band, singer, or solo artist…a newcomer or veteran…raw or polished – the ?gem? that needs to be discovered. Unsigned Only is looking for the total package.?Judging criteria includes vocals,?performance, songwriting, and?originality.

Completely separate and distinct from ISC, Unsigned Only is a fresh and novel approach to other music competitions. Not only does it offer great prizes, recognition, exposure, and the chance to be heard by a group of judges consisting of high-profile recording artists and industry professionals, but it also takes it a step further and puts the Grand Prize winner in direct, personal contact with the influential record label executives who are the ultimate decision makers. For the first time ever, a music competition offers the Grand Prize winner the unprecedented opportunity to be mentored by a group of record company presidents, A&R reps, and more. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for an artist to directly network with the top echelon of record company professionals and get guidance, advice, feedback, and networking opportunities.

The founders of Unsigned Only,?Jim Morgan and?Candace Avery, talk about the new venture: “We are pleased to introduce a new music competition of this caliber to artists throughout the world. Having worked with a wide variety of artists over many years, we know that what artists want?most?is access to record label professionals. However, it is virtually impossible for?most up-and-coming artists to have direct access to this elite and elusive group of decision makers.?So, Unsigned Only is offering the unprecedented opportunity for the Grand Prize winner to network with and be mentored by a prestigious group of record label executives. This has never been done before, and we are excited about the possibilities it affords the Unsigned Only winner.”

The judging panel is comprised of an impressive group of recording artists, producers, and top-level music journalists. They include:?3 Doors Down;?Manchester Orchestra;?Cyndi Lauper;?Robert Smith (The Cure); Jeremy Camp; Craig Morgan; Kelly Clarkson; Steve Lillywhite (Producer); Matt and Kim; St. Vincent; The Mountain Goats; Josh Jackson (Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Paste Magazine); Scott Lapatine (Founder,?Stereogum); ?and more to be announced.

The panel of mentors who have signed on to participate is equally impressive. Included are: Monte Lipman (President of Universal Republic); Pete Ganbarg (Executive Vice President/Head of A&R, Atlantic Records); David Wolter (Senior VP of A&R, RCA Records); Kim Stephens (President, Forward Entertainment and A&R/Capitol Music Group); Trevor Jerideau (VP of A&R, J Records); David Wilkes (VP of A&R, eOne Music); Pete Giberga (Head of A&R, Razor & Tie Records); Jason Geter (President, Grand Hustle Records); and more to be announced.

The Grand Prize Winner will be awarded $ 5,000 in cash (plus additional prizes) and one-on-one mentoring by an elite group of record company executives. First Place and Second Place winners will also be selected in each category. Entries are being accepted now until March 5, 2012. ?Winners will be announced in July, 2012.?Categories include:?AAA (Adult Album Alternative),?AC (Adult Contemporary),?Christian Music, Country,?Folk/Singer-Songwriter,?R&B/Hip-Hop, Rock,?Pop/Top 40, and?Vocal Performance.

All entries must be original music except for the Vocal Performance category which accepts original or cover songs. Judging criteria in the Vocal Performance category will be based solely on the quality of the vocals, thereby allowing singers who do not write their own songs the opportunity to enter.

For more information, please contact Candace Avery at 615.251.4441 or?cavery(at)unsignedonly(dot)com.

For entry and general information, please go to?http://www.unsignedonly.com

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San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 24, 2011

San Francisco based free music downloads company ZapTunes has announced that it is going to start signing up deals with indie artists to sell their music. The artists will be able to host their music on the site and get paid a percentage of each sale. The percentage share of the artists will be decided on an individual basis.

The company first announced these deals with indie artists earlier last year, but now the project is ready to roll out very soon. People can start seeing paid music by indie artists on ZapTunes as early as first week of August. The company has already signed deals with about 500 artists and is in talks with about a 1000 more. With these deals, the website will have about 20,000 new songs for its customers.

ZapTunes is a website where music lovers can download free music. It also provides up to date news on new music releases as well as other news related to the music industry. The company plans to add more features to the website very soon, which include a social network. The company has also invited all the indie artists to get in contact with them if they want to sell their music through the website.

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