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Inspirations For Songwriters (I F S)
IFS aims to INSPIRE YOU into ACTION
2,660 songwriters, music publishers, artists, and music fans receive IFS
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DIFS/
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Last Wednesday I interviewed IFS readers Templeton Thompson and her husband
Sam Gay at ASG's monthly meeting, then they performed in ASG's "Writers in the
Round." I absolutely loved their songs and Templeton's voice. (Sam sang
well too) Templeton's songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, Jo Dee
Messina
and Sherrie Austin and Sam's by Trisha Yearwood, Montgomery Gentry, Bryan
White, Johnny Rodriguez, Little Texas and others.

Templeton told me she's available to sing DEMOS for songwriters and she's in
demand as a studio back up singer as well. They can deliver one heck of a
house concert too and are making frequent trips from Nashville to Texas and
back.

If you have a song you plan to demo where you need a fiesty female country
crooner,
ask the studio to get Templeton on vocals. You can hear her at:
http://www.templetonthompson.com/ttwebsite/id19.htm

http://www.templetonthompson.com/ttwebsite/index.html

you can reach Templeton at:
tt@...

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IFS reader rik shafer, (king of one liners and creativeatlarge.com) recently
shared this with me

http://www.pixar.com/howwedoit/index.html

pixar's approach to movies probably would be a great approach to writing
songs

Rik's slogan is
"nobody ever bored anyone into buying anything."

I think it applies to songs as well.

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How to Submit Your Music to MUZAK
by Ande Rasmussen

Have Ever heard MUZAK or of Muzak?
http://www.muzak.com

If you've ever been, on hold or in a building, a grocery store, an elevator,
a department store, or countless other places, there's a good chance if you're
hearing music it's being supplied by MUZAK.

We all know that music effects human emotions. Different kinds of music,
affects people in different ways. When business are designing their store
experience they often consider and carefully choose what kind of music people
are
going to hear when they are there. For example when I at dinner at Rain forest
Café in Galveston Texas, around and inside the restaurant, I heard fun
uptempo tropical party music.

We all know that music moves the human heart!

Sad songs make us cry
Sexy songs make us frisky
Happy songs make it difficult to be depressed
Inspiring songs might cause goose bumps.
Anthems make us want to rise up for a cause.
Jingles might make us remember what an advertiser wants us to
Up Tempo party songs make us want to celebrate.

It used to be called "Background Music," but now it's called "Audio
Architecture," Muzak creates experiences with their music programs.


Here's a little history on MUZAK:

When Gen. George Squier patented the transmission of background music in the
1920s, that is music from phonograph records delivered over electrical lines,
he soon found out that it not only soothed the minds of his workers, it
enhanced their production. What the general never knew is what his idea would
become
circa 1998: Muzak. All 2,000 employees, all 250,000 subscribers and all 80
million listeners worth. In the early '20s Squier merged "music," with his
favorite "high-tech" company, Kodak, and found the name he was looking for.
Soon,
as tall buildings continued to sprout in North American cities, nervous riders
of a new gadget called the elevator were calmed by the subtle tones of music
by Muzak, much to the delight of their employers and their neighborhood
department stores.

Next was the big band era, which for Muzak turned into the big business era.
Warner took over in 1938, selling out the next year to William Benton, a U.S.
senator and the publisher of Encyclopedia Britannica. The account base grew
quickly throughout the 1940s when word spread that workplace music increased
morale, thus increasing productivity and attendance. Music programming went a
step further in the 1950s with Stimulus Progression, the notion that the
intensity of the music directly influenced employee productivity - morning, noon
and
night.

By the time Elvis arrived on the music scene, Muzak was up to 150 franchises
and began putting its music on audio tape, shelving the
phonograph-through-telephone lines. The company changed hands from the Wrather
Corp. in 1957 to the
TelePrompter Corp. in 1972 to the Westinghouse Corp. in 1981. By then, Elvis
was gone, but New Wave was the rage and direct broadcast satellite was the
music delivery of choice. The first broadcast program, Foreground Music One,
remains one of Muzak's most popular.

In the mid-*80s, Muzak entered into a private-label agreement with Yesco, the
Seattle-based originators of "foreground" music. While Muzak re-recorded
songs for background play, Yesco compiled reel-to-reel tapes of current original
artist hits to be used as foreground music. The successful partnership soon led
to the introduction of cassette tapes as another delivery method, giving
clients more music choices than ever before: numerous music programs via
satellite
(initially 16 ...today 60) and up to 500 cassette programs. In addition, a
new process called Video Architecture welcomed nightclubs, retail stores,
restaurants and bars into the music (and now video) mix.

What happened in 1997 led to a philosophy shift of seismic proportions.
Former franchise owner Bill Boyd became Muzak's CEO, while Chuck Saldarini took
over as president. Immediately, the dedication and focus of Muzak turned toward
its core product: music.Boyd recognized his music programmers for who they
really are: not scientists using formulas and rules, but designers shaping the
way
music is heard. These men and women are audio architects: artists who create
extraordinary experiences with music. That's where we get to 80 million
listeners. And thanks to a two-star general's desire to appease his employees
with
song, more people listen to Muzak than any music provider in the world.


Here's a little current info about Muzak

Every business wants to create an experience for its customers and employees.
At Muzak, we help create your unique experience with music. That's what we
do, and we love it.

For over seven decades, businesses around the world have enjoyed our music
programs. Muzak invented the concept of business music, and today we are
redefining it with innovative products and services. As you go through our site,
you
will have a chance to see and hear what I'm talking about.

You will also hear about the Muzak Heart & Soul Foundation, created to bring
music education to disadvantaged kids. Muzak is a music company with offices
across the nation and around the world, and we are proud to give back to these
communities through this wonderful organization.

Muzak is music. Simple, sure, but that says it all. We understand the
power of music, and are here to put it to work for you.


Here's a comment from their CEO

"Muzak is CEO Bill Boyd and about 2000 other believers. Believers in what,
you might ask? Believers in the emotional and persuasive power of music."


SONGWRITERS AND ARTISTS: here's several questions I had about MUZAK

1) How do I get MUZAK to consider adding my music to their programs?
2) How do I actually submit my music to MUZAK?
3) What do I need to do to improve the likely hood of Muzak actually using my
music?
4) How do I get paid from Muzak?

Today I briefly interviewed MUZAK Media Librarian, Thomas Plinzke,

AR: What happens to music once it arrives?

TP: I open the package and listen to clips, categorize it and enter it into
our library. MUZAK has a physical library that contains CDs and music and
MUZAK has an ethereal or a computerized library, where we store and catalog
music
to consider placing it in various formats. It's more important for your music
to be in MUZAK's ethereal library.

AR: How many packages do you get every day?

TP: 5 – 50

AR: How do artists and writers submit their music to MUZAK?

TP: If you would like to submit music to MUZAK please send it to the
address below. If you want to be sure your package arrives you can
use confirmation postage then you'll be notified after it does, Hope
to hear from you soon,

Thomas O. Plinzke
MUZAK Media Librarian
3318 Lakemont Blvd.
Fort Mill, SC 29708-8309

AR: Do you only accept commercial CD's?

TP: No we'll accept indy CD's too and even home recorded works if it
meets acceptable standards.

AR: Does Muzak buy music?

TP: Sometimes, but very often labels, artists, and writers just send us their
CDs.

AR: what else should artists and songwriters know about submitting music to
MUZAK?

TP: I can only enter a song into our computer if I have the full details
about it,
The songwriters,
their PRO Affiliations,
the publishing companies, and
the artist.
All that info needs to be spelled out. If I don't have all the info
I need I can't enter the song, even if it's really good. I prefer
CD's with booklets because they contain the details I need. If you
don't have a booklet type up all the details about each song. If I
don't have the details I can't use the song.

AR: What happens once a song is in MUZAKs computers?

TP: When MUZAKs audio architects are designing music of a particular
format, they may choose to use a song they find in our ethereal library.

AR: How do writers get paid?

TP: Through their PROs. MUZAK reports play info to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC
and we send them payments.

AR: So I suppose it's important for writers and artists to register their
works with their PROs too.

TP: Absolutely, I look forward to hearing submissions from IFS readers.


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Good luck I hope this helps you place your tunes in MUZAK's programs.


Write on!

Ande Rasmussen
Editor and Publisher of I F S, Inspirations For Songwriters

Contact info is:

Ande Rasmussen
835 Martindale Falls
Martindale, TX 78655

AndeRasmussen@...
512-217-2728 cell

You can read my Bio at:
http://hometown.aol.com/anderasmussen/myhomepage/profile.html

You can hear a few of my tunes at:
http://www.soundclick.com/anders

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I F S stands for Inspirations for Songwriters, I F S is an ezine for
songwriters filled with inspirational and practical information about
the art, craft, and business of songwriting. We want to help YOU
become a more successful songwriter.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
The entire text of
"Inspirations for Songwriters"
© 2004 Anders Rasmussen


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