[DeeDee]

I can't quite believe this is really happening... but I submitted my 'Long Time Coming' demo to the Musicxray opportunity below, and got an email telling me that it has been selected.

http://www.musicxray...submissions/new


Any advice about how I ought to proceed, would be gratefully received.

[Alistair S]

I'm confused.

What does "selected" mean? "Selected" for what?

Did they send any explanation at all? If not, I'd ask for one.

[DeeDee]

No Alistair. That was the extent of it. They are awaiting my reply. It's a little ambiguous, to say the least. I don't want to ask any stupid questions or come across as a complete amateur (which, of course, I am. lol), but you are right. They really haven't given me enough information to go on.

[Lazz]

If this is a real opportunity for which "Long Time Coming" has been selected, here are two un-stupid questions:
What's the deal?
How much?

[DeeDee]

That would be a good place to start.

[jonie]

What can I expect upon submission and payment? (I assume you've paid them the $20 already?)

I looked at the site but didn't delve in very far. Did you? Is there anything you can glean from the information the site might provide?

I've been tempted to submit stuff to sites like this before but have always held back. Please let us know what comes of this DeeDee.

[DeeDee]

Thanks Jonie. I have been a member of this site for two years now, and have submitted songs to several of their opportunities without success.

I get impression that they are quite reputable, but I am learning as I go along. The submission fee is paid upfront.

I will let you know what comes of it for sure! The first step is to clarify what it is they are offering me, if anything.

[RLD]

This is on their site.
Selected : After the MIP has listened to your submission this shows up when they decide they like your music. By clicking on the "Selected" status a pop up will appear with a short instruction on what to do next. You may also click on "conduct conversation" to open up a two way conversation between you and the MIP. Since the MIP has already listened to your music, at this point we can no longer issue you a refund.

[DeeDee]

Thanks RLD. I just came across this message in my inbox...('no guarantees' stood out for me, but my goodness...this is more than I imagined possible!)

Beautiful Dreamy tune Dee! Feel good warm vocals ~ I think it's a great fit for many films/tv/ads in many different directions. Romantic comedies, dramatic scenes and car commercials, it's a very warm and inviting, heartfelt song! What I can offer is getting it expose to the world on a country by country basis sub publishing wise. If you agree I would include it in my publishing catalog which connects you to the world.
Here in the states I can pitch your tunes to video game companies, TV, and film on a "Non-Exclusive" basis. As well as digital licensing~
My contract is a 50/50 split. It is only exclusive on a country to country basis where I have sub publishers. (Germany, Austria, Switzerland,Italy, Belgium, Japan, Turkey, France, Scandinavia,Spain,Korea,) In these countries they work for us. I'm always actively find partners in other countries.
I have connections in many different countries as well as connections here in the states. The more places your song is in the chances are higher of getting placements. That's where I come in. There is "No Guarantee" that your songs will be placed, but I along with my sub publishers will work really hard pushing your wonderful songs. Remember the more tunes you have the greater the chances! Agreement is attached.

[FunkDaddy]

You look over the contract/agreement. Preferably with a lawyer but that might not be warranted at this level. If you like what you see, you sign it and send it back. If he's asking you to spend any more money than you already did submitting it through Xray, I would say it's a scam.

It's not a placement, it's a publisher looking to pitch your music for placement. That's where the "no guarantee" comes in. You aren't guaranteed any money nor would he be paying you anything up front (as in "How much?") He gets paid when you get paid. He's saying you can pitch the music to other places ("non-exclusive") except in those countries he listed where he has sub-publishers who I assume only are interested in exclusive contracts. Though I don't really understand how you can be exclusive in one country and not in another (just seems weird to me since you're signing the contract with him, not his sub-publishers)

Just read the agreement carefully.

[DeeDee]

Thanks Mark. I will do.

[RLD]

I did some searching on Music Xray as I'd never heard of them.
Unfortunately there are lots of negative posts on various sites about it being a scam, and very few positive remarks.
I don't necessarily believe those reports, because I've seen the same thing said about TAXI.
People who have been unsuccessful using a service tend to think its the service's fault and not theirs.
I know from first hand experience that TAXI is legit cause I've had forwards which became introductions, which became placements.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out with Music Xray.
I don't think your business model is going to work however.
It seems that you have spent around $500 on your song to get it demoed, yes?
I think you'll be pretty disappointed with the amount of money a typical placement will produce.
In other words using this strategy will cost you more than you'll make.
Of course a theme song or very prominent placement in film or recurring TV show would generate more, but I don't think this song has that potential.
Honestly I don't think your song would have gotten through the screening process via TAXI, but that's JMO and certainly doesn't mean it won't find a placement.
I guess you won't know if Music Xray works until it does, which can take a long time and cost you a lot of $.

I hope you'll be able to report back that it has worked for you.

[DeeDee]

Thank you RLD. I appreciate the effort that you went to on my behalf. It's important that I don't have unrealistic expectations and that I don't make any foolish investments. I will tread very carefully.

[RLD]

Well, I just read a bit more of your post on the history of this song.
It seems you submitted a raw demo to Music Xray.
They saw potential, recommended a demo studio which cost $500.
The new demo is acceptable and "selected".

Hope I'm wrong but I see red flags.

[DeeDee]

Hi RLD. I'm not sure what you mean... I submitted the song to a mixing/mastering opportunity and Stuart Epps invited me to his home recording studio to work on a demo, as he liked the song. (or so he said) It cost £450. We spent the day together last Friday, during which time he told me on more than one occasion what a great song he thought it was. We have been in touch, by email, since then and he has told me it is still stuck in his head. He also gave me the contact information of a friend of his who could advise me about this music publishing opportunity, which I sought out myself (among the hundreds of opportunities available).

The two submissions were not connected in any way. Am I missing something? I can be naive, but I don't get the sense that I am being manipulated.

[RLD]

Well, the two submissions are connected via Music Xray.
Maybe I'm reading more into it than there is.

[DeeDee]

RLD, on 26 February 2012 - 01:08 PM, said:

Well, the two submissions are connected via Music Xray.
Maybe I'm reading more into it than there is.

I agree that I should be cautious...but I hope it's not a mistake on my part to assume they genuinely like my song and aren't just trying to make money out of me with there being no prospect of a return on my investment. Time will tell I guess. It will be one-hell-uv-a lesson learned if I'm wrong.

[FunkDaddy]

DeeDee, on 26 February 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

He also gave me the contact information of a friend of his who could advise me about this music publishing opportunity, which I sought out myself (among the hundreds of opportunities available).

Deeds, can you elaborate on this? Just following the thread and this jumped out to me. The producer of your demo guided you towards this opportunity you were selected for?

If so, I'm kind of joining RLD's skeptic camp. Like you said, be cautious. If anything doesn't seem legit, better to just walk away. At this point you've invested good money in the song. Don't want to lose it through some loophole that guarantees it to a backyard Zimbabwe music publisher through the year 2050

[DannyDep]

RLD, on 26 February 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

I did some searching on Music Xray as I'd never heard of them.
Unfortunately there are lots of negative posts on various sites about it being a scam, and very few positive remarks.
I don't necessarily believe those reports, because I've seen the same thing said about TAXI.
People who have been unsuccessful using a service tend to think its the service's fault and not theirs.
I know from first hand experience that TAXI is legit cause I've had forwards which became introductions, which became placements.
........................
I hope you'll be able to report back that it has worked for you.

Yeah, I will second the talk about TAXI, where you can find lots of negative reports on the Internet.
But they are an honest and professional organization.
I had hoped that your relation with Mr .Epps would not lead you back to MusicXray however.
As I have not had a positive relationship with them.
I have had some of my songs with them since 2009.
That's when they started to offer "free" (nothing is really for free) professional critiques.
All you had to do was to pay a small handling fee ($4.00/song) to upload your song to a professional.
I did this for 3 of my songs. Weeks went by without hearing anything.
Than months went by. It wasn't that I was worried about losing $12.00.
It was that I was curious on what a professional had to say about my songs.
I had to get in touch with MusicXray several times.
The first two of which came an apology that the professional critiquer was busy, which I could certainly understand, since I wasn't paying anything.
But another two months went by before I had to contact MusicXray again and ask what was going on. Another apology came back.
After another months I contacted MusicXray and asked for a refund, which they transacted.
But that was my interaction with them.
So i would be very careful with any kind of transaction you take with them.
I keep waiting to hear some positive news about them. But I can't find any.
I wish i could report more positive information.
Do be careful.

[DeeDee]

FunkDaddy, on 26 February 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

DeeDee, on 26 February 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

He also gave me the contact information of a friend of his who could advise me about this music publishing opportunity, which I sought out myself (among the hundreds of opportunities available).

Deeds, can you elaborate on this? Just following the thread and this jumped out to me. The producer of your demo guided you towards this opportunity you were selected for?

If so, I'm kind of joining RLD's skeptic camp. Like you said, be cautious. If anything doesn't seem legit, better to just walk away. At this point you've invested good money in the song. Don't want to lose it through some loophole that guarantees it to a backyard Zimbabwe music publisher through the year 2050

Gosh....Right...I sent Stuart an email to let him know I had received a music publishing offer as a result of the song he had just produced for me, through an unrelated musicxray opportunity - of which Stuart knew nothing. (I thought it would be polite, more than anything)

I also asked him if he had any advice with regard to the music publishing side of things (because the more information I can gather from various sources, the better)...and he said he had a friend called Richard Jackson Bass who would know more on the subject than he does and to mention that I was working with him. I sent an email and have yet to get a reply, but I don't think he is connected with musicxray.

I wasn't guided by anyone to submit to the music publishing opportunity. I was looking through the lists that they had...saw a publishing opportunity for 'world music' including celtic songs and I figured it was worth a try.

[DeeDee]

DannyDep, on 26 February 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

RLD, on 26 February 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

I did some searching on Music Xray as I'd never heard of them.
Unfortunately there are lots of negative posts on various sites about it being a scam, and very few positive remarks.
I don't necessarily believe those reports, because I've seen the same thing said about TAXI.
People who have been unsuccessful using a service tend to think its the service's fault and not theirs.
I know from first hand experience that TAXI is legit cause I've had forwards which became introductions, which became placements.
........................
I hope you'll be able to report back that it has worked for you.

Yeah, I will second the talk about TAXI, where you can find lots of negative reports on the Internet.
But they are an honest and professional organization.
I had hoped that your relation with Mr .Epps would not lead you back to MusicXray however.
As I have not had a positive relationship with them.
I have had some of my songs with them since 2009.
That's when they started to offer "free" (nothing is really for free) professional critiques.
All you had to do was to pay a small handling fee ($4.00/song) to upload your song to a professional.
I did this for 3 of my songs. Weeks went by without hearing anything.
Than months went by. It wasn't that I was worried about losing $12.00.
It was that I was curious on what a professional had to say about my songs.
I had to get in touch with MusicXray several times.
The first two of which came an apology that the professional critiquer was busy, which I could certainly understand, since I wasn't paying anything.
But another two months went by before I had to contact MusicXray again and ask what was going on. Another apology came back.
After another months I contacted MusicXray and asked for a refund, which they transacted.
But that was my interaction with them.
So i would be very careful with any kind of transaction you take with them.
I keep waiting to hear some positive news about them. But I can't find any.
I wish i could report more positive information.
Do be careful.

Thanks Danny. It's good to know of other people's experiences of musicxray. I must admit I was getting a bit discouraged myself with the number of opportunities I had submitted songs to, only to find out they had not been selected. Although most replies were pretty prompt, like you, there were some that I have yet to receive, but didn't follow up because they were free anyway.

I wanted to see if it was the production of my songs, or the songs themselves, that were the problem ...so I decided to go for this mixing/mastering opportunity. Of course, it might well still be that my songs aren't good enough, but I am feeling a bit more encouraged. Fingers crossed it doesn't all come to nothing. I will keep you posted!

[FunkDaddy]

Ah, I misunderstood what you said about Mr. Epps' friend guiding you Any word from the publisher yet? Read over the agreement? Just curious.

[DeeDee]

FunkDaddy, on 27 February 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Ah, I misunderstood what you said about Mr. Epps' friend guiding you Any word from the publisher yet? Read over the agreement? Just curious.

I have read the agreement...and sent it to my solicitor who is going to have a look over it. I got a reply from the man I emailed too, who basically advises that I ask whether I will keep ownership of the song, whatever they wish to do with it.

I can email it to you if you like...or if there is anyone on this site who could advise me?

[FunkDaddy]

I'd be happy to take a look and tell you what I think, with the caveat that the only legalese I'm fluent in, pertains to photography releases

[DeeDee]

FunkDaddy, on 28 February 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

I'd be happy to take a look and tell you what I think, with the caveat that the only legalese I'm fluent in, pertains to photography releases

Close enough.

[FunkDaddy]

Any updates Deedsy?

[DeeDee]

FunkDaddy, on 07 March 2012 - 10:58 AM, said:

Any updates Deedsy?

Well, I told yer man...Eddie Caldwell...that I would be happy to accept his kind offer and he asked me to scan the agreement and send it to him and gave his email address if I had any questions. However, my solicitor had a look at the contract & recommended another solicitor to me, who deals with these sorts of things. (not many of them about in Northern Ireland, apparently)

But I only got word of this today and so much time has passed that I am wondering if I ought to just sign the thing and return it asap.50% of nothing is nothing afterall!

He has asked for as many songs as I have, and my BMI number. Also, he wants a description of who they sound like. My concerns are thus: I don't know whether to send my 4 other demos or not, because they are probably not up to the standard required. I was thinking of sending them anyway, and saying precisely that...but assuring him that my next ones would be. Also, I am a member of PRS, but not sure if that is acceptable and I have no idea who I sound like...and for my demos, do I describe what those that sang them sound like?

Any advice would be welcome!