Artist News

Artist News

Mississippi Native, Jeremy Roberson Debuts With Single Suicide

Rhonda

June 12, 2015

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As a veteran, the plight of soldiers returning home is near and dear to Roberson’s heart.

Suicide statistics -22 veterans every day. Every day. “After cheating Death from Wars of Hell they live through everyday just trying to survive. They come home to the ones they love for which they sacrificed so much”, Roberson comments.

A native of Mississippi, Jeremy Roberson recently released his single, “Suicide” with Musik and Film Records and spoke candidly, “I don’t know what happens at that moment when someone thinks they can’t take life anymore. It is such a tragedy, but I also wish before they get to that point, Please Stop! And think what it is going to do to all those that love you, and how they will suffer for the rest of their Lives.”

Watch for an in-depth interview coming soon from this thought provoking singer/songwriter.

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Artist News

Musik and Film Records Featured Artist Harry Tietjen

musikandfilm

June 10, 2015

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“I’m happy to work with Stephen Wrench and his kind team. Incredible, how fast the success came. Very professional work together and the activities exactly hit the point.”

Tietjen’s comments recently when he began working with Musik Radio Promotions on a campaign for his single, “Now I’m Free”.

However, Harry Tietjen has been entertaining music lovers around the world for decades. Starting off at a very young age, Harry learned to play guitar, and piano, as well as sing. He landed his first gig in France at the age of 17 and hasn’t slowed down since; going on at age 20 to win the North German Singers competition with his first band, “Harry’s Gang”.

In the early 80’s Harry and a friend of his started a rock n roll club called “The Castle” in Hamburg. After two years of excitement at The Castle, he decided it was time take his music on an adventure, and set out to share his music in Morocco. He left his hometown of Hamburg and moved to Morocco to set up a new band. After a few months the funds ran out; unfortunately before the band could really take off.

“Then it hit me, why not solo performances in hotel bars and at Moroccan family celebrations, after all English cover songs were all the rage.”

“I was most fascinated by the extremes in daily life. One day, singing accompanied by lively guitar in the middle of corrugated iron ghetto for enthusiastic pop fans and the next, playing piano in a luxury hotel followed by a sumptuous 4-course menu for polite society.”

“Or sometimes people would simply & politely ask me if I could play something on my guitar play whilst sitting in a cafe. The music was ever present then as it is now and with an equally strong connection. People invited me home to their families and told me their life stories”.

In the 90’s, after eventually returning from his trips around the world, Harry found the “Come Together Studio”, producing bands like Inusa Dawuda, King Kurlee, Sandra king, Lightman, and others.

All these years later, Harry is still passion driven to create music, going on to win several awards in Germany in the late 2000’s to include Germany’s Best Folk Rock Voice 2008, Germany’s Best Pop Voice 2009, and Best Arrangement in 2010. Harry has teamed up with Musik and Film’s promotions team to send his music ‘round the world yet again, with his single “Now I’m Free” soaring to Number 1 in the Rock charts in 2015. We caught up with Harry Tietjen and asked him a few questions about his career in the music industry

What has been your greatest opportunity in your career so far?

The awards, yes. Germanys best Popvoice 2009, Germanys best Folkrockvoice 2008 and the best arrangement 2010. Of course that was great. But even more something else in the live situations. If people are touched by the music, especially in small music club and if after I start singing people are immediately silent and listen. Then there is this moment of magic.

What do you think drives you to continue your pursuit as a professional musician?

Harry: My passion. I have to do it. Think there´s nothing better than if you follow your passion.

What do you think distinguishes a true music artist from an entertainer?

Harry: The best is when he´s both. But a true music artist tells something from his heart no matter what he gets for it.

What made you want to pursue a career in music?

Harry: You know, I´m an idealist. I´m happy if I can inspire people a little bit or make them dream.

What advice would you give a music artist who is just starting out?

Harry: Think that you always can do a little bit more than you think you can do and find the right musicians or team that really fit you.

When did you realize that you wanted a career in music and what prompted that decision?

Harry: I was 14. At that time I scared my parents with a self-made Electric-Guitar and there was a deep moment of knowing – this is my vocation.

What is so special about your album?

Harry: That I have worked the biggest part of my history into it has certainly helped. The wild times in our own live music club, the exciting years on the road with my guitar, the creating of the music studio and the many, many live gigs have all contributed towards making the album very special.

How would you describe your music?

Harry: The Style is Rock Pop with Blues, Country, Latin and Funk elements.

What are your goals where do you want to take your music?

Harry: I mostly did perform by myself on the guitar. The next step will be performing my original songs with a big band around the world.

What has been your experience been like working with Music and Film?

Harry: I´m happy to work with Stephen Wrench and his team. It’s incredible just how fast we’ve been successful. We work very professionally together and our activities hit the goal.

Artist News

Musik and Films Featured Artist Rose Boyd

musikandfilm

June 10, 2015

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Rose Boyd has been sharing her voice with the world through song since the young age of seven years old. She has always had a life-long passion for sharing her commitment to Jesus Christ through song, and continues to do so to this day. At 17 Rose was faced with a choice between pursuing a record deal and furthering her education through college, a decision which brought her to study at College of Albemarle, in North Carolina. This would only last for about a year, when she received a call and learned that her mother had become ill, as did her father shortly thereafter. Having been the youngest of four, with no marital ties or children of her own at the time, Rose returned home to look after her parents and get a job to help support them.

Rose is now the wife of dynamic Gospel music songwriter, Craig Boyd. They both reside in Waterbury, CT and spend a great deal of time, and take a great deal of joy, in writing, recording, and performing divinely-inspired Gospel music for the masses. Rose is a member of the Faith Center Church in Meriden, Connecticut, under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Joseph and Lady Maddaline Norfleet. It is here that she serves as an anointed Levite, Psalmist, lead vocalist, and primary member of the Music ministry.

Rose recently released the third installment of her Gospel albums in May of 2015, and has been enjoying great success, while remaining on top as #1 of the Gospel charts for several weeks in a row. Musik and Film took some time to ask Rose a few questions about her career in music, and we share that interview with you now:

What has been your greatest opportunity in your career so far?

Rose: Right now charting with “He’s So Amazing” in the National Airplay Top 50 Gospel Chart at number 1 for two weeks straight for the first two weeks my song has been playing. I’m still in shock because of it. Also doing a live performance on the Bobby Jones Gospel Presents that Air on TV in 2012

What do you think drives you to continue your pursuit as a professional musician?

Rose: This gift was giving to me by God and I just want to display the gift and talents to the World.

What do you think distinguishes a true music artist from an entertainer?

Rose: When you sing it should be from the heart, the message should be to change lives to encourage, uplift ones soul. Entertainers I feel give people what is hot right now and that has produced alot of copy cats, what do I mean? Everything sounds the same it’s all lumped into one big bowl mixed together and tastes the same. When we as artists give you something genuine and from the heart the people will know and God will be pleased.

If you could make 1 change to the music industry, what would it be?

Rose: Stop scamming artist! We work really hard. To pay someone to play a roll whether it be a manager, promotor etc in our music career, then you turn around and it’s like they left the face of the earth! Oh…Please pay for the music as well.

What do you want to always be remembered for?

Rose: An Anointed singer of God that gave her best.

What made you want to pursue a career in music?

Rose: My oldest sitter who has now passed on was an awesome pianist and singer. My sisters and I would go in the attic and sing. Harmonizing came natural at a young age for me. I sang in the choir every since I can remember leading and background. Singing in school playings, concerts etc.

What advice would you give a music artist who is just starting out?

Rose: Take care of your voice box. Don”t take those good vocals for granted. Also…Always get legal representation before you sign anything.

Oh… Know who you are in God, believe in yourself and never give up on your dreams, but know this…things don’t happen over night so be patient and your time and chance will come if it is God’s will.

How would you describe your music?

Rose: Contemporary Gospel with soulful vocal backgrounds that gives God the Glory with hope and encouragement.

When did you realize that you wanted a career in music and what prompted that decision?

Rose: When I became laid off after working at a job about 15 years. My husband Craig says “what do you want to do”and I said “sing”.

What are your goals where do you want to take your music?

Rose: I want my music to be heard all over the world and I would like to travel and take it across the nation!!! I would like my music to change individuals lives!!!

What has been your best and your worst moment during your career so far?

Rose: I can definitely answer the worst moment….It was when I was promised something in God’s name and I did everything in good faith and the individual ripped me off, stole money from me. Not cool. It was a learning experience though. I have become extremely careful and it also has toughen my skin!

This moment of Charting #1 on the National Airplay Top 50 Gospel Chart for two weeks straight and only been playing on radio for two weeks is pretty spectacular!!!

What has your experience been like working with Musik and Film?

Rose: You are one of the best moments of my career (joyful tears flowing). I really just wanted to find good and honest people to work with me throughout this journey. Then came Musik and Film!!!

Anything else you really want to say?

Rose: YES….Thanks be to God who has always been there for me even when I didn’t realize it.To Craig my husband who supports me, pushes me, encourages me, protects me, believed in me and loves me. I am truly grateful for you.

Artist News

Wanna get paid your Songwriting and Airplay Royalties?

musikandfilm

June 4, 2015

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Stephen Wrench, President, Musik and Film Records, recently answered the prevailing question, ‘How does a DIY artist get paid for songwriting and airplay royalties?

I deal with a lot of artists who have spin reports and reports of airplay. I am often asked, “Where are my airplay royalties?” The song was named “My Friend”. Now, there are probably 50,000 songs worldwide named “My Friend”; how is ANY collection society going to collect royalties on this?!? I then ask them if they sent in a properly coded MP3 with their registration. In most cases, they didn’t seem to understand what I meant by asking this.

There are 3 major songwriter collection associations in the U.S.; as well as a few other companies advertised on other sites. They all tout, “we collect world royalties”. One would think it would be easy to track airplay with ISRC numbers, bar codes, and digital tracking.

If you want to get paid for airplay royalties, then you need to code it properly. Here’s how if you’re in QuickTime: right click on the mp3, then click Properties, and click on Details. From here you type in the correct registered title, album artist, album, year, and genre. When you get to publisher and composer, type in the registered writers names / publishers names and affiliation. Then, and only then, will they be able to track the release and collect your royalties.

I have numerous artists, including myself, who belong to US songwriters associations. Many of us have complained that we are not getting paid airplay royalties from the US societies that “claim” to collect airplay royalties worldwide. Proper coding may be one of the issues, here’s another possibility.

About 3 years ago I charted a top 40 hit in the UK and Europe. I waited and waited and waited for my airplay royalties. I eventually contacted my songwriter’s collection society, which I have been a member of for decades, and I was asked for the airplay information. So I provided them with spin and airplay reports; not once, not twice, but several times. Still anxiously awaiting my royalty check, I worked my way up the corporate ladder for answers as to why I was not getting paid.

I was finally verbally informed, by my collection society, that they only monitor 5% of Billboard reporting stations. I was also informed that they only monitor major releases, worldwide. I pressed on for more answers, “You mean I have provided you with spin and airplay reports and you will not collect my royalties”? I was told they would not actively seek to collect my royalties; but if they were to receive a check, it would be forwarded to me.

What kind of songwriter’s representation does the US have? How is it possible, in this digital age, to ONLY monitor a 5% sampling of Billboard reporting stations and NOTHING overseas? Extremely perplexed, I sought answers about world publishing collection societies and what societies ACTUALLY collected royalties for the average songwriter.

What I found, was that songwriters can collect their airplay royalties even if minuscule, but not with the US societies. With a US society, you will only get your royalties if you are with a major label and spun on billboard reporting stations. I recommend joining PRS, in the UK, they are serious about a writers royalties and not in bed with major labels.

Contact promotions@musikandfilm.com for more information.

By: Stephen Wrench

Musik and Film Records, President

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Artist News

Major Labels are reacting to the Sony/Spotify contract leak…

musikandfilm

June 1, 2015

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Record label giants are under fire ever since the leak of the 2011 contract between Sony Music and Spotify. Spelling out the $42.5 million the record label receives in advances; advances that arguable never seem to make it to the artists. (Check out our blog post about it here) Since the leak, Sony music has threatened legal action against The Verge, who originally published the story, to remove the contract from its site. There are murmurs of class-action litigation in the artist community, however there are certain issues with the specific language of some artists’ contracts and the level of artist participation in the dispute. Some major artists, to include Lady Gaga, have verbiage in their contracts designed to negate any claims to advances, fees, or any other compensation for deals involving their content being packaged with the rest of the label’s catalog. Meaning if streaming services pay advances on streaming, the artists has waived their right to their share by signing the label contract.

Major labels are now trying to run damage control, by trying to reassure artists and managers that advances are indeed being paid. They are citing “breakage” clauses in artist contracts, treating the leftover funds from the advances that don’t cover the actual payments for the streams, as “unallocated funds” from which to distribute to artists. Both the European Commission AND the US Copyright Office are currently investigating the terms of the Sony/Spotify agreement to make sure that the artists are being compensated appropriately. The organizations are also calling for complete transparency of usage for the artist, claiming “It is impossible to prove fair remuneration is occurring without transparency.”

Our interests, here at Musik and Film Records, are piqued and we will be keeping an eye on this situation as it develops. Keep checking back with our blog to see what we’ve found.

Artist News

5 Ways to Employ YouTube for Freelance Musicians

musikandfilm

June 1, 2015

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Musicians these days are always looking for ways to improve themselves, market themselves, and inspire themselves. With the advent of YouTube, that goal has become immensely more achievable right from home, for no charge at all. There are countless ways to exploit this service to your advantage, but Dylan Welsh of the online blog SonicBids.com has clearly spelled out 5 ways to utilize YouTube as a freelance musician. These don’t just apply to freelance artists however, feel free to take advantage of these methods with your band as well. The article is definitely worth reading.

“I’ve seen a lot of active session musicians using video content on YouTube as a way to drive traffic to their websites and attract potential clients. This, of course, also strengthens your web presence and makes your brand even stronger. Here’s some of the smartest content that I’ve found active session musicians using for their YouTube channels.”- Snippet of full Article by Dylan Welsh

For full article go here: http://blog.sonicbids.com/5-smart-ways-to-use-youtube-as-a-freelance-musician

Artist News

Ever Wondered why youre getting paid CRAP for your streaming??

musikandfilm

June 1, 2015

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This is probably why…

Have you ever felt like you weren’t being paid appropriately for your music streaming? Well it turns out you’re not alone on that one! Deals between streaming services and music distribution companies have long been affecting artists, and not for the better it seems. Distributors never asked the artists themselves for permission to stream their content, nor have they spoken with them about proper compensation. THIS is why artists aren’t making any moneystreaming, because they’re being cut out of the negotiation process. Online news blog “The Verge” recently got its hands on the 42 page contract between Spotify and Sony Music that was signed back in 2011, spelling out the details between the streaming service and the record label giant’s mega deal. Apparently Spotify pays Sony MASSIVE advances of money, to the tune of $42.5 million, to have streaming access to the vast music catalogue that Sony possesses.

“In section 4(a), Spotify agrees to pay a $25 million advance for the two years of the contract: $9 million the first year and $16 million the second, with a $17.5 million advance for the optional third year to Sony Music. The contract stipulates that the advance must be paid in installments every three months, but Spotify can recoup this money if it earns over that amount in the corresponding contract year.

But what the contract doesn’t stipulate is what Sony Music can and will do with the advance money. Does it go into a pot to be divided between Sony Music’s artists, or does the label keep it to itself? According to a music industry source, labels routinely keep advances for themselves.” – The Verge

The million dollar question seems to be…why aren’t the artists getting a piece of this?? Artists are paid fractions on the penny per stream on these services, making practically NOTHING for their music play, which is in turn making it hard for artists everywhere to make a living making music these days. The problem is not exactly an unknown issue either, you may have already heard about Taylor Swift pulling her entire music catalogue off of Spotify. The platinum artist wasn’t happy with the outcome of her streaming profits, and decided to do something about it!

Musik and Film has THOUSANDS of songs streaming from their catalogue, and has yet to see ANYTHING from our digital distributors in the form of advances, has anyone else? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Here is the full article so you can check it out for yourself:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/19/8621581/sony-music-spotify-contract

Artist News

Record Label Deal Anyone? By Stephen Wrench

Rhonda

May 20, 2015

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Record Label Deal?

I recently had the pleasure of pitching a very talented, well produced artist to major labels. Years ago I was a VP of a major label and have been in the business for decades. We all know that record sales have been taken over by streaming. Very few people are buying records anymore. So it’s tough these days to be a record label.

The artist I was pitching spent several hundred thousand dollars with the best producers and studios. The production is fabulous. The songs are great and so are the performances. With that, one would think that obtaining a major label would not be an issue.

After pitching the album to about every major label, I started making calls to my contacts at the labels. Naturally my first question was “How did you like the music”? I was shocked at the answers I received. “Well I took a look at their social media numbers and they weren’t very good”. But how did you like the music? They never listened to it because their social media numbers were not good enough?

So this is what music has come to a social media contest? Where would the greats be today if they were dependent upon social media numbers? Would we have ever heard Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson?

Music is supposed to evoke emotion and not be just a number. Does a million you tube hits evoke emotion? Record labels’ sales may be in the toilet but maybe that is because they are concentrating on the wrong thing instead of the music. After all, it is all about the music and if the music is great and evokes emotion to make you laugh or cry, it is memorable and that’s what creates a great album, one that people actually buy.. Let’s get back to concentrating on making great music and the labels might sell some records again.

Artist News

Gospel artist, Rose Boyd, No 1 National Gospel Charts

Rhonda

May 6, 2015

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For the 2nd consecutive week, Rose’s song, “He’s So Amazing” is No. 1 on the National Gospel Charts. Watch for a featured post on Rose coming soon!

Artist News

Madlyn climbs the charts with Kiss Me Goodbye

Rhonda

April 22, 2015

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Madlyn has teamed with Musik Radio Promotions for a worldwide marketing campaign and her first single release, Kiss Me Goodbye, has climbed to #4 on the U.S. Independent Chart.

After tragically losing her mother to breast cancer when she was just 13, Sabrina began to immerse herself completely in songwriting and pop music. She later made the choice to honor her mother Madelyn, by taking on her name. Artistically choosing to drop the “e,” she would be known as MadLyn.

Years of developing her craft led MadLyn to writing songs for other artists, including European pop sensation, Suzanna Lubrano, recording the title track for the film “Wheels,” appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! singing background vocals for bands like Youngblood Hawke, and recording vocals on the latest Jared Leto / Thirty Seconds to Mars album, “LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS.” MadLyn has also co-written with some of the music industry’s most prestigious songwriters including the legendary Billy Steinberg and Ken Hirsch.

MadLyn performs on a regular basis at various venues throughout the US, entertaining audiences both as a solo vocal/piano performer and with her other awesome band members. Her original music combines honest and self-aware songwriting along with her quirky piano playing pop sensibilities, and her covers of classics and modern music always includes her own style and interpretation. MadLyn is the creator & host of the ongoing breast cancer fundraising music event, “The Siren Song,” and released her first official single and music video “Kiss Me Goodbye” on February 17th 2015.

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