“Suite Songs: NYC: Episode 2: ‘Alter Ego’” from Stacie Rose Launches on SonicScoop

Episode 2 of SUITE SONGS NYC — an original series about the personal and collaborative process of song making featuring songstress/series creator Stacie Rose – has launched exclusively on SonicScoop.

As the day continues with NYC singer/songwriter Stacie Rose and collaborators David Patterson and Mike Harvey, another guest arrives at the same NYC hotel suite where the first episode began, and the road map for the song Alter-Ego comes into focus. The song Alter-Ego and title track from Rose’s most recent release Alter-Ego Ep’s has been featured on Channel One and E!’s Keeping up with the Kardashians.

This is an intimate and vibey musical hang — an insider’s look at crafting pop songs on the fly. The series is presented by Enchanted Records.

Rose is a rising NJ/NYC songwriter who released the well-received Alter Ego EPs in 2010, and whose songs have been frequently licensed by the likes of MTV’s “The Hills”, VH1’s “Tough Love”, Paste Magazine’s “SONGS FOR HAITI” compilation, amc, FX, ABC, Escada fragrance campaign, American Airlines Radio, and FUSE TV.

“Suite Songs” is a series about the personal and collaborative process of song making. Each episode features Stacie Rose as the creator and MC, with a myriad of guest musicians she invites to a New York City hotel suite for some impromptu music making.  Personas are revealed, and lyrics/melody come to life, as viewers enter a secret world of creating songs from the ground up.

The HD series is directed by Patricia Chica, edited by Carol Butrico, and Mixed by Robert L. Smith (Defy Recordings).

CREDITS for SUITE SONGS:

Filmed and directed by Patricia Chica

Produced by Stacie Rose

Edited by Carol Butrico

Mixed by Robert L. Smith at Defy Recordings NYC

Title animation by Paul Gardener

Words & music for Alter-Ego, and Sucking up to the Saints

by Stacie Rose ASCAP 2010 © (P)

Enchanted Records/ BIGPICNIC Publishing

Alter-Ego (DJ Reverend Soul mix) and Standby (Caffeinated-Procrastination mix) produced by Thomas Hutchings & Stacie Rose

Special guest appearances by:

David Patterson

and

Mike Harvey

Field Technician David Deïas

Hair by Monet Moon

Makeup by Alyne Halvajian

Additional makeup and styling by Christine Karantais

Photos by www.angelshots.com

Thanks to Zoom and Michael Joly/OktavaMod

Rob McKeever

Ashley Martorana

Event Alert: “DIY MIDI Controllers” at Ableton NYC User Group 7/19 in Brooklyn

The Ableton NYC User Group and Devotion Learn at Brooklyn’s Devotion Gallery are hosting Ableton certified trainer Adriano Clemente for a free workshop on the underground world of DIY MIDI controllers.

In this colorful-sounding presentation, Adriano will demonstrate and discuss how videogame controllers, pen tablets, iPhones and iPads are gaining use as powerful tools to control Ableton Live on stage and in the studio.

When: Tuesday July 19th @ 7:00pm
Where: 54 Maujer, Brooklyn, NY 11206
RSVP: http://learn.areyoudevoted.com/?p=1152

Admission is free.

Smarter in Sixty Seconds: Don’t Hesitate, Collaborate

Yeah, I was late to the party on this one, I admit. I had been hearing the hit song all over the radio. But it was that voice that caught my ear; raspy, soulful, full of grit and emotion. It reminded me of something different, not a product. Something real; something I haven’t heard in a very long time. Passion. Vulnerability. A true artist.

Her name is Adele (but you knew that). I had heard Rick Rubin was involved. We know he doesn’t mess around with half-talents. She was probably good. Still I didn’t buy it. Not until I heard the oft-quoted music blogger, Bob Lefsetz, raving about her. I figured if Bob was gushing like that, it might be worth checking out. We only seem to find cool stuff these days when a trusted source turns us on.

And the album — 21 –  is killer! Something you actually need to hear start to finish. It’s an instant classic. You don’t channel surf this one. I mean, you could, but you miss the story she tells: the hurt, the loss, the struggle of dealing with a broken heart from someone you’re crazy in love with who dumped you. This is not about working a single. You feel what she’s been through. We’ve all been there. No hype. She is the anti-Gaga.

And there’s this great black and white shot on the album of Adele and her crew working together in a funky home studio setting. It points to something intrinsically missing in much of DIY music culture today; essential if you want to make a truly great record. It’s a very ancient human endeavor known as collaboration. As in being in the same physical space with other human beings co-creating. It’s how magic happens.

And look what happens when you put a true talent like Adele together with a studio full of equal or greater talent in all the other chairs? The producers, the musicians, the engineers? You get “21″. Isn’t that how great records used to get made? Some things will never change.

It Got Me Thinking

What does it take to create a body of work so truly outstanding that it becomes timeless, essential? Something that ricochets around the world and gets passed down through the generations to become ubiquitous? You know, that desert island record everyone’s always asking you about on Facebook?

Yeah, that’s a bitch to try and nail down; that one record you would listen to for the rest of your life but there’s certainly no shortage of candidates that come immediately to my mind.

Is it Abbey Road? Or Kind Of Blue or Highway 61 Revisited or What’s Going On or Innervisions or Led Zeppelin II or Thriller or Are You Experienced? Or A Love Supreme or Joshua Tree or Dark Side Of The Moon? (And yes, I left out a sizable stack of favorite blues and soul albums along with a few artists, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Sly, Ray Charles, Aretha, Frank (Sinatra and Zappa), Ella, Dizzy, Bird, The Doors, The Who, The Stones, Cream, Van Halen, Talking Heads, Prince, Guns & Roses, Nirvana…I know. But you get the idea.

But here’s the thing. How come I can’t seem to identify even one potential candidate that was produced in the age of the Internet, after the invention of Napster, MySpace, or Facebook? The birth of DIY culture?

Sure, there have been some great internet success stories: cool artists who have utilized the technology to connect and interact with their core audiences in really unique and creative ways to build a real following and new models for a sustainable career making music. (And hey, I’m still as DIY as the next indie artist. Once upon a time, back in those halcyon Napster days, I had an indie band called Fire Ants, who had a Number One on MP3.com and got interviewed by CNN, Rolling Stone and Wired Magazine, all on a PR budget of zilch. So yes, I get it. The Internet works.)

And artists have tools available today that simply would have been thought impossible not even a few years ago. So, to that end, it’s never been a better time to be an independent artist.

Where Are the Giants?

Well, maybe the answer lies in the initials themselves: D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself).

Many of those aforementioned artists toiled away in obscurity for years before getting their big break just to make their first record. Before finding their groove, their true voice. They put in their 10,000 hours. Because that’s all there was if you wanted to be heard by a lot of people: the Holy Grail, the record deal. You needed radio. You needed the worldwide distribution. And you had to be really good.

Yet after slugging it out and ultimately becoming some of the most iconic artists of our modern era, none of those classic albums were created by artists tinkering away alone in their bedrooms. Far from it. It was a collaborative effort.

One of my absolute top contenders for that coveted desert island spot is Innervisions by Stevie Wonder. That’s the one with songs like “Living For The City”, “Higher Ground,” “Too High,” “All is Fair in Love,” and “Golden Lady.” It is pure, inspired magic from start to finish. And while others might argue for a half dozen other Stevie Wonder albums, no less inspiring, most people would agree that his talent is immense. His body of work profound. And he didn’t do it alone.

Collaboration: There are no less than 24 people credited with the making of Innervisions. 24 highly experienced professionals, experts each in their own specific field of discipline, with their own impressive credentials, contributing to this amazing work. Musicians, engineers, producers, A&R people, photographers, graphic artists, liner notes writers and so on, all coming together and pooling their talents in a collaborative effort.

For example, there’s Dan Barbiero, one of the credited engineers. He worked not only with Stevie Wonder but John Lennon on Mind Games, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter. Then there’s Gary Olazabel, merely the tape operator on this album. His engineering credits went on to span most of Stevie Wonder’s recorded efforts, along with Rufus and Chaka Khan, The Isley Brothers, Michael Jackson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Billy Preston, and many, many more.

Then take just one of the many credited musicians; Willie Weeks, an incredible bass player. Just a very partial discography of legendary artists he has played with include B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Winwood, Aretha Franklin, George Harrison, The Doobie Brothers, John Mayer and a few hundred other artists you’ve also heard of.

Now take all those high level professional credits; all that talent and experience co-creating with an amazing artist and ask yourself if you think that may have something to do with the end result being a masterpiece that endures nearly forty years later?

Other examples:

Abbey Road? (20 album credits)
Dark Side Of The Moon? (23)
Thriller? (56!!!) For God’s sakes, just Google Quincy Jones alone if you actually don’t know who he is and plan to spend a few hours learning about what he brought to Michael’s table.

Just Try and DIY

Now let’s take a look at a typical DIY artist today making records. (I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you either are this person or know someone who fits the description.) Maybe they’re an individual, maybe a band member. They probably play at least one instrument. Maybe they can sing too. Maybe they tour. Maybe they’re just alone in a bedroom.

Maybe they know a producer who has one or themselves own a computer armed with one of the many recording softwares available (Pro Tools, Logic, Garage Band, etc.) along with enough drum loops, samples, plugins and virtual instruments to create pretty much anything from a symphony to a rock opera to deep house tracks; all the tools to create a totally professional studio quality record, right?

Except for one thing: contrary to popular opinion, you still can’t do it all yourself. Not true greatness, that is. Even with all this technology.

Seriously, you don’t get to be an amazing songwriter, prodigy musician, awesome singer, dynamic performer, producer, arranger, incredible recording, mix and mastering engineer, video editor, graphic artist, PR person, literary writer. Any one of those would take a lifetime to master. Just because you have every imaginable tool at your fingertips doesn’t mean you’re the master of any of them.

Yet most DIY artists today often find themselves wearing all or most of those hats on any given day, don’t they? And what do you think the end result of all that jack-of-all-trades, master of none DIY multi-tasking is going to be? (the majority, not the exceptions) The answer is that the music suffers.

Yes, the world is your oyster right now as an independent artist. The problem is, it’s everybody else’s oyster too; bloggers, podcasters, painters, photographers, quilters, authors, tech geeks, foodies, fashionistas, and the new vacuum cleaner salesmen of the digital era, the SEO internet marketing firms…noise, noise, noise!!! (In the immortal words of The Grinch.)

The “Best” Solution

But what if it were different? What if there really was a way to rise above the noise and be heard? (Isn’t this what every artist wants after all?) You really only have one choice as an independent artist today if you want to get noticed: You simply have to become the best there is. Not the best in the world. The best YOU, that is, that you can possibly be. The more eclectic and original, the better.

Who cares if it’s a few or many who find and support you in your chosen niche, your tribe. Serve them, not your own self interests. Feed them greatness. They are hungry, starving actually. If it’s truly great, they’ll eat it up and come back again and again, if you keep your end of the bargain and stay authentic. And they’ll spread the word too. But you have to realize if you want to be remarkable, you can’t do it yourself. You’re going to need help to shine your brightest light. You have to collaborate.

With the downsizing of the music industry, there are a lot of very talented creatives floating around right now who don’t have those fat record company gigs anymore. They’re looking for work and have a wealth of knowledge and experience; writers, producers, arrangers, top flight musicians, engineers, mixers, A&R people, art directors. These are people who were around when the big money was flowing in the biz and they were there to help put the polish on the careers of many of the big name artists you know and like you, they’re hungry now too. And most still need to work.

Couple that with the current social networking climate and you now have the ability to reach out and connect with these people. They have Facebook pages now. They want to connect to the future too. You can do your diligence and find out the people who worked with the artists you identify with. You can seek out their expertise, invite them to collaborate. You might be surprised who responds.

A couple years back I saw one of the true greats of pop songwriting, Jimmy Webb, give a lecture on his craft down at NYU. He wrote songs my parents loved, “MacArther Park”, “Galveston,” “Up, Up and Away” and so many more. He is legendary. If you were born when Nirvana was still touring you might not know the name but trust me on this one. I thought someone like that could help me improve as a songwriter, so I went to his website, wrote to him and asked if he would consider mentoring me on my songwriting. He wrote me back and said he was really busy but agreed he would on a limited basis. How cool is that?

You can decide right now you want to be the best YOU that you can be and ask others with more experience in those areas you may be winging it to help you to shine. To help you tell your greatest story. To take you much further than you could ever go by yourself.

And something else; ask someone you know who has ever worked in a collaborative environment with some serious cats and ask them how that experience was for them. They’ll probably say it was awesome to watch the pros make them sound and look better.

Yeah, it’s very cool that technology has given us all the tools we need today to take charge of our own destiny. You can do it yourself. But it’s way cooler when we do it together.

Give it a try…shine a brighter light.

Peace,

Mark Hermann

NYC-based producer/artist/engineer/more Mark Hermann spends his life in the professional service of music. He has toured the world with rock legends, produced hit artists, and licensed music for numerous TV/film placements. Hermann also owns a recording studio in a 100-year old Harlem Brownstone. Keep up with him at his homepage.

Psyched on Sonics: Recording Voices in Challenging Locations

Every month, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com brings you a day in the life of a New York City recording engineer.

The Mission: Recording Voices In An Unconventional Recording Space
In October of last year I was contacted by Whitney Bryant of the Tuesdays at Four company, inquiring about mobile recording services. She heads an intergenerational class held on Tuesdays at 4pm inside the The Hallmark of Battery Park Senior Residence. The class’ mission is to promote healthy aging via means of movement, community and the arts.

Her concept was to record the members of her class, who vary in age from 18 to 101, as they answered broad life questions and shared their stories. The idea was to later arrange these monologues and dialogues in a sequence that tells a bigger story. “I Was I Am We Are” was the name for the project and the recording and the questions to which the participants would attempt to answer.

After communicating via e-mail about the process for recording and the eventual editing necessary to create the desired cohesive spoken word recording, it was time to meet the class and scope out the room in which I would be recording.

Analyzing The Hallmark
Whenever I have the opportunity to scope a location prior to recording, I take advantage of that to obtain a clear perspective of what I’m walking into so that I can troubleshoot ahead of time and maximize efficiency come recording time. Upon my initial arrival at The Hallmark, I met Whitney and she gave me a tour of the space. Quickly, I was able to get a good sense of what I was dealing with.

It was a large room with florescent lights. The lights sparked immediate concern due to the noise they often generate, however, even up close, the lights were relatively quiet. The central air, however, which came on periodically, was loud! I asked Whitney about this and she said the central air can be turned off for each room, easy enough.

I walked around the room whistling short bursts of air. This particular exercise helps me determine the acoustics of the room:

• I whistle one note and then listen to the decay on the echo, the timbre of my whistle and the sound of my whistle in the room.
• I whistle one a little lower in pitch, then listen.
• Finally I whistle a couple more pitches to know how the room responds to various frequencies.

The ceilings were about 13 feet high, high enough to avoid ugly reflections from bouncing around, so I was confident that the space wouldn’t be an issue. The great thing about this approach is that I always have my whistling with me!

Each resident will be speaking into the same mic, one at a time. Three groups of 8-10 people for one hour each.

My plan was to setup a cardioid condenser mic in the central-most part of the room. The room sounded clearest and most neutral in the center without the ugly reflections that were generated closer to the walls. I felt good about the location and confident that my setup would yield great results having been able to take this initial inventory of the space.

Establish Homebase

Arriving a few days after my initial scope out of the room, it was time to record. I setup Equal Sonics Mobile in a far corner away from the center of the room.

After booting up my hard drives, laptop and Pro Tools I was ready to go. I setup a Neumann U87 in the center of the room and switched the polar pattern to cardioid. I ran an XLR cable from the mic to the rig, tucking it under tables, to keep the area clear.

The last thing to do was to set up headphones beside the mic for each speaker to use. I ran a HearBack mixer to the center of the room and placed a pair of cans around it. If they wanted to use it, great. If not, I had control on the digital mixer so I could turn it off if not in use.

Get Busy
The first group arrived and it was time to begin. Whitney had the first individual step up to the microphone. I hit record. She asked them a question, and they responded. Some people had their responses to these questions well rehearsed, while others were not so prepared. There were some hangups for those who were not as prepared, such as stalling between words, not phrasing an answer in an understandable manner and unnecessary pauses.

Whitney was good about coaching her class through these small setbacks, but with my recorder running throughout anyway. I didn’t want to throw off the group’s flow with stopping and starting, nor miss the golden take. All the extra material recorded could quickly be taken out in the editing process. In its entirety, this vocal tracking session took three hours to capture everyone’s voice.

Clean Up
After the recording was complete it was time to enter the first phase of post-production: editing. I chopped up each vocal take to start with the answer of the question, leaving out Whitney’s questions. Then I chopped off the end of the vocal take before Whitney’s next question.

This left me just the answer to the question in its own audio region. I put fades of varying lengths on the start and end of each vocal take. Labeling each audio region with a few snippets of the answer for easy recall later when putting all these takes together.

Step 2: Editing
I met with Whitney and Jamie Yasgur a week later to cut, chop, splice and dice the three hours of audio into a cohesive and poetic hole. Armed with my laptop, a hard drive, a Pro Tools interface and active monitors for listening we got to work editing.

She had created and typed out a story-line of how she wanted the vocals placed which was a helpful guide, sort of her post production, pre-production. On my end, as I mentioned, I had already organized the answers and labeled all my regions which made it easy to find all the necessary pieces with the help of Pro Tools’ region display. After some crafty arranging and well-placed fades we were working our way to a powerful finished product.

Special FX
There were two spots in the recording that Whitney had asked for a special effect. She wanted one of the phrases to start out while others started to wrap themselves around the first one. Essentially layered on top of one another, to create a chaotic moment in the recording.

I copied numerous vocal takes of various lengths and placed them on top of the original. I then panned each of the takes around the panorama spectrum, while EQ-ing each take to give it a bit of distinctive depth.

This created a mesh of vocals, seemingly coming from every direction. A sort of dreamy disorientation of space and time. After the final vocal take from this chaotic moment was finished, the track resolved back to the original singular spoken word.

The Mix

Once the entire vocal recording was laid out, syllables were clarified by chopping up the words into each syllable and moving them closer or further apart to create a more natural flow. Next, breaths were reduced in volume or taken out, long pauses were shortened, and the final fades were placed.

It was now time to sweeten the sound. I put a Waves SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on the track with about 4-5 dB of gain reduction. I set the attack and release to both be relatively slow to get a nice smooth, flowing sound.

After the compression I added a bit of EQ to add some brilliance in the top end, around 10 kHz, and cut some sub frequencies out of the bottom end of the spectrum, at 60 kHz.

Once the EQ was sitting nicely, the Oxford Inflator from Sonnox was added to the equation. This is a great plug-in to use to create some warmth on a track. Using the curve control slider, which varies from negative fifty to positive fifty, you can flavor the warmth on your track. Negative fifty is very dark, positive fifty is very bright. Because this was a spoken word piece I wanted a more neutral warmth; I stuck with positive ten on the curve control slider.

Now that the tone was established, I wanted to add some depth to the recording. This was achieved by loading a reverb plug-in on an aux track and mixing the vocals with it slightly.

The effect created some slight space around the vocals, while refraining from drowning them in a sea of echos. Finally, I used the infamous Waves L3 to boost the overall level of the track and glue together the vocals with the reverb.

The Handoff
The track was recorded, edited, pieced together and mixed. I burnt the .WAV files on a few CDs for Whitney and was on my way.

It was a great tracking and mixing session, but there’s a surprise that came my way a few months later with this project: Whitney contacted me yet again to ask if there was any way I could turn this vocal recording into a dance track.

Check out the next installment of Psyched On Sonics where we will continue this story!

As the owner and operator of his own mobile recording studio, Matt McCorkle of EqualSonics.com is capable of bringing professional audio to anyone, anywhere, anytime. His specialties involves acoustic instrumental recordings, vocal productions, live tracking sessions, electronic music production and mixing. Whether in the studio or out in the field, Matt’s goal is simple: To create new music and sounds with passionate artists. To contact Matt please visit EqualSonics.com.

Work it Brooklyn and Women In Music Present “Industry Focus: Music”, 4/20, in Greenpoint

Women In Music (WIM) has teamed with Work It Brooklyn (WIB), a progressive event-based networking organization formed to present “Industry Focus: Music.” The networking/panel event will take place Wednesday, April 20th, 7-10 PM at Coco 66, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (RSVP required, see below).

This panel and networking event, geared towards D-I-Y independent musicians and artists, features a panel of experienced music industry professionals eager to share their knowledge and insight as well as answer audience questions.

In addition, a select group of local industry VIPs will be in the crowd and ready to network with participants during the mingling slots of the evening.

PANELISTS:

• Jeff Price, CEO/Founder/President, Tunecore
• Liz Leahy, CEO/Co-Founder, Section 101
• Michael Corcoran, President, MusicSUBMIT
• Ben Markowitz, Product Experience Manager, Fanbridge
• Jayce Varden, Director/Co-Founder, Pledgemusic.com
• Shamita Carriman Esq. (moderator), Carriman Law Group,  Women In Music

THE EVENING:

• 7:00-7:15pm Check in and Mingling
• 7:15-7:40pm Speed Networking
• 7:45-9:00pm Panel Discussion and Q&A
• 9:00-10:00pm Mix, Mingle, and Demo Exchange

SPEED NETWORKING: Musical-chairs-meets-speed-dating: attendees get to meet and speak through this time-sensitive activity.

DEMO EXCHANGE: Attendees are encouraged to bring CDs to swap with other musicians, VIPs, or anyone else they encounter. There will also be a table where people can put their CDs, as well as collect those of other attendees.

Full Coordinates:
Wednesday, April 20th, 7-10 PM
Coco 66, Greenpoint Brooklyn.
$5.00@ the door, space provided. Free for Women In Music Members who enter the special code.
RSVP is encouraged as space is limited. To RSVP, visit: www.bitly.com/wimdiy

Event Alert: NoteWorking Meetup with HFA & MailChimp on Tuesday, 4/19

The NoteWorking Meetup will hold their April event on Tuesday, 2/19, 7:00 PM, at The Tank in Times Square.

NoteWorking host Corey H. Maass oversees this vital monthly meetup, which promises to offer solid networking and educational opportunities.

April’s featured speakers will be:

– Rachel Scarpati from The Harry Fox Agency (HFA), on how to make money from a song and the different royalty streams.

– Amy Ellis from MailChimp instructs on how best to use newsletters.

Full Coordinates:
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
7:00 PM
at The Tank, 354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th)
$5 at the door. RSVP http://www.meetup.com/noteworking/events/16413679/

Avid Introduces Pro Tools MP 9 for M-Audio Hardware Users

Avid has announced the availability of Pro Tools MP 9. The software is the latest version of Pro Tools, and is specifically designed to work with select Avid M-Audio audio interfaces to provide a professional, stable platform intended for personal studio and mobile music creation.

In addition, Avid introduced all-new bundles that combine Pro Tools MP 9 software with select M-Audio interfaces.

Pro Tools MP 9 leverages the same core functionality found in Avid’s Pro Tools software. New Pro Tools MP 9 features include Automatic Delay Compensation for phase-accurate mixes. In addition, MP 9 provides MP3 export capability.

Avid’s Pro Tools MP 9 software will be offered standalone for use with select M-Audio interfaces, as well as in all-new bundles with the M-Audio MobilePre, Fast Track Pro or Fast Track Ultra interfaces.

Pro Tools MP 9 highlights:

– Studio-standard composing, recording, MIDI sequencing, editing, and mixing features
– Support for a wide variety of M-Audio hardware interfaces
– 48 simultaneous 24-bit mono or stereo tracks and up to 96 kHz fidelity
– Over 70 virtual instruments and effects plug-ins
– Automatic Delay Compensation and MP3 export
– Session compatibility with professional Pro Tools studios around the world, facilitating collaboration

Pricing and Availability:

Pricing for Pro Tools MP 9 is USMSRP $299.95, and upgrades are available to existing Pro Tools M-Powered users for $199.95.

Pricing for Pro Tools MP 9 bundles begins at $329.95 for Pro Tools MP 9 + MobilePre, $399.95 for Pro Tools MP 9 + Fast Track Pro and $549.95 for Pro Tools + Fast Track Ultra.

All options will be available worldwide on May 16, 2011.

HFA & Songtrust Indie Publisher’s Service Team, Targeting DIY Market

NYC-based The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), a provider of rights management, licensing, and royalty services for the music industry, has announced a collaboration with Songtrust, an online music publishing administration service from the NYC-based Downtown Music.

According to HFA, the initiative will exponentially increase the exploitation of independent publishers’ content. The program provides increased exposure for Songtrust members via HFA’s expansive song database and ensures back-office support for the efficient collection and distribution of royalties.

Songtrust is meant to simplify music publishing for songwriters, by providing a straightforward means for them to properly register and protect all of their songs as well as track and collect royalties. With this collaboration in place, Songtrust and HFA will work together to facilitate licensing of content as well as ensure the monetization of copyrighted works for DIY publishers. More specifically, as experts in rights management, HFA will provide Songtrust with outsourced licensing and royalty administration services so they can focus on closely servicing the DIY market.

As a result, Songtrust members will be able to take advantage of the many revenue opportunities currently only offered to HFA’s affiliated music publishers. Compositions written by Songtrust members will now be accessible to thousands of potential licensees for use for CDs, downloads, on-demand streams and ringtones, as well as innovative new media licensing opportunities including lyrics, guitar tablature, digital jukeboxes and background music.

Compositions will also be available through HFA’s online licensing tool, Songfile. This online tool is used to clear cover songs for limited-quantity licenses for CDs, download, on-demand streams and ringtones, providing an additional revenue stream for songwriters.

Additionally, the two companies will partner to create a series of educational programs aimed at DIY songwriters/publishers who want to learn more about the inner-workings of music publishing, empowering them to more effectively manage their song copyrights.

Said Gary Churgin, President & CEO of HFA. “HFA is committed to supporting the increasingly important and growing DIY market. There is a wealth of creativity produced by this community and we want to do all we can to provide them with the necessary tools to make their music available for licensing and expose their songs to new audiences. Together with Songtrust we allow DIY songwriters to focus on their craft, while we handle the business side of licensing for them.”

Downtown Music Publishing President and Songtrust Co-Founder Justin Kalifowitz added. “Our primary goal is to offer songwriters an equal opportunity to monetize their copyrights. As the gold-standard in U.S. mechanical royalty collection and an innovator in the digital licensing arena, we are thrilled to partner with HFA in delivering premier music publishing administration services to our members.”

Booking Wiz Khalifa: Five Questions for Peter Schwartz on Hip Hop Touring

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: The massive motivation of hip hop artists like Wiz Khalifa is only half the story of how they storm the world’s stages: Behind every live touring success is a booking agent that knows their territory.

Khalifa is about to kick off the Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour, running March 31-April 22, followed by the rapper’s first brief European tour from May 16-24. Along the way, he’ll be benefiting from the sage experience of Peter Schwartz, NYC-based VP of international booking specialists The Agency Group: his nearly 20 years of experience have had him plotting out live jaunts for the likes of Jay-Z, Method Man & Redman, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Run DMC and Wu Tang Clan, Big Sean and Big Boi.

Khalifa is on a hot streak: his single “Black & Yellow” hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and his new album Rolling Papers drops on March 29th – the same day he’ll grace the Roseland Ballroom stage right here in NYC.

In 2010, 135 of Wiz’ 140 shows sold out: our five questions with Schwartz explains why, and provides sharp touring advice for the next round of hip hop upstarts.

What about being a booking agent gets you out of bed each morning?
I truly enjoy being an agent, so getting going each day is really not that hard. Success is no doubt a driving force, especially when working with clients like Wiz Khalifa with such exciting growth and potential. It really makes the job fun, and I look forward to waking up just to see how well tickets sold overnight or where a client is charting that day.

His upcoming show at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC sold out in 16 minutes – that kind of thing fires me up for sure. Of course, it’s very rewarding to be standing at a sold-out show, watching the crowd go bonkers and seeing all the hard work pay off and come together in the end.

Bonkers is always the objective, we agree. How would you describe Wiz Khalifa’s live show?
Wiz’s live show is amazing: He puts his heart and soul into every performance — usually shirtless and drenched in sweat by the end of the show. His work ethic is unreal. His set is always fun and energetic, with his Taylor Gang team jumping around him to create even more hype. And the fans are always going insane!

We’ve been slowly growing his production with each tour, so his fans should expect to see him develop in that respect as well. They definitely get their money’s worth.

Each tour has a specific objective for the artist: Why is the Campus Consciousness Green Carpet Tour important for Wiz?

The Green Carpet Tour is basically a college tour, which made sense to do for a variety of reasons. It timed well within our plans for the year and the album release, and the college market is one of Wiz’s largest demographics.

The “Campus Consciousness” – environmental — tie-in was really a nice perk. The last “CCT” tour featured Drake and the one prior had Passion Pit headlining, so it seemed like a good brand had been established there.

Our main goal for this tour is pretty much the same as always…sell it all out! Ticket sales look incredible already. We’re going to follow this up with a summer headlining tour to support the new album.

You’ve booked a lot of hip hop tours. What are the differences between booking for hip hop and rock? What makes booking for hip hop and rock the same?
There are some small differences in booking hip hop and rock, but I really approach all my bookings the same way: good old “rock’n’roll style”.

The goal is to build the artist a long-lasting touring career by plotting the right moves and developing them to larger venues and guarantees. Each move should be made for a reason, with the next step already in mind. It is really important to know your fans and be very conscious of picking the right size venue, ticket price and other details like age restriction on the show.

That definitely makes sense – for a lot of business avenues besides just touring! Lastly, What tips do you have for emerging hip hop artists who want to bolster their careers with a live tour?
If an emerging artist has a strong live show, going on tour is a great way to promote themselves and build a fan base.

That’s really the key to success: building a fan base and a faithful following. This can be done through social networking, good press, releasing great music and of course touring is a great vehicle as well. Try and deliver the best performance you can. Keep your set short and sweet in the early stages. Network with any of your fans before or after the show. Connecting with your fans — old or new — is very important. And stay connected too!

Wiz Khalifa plays Roseland Ballroom on Tuesday, March 29th.

– David Weiss

New Panelists and Full Schedule Announced for ASCAP New York Sessions

The ASCAP New York Sessions event, previously reported on SonicScoop, has announced the addition of new panelists, as well as its full schedule.

Newly confirmed panelists include Jared Gustadt (Founder – Jingle Punks), Ariel Hyatt (Founder – Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR), Adam Taylor (Play the Piano Drunk) and Chris Vinson (Founder, CEO – Bandzoogle).

Panels at ASCAP New York Sessions will include:

– The Sound of Success: Creative Careers in Music, a panel of ASCAP songwriters, composers and producers,

– Master Session with Grammy Award-winning songwriters-producers Stargate & Sandy Vee, an in-depth breakdown of their biggest hits,

– Make the Internet Work for You (Presented by Bandzoogle), a road map of online tools for music creators, and

– The Path To Placements: Music in Film, TV and Advertising which will outline the best strategies for getting music heard and placed.

Other previously confirmed panelists/speakers includes the GRAMMY-winning songwriting/production duo Stargate – Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen & Sandy Vee (“Firework,” “Only Girl (In the World)”), Kerry “Krucial” Brothers (“Unthinkable (I’m Coming)”, “No One”), David Lang (Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Co-Founder – Bang on a Can), Maria Schneider (Cerulian Skies, Concert in the Garden) and Gregg Wattenberg (“Hey Soul Sister,” “It’s Not Over”).

Visit the ASCAP New York Sessions website for a full list of panelists and their bios.

ASCAP New York Sessions will take place on March 31, 2011. The event brings together top songwriters, composers, producers and music industry professionals for a full day devoted to the craft, creativity and business of being a music creator. This is a one-day career boosting event designed to strengthen the skills, knowledge and connections needed to succeed in today’s music business.

Registration for ASCAP New York Sessions starts at $55 for ASCAP Members and $75 for all others. Prices go up March 15.

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