What Is Pitching At SongU.com?
SongU.com "My Pitching" is part of the songwriting education program at SongU.com. It gives members an opportunity to pitch their songs to a variety of music industry professionals in various musical genres, including Pop/Rock, Country, CCM, Urban and Film & TV. It is a way for SongU.com members to gain online access to top music industry professionals and have their songs heard. As part of the education process, you are required to complete the course, GEN-120 Orientation to Pitching At SongU.com. See the member catalog for more details. Just to clarify, SongU.com is not a pitching service and we do not offer it as a standalone feature that can be purchased separately.



How Do The SongU.com Pitching Opportunities Work?
Each month SongU.com will have several pitch opportunities listed. Pitch opportunities are periodically updated each month. Details about each opportunity will appear in "My Pitching" area of the website. For each pitch opportunity you will be allowed to submit songs that are in your locker in much the same way as you do for the SongU.com coaching service. Note that each pitch opportunity will have a maximum number of songs that you may submit as well as a submission deadline.



Is There A Separate Fee For SongU.com Pitching?
No. SongU.com does not charge any per pitch fees nor do we ask for any publishing on the songs. SongU.com is an educational site where members can work on improving their songs through courses and coaching. SongU.com Pitching is simply another part of the educational process for our platinum members so those who are writing competitive songs have opportunities and outlets to pitch them.



What Is The Difference Between Coaching And Pitching?
Coaching is designed to give you feedback on a song so you can make that song as strong as possible based on your goals as a writer. Pitching is designed to give you a chance to find out how your songs compete in the industry. Pitching is competitive since your songs go up against every song competing for a particular project.

How Do I submit A Song For A Pitch Opportunity?
You first have to upload a file to your SongU.com locker. Just go to "My Locker" to get started. Once you have uploaded a song to be evaluated, just go through the steps in "My Pitching" to view the different pitch opportunities and submit your song for that pitch opportunity. You can get more detailed information and instructions on how to get started using SongU.com Pitching in the course, GEN 101 - Orientation. The orientation course should be in your active course list under "My Courses".  



Am I Ready To Pitch My Songs?
That depends. The guiding philosophy at SongU.com is education. SongU.com Pitching is educational in that it will give you real world experience pitching your songs. But there's good and bad that goes along with that. It's exciting to be able to pitch your songs, but it's frustrating when your songs do not get selected for a particular project (i.e., "passed on"). However, that is part of what you must learn if you are striving to become a professional songwriter. You should only jump into pitching if your coach or one of the FDBK instructors feels you are ready to be pitching a particular song. No matter how good your songs are, you should be prepared for rejection (possibly a lot of rejection). Just remember that pitching alone is not what makes you a songwriter -- it's continuing to hone your craft while forming relationships with co-writers and others. Ultimately, this is what will improve your odds of something happening with one of your songs.



Who Are The SongU.com Pitching Guests?
Guests will represent a variety of outlets that songwriters normally pursue to have their songs heard. Among the guests will be A&R representatives from major record labels, producers, publishers, independent songpluggers, managers, music supervisors, independent artists, etc.



Do I Need A Professional Demo?
Yes. Your demos must sound professional if you are going to pitch them. That’s not to say that you have to spend a ton of money on your demo, or that you cannot use a home studio demo, or that you cannot pitch a simple piano or guitar vocal if appropriate for a ballad. Just make sure that the demo production is competitive with industry standards. When you are pitching, remember that your songs are in competition with every song that is being pitched to that artist, music supervisor, songplugger, or publisher. If a pitch is asking for a "Broadcast quality" recording, it means that they should be able to take the demo track/vocal and use it without having to re-demo or remix it. At SongU.com we highly recommend you have you song evaluated prior to investing in a demo of a song either through our coaching service or by bringing it to one of our many feedback (FDBK) workshops. Also, every month our SongU.com tech guru and professional producer, Fett, does a feedback workshop called FDBK 250 Production Feedback: Worktapes and Beyond. The purpose is to give you production feedback at any stage of your home demo from worktape to full band demo. If you’re unsure of your production, bring it to a production feedback class.
 


Do I Need To Copyright My Song Before Submitting It For Pitching?
That really depends on you and also the country in which you are living. In the United States, your song is copyrighted simply by being in a fixed format such as a CD, MP3, typed lyrics, etc. But this alone has not been shown to stand up in a court of law. Should you ever need to contest your copyright, you must  register that copyright with the U.S. Copyright office. The truth is that many publishing companies do not bother registering the copyright on a song until they know they have secured a cut or the song is being performed regularly or listened to regularly on the Internet because of the expense. But it just depends on how you feel about it. Some people don’t fly planes because they can crash. It’s rare, but it does happen. So if you’re nervous about someone stealing your song and you live in the United States or a country that follows similar copyright laws, you should register the copyright. Note that you can save some money if you register several copyrights at the same time as a folio. You can find out more about current copyright fees and additional information at: http://www.copyright.gov/register/ 



Can I Submit A Lyric Only?
Not usually. Unlike coaching where you can submit lyric-only, pitching is usually restricted to complete songs (lyric and MP3). This isn't because SongU.com restricts it. It's simply because it is rare in the industry that someone will consider just a lyric-only for a specific project. Once in a while we have a special guest who will consider lyric-only submissions. If that is the case, it will be stated in the pitch description. If you're a lyricist only, you should consider trying to meet a collaborator through one of the SongU.com Clubs on the discussion board, member websites, or by participating in one of our regular song challenges where we will hook you up with a co-writer.



In What Format Should I Submit My Songs?
Your songs must be uploaded to your locker in the same format that is used for your personal website or for coaching. This should be an MP3 that is 128kbps or less. Keep in mind that if the guest is listening on a dialup and it takes 30 seconds for your song to load because you created it in 128kbps, the guest will likely not take the time to listen to your song. So find a good balance between quality and file size (Note: there is a 5M limit on filesize for each song). You can get more detailed information and instructions on how to create an MP3 of your song from CD in the course, GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com. See the member catalog for additional details. 



Can I Use A Format Other Than MP3 Like Midi Or Wav?
No. All songs submitted need to be in MP3 format which is the standard format for pitching songs via the Internet. You can get more detailed information and instructions on how to create an MP3 of your song from CD in the course, GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com, which should be in your active course list under "My Courses".

Are Pitches Screened?
We do not use screeners at SongU.com. SongU.com features "Open Door Pitching" because we do not want to stand in the way of you getting your songs heard and hopefully recorded. We try to give you a real opportunity to make connections with industry professionals as if you have an open door invitation to their office, or permission to send them your songs. However, we do expect you to take this responsibility seriously and make your songs the best they can be before you pitch them. That’s the purpose of our over 70 multi-level online songwriting classes included with your membership. 


 
Can I Mail You A CD Or Tape?
No. SongU.com Pitching is done entirely online. You will have to submit your songs in the appropriate MP3 format to participate in SongU.com Pitching. In this day and age, being able to work with MP3's is simply part of the job description for a songwriter. You can get more detailed information and instructions on how to create an MP3 of your song from a CD in our course, GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com. See the member catalog for more details.



When (At What Time) Do The Pitch Opportunities End?
All submission deadlines are listed as midnight ET (i.e., Eastern Time - New York City time). For more information, view the world time zone clock at: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock.



I Have A Revised Demo For A Song I Already Pitched
Just go into your locker and view/edit the song and update it. Any changes to the song in your locker will automatically be reflected to the guests on their listening page. Do not create a new locker entry or you will have to re-pitch the song. Instead, just view/edit the song in the locker and you'll be set.



Can I Submit A Song After The Submission Deadline, PLEASE?
No. We simply list the deadline provided to us either by the guest who is listening for upcoming meetings or by the contact who has submitted the pitch listing. If we do hear the date has been extended for any particular pitch, we will extend it. Note that all submission deadlines are listed as midnight ET (i.e., Eastern Time - New York City time).

Can I Cancel (Remove) A Song I Pitched?
Yes. You'll want to do this if you've pitched the wrong song by mistake or have since signed that song with a publisher and no longer want it considered by another pitch opportunity. Just go to your "My Pitching" page and scroll down to view your pitch submissions. You'll see a link that you can click to remove the pitch. For street pitches, you can remove the song only if it hasn't been listened to by the guest. If the guest has already listened to your song, the link to remove your song will not be present. For Fast-Track pitches, you can remove it at any time and it will remove it automatically from the guest's listening page at SongU.com. Note: Do not remove the song from your locker. This will delete the song entirely from any area of the site.

What's The "Terms Of Use" Checkbox For?
Our lawyers have requested all members agree to a release/consent form with each pitch. It's a simple checkbox on the bottom of the pitch submission page. It's basically is there to cover stuff related to the street pitches and Fast-Track pitches (e.g., giving permission to burn a CD for pitching purposes, etc.).



What Are Street Pitches?
Each month, guest songpluggers and publishers will be listening for songs for their upcoming artist pitch meetings. The bar for getting selected on these is that the guest must feel that your song is as competitive for that pitch as the songs they are currently pitching which have been written by the professional songwriters they work with on a regular basis. Needless to say, Street Pitches are highly competitive.

The Notification Process on Street Pitches:

• You will be notified when the guest has listened to your song. You will receive an auto-email that will let you know whether or not the guest did or did not select your song. You will also be notified if the guest has placed your song in a "maybe" area to re-listen to it before they finalize their decision. When they have made their decision, you will get the "selected" or "not selected" auto-email. Note: Sometimes you will receive this notice before the pitch deadline while other times it may be after the pitch deadline.
   
• You will not receive feedback on your song from the guest. There are many reasons why a song does not get selected (is "passed" on).  Again, you may bring your songs to a FDBK class to seek other opinions or feedback. For a list of some of the most common reasons why songs do not get selected click here. If you do not want to receive "pass" emails (i.e., only receive the good news emails), you can visit "My Account" to change your communication preferences.
   
• If the guest does express interest in your song, he or she will receive an auto-email with your contact information. It is up to the guest to contact you directly if they wish to pursue this further. Please make sure your contact information is always up-to-date in your "My Account" area for this reason. If the guest has given us permission to release their contact information, it will be included in the auto-email you receive so that you may contact them as well.

What Are Fast-Track Pitches?
Fast-track opportunities include pitches to guests, primarily music supervisors and publishers, looking for songs on a recurring basis. It also includes pitches to guests who are listening for a project with a deadline, primarily artists, artist managers, and producers. These will include both major and independent projects, in the U.S. and overseas.

The Notification Process on Fast-Track Pitches:

• You may receive notification from the pitch listing contact. As is customary in the industry, you will only be contacted if someone likes your song. If they like it, they will contact you. Otherwise, you will not hear from them. Often that has to do with the volume of songs they are listening to at any given time.
   
• Frequently, a guest will listen to songs after the deadline has apparently passed. Album projects have a way of shifting timelines depending on the schedules (and/or monetary constraints) of those involved.
   
• Sometimes the pitch listing is taken down earlier before the end date if those involved have already found the material they need, or if the project gets put on the back burner indefinitely.
   
• If the guest does express interest in your song, he or she will receive an auto-email with your contact information. It is up to the guest to contact you directly if they wish to pursue this further. Please make sure your contact information is always up-to-date in your "My Account" area for this reason. If the guest has given us permission to release their contact information, it will be included in the auto-email you receive so that you may contact them as well.

 
How Long Before I Hear Anything?
Sometimes you will receive an auto-email notice before the pitch deadline while other times it may be after the pitch deadline. With Fast-Track pitches, you will only be notified if the guest expresses an interest in the song. With Street Pitches, you will be notified at the moment the guest has listened to your song and made a decision on it. This auto-email that will let you know whether or not the guest did or did not select your song. You will also be notified if the guest has placed your song in a "maybe" area to re-listen to it before they finalize their decision. When they have made their decision, you will get the "selected" or "not selected" auto-email. Some of the street pitch guests like to wait until after the pitch deadline to even begin listening. Sometimes it's that the project's deadline has been pushed back so this allows the street pitch guest additional time to listen and/or schedule another meeting. If the pitch deadline for a street pitch passed over a month ago and you have not heard anything, you can notify us via the Help/Support area and we can check into it. Be sure to include the song title and pitch ID# so we can follow-up on the status of your song with the screener.


 
The Pitch Is Over And My Song Still Says Pending Review?
This is pretty common. The deadline listed is the one given to us by the street pitch guest. Some of the street pitch guests like to wait until after the pitch deadline to even begin listening. Sometimes it's that the project's deadline has been pushed back so this allows the street pitch guest additional time to listen and/or schedule another meeting. If the pitch deadline for a street pitch passed over a month ago and you have not heard anything, you can notify us via the Help/Support area and we can check into it. Be sure to include the song title and pitch ID# so we can follow-up on the status of your song with the screener.

What Happens If Someone Is Interested In My Song?
If a guest expresses interest in your song, they are automatically sent your contact information to follow-up with you. You will be working directly with them to finalize any further arrangement or agreement. Depending on the guest, the follow-up procedure may vary from simply supplying a chart or CD quality MP3 to being offered a contract for one of your songs. For Street Pitches, there is "follow-up" information included at the end of description listing to give you a general idea of the terms of the guest. This is true as well for on-going (recurring) Fast-Track opportunities. If a song is accepted, and you have questions about the guest, their experience, their company or their track record, ask THEM to clarify for you. Music industry professionals will be more than happy to talk about their successes and their company with you. SongU.com does the best we can to ensure that all the guests are valid industry professionals, but just like a song, what one person looks for in a company or an individual is not necessarily what another person looks for. If you are offered an agreement or contract, SongU.com strongly encourages you to seek the advice of an experienced entertainment attorney prior to signing it. SongU.com can not give you legal advice. You are under no obligation to sign any agreement, but remember you can certainly try to negotiate in good faith with a guest. In all such cases, SongU.com is simply the means that connects your song to the SongU.com Pitching guest.



Do I Have To Give SongU.com My Publishing?
No. You retain all rights to your song and SongU.com takes no money or publishing (however, a thank you in your Grammy acceptance speech would be appreciated ;-). SongU.com is merely the means that connects your song to the SongU.com Pitching guest. You are under no obligation to accept any offers from the SongU.com Pitching guests. If you are offered a contract, SongU.com strongly encourages you to seek the advice of an experienced entertainment attorney prior to signing it.



Why Would A Song Not Get Selected For A Street Pitch?
The bottom line is that the pitch guest felt there were other songs pitched for that opportunity that gave them a better chance for success. Because your songs are in competition that are coming to the guest from other places, the bar is set very high. This is a very competitive industry. Each guest is going to be discerning based on their needs and opinions. Here are some of the most common reasons why a guest might "pass" on a song:

• The song is good but doesn't beat what they already have for the pitch - Again, your song is in competition with every song they intend to pitch. While you may not agree with their decisions all the time, we do have to respect their judgment.
   
• Not quite right for this artist - The guest may believe your song style was very close to being on target but overall just wasn’t the best match for this pitch. You should continue to pitch the song for other pitch opportunities since it may be appropriate for another artist at a different time.
   
• Song needs improvement - The guest may feel that the song could be improved musically and/or lyrically to make it more competitive. For any song you pitch, you should consider running the song by one of the SongU.com coaches or bringing it to a feedback class where you can get another opinion on the song and some pointers on how the song could be improved (if necessary).
   
• Demo not competitive - The song may be ready, but the demo may not present the song in its best light and/or may not be competitive to industry standards. This could be due to the vocal and/or production of a song. Songs do not need to be full band demos necessarily, but they do need to presented professionally since they are being pitched to industry professionals. For example, the instruments and vocalists MUST be in tune and easily understood (and no dogs barking in the background ;-) To get a sense of what professional demos sound like, you should visit the on-demand section of the SongU.com Library and listen to the most recent session of "What's Cole Pitching?" where you can hear professional demos that are currently being pitched. 
   
• "Just doesn't do it for me" - Even good songs and future hits are often turned down many times. Everyone has their opinion. However, pay attention if a song is consistently not getting the right response. You probably need to take a closer look at why. Bring it to a feedback class and get some other thoughts on why the song isn't getting the right reaction.

At SongU.com in addition to our track of feedback courses (FDBK), we offer over 70 multi-level courses, from fundamental to master level, designed to help you craft the best songs you can. See the member catalog for additional details.

Can I Get More Specific Feedback From The Guest?
The purpose of SongU.com Pitching is to provide "real world" experience in pitching for SongU.com members. Typically, in the real world of pitching, you get no feedback why someone "passed" on your song except for a simple yes or no. You can get more specific feedback on your song using the SongU.com song evaluation service or by bringing it to one of the FDBK courses. 



I'm Getting Different Opinions On The Same Song
Like movies, everyone has an opinion on every song and often they don't agree. This is a dilemma that every songwriter faces. I'd love to tell you it gets better or goes away, but it never does. You play something for the producer and he loves it, but A&R doesn't. You play something for one plugger at your company and he loves it and pitches it while the other plugger at your company isn't into the song. A&R, the producer and the lead singer of the band love the song, but the artist's wife doesn't like the song so it doesn't get cut. Sometimes you play the song for the same person who rejected it two months ago and suddenly they love it. Generally speaking, if you get two different opinions, you might want to try for a third opinion to see if you can get a consensus about the song. You can always get another opinion from a different coach or by bringing the song to one of the SongU.com feedback courses.



But My Coach LOVED This Song. Why Wasn't It Selected?
Your coach has one primary focus -- to work with you on the song you submit to make it as good as possible based on your level of writing and your goals. Naturally, by definition, a coach will also try to bring out the best in your writing. With pitching, guests are often looking for very specific songs based on their own project and their own needs. In addition, every song and every idea submitted is competing against every other song and idea, including those of other hit writers. You can try pitching that song again for a different pitch and see if a different guest reacts more positively. Or, you might consider getting a second opinion on the song from a different SongU.com coach or by bringing it to one of the FDBK courses. The best you can do as a writer is continue writing great songs, pitching them and keeping the faith. For a list of the most common reasons why a guest might pass on a song, see above.

Help! I've Been Rejected
No, you haven't been rejected -- your song just didn't find its home on a particular pitch. That is part of the education of SongU.com Pitching -- dealing with the inevitable rejection that comes with being a professional songwriter. Hall of fame writer, Gary Burr, has hundreds of songs that he’s written that haven’t been cut as has every other professional songwriter. Pitching songs and having them rejected is just part of the job description of the professional songwriter. No one enjoys it because it 99 times out of 100 your song will be rejected. A professional songwriter who gets even 5-10% of his/her catalog recorded, is considered extremely successful. That's without looking at how many times each song that eventually got recorded was previously rejected. You could curl up in a hole and avoid pitching songs, but an interesting thing happens when you don't pitch your songs -- they don't get cut!



Ugh! I'm Feeling Discouraged
If you think about it, every song that is pitched is rejected (except for the 11 or 12 that actually made the record). This means that hundreds of songs by hit writers are turned down for every project. So you’re in very good company. And you can bet that even the songs that made the record have been rejected plenty of times too. For example, "I Swear" was turned down over 40 times by various A&R reps, producers, etc. before John Michael Montgomery eventually turned it into a #1 country smash that was also re-recorded by the group All-4-One and spent several weeks at #1 on the pop charts. "There's Your Trouble" was turned down by two A&R representatives at Sony before songplugger Tommy Williams pitched it to one of the Dixie Chicks producers who cut the song...the Dixie Chicks of course were on the Sony label. Just because a song wasn't selected doesn't mean it's the end of the line for that song.

I Can't Handle Rejection
Eat chocolate. Throw eggs off the back porch. Take up kick boxing. Or, find another career. Rejection is unavoidable in the music business. As hall of fame songwriter, Rory Bourke once said -- "If you're not getting rejected every single day, then you're not doing your job." But if you don't actually want to get the auto-email that says your song was not selected, you can go to "My Account" and change your communication preferences.

Help! I'm Having Problems Uploading My MP3
You can get more detailed information and instructions on how to create and/or compress an MP3 in the course, GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com, which should be in your active course list under "My Courses". But generally speaking, if you have a problem uploading an MP3, it's usually due to one of the following reasons listed below. 

• Strange characters in the filename - Be sure that the filename itself isn't over 40 characters and doesn't have any strange characters in it like an question mark or exclamation mark. If your song title is "Why Don't They Stay Together?", one example of a filename that might be appropriate might be stayTogether.mp3.
• The file is too big - If the file in question is at CD quality MP3 compression (256k), it may be too large to upload or take too long on your connection. There is a 6M limit on any uploads to the site, so it's important to compress the MP3 file before uploading it. For more information on how to compress the MP3 file, see the course GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com.
• The file actually uploaded but the notification didn't work - Sometimes, that pop-up won't that tells you that your file is uploading either doesn't appear or doesn't disappear even thought the file uploads correctly. Make sure your pop-up blocker is off. Don't forget that you can always check your file by looking at the pending evaluation to see if it appears and whether or not the file plays correctly. If it plays correctly, then it uploaded properly and the notification simply didn't appear/disappear.   
• The file isn't actually an MP3 - Make sure the file in question is an MP3 file. Simply renaming a file and putting MP3 on the file extension won't make it an MP3 if it was recorded using RealPlayer for example. 

Help! My MP3 Doesn't Play
If your MP3 uploads, but doesn't play at all, it's possible that either the MP3 is corrupted or that there is a strange character in the file name that prevents it from playing. For example, if your song is called "100%" and the filename is "100%.MP3", it's very possible that the percent symbol ("%") in the filename will render it not playable. Try renaming your MP3 file and see if this helps. If the problem persists, make sure that the MP3 is actually in MP3 format. If it's really a Windows Media Audio file that was simply renamed to have an MP3 extension, it will not be playable as an MP3. If the issues persists and you cannot solve it, go to the Help/Support area and fill out a support request and we'll try to assist. 


 

Help! My Song Sounds Like The Chipmunks
There's a bug in the Flash Player audio streamer that causes this effect sometimes. It's not a SongU.com bug, but a Flash player bug. This bug often appears if the sampling rate is not a multiple of the common rates of 11khz, 22khz or 44khz. We are aware of this bug and have provided all screeners an alternate means to listen to the song without using the Flash player in the event this happens. So you don't know need to worry about it because the screener will be able to hear your song normally.  



How Do I Create An MP3 In iTunes Using The Right Settings?
You can find detailed information on converting to MP3 formats in the SongU.com course, GEN 110 - Preparing Your Audio For SongU.com. But I've included below a quick run down of the steps to create your MP3 using iTunes. iTunes is a great little MP3 player/converter that's available for both PC and Mac (you can download iTunes for free from www.iTunes.com). If you run into problems, you can also email our resident MP3 guru, Kent Forward at:

• STEP I: Set iTunes to the proper MP3 compression (you only need to do this once)

1. Start up iTunes
2. Go under edit -> preferences -> advanced
3. Click on the "importing" tab
4. Make sure the "import using" dropdown box has "MP3 encoder" selected
5. Under the setting dropdown box, choose "custom". A box with settings will pop-up
6. In the customs settings box, set it to 64kbps (or some value less than 128kbps)
7. Uncheck the VBR checkbox if it's checked
8. Leave the sample rate dropdown box at "auto"
9. Change the channels to "mono"
10. Click "ok"

• STEP II: Create and Save The MP3:
  1. Pop in your CD with your song and it should appear in the iTunes playlist
  2. Right-click on it and you can choose "convert to MP3". Note that it will save it in whatever location on your computer is specified in the settings in iTunes
  3. You can change that or see where it is by going to edit -> preferences -> advanced and then clicking on the "general" tab
  4. You should now have an MP3 of your song that you can upload!

What If I Have Other Problems Or Questions?
Submit a support request by clicking on the Help/Support link and we'll do our best to assist.



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