32 posts tagged “freddy litwiniuk”
There was a little mixup, and I reported that my song Fade Away would be in the April 7, 2009 episode of Cupid, on ABC. Turns out that I had the episode wrong, and it's actually supposed to be on NEXT week - Tuesday, April 14th. At least, I'm pretty sure that's when it will air. Also, I reported that the episode title was "Live and Let Spy", but I got that wrong, too. When I know the episode name, I'll be sure to pass it along.
Sorry to those who tuned in especially to hear it! I hope you'll try again next week.
I got an email yesterday from my publisher, Tanvi Patel at Crucial Music, that my song Fade Away (alt. title Change your Mind), is going to be on an episode of ABC's new show, Cupid! The episode, entitled "Live and Let Spy", airs in the United States on Tuesday, April 7th, on ABC at 10:00 p.m./9:00 p.m. Central. Excellent!
If you're a creator of broadcast-quality music, be sure to visit Crucial's website, and submit your music. It's free, and before you know it, your songs could be on TV or in films.
Don't forget to add me on myspace: www.myspace.com/freddylitwiniuk
And follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/freddymusic
And check out my website: www.freddynet.com
Music is a hard business, and it's getting harder every day. Very few people will make it in music, and the competition is fierce. So what sets you apart from the competition? Except in rare circumstances, I believe the ultimate deciding factor is persistence: the main difference between successful and failed musicians is that the successful ones did not quit and were able to outlast their competitors. The one thing I've heard repeatedly from music industry people is: If you want to make it in music, don't give up.
I often read Tim Ferriss' blog. Tim is the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, and a guest lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Princeton University. Independent musicians are essentially entrepreneurs, and so much of the same advice applies to both.
Today I read a post on Tim's blog entitled The Prescription for Self-Doubt: Watch This Video. Here's an excerpt from the post, which I recommend reading in full:
Business icons, superstar professional athletes, billionaires — it
doesn’t matter how rich or how accomplished — I’ve had them all tell me
the same thing…
There are moments when you feel the world is too much. Days and even
weeks when you want to (or perhaps do) pull up the covers and
half-sleep in bed until nightfall, avoiding a feeling of hopelessness
that seems insurmountable. Long-awaited deals fall through without
warning, haters attack you without reason or fact, circumstances turn
good decisions into awful realities — sometimes it just feels like the
deck is stacked against you and there is nothing you can do about it.
Have you felt that way? Has the music business provided you with tremendous ups and soul-crushing downs? You are not alone.
But will you quit?
I'm really excited, because I got a really cool email the other day from my publisher Tanvi Patel at Crucial Music. She told me that my song 'Still Believe' is going to be used in a television show called Kyle XY, which airs on the ABC Family network. We don't get that network here in Canada, so I had to look up the show to find out more about it. This is the synopsis from Wikipedia:
Kyle XY is an American drama television series filmed in the Vancouver, British Columbia area. The show centers around a boy named Kyle (Matt Dallas), who wakes up in the forest outside of Seattle, Washington with no memory
of his life up until that point. The series follows Kyle as he tries to
understand the mysteries of who he is and why he has no memory of being
a child. He is sometimes shown with his shirt partially off and no belly button can be seen.
It turns out that the show is rated first or second on ABC Family in terms of viewership; millions of people tune in to watch, not just in the U.S., but around the globe. Sadly, it seems that Canada is one of the few countries that doesn't get the show, so I'll have to watch it online.
About the song: Crucial changes the names of the songs they publish. This ensures that they only get paid for the placements they get for a given song. That means, when the song is used under its original title, be it on radio, on TV, sold on a album or as an mp3, the artist retains full rights and ownership in the song. As you can see, this is good for the artist, so if you are a creator of music, I highly recommend that you go to Crucial's website and submit your brodcast-quality music for consideration. You never know what kind of music will be suitable for television. Crucial has placed my songs multiple times, and I've been very happy with them.
The only problem with changing the names of songs, is that sometimes I forget the original title! This time around, I Twittered about the placement and had it on my Facebook status, so many people were asking me what song was being used, and I couldn't tell them. I had to go back to my publishing contracts and look it up. The original title of the song is 'Thinking It Over', and it's the 10th track on my first album Things You Never Thought I'd Say. I've posted it below so you can listen if you like. If you're in an area where 'Kyle XY' is broadcast, be sure to tune in and watch.
When it's Macworld time, people get excited to hear what Apple's Next Big Thing is going to be, myself included. But every year I'm disappointed when my dream feature for iPod or iPhone is not announced. This year was no different.
There is a revolutionary feature that I've been longing to have in my iPod. I know it's a long-shot, but I'm going to ask politely that the next generation of iPods and iPhones include...
A UPC scanner.
What? Why would anyone want that? Well, UPCs are ubiquitous, at least in North America. They are found on nearly every product, in nearly every store. They are unlikely to be replaced any time soon. So, what would I do with a UPC scanner?
For starters, I would need some killer apps to go with my scanner. For example:
I want a grocery shopping app that would allow me to scan products at my home, as I use them up, so I can make an automatic grocery list. Better yet, when my list is complete, I could email it to my grocer, who would have my groceries ready for pick-up or delivery. Even better yet, my list could be fed to price databases from local stores, and the app could calculate which store provides the overall lowest price for my list, allowing for time and distance from my house.
Maybe the same app would allow me to scan products while I'm at the grocery store for instant wi-fi price comparisons, or easy calculations. If I were to preset a budget, I could scan each item as I put it in my cart until I had reached my limit. At the checkout, my iPod or iPhone would simply communicate with the self-service till, allowing me to pay very quickly, perhaps with my Apple ID.
I would also like to have a general shopping application. When I'm looking for a new TV, I could scan a few different models to compare features. The app would also tell me if the store down the street has the same TVs at a better price, or if I could save by instantly ordering online. It would also allow me to scan and buy anything in a store immediately, using my Apple ID or a credit card. On my way out, the app would communicate some proof of purchase to an employee of the store, indicating that I had pre-paid.
I'm sure advertisers and promoters would get in on the act as well. Imagine standing in line at the supermarket, or waiting for the bus or the train. An advertisement next to you reads, "Doublespeak, the new album from Freddy, available now on iTunes. Scan here to hear samples, and for a free download of the first single, Massive." OK, I used myself in the example, but it could be Coldplay, or Sting, or Toby Keith, Lily Allen, whoever. You might just scan it and check it out. If you liked it, you could buy it immediately. Indie musicians could use it to make it easier for people to pay for UPC-branded music and merch at shows. Or print up stickers or flyers with barcodes and a message about the music and plaster them all over town. On impulse, people could scan and check out your music. The same could be done with books, magazines, video, games, and so on.
I'm sure there could be so many more applications for this technology. Scan anything and: pay with your iPhone or iPod, get instant product and price information, make lists, keep on budget, sample new things, and so much more.
Please, Apple, will you put a UPC scanner in my next iDevice?
I've decided to try Twitter. If you care to follow me I'm at twitter.com/freddymusic.
Every so often, I hear a variation of this justification for downloading music for free:
"Record labels have been screwing us for so long, with high CD prices, and albums with only one or two good songs! Those record-exec fatcats, with their expense accounts and private jets; they deserve this. I'm just sticking it to the man!"
Free downloads have their place in music, especially as an important promotional tool, but the labels aren't the only ones who make money from record sales. When you "stick it to the man", you're also sticking it to the artist, the musicians, the mixing engineers, the producers, and many others. Granted, the music business suffers from "middleman disease" - so many people want a piece of the money pie as the music makes it from the artist to the consumer. Part of what makes Independent Music so great is that it removes so many of the barriers between artist and listener.
If you really want to teach the labels a lesson, don't stop buying music altogether, just stop buying music from them. Instead, seek out true independent musicians - not faux "indies" but real independents who are doing it for themselves. Discover something about them. Learn their story. When you find someone who is really good, reward them by buying their album. Vote with your wallet. You are and your fellow consumers are the true starmakers, not the labels.
7 excellent reasons to support independent music:
1. Cure "middleman disease" - the money will go directly to the artist;
2. Good music will be rewarded;
3. Artists may make enough money that they might not feel the need to hand a huge percentage of their earnings to a label in return for support and promotion;
4. Opportunities for real discussion and even friendship - independent musicians are much more likely to respond to personal emails;
5. You might be the first to discover a new, up-and-coming artist or band. Tell all your friends. Don't forget to buy a t-shirt;
6. Indie artists are just like you. They are your friends and neighbours. They work hard. They could really use the money;
7. You'll be sticking it to the man.
I'm very excited, because I've had one of my songs placed in a major motion picture! Well, the placement actually happened quite awhile ago, but the movie has been released, and I was able to watch it and hear my tune. You know how, at the end of certain movies, there are brief epilogues
that tell you what happened to the characters after the end of the
movie? That's when my song "A Moment Away (Patiently Waiting)" plays! The movie is called Wieners, and stars Kenan Thompson and Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live, as well as Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, and Jenny McCarthy. Rotten Tomatoes sums up the plot as follows:
Kenan
Thompson stars as Wyatt, a man with a home-made wiener wagon that comes
in handy when he and Ben (Zachary Levi of television's CHUCK) decide
the only thing that will cheer up their depressed friend Joel (Fran
Kranz, THE TV SET) after being humiliated on Dr. Dwayne's talk show is
to take Joel on a cross-country drive and give that pompous windbag the
beating of his life. Wyatt kills two birds with one stone, handing free
hot dogs out to the public along the way in hopes that the stunt will
land him his dream job at Oscar Meyer. Throughout their journey the
three dudes encounter a cross section of freaks, weirdos, and losers.
Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond co-stars as Dr. Dwayne, along
with Jenny McCarthy, comedian Andy Milonakis, and Joel Moore (GRANDMA'S
BOY).
Sounds great, hey? :)
If you get a chance to check it out, drop me a line and let me know what you thought of the movie. Whatever you thought, tell all your friends that it's a great movie, and they should watch it, and then go out and buy both of my albums! And below is a link so you can hear the song if you wish. It's called "A Moment Away", but for the purposes of the placement the title was changed to "Patiently Waiting". It's something my publisher Crucial Music ( thanks for the placement!) does, and if anyone wants to know why, send me an email and I'll explain. It was super cool to see my song in the credits, "performed by Freddy"! In the future, I'll post this info on my website, but I'm excited, and I wanted to get the word out right away!
Love,
Freddy
Modern independent musicians have more tools available to them than ever to make music, and get it out to the public. For a little bit of money, anyone make a reasonably good recording. Once you have songs recorded, it's even easier to distribute them to the public. Given the size and diversity of the online community of music lovers, it's no surprise that almost all artists can find some people who like their stuff. But what if that's not enough for you? What if you want music to go beyond a hobby, and reach more than a handful of fans?
If you want your music to have the widest possible appeal, your songs must be really strong, melodically and structurally. If you want to catch the ears of labels, publishers, radio program directors, or anyone else in the mainstream music industry, your songs must be well-written and tightly arranged, and they must be undeniable.
My good friend Michelle McAfee helps artists who need advice and an honest opinion about their music. She has worked as a staff writer at Warner Chappell, she has been through the major label machine as an artist, and she now works in A&R. People in the industry trust her opinions about music, because she knows what labels and publishers are looking for. She knows the mainstream music industry as well as, or better than, anyone I know.
Michelle has recently started offering her consulting services to independent musicians, and I want to spread the word. She hasn't asked me to do this, I'm not getting paid, and I'm not one to endorse something or someone I'm not passionate about. If you want to work with her, be prepared for honest opinions and constructive criticism. And if you take her advice, your music and your chances in the music business will improve.
If you're interested, please contact mcafee.michelle@gmail.com
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