Pitching FAQ

Connect to a variety of music industry professionals in multiple musical genres, including Pop/Rock, Country, CCM, Urban and Film & TV. Just view the pitch listings, choose a song from your song locker to pitch and it will be submitted directly to the guest. No screeners.

Platinum Members receive 10 Street Pitches each month and have unlimited Fast-Track Pitches. Lite Members received 1 Street or Fast-Track Pitch each month. If needed, members can purchase additional Street Pitches for a small fee.

No, any unused pitches do not accumulate or roll over. Your pitch quota is reset on the first of every month.

There are no gatekeepers between your songs and the music industry guests. For all pitches at SongU.com, your song gets heard directly by the guest songpluggers, publishers, licensing agents, and other industry pros for the listed projects.

We’ve designed our Street pitch opportunities to connect members with a few dedicated publishers, song pluggers and licensing agents looking for specific projects in order to mimic how almost every publishing company works. The truth is, unless you’re writing with the artist or producer, this is still a primary mode for “outside” songwriters to get a cut. It’s certainly better to have a plugger who can play the song for the A&R team, the producer, the manager and/or the artist rather than strictly have an A&R rep on who might not hear the song or have the final say in the decision making process. We also make direct connections to independent artists who are listening for their own projects. We’re really proud of our members' success (opens in a new window) with their writing, much like any teacher would be who sees their students successes.

For both Street Pitches and Special Event pitches you will receive an email notification after the guest listens indicating whether or not they are interested in your song. Fast-Track pitches are a more typical music industry pitch where your songs will be sent directly to the guest, but you will only be notified if the guest expresses interest in your song.

Prior to seeing the listings, you must first take a short DIY course called “GEN 120 Mandatory Pitching Orientation”. It is in your Course Activity area. Be sure to mark the course as complete when you have finished it.

No. All songs submitted need to be in mp3 format which is the standard format for pitching songs via the Internet. We do not accept mail-in CD’s, WMA files, or email attachments. Find more info in the DIY course "GEN 110 Preparing Your Audio for SongU.com."

It depends on what your "work tape" sounds like. For pitching purposes, your tracks and vocals must be professional sounding quality, competitive with industry standards, whether from a home studio or outside studio. Simple professional sounding guitar or piano vocals are permissible.

As is standard in the music industry, for pitching purposes, all pitch submissions must be a complete song – music and lyrics. The only exception are Special Event pitch opportunities which will specify if a lyric-only is allowed. Of course, lyric-only submissions are fine for Song Evaluations and Song Feedback Courses.

Yes. If you feel the song is well-suited for more than one opportunity, then feel free to pitch it to around and see what happens. If you receive multiple inquiries on the song, be sure to let all the parties know so they don’t get surprised down the road. At the point someone wants to work your song exclusively or you are offered an exclusive contract, you will usually want to stop pitching to other opportunities.

No. This is the deadline provided to us either by the guest or the contact. Extensions sometimes occur at the guest’s request and will automatically be reflected on the Pitching Opportunities page. Deadlines are listed in ET (i.e., New York City, USA time).

Many of the Street Pitch guests will wait until after the pitch deadline to listen if they will still have time to get the songs to the artist. Do notify us in the Help/Support area if the deadline has passed over a month and your song is still "pending review".

SongU.com regularly runs cool extra Special Event pitches outside of our regular pitches to give our members additional opportunities to have their songs heard by hit songwriters and publishers resulting in co-write opportunities, or “staff-writer for a day” experiences, and more. Special event pitches have an additional small cost in credits depending on how much we have to compensate the guests for their time. Special event pitches are always announced in the weekly campus news and will appear at the top of the pitch listings on the Pitching Opportunities page.

This is a term usually used with film, TV, and sync pitches. It means that the submitted track and vocal should be at a high quality and ready to be used without having to re-record or remix it.

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. Pitch guests are looking for very specific songs based on their own project and their own current needs. Bring your song to a Song Feedback course or keep an eye out for special Behind-The-Scenes listening sessions where the songplugger will listen and decide on your song in a live session.

Profesional songwriters are rejected all the time. Hall of Fame songwriter Rory Bourke once said, "If you're not getting rejected every day, you're not doing your job as a songwriter." 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 – While we may not agree with their decisions all the time; we do have to respect their judgment.

• Not quite right for this artist - 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. If you have not already, get feedback on your song from a coach or instructor for further insights. .

• Demo/recording 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. For example, the instruments and vocalists MUST be in tune and easily understood (and no dogs barking in the background ;-).

• "Just doesn't do it for me" - Even good songs and future hits are often turned down many times. Musical taste is subjective and everyone has their opinion. However, do pay attention if a song is consistently not getting a positive response from a variety of sources.

No. SongU.com does not take part in the publishing or administration of your song. You retain all rights to your song and SongU.com takes no money (however, a thank you in your Grammy acceptance speech would be appreciated ;-) SongU.com is merely the means to connect your song to the SongU.com Pitching guest.

Several of our guests are music publishers and song pluggers. Read each pitch description carefully to see if there is an expectation of sharing some amount of publishing. While you are under no obligation to accept any offers from the SongU.com Pitching guests, please be respectful of their time if you are certain prior to pitching that you will not be interested in sharing in any publishing. Important: SongU.com strongly encourages you to seek the advice of an experienced entertainment attorney or qualified music copyright expert prior to signing any contract or agreement.

This is common terminology for Film/TV and sync pitches. It means you must own the material and master recording AND you must be clear of obligations from other talent that may be performing on your track. If you who hire vocalists, musicians or other talent to have a demo of the songs created, you must obtain signed clearances from all musicians and vocalists who perform on your demo PRIOR to pitching the song for any Film/TV opportunity.

That really depends on your comfort level. In the United States, your song is copyrighted simply by being in a fixed format such as a CD, MP3, or typed lyrics. 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. But it just depends on how you feel about it. Copyright infringement is rare, but 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 may 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 the U.S. Copyright Office website: http://www.copyright.gov/